Dumbledore and the promise

The Great Hall.

"You should have woken me up. I wanted to see your mum and dad."

Ron complained angrily, upset that Harry had discovered the mirror on his own yesterday without calling him.

Harry said, "You can come tonight. I'm going again. I want you to see that mirror."

The two discussed the mirror so eagerly that they almost forgot about Nicolas Flamel.

John sandwiched some turkey between slices of toast.

Just as he was about to put it in his mouth, Harry said, "John was there too, but I didn't see his family."

John set down his sandwich and said rather seriously, "Harry, I don't think that mirror shows your family. It reflects what you long for in your heart. You shouldn't get too obsessed with it."

Ron asked curiously, "What did you see, John?"

"Me?"

Remembering what he had seen yesterday, John smacked his lips and said, "I saw a table full of food."

"Er..."

Ron and Harry were at a loss for words. They had expected John to see something else. Since he loved studying so much, shouldn't he have seen books?

But Harry didn't take John's words to heart. If anything, he wanted to go even more.

He was starved for love.

Even the most powerful magic, built on a mother's love, couldn't fill the void in his heart. More than being the Chosen One, he wanted his parents by his side.

John didn't worry about whether Harry had listened. He had given his warning, after all.

With Dumbledore around, even Voldemort couldn't hurt Harry and the others.

Unconcerned, John finished his meal and remembered Nicolas Flamel. He took a Chocolate Frog wizard card from his pocket and handed it to Harry.

"What's this?"

Harry didn't quite understand what he was doing.

John smiled mysteriously. "Perhaps the answers aren't as obscure as you imagine. You need to learn to observe the things around you."

His cryptic words left both of them baffled, but Harry accepted the card anyway.

With all his attention on the Mirror of Erised, Harry promptly stuffed the card into his pocket. It would probably be a while before he remembered it.

None of that concerned John. He had already headed to the library.

Under Madam Pince's watchful gaze, he piled books on alchemy onto the table.

Even Professor McGonagall felt heartened by his diligence as she passed by. The only drawback was that he wasn't a Gryffindor student.

With two hours of the top student blessing, John barely managed to piece together the theory of alchemy.

Once his top student time ran out, he set aside the mountain of books and rubbed his aching eyes.

"It's still too difficult to rely on these theories alone."

Before him lay Easy Introduction to Ancient Runes and Easy Alchemy.

They covered only the most basic material, yet they were enough to make his head swim.

Still, thanks to them, John could begin practicing alchemy.

According to Goblin Forging, ancient runes plus alchemy equaled goblin forging.

The formula was simple, but succeeding required hundreds, even thousands, of trials.

John headed to the Room of Requirement on the Seventh Floor, choosing a different room this time.

I need a place where I can craft things.

He walked past the enormous tapestry three times, and a wooden door appeared in the blank wall.

He pushed the door open and entered a room filled with cauldrons.

The shelves along the walls held many empty bottles, some of which contained materials from magical creatures.

John flexed his fingers. It looked like he would need to replenish the materials as well.

Just as with wandmaking, magical creatures were valuable in a wizard's hands.

John couldn't afford to buy them with his meager funds, but someone nearby had a huge stock of materials he could borrow.

The next day.

"Here you go. What do you need Blast-Ended Skrewt bottoms for, John?"

At Hagrid's Hut, Hagrid dealt with magical creatures every day as gamekeeper. The materials he had accumulated over the years were worth a fortune.

Yet Hagrid didn't seem to realize it. He was sitting on a treasure trove without knowing it.

John was one of the few students close to Hagrid, and they also shared the bond of having ventured into Aragog's lair together.

Upon hearing that John needed materials, Hagrid immediately gathered a huge pile for him.

John nearly fell over when he took them.

Hagrid made carrying them look easy, but the pile was incredibly heavy.

Blast-Ended Skrewts were a kind of fantastic beast bred at Hogwarts, possibly a cross between Manticores and Fire Crabs.

Only Hagrid could produce an entire basket of their bottoms at once. John planned to use them as materials for his first attempt at alchemy.

"I'm studying alchemy, Hagrid. After all, who knows more about these things than you?"

