Episode 4. Part 3

Episode 4. Part 3

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Peace be with you, earthlings! Thank you for your attention and Enjoy Reading!

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- Cloak of Invisibility, then. A great help, brother, don't you think? - Harry smiled genuinely, for the first time in years. He was very happy to get an item his father owned for Christmas. It was... as if it was proof that James Potter really existed and wasn't just a child's fantasy. And the very fact that his father had such an interesting robe made him suspect that his father wasn't as sinless as some people wanted to show him. Of course, that didn't mean that James Potter was a thief, but he probably used the mantle to break the rules at least once in his life. Harold was relieved by such thoughts.

Dudley looked at his brother thoughtfully and it seemed to him, however, that he was becoming more and more cynical. Even his father's mantle he wanted to use for their trade. Somehow it didn't seem to him that Harry might have had anything else in mind...

They gave each other modest gifts, and only for birthdays. They didn't celebrate Christmas. And so, a few hours later, after a run, watching their fellow students rejoice in the gifts, the cousins were mentally glad of their cleverness and that they had warned their acquaintances not to give them anything and not to expect anything from them. They didn't admit this, not just to each other, but even to themselves: simply spending money on gifts that probably wouldn't be used anyway, they considered wastefulness rather than a sign of attention...

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- Harry, that was the mirror I saw in my vision! - Dudley exclaimed when, on Christmas Eve, while exploring the castle, one of the newly discovered secret passages led first to a forbidden section of the library, and then to a room where there was a huge mirror called Einalege.

The cousins carefully examined the mirror, but found nothing suspicious and left the room to continue exploring the castle.

But at night, using the cloak of invisibility, Harold returned to the mirror alone. He stared into it for a long time, straining and wishing he could feel the magic in the artifact and its direction. But nothing worked for him. He saw only his reflection with his green eyes burning brightly in the darkness.

- A mirror is like a mirror. Nothing out of the ordinary..." he finally snorted when he got tired of it, only to immediately flinch in surprise and bounce away. Behind him stood none other than Principal Dumbledore himself:

- You see your parents in him, don't you? - he did not ask, he asserted, not being able to read the student's mind. Well, what else could an orphan see! - Einalege. Desire. A happy, contented man who wants nothing will see nothing but himself in the mirror. Others will see in it the fulfillment of their deepest desire... It has driven more than one wizard mad," Albus explained. He hadn't noticed Potter's interest in the riddles he was planting. And so he had plans for this conversation, on which much depended. - I want to...

- I see no reason to look in a plain mirror any longer or longer than usual. I see nothing in it, Headmaster, except my reflection and the room," Harold interrupted Dumbledore in a cool tone. - I'm sorry, I shouldn't have been out walking after lights out," he apologized, not very sincerely, and walked around the stunned Albus's impudence in a circle, trying not to let him out of his sight. Harry still had fresh memories of how easily he'd blocked the exit from his and Dudley's room the summer before.

He didn't dare go into the tower by secret passages, including the one that had led them to the locked section of the library. He dared not show that he knew the passages. So he brazenly went out through the main exit of the library, then put on a mantle and disappear for everyone, including the headmaster's trackers, which dissipated even from the mantle, as soon as the true owner took it in his hands...

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- Damn boy, not at all interested in the riddles I plant on him! - Albus Percival Wulfric Brian Dumbledore repeated annoyedly for the tenth time, complaining to Fawkes. - He never saw the safe at Gringotts, was not interested in the article in the newspaper, and would not talk to Hagrid even after the latter had told him that he knew Potter Senior and his red-haired witch. He never went into the corridor on the third floor: no matter how many times I spelled the stairs to turn in that direction, he always waited until someone came for him or the stairs changed course. Ron Weasley couldn't get him interested in the cerberus message. He didn't pay any attention to Severus' wound at all... And the troll.

