"Wake up, Ron." Harry shook Ron's arm, then continued once he had sat up, bleary-eyed. "Guess what I saw?"
Ron clearly wasn't fully awake yet, his head still lolling. "Don't tell me it was Merlin's red long johns?"
"A mirror!"
"A mirror?" Ron made to lie down again. "I'm begging you, Harry, let me sleep."
"Not an ordinary mirror. It can..."
Harry didn't know exactly what magic the mirror possessed. He could only struggle to push Ron upright again and insist that he come and see the mirror with him.
Ron felt he wasn't going to get any sleep that day.
The two of them rustled their way over to the mirror. It was an enormous floor-standing mirror that could reflect a person's entire body, and Harry excitedly recounted what he had seen.
"Guess what I saw? My parents!"
"What?" Ron suspected that Harry had been so upset on a day when he should have been reunited with his family that he had started hallucinating.
Seeing that Ron didn't believe him, Harry hurriedly pulled him directly in front of the mirror. "Quick, stand here."
"What do you see?"
Ron stood before the mirror in silence for a long time, but the smile on his face gave everything away.
"Whoa-I see myself as Minister for Magic, with loads of Galleons beside me and lots of Magic Mobile Phones circling around me."
At dinner, Harry sat alone off to one side.
He could have been less sad, if he had never seen his parents.
In the mirror, his father gently rested a hand on his shoulder, while his mother wore a loving, warm smile, as though saying, "Life must have been so hard for you without us."
Over the following days, Harry often went to find the mirror, sometimes sitting there for an entire day.
"It's called the Mirror of Erised."
Harry turned around in shock. The person who had arrived was none other than Professor Dumbledore.
Dumbledore spoke with easy confidence. "I believe you've already discovered what makes it extraordinary. It shows us what we most deeply desire."
"But it brings us neither knowledge nor power. Many people become absorbed in it, wasting their lives away. Tomorrow, I will move this mirror somewhere else. I hope you can live in the present and improve yourself."
"Then what do you see in it, Professor?"
"A pair of woollen socks." Dumbledore spread his hands. "A Christmas present from someone, though I don't know who."
Winter in England was especially short.
Or perhaps the days spent curled up beside the fireplace playing on a phone amid a world blanketed in snow were simply too enchanting. Harry felt that, in the blink of an eye, the snow had melted and winter was over.
Lorne and Ron were both very unhappy.
Because finals were coming.
Under Hermione's rapid-fire questioning, Ron immediately felt that his finals were hopeless and the pressure was immense. Lorne, meanwhile, was having friendly discussions with Dumbledore, bargaining back and forth.
During this time, the trio finally discovered that "Nicolas Flamel" was the very person mentioned on the Chocolate Frog card who had worked with Dumbledore to make the Philosopher's Stone.
"The Philosopher's Stone can turn any metal into gold, and it can also produce the Elixir of Life, allowing people to live forever."
"So the thing the three-headed dog is guarding is the Philosopher's Stone."
After Hermione finished her summary, Harry offered a well-founded connection. "Snape wants to steal the Philosopher's Stone?"
Ron raised an eyebrow. "He wants to live forever so he can torment generations of Gryffindors. What an evil plan."
"It might not be for him. Perhaps he's working for someone else."
"Who else could it be, apart from Dumbledore?"
Harry suddenly remembered Professor Snape threatening Professor Quirrell while he had been wandering around at night under the Invisibility Cloak.
"It could be... Voldemort."
Draco had also been very unhappy lately.
Because someone had taken his top spot on the rankings.
He didn't know how Harry had managed to pull Sword of Courage-Godric Gryffindor. With his unique tankiness and accompanying physical attacks, Harry had surpassed him in both combat power and actual battles.
Lucky bastard! Draco couldn't help grumbling inwardly.
When he had gone home for Christmas, Draco hadn't kept his Magic Mobile Phone with him at all times because he had to attend all sorts of dinner parties. Harry, meanwhile, had no one keeping him in check at Hogwarts. Draco firmly believed that Harry must have overtaken him during that period.
Damn it. I lost on family background.
He really wanted to go and pick a fight with Gryffindor now, but Neville had Director Lorne backing him, while Harry and his two friends were often nowhere to be found. He had no idea what they were doing.
Those two trolls, Crabbe and Goyle, spent every day thinking up ways to get their hands on his Magic Mobile Phone. They had practically become slaves to Wizard Legend.
Worse still, the Slytherins had distanced themselves from him because he had once taken first place in a Gryffindor challenge. Whenever a professor deducted points from him, they would call him an "honorary Gryffindor."
The first time Draco heard that name, he was so angry he nearly ground his teeth to pieces.
Evening, Hagrid's Hut.
Lorne had come here once again. He had to admit that spending a long time in the wooden hut brought on a haziness rather like being drunk. Lorne didn't like drinking, but being surrounded by warm colours could also let his mind relax for a little while.
He was complaining to Hagrid. "I'm not bad-mouthing Dumbledore, but I really think he ought to listen to my advice. The world is full of talented people. The best approach is to break the mould and make use of everyone's strengths. He can't just arbitrarily dump the first-year final exams on me like this."
"But didn't you agree to it in the first place?" Hagrid reasoned.
Lorne: "..."
"Hagrid, you're really bad at comforting people." Lorne slumped onto the table as though accepting his fate. "I need to do something big, so Dumbledore can see that I'm far too capable to need these boring exams."
"Actually, you're afraid you won't pass, aren't you?"
"..."
"Besides, what big things could happen at Hogwarts? This is the safest place in the wizarding world."
Lorne gave a faint chuckle. "I wouldn't be so sure."
Hagrid enthusiastically introduced the egg boiling in his pot. "This is a dragon egg. Didn't cost me a single Galleon. Won it off someone I didn't know."
"What was the price?"
"What price? He just made a bet with me, asking if I knew how to raise a three-headed dog. Hmph, he could never have guessed I raised Fluffy myself. I told him all it takes is a tune to quiet Fluffy down and send him to sleep."
The trio, who had sneaked out and were standing outside the door about to knock, suddenly froze. They looked at one another.
"Did you hear that?"
Ron nodded. "I'm guessing Hagrid definitely wasn't raised on Veritaserum."
"Who's outside?" Lorne raised his voice to ask.
Harry knocked on the door. "It's us. We need to talk to Hagrid about something important."
Hagrid opened the door. "You've come at a really bad time. I'm a bit busy right now."
"And it's past curfew," Lorne added.
"Wait, don't close the door, Hagrid." Harry was frantic. "The Philosopher's Stone might be in danger!"
Hagrid's large hand stopped as he was closing the door. "How do you know about the Philosopher's Stone?"