Quidditch Match and the mirror of Erised

As they entered November, the weather turned very cold.

The mountains around the school became icy gray and the lake like chilled steel.

Every morning the ground was covered in frost.

The gatekeeper, Hagrid, could be seen from the upstairs windows defrosting broomsticks on the Quidditch field, bundled up in a long moleskin overcoat, rabbit fur gloves, and enormous bear skin boots.

The Quidditch season had begun.

On Saturday, Harriet and Draco would be playing in their first match after weeks of training.

Slytherin Vs Gryffindor.

If Gryffindor won, they would move up into second place in the house championship.

But even if Slytherin lost it, it wouldn't affect them in any way since they were in the top of the house championship.

Everyone was sure that Slytherin would win the house cup.

But Draco, despite having foreknowledge about the books and knowing how favorable the changes were for his house, decided against celebrating early.

Harriet had been working extremely hard since she didn't want to let Draco and Snape down.

She believed they were the ones that had provided her with an opportunity, after all the support she received from them.

Especially by receiving help with her homework, so she could finish it quickly and focus more on training.

She has been practicing day and night in the cold weather.

To Draco, Quidditch was still one of the most confusing things in the world.

There were seven hundred ways of committing a Quidditch foul and all of them had happened during a World Cup match in 1473.

Seekers were usually the smallest and fastest players, and the most serious Quidditch accidents seemed to happen to them.

Although people rarely died playing Quidditch, referees had been known to vanish and turn up months later on the Sahara desert.

Draco was glad that his occlumency mastery allowed him to be a god of multitasking.

Not only did he have time to train and spend time with his friends, but he also progressed further with his projects inside his suitcase.

Antidotes for poisoning and even against other types of potions were finally on their final stage of testing.

And his house-elves inside Hogwarts kept bringing him whatever material he required, while still testing their boundaries with the forbidden forest.

As for his plans outside of Hogwarts, they were all ready and awaiting for him.

As Draco went to speak with his Godmother about her opinions about some of his theories he had worked with Theodore, he knocked on her office's door.

He heard a gloomy sound. "Come in."

As the young Malfoy went inside, he saw that Snape was not working. Instead, she was in her chair, having difficulties breathing properly.

As he approached her, Draco glanced at her torn pants and bleeding leg. "What happened, Godmother?" He asked despite already having a good guess.

"Nothing. It's a small wound." She replied dismissively. "So, what can I help you with today?"

"I have some questions from my personal projects and would like to hear your opinion about them." He told her, but noticing she winced in pain he asked. "Are you sure you are okay? The cut appears to be deep. Have you already taken a healing potion?"

Snape nodded, although pain was still visible in her usual gloom expression. "Just took one. Sadly, its painkilling effect is slower than its healing one… then again, maybe it's a good thing that it heals that fast."

"I see. Have this…" Draco took out a potion from his pouch. His pouch had been enchanted, similar to his suitcase (though not to the same extent), to carry a lot of items. Mostly useful potions for emergencies and collected ingredients.

Such was her trust in her godson that she drank the potion without asking what it did.

After a few seconds, she showed visible signs of getting better. "The pain is gone." She informed him. "I trust you have brewed something that won't cut the healing potion effects."

Draco nodded. "Indeed. A tricky result to achieve, but from what you can attest, worthy of the endeavor."

"Your grandfather would be proud." She said, showing signs of being proud of him too.

"I know." Draco simply smiled. "Now, if you don't mind, I still have some questions about my other projects."

Snape nodded and got up. "Allow me to change my clothes and clean my wound first."

"Of course." Draco told her.

—————————————————————

Morning of the match, both Slytherins and Gryffindors were excited.

Harriet wasn't eating much due to nervousness.

The batter of their team was recommending her to eat well, so she would have the necessary energy to knock people off.

Their captain was still checking with her if she remembered all their strategies.

Daphne and Pansy were also trying to cheer Harriet up.

"Guys, guys..." Draco chuckled. "Leave her alone. Can't you see you are just making her even more nervous than she already is?"

By eleven o'clock, the whole school seemed to be out in the stands around the Quidditch pitch.

Many of them had their own binoculars to better watch the match. Their seats might be raised high in the air, but it was still difficult to see what was going on most of the time.

"Hey Harriet." Draco called her by her name, noticing she looked lost in her thoughts. "Are you okay?"

"I'm nervous. I don't know if we are going to win or not." Harriet said, looking at Draco. "I don't want to disappoint everyone… I-I'm afraid."

The young Malfoy chuckled. "Of course you don't, silly!" He hugged her tightly.

Harriet broke from her nervousness and began to get shy.

"Being nervous means you care, and that's what matters the most at this point. I've seen how much you've dedicated to this during our training." He told her. "Right now, all everyone is asking of you is to give your best. Winning or not is a collective result of the team."

Harriet stayed silent for a moment before hugging him back. "I will give my best."

Draco released her from the hug, but still held her. "Let's show them our best!"

Soon whistles came from the other players.

And although Draco didn't care about it, he noticed Harriet blushing heavily.

