The illusion in the mirror was like a mirage—beautiful, yet forever out of reach, carrying a heart-piercing falseness.
Skofot stared blankly for a long time. In the end, the trace of bewildered warmth in his eyes, like a candle flame extinguished by the wind, swiftly cooled and fell silent, once more covered by his usual calmness and coldness.
He looked away and stopped looking at that bewitching mirror.
Something in a corner of his heart seemed to have been stirred, but he forcibly suppressed it.
Longing? That was the most useless thing of all.
He calmly instructed the system in his mind, "Make a note. Notify me when Harry Potter comes to see this mirror for the last time."
[All right.]
As soon as the system's response faded, another message appeared.
[Your Card Draw cooldown has ended.]
The cooldown was over?
Skofot raised an eyebrow. It was a little faster than he had expected.
It seemed the Emotion Points gained from that series of actions had indeed been considerable, speeding up the process.
"Card Draw." He did not hesitate.
[Emotion Points -100] [Emotion Points: 1585/100]
A virtual panel appeared. A new card solidified amid its rotation, then stopped.
[Juggler—Character Profile: An erratic serial killer who craved sweets.] [Buff: Tabletop Game Mastery] [Description: You can quickly learn the vast majority of tabletop games.] [Buff: Carnivore] [Description: You can digest raw meat and will no longer be infected by prion diseases, but you hate vegetables.] [Debuff: Madness] [Description: Your mind will be affected to a certain extent.] [Debuff: Radiant Smile] [Description: You will unconsciously want to smile.]
Juggler? An erratic serial killer?
Skofot stared at the description of the new card and was clearly stunned for a moment.
Then, the corners of his mouth uncontrollably and naturally curved upward into a distinct arc, revealing a smile that could only be called radiant.
A serial killer who craved sweets? Tabletop game mastery? Able to eat raw meat but hated vegetables? And debuffs for madness and uncontrollable laughter?
This combination... was bizarre, chaotic, even a little ridiculous.
Yet as he looked at the card, rather than feeling uncomfortable, an indescribable sense of... compatibility rose within him.
It was as though the card's chaotic and disorderly traits subtly catered to certain repressed, unacknowledged dark sides deep within his heart.
Madness? He had long been in the midst of it.
A smile? Like a lunatic.
He thought it was fine.
It even suited his own style somewhat.
He did not equip it immediately. He merely put away the new card that radiated an aura of chaos and closed the system panel.
The radiant smile at the corner of his mouth slowly faded as well, returning to his usual expressionlessness. Only a trace of cold amusement remained deep in his eyes.
It was time for class.
He cast one final glance at the enormous Mirror of Erised. The "him" in the mirror, surrounded by blurry relatives and wearing a warm smile, was still there, like a silent mockery.
Skofot turned around and left the abandoned classroom without hesitation, shutting the illusion in the mirror and that momentary daze behind him.
The shadows of the corridor swallowed him again. He walked steadily toward the classroom, as though nothing had happened.
Only the newly acquired [Juggler] card in the system Backpack quietly foreshadowed certain uncontrollable changes that were about to occur within him.
[Harry has come to see the Mirror of Erised for the last time.]
When the system prompt rang out in his mind, Skofot was leaning in the darkest corner of the dungeon common room, idly playing with a Sickle sponsored by Malfoy's friendship.
His movements paused, and the coin froze between his fingers.
The opportunity had come.
"Purchase [Teleport Card]."
[Emotion Points -5] [Emotion Points: 1580/100]
Without the slightest hesitation, he locked onto the familiar coordinates of the abandoned classroom and activated the teleportation.
A faint spatial disturbance came from behind Harry Potter.
Harry was staring foolishly at the warm smiles of his parents in the mirror, immersed in their illusory reunion. The sudden noise startled him so badly that he jolted and spun around, his Invisibility Cloak slipping from his shoulders.
Skofot Leoqi had appeared there at some point, silent as a ghost condensed from the shadows.
There was little expression on his face, but two low, inscrutable chuckles escaped his throat, making the quiet room feel especially eerie.
"Who?!" Harry staggered back two steps in fright, his heart pounding as he instinctively raised his wand at the Slytherin who always made him uneasy. "Leoqi? How did you..."
Skofot did not answer his question. He merely took a small step forward, his gaze sweeping over the massive mirror before returning to Harry's uncertain face.
"What did you see, Potter?" His voice was calm, but it carried an undeniable probing quality.
Harry pressed his lips together and watched him warily. Yet perhaps it was the softness in his heart regarding the subject of "family," or perhaps Skofot looked fairly... normal at the moment?
He answered quietly, "My family."
Skofot nodded, as though he had expected it. He lifted his chin toward the mirror. "Me too. Family."
Harry froze for a moment, then instinctively asked, "You... you saw your family too?"
It was difficult for him to imagine that this gloomy, strange boy could have a family as warm as the one in his mirror.
Rather than answering directly, Skofot asked, "Why do you come every day?"
"Because... because I can see them here." Harry's voice carried longing and sorrow.
"This mirror," Skofot's tone remained flat, but he began to sway gently, like a pendulum with some peculiar rhythm,
the corners of his mouth uncontrollably lifting into a strange curve, "doesn't show reality. It shows what we desire most deep in our hearts."
Harry watched the increasingly obvious, somewhat neurotic smile on his face and felt his skin crawl. "So what?"
"So what?" Skofot repeated, as if he had heard something utterly hilarious.
He finally could not hold it in anymore. Two sharp, clipped laughs spilled from his throat, his shoulders trembling slightly. He truly looked a little unhinged.
"Ha ha... So, Potter, drowning yourself in these false images is nothing but wasting time."
Still swaying, he took another half-step back, putting a little distance between them, but his gaze pinned Harry's face even more sharply. "Why not... do something practical?"
"Something practical?" Harry's spine went cold from his laughter. He tightened his grip on his wand. "What practical thing?"
The smile on Skofot's face suddenly widened, and an almost fanatical light flickered in his dark eyes.
He suddenly lunged toward Harry, moving with astonishing speed, until their noses nearly touched!
Harry tried to recoil and struggle at the abrupt movement, but Skofot's hand swiftly clamped around his upper arm like an iron vice, gripping so hard that he could not move.
"Something practical..." Skofot stared fixedly into Harry's terrified green eyes,
lowering his voice, each word seeming to squeeze through his teeth with a cold, frenzied air. "Is killing people."
Harry's eyes flew wide open, his blood seeming to freeze instantly.
But Skofot abruptly released him and jumped back a step, spreading his arms like a crazed actor taking a curtain call,
then laughed loudly in a near-singing yet hair-raising tone, "Kill them! Everyone who harmed them! Hahahahaha!!"
That manic laughter and horrifying declaration echoed through the empty classroom.
Before you continue