Harry was very glad that his father's Invisibility Cloak seemed large enough to fit three young wizards without any trouble.
After a while, they returned to that abandoned classroom. Pulling off the cloak, Ron Weasley pointed at the enormous mirror in the middle. "That's it. Look, it's a magic mirror."
"A magic mirror?" Tom looked at the ornate mirror, somewhat puzzled. "What can it do?"
"Er, I don't know, but I saw my parents in it," Harry said. "You know, they died when I was very young."
Tom understood in an instant.
Did Harry want me to see my parents here?
He knew I had never seen what they looked like either.
"But I only saw myself becoming Head Boy and winning the Quidditch Cup. I think this mirror might let people see the future," Ron said.
"Go on and try it, Tom. See what you can see."
Tom approached the mirror. He had expected to see his parents, whom he had never met, just as Harry had.
But all he saw in the mirror was a boy.
Chains bound him. He stood face-to-face with Tom, almost the same height, his movements exactly identical—but that face was not Tom's own.
In an instant, Tom recognized him.
Tom Riddle.
"You... how are you here?" he asked in shock.
The boy opened his mouth. No sound came out, yet Tom somehow understood what he meant.
[This is a mirror, Tom. People always see themselves in mirrors.]
Tom shook his head. "No, that's impossible. You were already... the timing is wrong... and you look..."
[Appearances can be altered, time can be reversed, and even death may not be the end... You already know all this, don't you?]
"No, impossible. That diary..."
[It was a liar.]
"How do I know you won't lie to