The Boggart, The Mirror, and The Tribrid

"It can't be that bad of an idea," Hope said to Pick, who sat comfortably on her shoulder, using her hair to hold onto so he wouldn't fall as she rounded another flight of stairs. Hogwarts was still an absolute maze to Hope, but she was slowly finding her way to where she needed to be.

Pick chirped in her ear, and she rolled her eyes.

"You chose between Hogsmede with Newt and Hogwarts with me. So we're looking for that Boggart. I need to know whatever that thing was, and you know Albus won't tell me, so we have to find it ourselves. What's the worst that could happen?"

Tugging her ear lobe, she glanced over to see him crossing his little leafy arms at her disapprovingly.

"Don't give me the attitude. If your little scaredy bud wants to stay in the hallway, you're free to do so."

Pick stuck his tongue out at her, which only made Hope laugh.

"You're impossible."

Looking the corridor over, she put a finger to her lips. It would be like Albus to hide the Boggart in the Defense Against the Dark Arts room, thinking she wouldn't check there as that's where it was initially. Still, maybe he'd think she'd feel the same and move it, knowing it would be the first place she'd look?

Hope wrinkled her nose at the spinning of her own thoughts.

"You won't find it on your own." Albus's voice jolted Hope's body, and she spun around.

Her eyes widened a little. "Find what?"

Chuckling, he shook his head. "If you are so keen to see the Boggart again, I will take you to it. I suppose now that you have your memory and the students aren't here, it's as good a time as any to look at what had frightened you so terribly."

Looking at Pick on her shoulder, she grinned, seeing his pout. "Don't be so gloomy. Even though I was right and you were wrong…"

Hope laughed at his little glare and quickly went to Albus' side.

"Alright then, where is it?"

She quickly followed him down and around the corridor to the…" Are you kidding me?" She voiced as they entered the Defense Against the Dark Arts room. "I was right! You didn't move it!"

With a laugh, he shrugged. "You're too clever for your own good, Hope. Yes, it's here, but hidden." He tapped his nose and winked before taking out his wand and touching the third desk on the room's right. Beneath the chair, a descending set of stairs appeared as if caving into the floor, but it was smooth stone steps instead of rubble.

Hope made a face. "You'd win at hide and seek every time…"

Laughing, he shook his head and gestured to the stairs. "After you."

Without another moment of hesitation, Hope descended the stairs. With each step, her foot touched a set of candles lit on either side of the wall- shedding light on the dusty crevices.

Below was a small, circular room that held two things. The cabinet that Hope knew stored the Boggart and a massive mirror with golden accents on its frame.

"Okay, I know what that is," she pointed to the cabinet that gave a little shake, "but what's that?" Hope gestured to the mirror. "Some kind of portal?" It couldn't be too off the mark, considering it was hidden where no students could reach it.

Albus nodded slowly and gave a shrug. "Stand before it and tell me what you think it is."

Giving a suspicious look, she moved to stand in front of it but immediately staggered back and then quickly looked behind her. Nothing stood behind her, yet…when she looked at the mirror again, there were multiples of herself. Identical clones stretched on for miles and miles, it seemed.

Furrowing her brow, she slowly shook her head. "I don't understand. Is it some kind of cloning machine?"

When she looked over at him, he was watching her curiously.

"What do you see, Hope?"

Her eyes flitted back to the mirror. "Me, but there's multiples that look just like me. It's like refraction in a funhouse mirror at a carnival? So it's just a parlor trick?"

That was disappointing; she'd been expecting something a little more grand.

Albus smiled crookedly and shook his head. "It's not a funhouse mirror. This mirror is, in fact, magic. This is the Mirror of Erised. It shows us no less than the deepest desires of our hearts. If you were perfectly content with every aspect of your life, you'd see yourself exactly as you are."

Hope frowned, looking at the mirror again, watching her multiples blink and smile at her. Separate from her own reflection.

"So my deepest desire is to clone myself? I've seen a few movies that taught me that is not a good idea…"

Hearing his laugh brought her back to him. "Well," he started, moving closer while tucking his hands into his pockets, "are you the only Tribrid?"

An ocean seemed to rush through her ears as a flush ran along her cheeks. Swallowing hard, she nodded and looked at the mirror once more.

"Oh," Hope cringed a little, "I guess it makes sense."

"What does?"

