I Saw Myself

Harry put on the Invisibility Cloak and suddenly realized something.

With this Invisibility Cloak on, all of Hogwarts lay completely open to him. He could go anywhere!

Ron mumbled a few times in his sleep. Harry considered it, then decided not to wake him.

This was his first time using his father's Invisibility Cloak. He wanted to use it alone.

Harry's heart pounded wildly as countless possibilities came to mind—he could visit the Restricted Section of the library and find out who Nicolas Flamel was, or he could go below the first floor and see what was really down there.

Perhaps he might even run into Damon—Harry had always been curious about where Damon went to practice Charms. If he found him, maybe he could watch Damon practice?

Harry went to the Restricted Section on the fifth floor first, but found no clues. Instead, a book that kept shrieking horribly frightened him into running around until he gradually lost his way.

Because of the caretaker Filch, he accidentally stumbled into an abandoned classroom.

Many desks and chairs were piled against the walls, forming large, dark shadows. There was also an overturned wastebasket—but on the wall directly opposite him stood something that did not seem to belong there, as if someone had temporarily placed it there because they had nowhere else to put it.

It was a very grand mirror, stretching all the way to the ceiling. Its ornate golden frame rested upon two clawed feet, and a line of strange lettering was carved across the top.

Erised stra ehru oyt ube cafru oyt on wohsi.

Read backward, it became:

I show not your face but your heart's desire.

An indescribable magic drew Harry toward it.

He walked forward in a daze and stopped before the mirror.

A beautiful woman appeared in the mirror, with deep red hair and eyes exactly like Harry's.

She was smiling, yet she was also crying.

The tall, thin black-haired man standing beside her had an arm around her.

The man wore glasses, and his hair was messy. A stubborn tuft at the back of his head stood upright, just like Harry's. Harry was now so close to the mirror that his nose was almost touching his reflection's.

He understood.

His parents were in the mirror.

Harry pressed both hands tightly against the glass, staring at them hungrily.

A fierce pain rose in his heart, half from joy and half from profound sorrow.

Harry did not know how long he stood there.

After returning to the dormitory, he shared everything about this Night Patrol with Ron—he had wanted to tell Damon too, but judging by the pattern, he would probably have to wait another few days before seeing him again.

On the second night, he and Ron returned to the mirror during another Night Patrol. What Ron saw was completely different from what Harry saw—he saw himself becoming Head Boy and Quidditch captain, with Damon and himself known together as the "Twin Lions of Gryffindor."

After they returned, Ron became much more excited. His eyes practically sparkled whenever he spoke.

On the morning of the third day, although it was still the holidays, Harry did not sleep in—he wanted to see whether Damon might be in the Great Hall. If there was one time Damon was most likely to appear, it was breakfast.

According to the pattern they had worked out, Damon would appear one morning after disappearing for two or three days.

When Harry saw the figure sitting at the dining table, he could not help calling out in delight:

"Damon!"

"Oh, Harry, you seem rather excited?"

Damon took out a pair of chopsticks made with Transfiguration and kept slurping the beef noodles in his bowl—on the day he gave gifts to the House-elves, they had come to thank him, and Damon had taken the opportunity to request noodle dishes.

Though the House-elves did not understand noodle-based food, magic could solve many problems.

"What is that—never mind, that isn't what I came to talk about." Harry glanced toward the professors' table, then leaned closer to Damon mysteriously. "I found something good. Do you want to go take a look with me tonight?"

"Night Patrol?" Damon lowered his head and slurped up another huge mouthful of noodles.

Harry thought Damon was worried about school rules. He was just about to say that he could bring Damon along under the Invisibility Cloak when Damon agreed without hesitation.

"Sure. I'll come to your dormitory later. See you then."

Damon quickly finished his noodles, wiped his mouth, and left immediately.

Harry stared after him in a slight daze—Damon had agreed far too quickly, and somehow Harry was not used to it.

"See you then."

That evening, Harry skillfully led Damon to the mirror.

As for Ron, he thought frequent Night Patrols were simply too dangerous. He had wanted to persuade Harry to stop, but when he heard that Harry was taking Damon to see it, he no longer objected.

Since the cloak could not fit all three of them, he said to Harry with some regret:

"Ask Damon what he sees, then tell me afterward."

Harry understood at once and nodded with a smile.

"Don't worry. I'm actually very curious about what Damon will see too."

What would someone as talented and goal-oriented as Damon see in the mirror?

"That's the mirror. This is what I wanted to show you."

Harry pointed at the Mirror of Erised, his face full of anticipation.

When Damon finally stepped up to the mirror, Harry even became nervous.

Seeing Damon merely raise an eyebrow, his expression unchanged and nothing like the excitement Harry and Ron had shown when they saw the mirror, Harry took the initiative and asked:

"What did you see?"

"Nothing, Harry." Damon turned and smiled, looking faintly satisfied. "I saw myself."

"What? That can't be."

Harry's pupils shrank slightly. He stepped before the mirror again and motioned for Damon to move back. Soon, the image of his parents reappeared.

"It isn't broken," he muttered as he stepped aside. "Try again?"

"All right."

Damon stood before the mirror once more, and the image within became himself again.

He naturally knew why, but he could not say it—according to how things were supposed to unfold, Dumbledore should be watching him from behind them right now.

"Still just myself, Harry. Perhaps this mirror simply doesn't work on me."

"But—how can that be—"

Harry was both incredulous and a little embarrassed—he had finally found something he could share with Damon, only for it to turn out to be a false alarm?

He wanted Damon to try again, but Damon said:

"All right, Harry. Since you call this mirror a treasure, why don't you tell me what you saw in it?"

"I—I saw my parents. The me in the mirror was standing with them. My father had his hand on my shoulder, and my mother was crying as she rubbed my head. Her eyes kept looking at me outside the mirror."

"That sounds wonderful. You had never seen your parents before, had you?" Damon patted Harry on the shoulder. "In that case, shall we take this mirror away?"

"Huh?"

Harry had not expected him to say that. He froze.

Behind them, the magic in the corner suddenly trembled.