—————————————————————

Since today was Slytherin Vs Gryffindor, Hermione was standing on the Slytherin side.

Ignoring some weird looks she received from the senior students, she joined Theodore, Gregory, Vincent, Pansy, Daphne and even Ron.

With varying degrees of acceptance.

However, nobody dared to be openly disrespectful towards her.

On Gryffindor's side, they had painted a large banner on a sheet. It displayed a huge golden lion roaring proudly.

Slytherins on the other hand, were very extreme, Daphne and the other girls had professional helpers design a beautiful banner on which 'Go Harriet!' and 'Go Draco!' were written in huge letters. And beneath it had a moving picture of a snake attacking a lion and slowly choking it to death.

After seeing the flashy banner, the Gryffindors went silent for a moment but soon continued cheering after the players entered the stadium.

Madame Hooch was refereeing as she stood in the middle of the field waiting for the two teams, her broom in hands.

"Now, I want a nice and fair game, all of you." She said once they were all gathered around her. "Mount your brooms, please."

The Slytherins mounted on their Nimbus 2000.

Madam Hooch gave a loud blast on her silver whistle and they were off.

"And the Quaffle is take immediately by Angelina Johnson of Gryffindor — what an excellent chaser that girl is, and rather attractive, too—"

"JORDAN!"

"Sorry, Professor."

The Weasley twins' friend, Lee Jordan, was doing the commentary for the match, closely watched by Professor McGonagall.

Harriet began flying around trying to look for the golden snitch.

Due to there being too many flying brooms and balls, finding a single minuscule ball was already a big challenge.

Imagine trying to catch it.

Being a chaser, Draco wasn't allowed much opportunity to help her with it, so she was on her own.

Gryffindors started scoring first, but Draco took the opportunity to quickly counter attack, and with the aid of the other chasers, he managed to tie up to Gryffindor almost instantly.

Although he wasn't involved, the other Slytherin players were favorable to foul play.

Thankfully his contribution to the team, both as a talented player and by handing the best broomstick currently at the market to every player, helped lessen their openness to play dirty.

Meanwhile, Harriet had done a couple of loops around the stadium to let off her feelings and search for the snitch.

When she had finally spotted her target, her broom suddenly stopped obeying her commands.

From the corner of his eyes, Draco noticed Harriet struggling in her broom, barely managing to hang onto it.

He looked at Quirrell while passing the Quaffle to his teammate, and saw him and Snape chanting a jinx and an anti-jinx respectively.

At that moment, after swiftly dodging the Bludger, he also noticed that the snitch was moving around Harriet, as if it wanted to be caught by her.

Draco diverted his attention momentarily to score another point, and then focused his sight on the snitch.

Confirming his theory by approaching Harriet, he found some slightly denser than usual mana around both Harriet and the snitch.

Draco recalled that in the books, the original Harry had caught it with his mouth when he fell off his broom.

But that should be impossible, considering the nature of the snitch to not wait around in a single place and wait to be swallowed.

He didn't have the time to search around for the person responsible, but he had a good guess.

'Dumbledore!' He thought after stealing the Quaffle from one of Gryffindor's chasers. 'There really aren't coincidences in this world.'

Despite knowing that Harriet wasn't going to be troubled by Quirrell jinx much longer, especially after signaling to his elves to stop him, Draco took the opportunity to look good in her eyes again.

He dashed towards her, and helped her recover control over her broom. Curiously, the golden snitch flew away as soon as he got close.

"I don't know what happened, Draco!" Harriet told him, feeling embarrassed for the whole incident. "I swear it wasn't my fault."

"I trust you, Harriet." He reassured her before asking. "Can you still ride your broom?"

She tested her control over her broom again and was surprised to find everything back to normal. "Yes, I can."

"And Gryffindor scored another ten points!" Shouted Lee Jordan excitedly.

"Sorry!" Harriet apologized, cringing.

"For what?" Draco raised an eyebrow "It's like I told you before, winning is a team effort. If they can't cover for me while I help our seeker not fall from her own broom, then Gryffindor deserved that point."

"O-okay." Harriet replied as Draco flew away.

She finally saw the snitch again and went towards it.

Harriet was so concentrated on catching it that she didn't even notice the Gryffindor's seeker falling towards her.

Both of them crashed and fell to the ground, luckily they were close enough to it, so no major was done.

Everyone was looking at them nervously when suddenly, the Gryffindor seeker stood up.

"I caught the snitch!" He announced holding the golden ball on his raised hand.

Everyone from the Gryffindor side started cheering loudly, but Harriet got up holding her lips which had a cut in it.

"No, I touched it first!" She said.

The cheering immediately died down and everyone was confused as to what was going on.

But Draco on the other hand knew.

The Gryffidor seeker towered over Harriet, glaring daggers at her. "How dare you, lying snake?! I am the one who caught it!"

Madam Hooch walked towards them and the other players from both sides landed as well.

Luckily, for this kind of situation, the snitch was enchanted to remember the touch of the first person who handled them, in case of a disputed capture.