Hagrid was delighted to hear that. John politely declined his offer of Rock Cakes.

Carrying a basket of Blast-Ended Skrewt bottoms, John struggled back to the Room of Requirement and began crafting.

He became so absorbed that he neglected food and sleep, even missing dinner.

When he emerged from the Room of Requirement, his nose was smudged with black ash.

On his way back, he passed the Fifth Floor.

John stopped when he saw that the door to the room containing the mirror was ajar.

He knew Harry was inside.

"He's become obsessed after all." With a sigh, John abandoned his plan to return to his dormitory and headed toward the room on the left.

As he approached the door, John heard voices inside.

Could it be Ron? Harry brought Ron to see the mirror yesterday.

John cast the Disillusionment Charm on himself, seeming to vanish into the darkness.

An elderly but gentle voice came from inside.

"Like hundreds before you, you have discovered the delights of the Mirror of Erised."

"I didn't know it was called that, sir."

"But I expect you've realized what it does by now?"

"It... it shows me my family."

Harry spoke with Dumbledore, who had appeared there, and learned that the mirror worked just as John had said: it showed him what he longed for.

Dumbledore used this to teach Harry a lesson and told him that the mirror would be moved elsewhere.

Harry was reluctant to leave, but obediently put on his Invisibility Cloak to go back to bed.

"Professor Dumbledore, what do you see when you look in the mirror?"

Before leaving, Harry was curious about what Dumbledore saw in the Mirror of Erised. Dumbledore gave a mysterious, slightly playful smile and said, "I see myself holding a pair of thick woolen socks."

"One can never have enough socks."

Harry found the answer a little evasive, though not entirely unreasonable.

After all, John had seen a table full of food. He thought that perhaps John was full of wisdom, just like Dumbledore.

After watching Harry leave, Dumbledore stayed in the room. With a kindly smile, he addressed the empty air. "Perhaps I should speak to you face-to-face as well, Mr. Wick."

Well, John knew he had been far too naive to think he could fool the greatest wizard of the century.

He stepped out of the darkness and ended the Disillusionment Charm.

His figure gradually became visible, as though he had appeared in the room out of thin air.

"An excellent Disillusionment Charm. It seems you've learned a great deal in the Restricted Section," Dumbledore praised.

John felt rather embarrassed. Having his rule-breaking exposed to his face made him feel guilty, especially when the person doing it was the headmaster of Hogwarts.

Dumbledore laughed. "Don't worry. I believe Professor Quirrell signed your permission slip, didn't he?"

He winked, looking far too mischievous for an old man.

John knew Dumbledore hadn't called him out for no reason. He had been about to leave when Dumbledore stopped him.

Sure enough, Dumbledore looked at John, his kind eyes gleaming as though they could see into his heart, and asked, "Mr. Wick, what did you see in the mirror?"

John tensed and instinctively used Occlumency. He answered honestly, "Food. Lots of delicious food. Um... and myself becoming powerful."

After a moment's hesitation, John decided not to hide it.

Dumbledore was very pleased with his answer. Clapping his hands, he laughed. "A round of applause for honesty. Do you know, John, Minerva has been telling me these past few days that perhaps something has gone wrong with the Sorting Hat."

Behind his half-moon spectacles, Dumbledore's eyes held a profound meaning. His rich voice seemed imbued with magic. "She is mistaken. There is nothing wrong with the Sorting Hat. Slytherin is indeed the best fit for you. There is no doubt about that."

"Promise me, John, that you won't meddle with magic whose consequences cannot be undone."

"I promise, Professor."

John didn't know why Dumbledore had brought this up. Perhaps it was because he knew John had read quite a lot about dark magic in the Restricted Section.

John nodded without hesitation. Though he knew the old man wouldn't kill a student in cold blood, he was still a little afraid of being found out.

"You have the self-control to overcome your desires. I believe in you, John. As a reward for discovering the answer, perhaps you will have a chance to encounter the real Philosopher's Stone."

His earlier seriousness vanished, and Dumbledore winked as though hinting at something.

John froze. The answer?

He thought of the Chocolate Frog wizard card. This old man seemed to know everything.

Whether it was the Restricted Section or the Chocolate Frog wizard card.