Sighing, she pulled herself from the mirror, not wanting to see her multiples anymore. "I never have really…belonged anywhere. I mean, yes, in a sense, I had people who said they wanted me around, but it's not the same as having people understand what it's like. What it's like being three different species." Hope glanced up at him, pursing her lips while Albus focused on her. Waiting patiently for her to continue.

Fiddling with her thumbs, she shrugged. "Witches fear the werewolf and vampire side. Vampires fear the werewolf and witch side. Werewolves fear the witch and vampire side." Slowly shaking her head, she forced a smile. "Everywhere I turn, people can play nice, but it's not usually because they like my company. They don't want to associate themselves with someone who is their natural-born enemy. I could be the nicest person on Earth, and people would fear me because of my blood status."

Hope rubbed the back of her neck. "I'm used to being alone. I got so tired of the fake pretenders around me out of fear and not friendship. Most of the fear doesn't belong to me but my family's reputation. They judge me before they know me, so I decided to just…not let them know me."

Warm hands touched her cheeks, and Hope looked up, meeting Albus' soft blue. "You belong here." He murmured, stroking her cheeks lightly with his thumbs. "Perhaps the circumstances were unexpected, but you will always belong here, Hope."

Smiling softly, she closed her eyes as he pressed a soft kiss against her lips.

"Hm, can I ask what you see in the mirror?"

With a light chuckle, he nodded. "It's changed since a few years ago, but now…I see you. I see Newt. Smiling and happy. That is truly what I desire: that you both are happy. With or without me."

Hope opened her eyes and stared at him, a spark glittering her eyes. "If you ever say without in the same sentences as myself and Newt, I will kick your ass so hard you'll see Jupiter."

Laughing, he nodded. "My apologies. With. Always with." He kissed her forehead once more before taking her hands and squeezing lightly. "How about that Boggart then?"

Ah, yes, the demon thing Minerva had been terrified of. Let's see how much of a punch it packs.

She turned on her heels and walked toward the cabinet. The shaking stopped abruptly. As if contemplating what it should appear as. Then, when Hope wondered if it would come out, the door slowly creaked open.

With a steady heart, Hope moved closer.

"Well? Show yourself."

The door slammed open then, and the thing she'd painted crawled on all fours toward her. Hope didn't move as she watched the skinned, bloody body crawling toward her. She raked through her memories and shook her head.

"Yeah, I don't know what that is."

She'd never seen it before, but it was a frightful sight. It looked up at her, hissing with a snake-like tongue and bright yellow eyes. Pick hid behind her hair, clinging to her neck with his little body shaking.

"Oh, I'm sorry, Pick." She frowned, patting his back with her finger. "Honestly, I thought it would…change." Just as she said the word change, that's precisely what it did.

The thing rose to its feet and shifted into…

"Me?"

Hope stared at herself now, but it wasn't like her reflection. This Hope had bright blue eyes with bared fangs, grinning at her with a maniacal light in her eyes.

"What I fear most is myself?" This gave her only as much information as she already had. She'd been hoping it would identify her biggest fear as the Wizard she'd brought back from the dead, but no, she had to poetically fear herself the most.

Turning to look at Albus, she sighed. He wore a small, sad smile.

"I thought I'd be able to see who the Wizard was." She frowned, looking back at herself, watching black-red blood drip down her chin. "Gross."

"Riddikulus." Albus pointed his wand at the Boggart and sent it back into the cabinet with an echoing shake.

Sighing, she shook her head. "Why did it change?" She asked him.

"It was probably confused," Albus nodded, "when you didn't have your memories, it didn't know what you feared the most because you didn't know what you feared the most. It came up with the best interpretation possible, and now that you remember…"

Hope nodded, pursing her lips. "Ah, yes, very Shakspearean of me to fear my monster the most, but that does not help us know who I resurrected."

Shrugging, he pressed a kiss to her temple. "Maybe we don't need all of the answers yet. Do you believe in fate?"

"Yes and no. I believe…that our actions inevitably cause the things we can't control. We are the ones who decide our path, but once we've made a decision, we have to deal with the consequences of that decision."

Albus nodded with a smile. "Well, I'd like to go to London when Newt returns. Maybe visit the pastry shop we went to?"

Hope couldn't stop herself from grinning and nodded slowly. "I think I like that decision."

After all, what problem couldn't a pastry solve?