Now that it had really happened, he actually said nobody needed to take responsibility for it?!
That sophistry was enough to make Harry's whole worldview explode!!
What left Harry even more speechless was that Professor Flitwick seemed to agree with him?
Most obviously, after Dumbledore said those words, Professor Flitwick still looked a little sad, but he was no longer as full of self-reproach as before!
I'm seriously about to lose it~
"Harry, you don't need to take this too much to heart. I'll speak to Draco and reassure him." Dumbledore seemed not to notice the change in Harry's mood. He calmly brought the matter to a final conclusion.
"Headmaster Dumbledore, I don't really understand what you mean... You could have told me about what makes me special beforehand, or had one of the other professors tell me!" Harry questioned Dumbledore with a dark expression. "Also, Mr. Filch gave you a lead earlier about an outside House-elf sneaking into Hogwarts. I want to know... why hasn't the intruder been caught yet?!"
"Harry, I admit you have a point, and I'm glad to see you showing a maturity beyond that of most children. But I want you to understand that we can't prevent everything in advance. We can't make a big show of guarding against something that hasn't happened based on a single clue. That wouldn't solve anything; it might instead cause even greater panic and trouble."
Dumbledore walked over to Harry and gently patted him on the shoulder. "Harry, I understand how worried you've been all this time, and how desperately you want to get away from here. But you and Hermione really don't need to worry. Hogwarts is absolutely the safest place for you, and I can promise you that!"
Just listen to old Dumbledore, saying Hogwarts was safe~
I'd be safe only when my every move was under your control, wouldn't I?!
"Harry, I truly think you're a good child. So I sincerely hope you'll come to accept Hogwarts and find what you really enjoy as you grow up!"
A child?
Hmph, so that was it~
By now, Harry finally understood.
Why Dumbledore kept so many things from him; why, despite Harry giving him a lead, he hadn't acted to resolve it as Harry expected; why... even though he knew so many of his actions would make Harry resent him, he still refused to change, let alone lower himself to have an honest conversation with Harry!
Because it all came down to the inherent arrogance of an adult toward a child!!
What Reconciliation Really Means: Growing Up
Dumbledore was the headmaster of Hogwarts, but when it came to dealing with Harry, he acted more like a parent, always eager to make arrangements based on his own judgment, convinced they were "what was best for Harry."
So, to keep Harry from growing into a spoiled brat—and, of course, because he wanted Harry to experience familial affection and other things—he'd simply assumed it was best to place Harry with the Dursley family.
Even though he knew Harry wanted to stay away from the Wizarding World, he still had an owl deliver Harry's acceptance letter, because he thought Harry would be better off as a wizard and safer at Hogwarts.
He kept Harry's special connection to the Holly Wand a secret from everyone else because the matter was serious, and he also didn't want the other students at Hogwarts to distance themselves from Harry after learning he was a "Wand Snatcher."
Finally, he'd allowed a House-elf—possibly sent by the Malfoy family or some other Pure-blood Family—to hide at Hogwarts. The reason was that the intruder hadn't caused any serious trouble beyond stealing food.
So as long as nothing terrible happened, Hogwarts would remain stable, and the conflict between Harry and Malfoy would remain a squabble between two children, rather than escalating into a matter involving their families.
That was what people meant by letting children handle children's problems while adults took care of adult matters~
From this perspective, Dumbledore wasn't wrong. Everything he'd done was for Harry, to give him what Dumbledore saw as a safe, normal, stable, and happy life as a young wizard!
But to Harry, the most selfish thing in the world was... "I'm doing this for your own good."
I'm doing this for your own good, so I'm right and you're wrong;
I care about you, so you have to listen to me;
I care about you so much, so you have to grow up the way I want;
I'm doing this for your own good. Why can't you appreciate it?
I'm doing all this for your own good. Why can't you see things from my perspective?!
Everything I do is for your own good. If you won't accept it... then you're just a child who doesn't know any better, breaking an adult's heart completely!!
So this was an adult's most condescending arrogance toward a child...
Once he'd understood the heart of the matter, Harry finally gave up on trying to have an honest conversation with Dumbledore. He knew... it wouldn't mean a thing.