Hmm, it's still unclear what happened to the troll," the headmaster pondered. - I have a feeling that the boy had something to do with his death, but... no trace of either Potter or Dursle I found.

I even talked openly about Flamel and Minerva in front of him! But...

Fawkes, I think I shouldn't have left Harry at the orphanage. - The phoenix let out an iridescent trill, looking at the mad flame in his master's blue eyes...

- To use an apprentice in the dark, almost without concealment, casting a spell of trust on him, is..." wailed Phineas Nigelus Black almost habitually. - Even in my family..." Dumbledore also habitually waved his wand, silencing the portrait of one of the headmasters. He knew that not many of his predecessors had agreed with his approach to gifted children, but they, in their time, had not asked the opinion of their predecessors either.

- Phineas, you know the system," the headmaster sighed. - It takes a hero to defeat a villain. We have a villain, and the hero has long been marked by him. But you don't just become a hero from scratch. Heroes also need to be educated and trained, so that they not only win, but are not proud of their victories. How many people are ready to defy evil? Are there many children among them, Phineas? - The Headmaster reasoned. The portraits squinted at him with pity and mockery, saying, "Who are you trying to convince, boy? Us, or yourself?"

- For the hero to win, he has to get a good education without the distraction of the other problems you're giving him," Armando Dippett objected coldly. - And besides, the hero must live to at least his majority. That's not likely with your plans, Albus.

- It's for the greater good! - Dumbledore protested wearily.

- You have already defeated your villain, whom, by the way, you created yourself. Poor boy, Grindelwald! Fallen victim to your mistakes and intrigues! And then lost everything, even his magic, at your hand driven by greed," the headmaster shook his head. The acting headmaster could barely restrain himself from vaporizing the pained pictures, for they made him doubt his actions...

However, he was also grateful to his predecessors, for thanks to them, he was reminded of one inquisitive girl, whom he had left, as a backup...

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- Harry! - I don't know who else to turn to," she called out, almost crying, a breathless girl with disheveled auburn hair. - I don't know who else to turn to. McGonagle told me to stay out of it. But I know there's a Philosopher's Stone in the school, in the forbidden corridor, and Snape wants to steal it! For Voldemort! The Headmaster is not at school and Snape will surely try to steal the Stone today! - She screamed hysterically and cried instantly, hugging Harold and burying her head in his shoulder, unexpectedly and to herself. Dudley wasn't there, or he wouldn't have hesitated to drop a few caustic comments when he saw the picture.

- Come on, Hermie, don't cry," Harry stood stock still, burning with shame, embarrassment, and embarrassment. He had nowhere near the idea of how to comfort girls, so he clumsily stroked Granger on the back. - I'm sure the stone is perfectly protected by the professors and the Headmaster himself! He is the greatest wizard. So wherever the stone is, it's safe.

- You really think so? - raised a tearful look at Hermione, the hope of the magic world.

- Of course I do! - He exclaimed, with all the right words. Albus Dumbledore was an unquestionable authority for a girl, and it was worth using that to reassure her... - Surely Dumbledore had left at least one signal or tracking spell there. Which means that once the villain gets into the room, the headmaster will know about it right away.

- But he just won't have time..." Granger remarked as she calmed down and wiped her eyes.

- Hermie, have you ever read about phoenixes? - Harold asked slyly. Not immediately, but Hermione's eyes brightened. - Right. The Headmaster has a pet phoenix named Fawkes. And I've personally seen Dumbledore use it to move through space. And they have a strong bond. You can call the phoenix mentally and it will come, you know? - Granger nodded emphatically. - And we ourselves should not jump into the jaws of a lion. We're just kids, and we certainly can't get past the stone's defenses, designed, perhaps, for the He-Who-Must-Name Himself. And we certainly can't stop the professor...

- That's right, Harry! Thank you," Hermione smiled sunnily.

- No nonsense? - Harold sternly clarified. Granger shook her head. The Boy Who Survived and Said Sensible Things she believed...

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