Today Isn't Easter

In fact, the Christmas feast that day was completely devoid of the loneliness and cold typical of winter.

Everything was lively and bustling.

Countless dishes appeared on the plates, and every few steps, various magical toys for entertainment were scattered about.

When some magical cracker snaps were lit, they exploded with a bang like cannon fire, engulfing people in a cloud of blue smoke, from which a naval admiral's hat would burst forth...

At the head table, Dumbledore had swapped his pointed wizard's hat for a bonnet adorned with flowers, and Professor Flitwick had just told him a joke, making him chuckle happily.

As for the gamekeeper Hagrid, he seemed rather pent up, drinking one glass after another, spilling secret after secret from his lips, until the students below stopped chatting and just eavesdropped.

If not for Dumbledore stopping him, this gamekeeper might have blurted out every secret of Hogwarts he knew...

There was no division of houses; teachers were just teachers, students just students, and everything felt warm on this Christmas night.

Watching this harmonious scene, Glenn thought that if not for those tangled interests and positions, this was what Hogwarts should truly look like.

Unfortunately, in a magical school, harmony was only temporary, and the occurrence of all sorts of strange things was the eternal main theme.

For instance, at noon the next day, Harry told Glenn a shocking piece of news: "My parents came back to life!"

"..." Hearing this, Glenn fell silent, rarely at a loss for how to respond.

Could it be that yesterday's guidance had gone too far? Or had the house-elves, offended that they didn't eat their cooking, decided to poison the ingredients?

"Is it possible you're mistaken? Yesterday was Christmas; Easter is still a while away." Glenn frowned and asked.

"It's absolutely true—I saw them in the mirror!" Harry said excitedly.

Seeing him so thrilled, Glenn didn't want to say much—mainly because he was also curious about how Harry's parents had come back to life.

Even if, worst case, they hadn't truly revived and were just in ghost form, or something worse, as long as they could consciously utter a single sentence, it would save a lot of trouble.

If the information given was even clearer, then he might be able to end this trip to Hogwarts—when the goal was clear, charging straight into the enemy's lair and killing them all might be the best option.

So, when Harry said he wanted to go again tonight, Glenn naturally agreed.

When night fell, Glenn arrived at the agreed-upon corridor on time.

If there was one hardest thing about pretending to be a new student, it was definitely having to pretend not to see things.

Though his naked eyes saw nothing, in the "Revelio," two blurry blue figures stumbled toward him.

From their behavior, they seemed to want to startle him.

To avoid wasting time, Glenn could only turn his back, putting on an act of complete unawareness.

The next moment, his shoulder was tapped.

When he turned around, Harry and Ron appeared before him.

"Ha! Scared you, didn't we?"

"You scared me to death." Glenn said expressionlessly.

"I told you, with Glenn's mental fortitude, he probably wouldn't be scared." Harry sighed.

"Too bad, I thought this Invisibility Cloak would catch him off guard." Ron said enviously, stroking the Invisibility Cloak in his hands that belonged to Harry.

Glenn took a few extra looks at the Invisibility Cloak in Ron's hands.

"Who gave this to you?"

"Oh, it's said to be Harry's father," Ron said instinctively.

Huh? Had they really come back to life?

"Ahem, it's not my father," though Harry wished it were.

But to be honest, it probably wasn't, because the package containing the gift also had a letter that read: Your father left this with me before he died; it's time to return it to you. Use it well. Sincerely wishing you a Merry Christmas.

"But if it's not your father, then who could it be?" As if sensing Harry's mood dip, Ron continued, "He had no reason to stay anonymous, and like you said yesterday, you did see your parents, didn't you?"

Hearing this, Harry's spirits lifted a bit, and he and Ron started discussing it back and forth.

But Glenn didn't join the discussion.

As for who gave it to Harry, he already had an answer in mind.

It had nothing to do with intuition or reasoning—he simply saw it.

Through the thick walls, in the classroom next door, Glenn spotted a blurry blue figure.

From the beard that reached his waist, who else could it be but Dumbledore?

After that, because they were still young and small in build, Harry used the Invisibility Cloak to cover Ron and Glenn, wandering through the dim corridors, trying to find the room he had discovered the night before.

But perhaps due to poor sense of direction, they spent nearly an hour in the corridors without finding the way.

During this time, worried about running into Filch, Harry and Ron moved very slowly, often taking several seconds for each step.

To be honest, this nearly bored Glenn to sleep as well.

And Professor Dumbledore, trailing behind them, would have already been tempted to personally lead these two students sneaking around in the middle of the night if he weren't trying not to be discovered.

"I'm freezing," Ron said. "Let's stop looking and go back."

The winter temperature was low now, and he felt like his feet were about to freeze stiff.

"No!" Harry said hoarsely. "I know it's somewhere nearby—right nearby!"

Just as Ron was about to say something more, Harry suddenly exclaimed in delight, "It's here—it's here—yes!"

This was a room resembling a storage closet, filled with a scattering of various magical objects.

Without time to say much, the moment Harry entered, he threw off the Invisibility Cloak from his shoulders and dashed over to the mirror.

"Can you see them? My parents are smiling and waving at me! And there are other family members too... that old couple with green eyes, they might be my grandparents or something..."

Hearing this, Ron curiously leaned in, but after just a few seconds, he stepped back with a puzzled expression.

"I don't see anything."

"Look properly, come on, stand where I am." Harry moved aside, but as soon as Ron stood in front of the mirror, Harry could no longer see his family—only Ron standing there in his pajamas.

And Ron stared wide-eyed at himself in the mirror.

"Can you see your family all gathered around you?" Harry asked.

"No—just me alone—but different from now—I look a bit older—and I'm Head Boy!"

"What?"

"I'm holding the House Cup and the Quidditch Cup—and I'm Quidditch captain too!" Ron said excitedly. "Do you think this mirror might be showing the future?"

"So I might be reunited with my family in the future?" Harry said hopefully.

For some reason, time suddenly slowed down.

Ron abruptly realized just how cruel his words had been.

If it really was showing the future, that would be best—but what if it wasn't?

At a loss, he looked toward Glenn.

"I think, Harry, this mirror probably has nothing to do with showing the future. Earlier, Hermione and I were reading in the library and came across something—there's a kind of mirror called the Mirror of Erised. It lets people see what they most desire, but what's inside isn't real," Glenn said.

Hearing this, Harry opened his mouth as if to say something, but nothing came out, so he simply closed it.

Even so, for him and Ron, since they had already put in the effort to get here, it would be a waste not to look a little longer.

So Harry insisted on staying for about an hour before reluctantly deciding to leave.

"So Glenn, what did you see in the mirror?" Ron asked curiously before they left.

He had planned to say he saw a bunch of Dark wizards gathered together, but thinking it over, that would be too shocking for two eleven-year-old kids.

"A good meal."

"I want that too."

After a brief chat, Harry called Ron to leave.

As for Glenn, since the Slytherin dormitory was in the opposite direction from Gryffindor's and not far away, he stayed behind as the last to leave.

Perhaps seeing that the three first-years were already on their way out, Dumbledore's figure was no longer visible through Revelio—after all, making an old man stay up all night standing guard was indeed a bit much to ask.

"Too bad, it wasn't really a resurrection," Glenn sighed inwardly.

But then again, he hadn't held out much hope anyway—resurrection was still too elusive a thing.

Just as he was about to close the door, Glenn took another look at the Mirror of Erised facing the entrance.

Inside appeared an elderly couple, one of whom was Professor Figg.

"Miriam, let me introduce you—this is my finest student..."