Yes, Harry admitted that he'd been wrong for a long time.
Dumbledore was actually a good person. Like Hagrid, Professor Flitwick, and even the tsundere Bat Spirit from Slytherin House, he'd always cared about Harry.
But so what? Did that mean Harry had to accept whatever arrangements they made for him?
It was true that many of Harry's efforts since arriving at Hogwarts had been absurd, because from an all-knowing perspective, Dumbledore would never let him drop out!
But what made Harry sad wasn't that he'd been wasting his time. It was that even though things had come to this, even though Dumbledore completely understood Harry's personality and had even come up with a series of "using people to control people" tactics to restrict his behavior, he still treated Harry like a child, just as any presumptuous parent would!!
He thought that the path he'd planned in advance would help Harry thrive, but he had no idea... Harry didn't want any of that in the first place!
But Dumbledore had lived through too many years.
He'd walked too many roads and seen too many things. Harry had no way to change his mind.
Nor could Harry demand that Dumbledore treat him as an equal and talk to him that way!
Besides, if Harry insisted too much, he might arouse suspicion and end up captured, with his head pried open so they could read his memories.
He didn't believe wizards were incapable of doing that!
So a shallow conversation was pointless, while a deeper one would only make people suspicious. In the end, Harry could only give up on communicating.
In his previous life, he'd also gone through the process of moving from conflict to reconciliation with his parents. He knew all too well that the real reason people reconciled wasn't simply because of so-called reasonable communication, but because...
They grew up.
As children grew older, their parents might say things like, "You'll always be my child," but deep down, they would also acknowledge that their children were gradually becoming independent and moving farther away from them.
Then one day, when parents realized their children had surpassed them in stature, experience, and ability, the so-called reconciliation would naturally follow.
So Harry didn't need to keep wasting time with Dumbledore.
What he needed to do was find Hermione at once!
Harry didn't remember much of the Sorcerer's Stone story, but he had a general idea of some of its most memorable scenes.
Around the time they learned the Levitation Charm in Charms Class, on Halloween... that Quirrell was going to lead a Troll into Hogwarts!!
If he couldn't find Hermione in time... Harry couldn't even bear to imagine it!
He immediately ran to the second-floor Girls' Bathroom, where Hermione might be. Swallowing his pride, he shouted from the doorway, then even risked being mistaken for a pervert by going inside and searching stall by stall. But he found nothing.
He went to look for Hagrid, too, but all he learned from Hagrid was why Hermione was angry and exactly how he'd deceived her...
He even thought about going straight to keep an eye on Quirrell, only to discover that Quirrell had already left Hogwarts that afternoon!
"Hermione... where did you go?!"
Harry searched the underground classrooms, Eagle House's common room, the secret room on the fourth floor, and even the Prefect's Bathroom on the sixth floor—in fact, every place Hermione might have gone. In the end, he still came up empty-handed.
Damn it!
Never before had Harry hated himself as much as he did now... He'd actually lost Hermione!
If he'd known Dumbledore would give such a useless explanation, he shouldn't have gone to the Headmaster's Office with Professor Flitwick. That had left Hermione alone!!
After searching desperately for ages, Harry rushed around like a headless fly and burst into a classroom on the fifth floor. Then he stopped dead in his tracks.
It seemed to be an abandoned classroom. Worn-out desks and chairs had been piled haphazardly against the walls, and thick clumps of dust lay everywhere. Clearly, nobody had cleaned it in a long time.
Yet right in the center of the classroom stood an object that obviously didn't belong there.
"Is that... a mirror?"
It was a huge mirror, reaching all the way to the ceiling. A golden frame ran around its surface, which glimmered in the dim room, making it look impressive and mysterious.
At the top of the mirror was a string of very strange characters.
Erised stra ehru oyt ube cafru oyt on wohsi
Harry only had to read it once to realize it was meant to be read backward.
"What I show is not your reflection, but the desire of your heart."
That was what the inscription really meant.
