Chapter 55: Before Christmas

Two days passed quickly.

The countdown to the first-year Christmas at Hogwarts had begun.

The entire castle was decorated with magic, looking like a dream.

Especially the enormous Christmas tree in the Great Hall, standing twenty feet tall, adorned with colorful magical lanterns and twinkling stars, emitting a soft and warm glow.

Underneath the tree were various candy boxes, their Honeydukes' exquisite wrapping paper shimmering under the lights.

The decorations extended beyond the Great Hall; the corridors' walls were hung with magically drawn snowflakes and Christmas ribbons, floating gently in the air as if they were alive.

Even the portraits hanging in the castle seemed infected by the festive atmosphere, with every character in the paintings sporting joyful smiles.

...

After the last Potions class ended.

Ino strolled through the corridors, his mind wandering over the amusing events he had just experienced.

To be honest, the most entertaining part of Potions class for him was the constant battle of wits between Snape and Harry. Or rather, Snape's one-sided mocking and ridiculing of Harry. It was hard to imagine someone so expressionless continually making sarcastic, mocking remarks...

The scene was amusing no matter how you looked at it.

"Old Potter would never have imagined that his misdeeds would eventually be repaid by his son... Huh?"

Ino suddenly stopped, finding himself in an unfamiliar corridor.

He clearly remembered following his usual route back to the dormitory after class, yet he had unknowingly ended up here.

"Interesting!"

With a soft sigh, he walked forward.

Though he wasn't particularly curious, it felt like an unspoken invitation when something like this presented itself.

The corridor wasn't very long, about 150 meters, with the end in sight.

Within a few minutes, he had covered more than half the distance but found nothing special about the place.

It was an ordinary corridor, just like any other in the castle, with a marble floor and a few scattered portraits on the walls. Even the armor standing by the sides showed no differences.

If there was something different, it was the long-standing neglect, with cobwebs covering the armor and portraits.

As Ino walked, he kept an eye on his surroundings.

Just as he was about to turn back, a worn brown wooden door appeared to his left.

He pushed the door open to find a truly abandoned classroom.

Unlike other abandoned classrooms in the castle that were merely unoccupied but well-preserved, this one was in extreme disrepair, with broken chairs and desks piled in the corners, none of them intact.

However, like a white lotus blooming in a pool of putrid mud, there was a 'lotus' in this room too: a grand, ten-foot-tall, elaborately crafted mirror.

The mirror looked ancient and dignified, with a frame carved from unknown dark brown wood, each groove seemingly telling a story of time.

On the base of the mirror was an inscription: "Erised stra ehru oyt ube cafru oyt on wohsi."

Seeing this, Ino immediately recognized it as the famous Mirror of Erised, a mirror that shows a person's deepest desires.

He also understood why he had been inexplicably drawn to this corridor; it all made sense now.

"Since I'm here..." he thought to himself.

He stepped towards the Mirror of Erised.

Ino stood quietly before the Mirror of Erised, and after a moment, a faint glow flickered across the surface, giving it a hazy appearance.

However, the scene he anticipated did not appear. Instead, the temperature in the abandoned classroom suddenly dropped.

The mirror's surface became visibly frosted over, and the entire mirror was encased in ice.

This sudden change was startling.

"Did I break it?"

...

"No! It isn't broken, just frozen."

An old voice echoed in the abandoned classroom.

"Good day, Headmaster!" Ino greeted as he recognized the figure.

"Don't be so formal; perhaps we shouldn't be like this," Dumbledore said with a smile.

"Alright, as you wish!" Ino shrugged, agreeing with Dumbledore's suggestion.

Time had passed, and he no longer cared much about the so-called plot, so there was no need to maintain a deliberate distance.

The fundamental reason for this was Dumbledore's character. After all, the Headmaster wasn't a bad person, that much was certain.

With that thought, Ino half-jokingly asked, "So, can it be restored? I mean, I didn't intentionally want to break or freeze it. And even if it is broken, don't expect me to pay for it, I'm broke!"

"Hahaha, don't worry, you don't need to pay! A simple Repair Charm can fix it perfectly."

Seeing Ino's change in attitude, Dumbledore laughed heartily, like a child receiving a much-desired Christmas present.

Dumbledore then lightly waved his wand, casting a silent Repair Charm. Under the influence of magic, the Mirror of Erised seemed to undergo a time reversal, returning to its original state.

"While it's pointless to dwell on dreams and forget to live, some people can be quite surprising. Ino, are you interested in hearing a story?"

Seeing the suddenly appearing chairs and numerous candies reminded Ino of the scene at the Astronomy Tower.

However, faced with the invitation now, Ino no longer felt the resistance and pretense he once did. He decisively pulled a chair over and sat down.

"Alright, Professor! Though I often tell stories to others, not many know that I actually prefer listening to stories."

Dumbledore nodded in agreement.

"Indeed, people are always eager to define others, assuming what they should like or dislike, but they rarely ask for the person's opinion."

"Rather than discussing philosophy, I'd prefer to listen to a story," Ino said, popping a butterscotch into his mouth, savoring the familiar taste.

Dumbledore also pulled up a chair, sitting down before he began speaking.

"In my over a hundred years of life, I've met many people, including some with the gift of Divination and prophecy. Most of these people follow fate unquestioningly, but there are some very special individuals who break this mold."

"I still remember the words: 'Your subconscious and desires control your life, and you call it fate, willingly becoming a slave to this absurd destiny.'"

Dumbledore's tone was full of nostalgia.

"Professor! Seeking benefits and avoiding harm is human nature. The difference is that seers can clearly see and thus make choices."

After Dumbledore finished, Ino promptly countered.

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