(P.S. The plot in this part is pretty intense, but the protagonist needed a chance to understand himself. He and old Dumbledore are essentially the same kind of person: both are rather self-righteous adults. Old Dumbledore doesn't think there's anything wrong with restricting or hiding things from Harry, because he's an adult and Harry's a child. By the same logic, Harry doesn't think his actions amounted to deceiving Hermione, because he's an adult and Hermione's a child... Anyway, the protagonist will reflect on himself in what follows, and his views will gradually begin to align with Hermione's.)
The Robber Could Be a Good Person, Too
Harry finally remembered that this Mirror of Erised seemed to be the means by which he obtained the Sorcerer's Stone in the original story.
Back then, he'd merely looked into the mirror and seen his reflection tucking the Sorcerer's Stone into his pocket. Then he'd actually gotten the thing.
It was also in front of this mirror that Harry had killed Quirrell with his own hands...
So what was the use of finding the mirror now? Could it help him find Hermione?
With that thought, Harry looked up at the mirror before him, only to stare in astonishment as a shadow appeared inside it!
"I can really see someone... No, that's not Hermione!"
Harry was delighted and hurried over to the mirror, only to find that the figure inside wasn't the person he'd wanted to see.
The figure's outline was very blurry, and he couldn't make out any of her features. He could tell that she was a girl, but she had long, golden hair that reached down to her waist.
That alone was enough for Harry to be certain she wasn't Hermione!
"So... ugh!!"
But just as he tried to get a better look, a sudden pain stabbed through him like a needle, turning his mind into a muddle!
Countless fragments of memories came rushing in, wave after wave sweeping through Harry's mind. His consciousness couldn't withstand the violent assault, and he finally rolled his eyes back and collapsed in front of the Mirror of Erised.
After Harry fainted, the girl's outline in the mirror gradually disappeared, leaving only his own reflection...
"Ugh... no!"
He didn't know how long had passed before Harry jolted awake and struggled to sit up.
He felt as though some strange memories had appeared in his mind, but he didn't dare think about them. Even the slightest attempt made his head throb as if it were splitting apart.
He carefully got to his feet, only to realize how weak his body was. He trembled all over as if he'd been completely drained, and couldn't even clench his fist.
The Mirror of Erised... Harry glanced warily at the mirror standing a short distance away.
It clearly concealed some extraordinary secrets, but it was also exceptionally dangerous. Harry didn't dare investigate further just then.
"So, the time... Damn it! It's already this late?!"
He struggled to make it into the corridor. When he saw through a window that the sky outside had grown completely dark, he grew frantic.
It was already night. The Halloween feast might have started ages ago... What about the Troll?!
He stumbled toward the Great Hall on the first floor, nearly falling down the stairs several times along the way, but Harry didn't care at all!
All he wanted was to get to the Great Hall as quickly as possible and make sure Hermione was safely seated at Ravenclaw's table, enjoying dinner.
If she wasn't there...
"The Troll—it's in the underground classroom. You should know that..."
Harry had only just reached the first floor, panting, when he heard a shrill warning. He followed the sound and saw Quirrell, who'd been missing all afternoon, lying unconscious beside Dumbledore's chair.
So... where was Hermione?
Before the Great Hall descended into chaos, Harry quickly checked the Ravenclaw table, but Hermione wasn't there.
She wasn't here!
He still had to go to the Girls' Bathroom!
Ignoring the students in disarray behind him and Dumbledore's shouts as he tried to restore order, Harry staggered around and hurried back to the girls' washroom on the second floor!
In the original film and book, Hermione had encountered the Troll here. Although this had been the first place Harry searched that afternoon, there was no way to be certain Hermione hadn't come here while he was unconscious!
At the same time, just as Harry made up his mind to break into the Girls' Bathroom for a second time, Hermione was also struggling to escape her confinement in an unknown room inside Hogwarts Castle, where she'd been held prisoner all afternoon.
"Let me go! Do you hear me? I said let me go!!"
Hermione was tied to a chair so tightly that she couldn't even take out her wand. All she could do was scold her captor again and again, to no avail.
After Charms Class, heartbroken Hermione had wanted to find an empty corner and cry by herself. But as she passed down a corridor, her vision suddenly blurred. Then she knew nothing else.
Before you continue