Madam Hooch looked at the snitch and after confirming through magic, she declared the real winner. "The person who caught the snitch first is Harriet Potter!"

The Gryffindors face turned dark as the Slytherins started cheering loudly.

"She didn't catch it! She just touched with her lips!" Oliver Wood still argued minutes later, but it made no difference. Harriet hadn't officially broken any rules and Lee Jordan had to announce the results.

They all celebrated later in the Slytherin common room.

With a very rare exception being made to allow some students of Ravenclaw to join their celebration.

Both houses had always been close to one another, similarly to how Gryffindor was with Huffllepuff.

It gave joy to see a girl who has grown so mistreated by her muggle family to be exalted by many students from Hogwarts.

Members of powerful families were getting more interested in associating with both Draco and Harriet.

Even Ron seemed to have finally accepted that he had been sorted to Slytherin by a reason, it only helped that Draco insisted on having him acknowledge more of their qualities.

After a while, the party ended and everyone went back to their dorms.

Only Draco and Harriet were left alone.

"Draco, do you think I only won by luck?" Harriet asked, looking at the fireplace.

"I don't believe so." He said. "And even if that was the case, I've learned that fifty percent of life is influenced by luck, and the rest is by competence. You would have to be the luckiest person alive to win without competence."

"That certainly isn't the case." Harriet replied gloomy, recalling how miserable her life had been up to that point. But she smiled remembering how her year in Hogwarts had been. "You know, every night I go to sleep, I'm afraid to wake up the next day only to realize everything has been a dream."

"Hey, even if this was a dream, you could always visit us in your dreams." He smiled. "Maybe you should learn how to daydream."

"Why are you so kind to me?" Harriet asked. "Sometimes, I feel that you are the only one that puts effort in our friendship. Best case scenario, I feel useless, worst case, I feel like I'm taking advantage of our friendship."

Draco reached out and caressed her hair and adjusted her glasses. "Oh my sweet girl, as if I wasn't taking advantage of our friendship too."

"What do you mean?"

"Well." He approached her ear and whispered to her. "I got to know 'the girl that lived' behind the legend, and became one of the few people that will be aware of how little the stories do justice to her."

Harriet became red as a tomato, feeling his breath against her skin. "You think so?"

"I wouldn't be saying that if it wasn't the case." He told her. "Though I find myself obligated to also mention that by hanging around your shadow, my social standing is strengthened."

"But you don't believe nor care much about it." Harriet defended him.

"True." Draco lied. "But I believe that a similar case could be made for muggles that don't believe in the capitalist system, and yet are greatly benefited by it."

"I guess so." Harriet chuckled at Draco's antics, despite being from a pureblood family of wizards, he still had some profound understanding about the muggle world. "Good night, Draco."

"Good night." He said and each went to their dormitories.

—————————————————————

The next day, surprisingly, everyone was gathered in the library.

Draco, Theodore, Gregory, Vincent, Pansy, Daphne, Hermione, Harriet and even Ron.

The atmosphere with the latter was still awkward, but after he apologized to everyone about his behavior and celebrated alongside them, it was still better than it once was.

Harriet had asked Hermione for help, since Draco was busy, to search about a name she had learned from Hagrid.

Pansy and Daphne were studying botany.

Draco and the boys were searching for every transfiguration book that had anything about Animagus.

Draco had postponed that topic for long enough.

Since none of his ancestors were Animagi, there were no useful books on the matter back at Malfoy Manor.

From what Draco could recall, from his past life till now, thanks to his mastery of occlumency...

An Animagus was a witch or wizard who could transform themselves into an animal and back again at will.

It was a learned skill, unlike the hereditary skill of a Metamorphmagus.

Which by the way, was an interesting condition that allowed a wizard or a witch to change their physical appearance at will with the use for stuff like polyjuice potion.

The only example Draco knew of was his cousin, Nymphadora Tonks.

Which he had yet to meet due to stupid family matters.

Draco planned to extend an olive branch towards her side of the family by sending some Christmas gifts this year.

Back on track...

Information on Animagi was taught to Hogwarts students during their third year Transfiguration class.

An Animagus Registry existed to keep track of those that had learned to transform in this way, in order to prevent abuse of that ability.

The penalty for failing to register as an Animagus was a sentence in Azkaban, although the length of time wasn't the same for everyone.

It was mentioned at exhaustion that it took skill, practice, and patience for wizards and witches to become one.

The process was long and arduous, and had the potential to backfire and cause the transformation to go horribly wrong.

Many witches and wizards simply felt that their time might better be employed in other ways, as the skill was of limited practical use unless one had a great need of disguise or concealment.

Part of the process by which one became an Animagus was holding the leaf of a mandrake in their mouth for an entire month (from full moon to full moon), using the leaf for the creation of a potion, reciting an incantation (Amato Animo Animato Animagus) on a daily basis.

At the next visible full moon (if the night happened to be cloudy, one would have to start over) the wizard had to spit the leaf in a phial within range of the moon's pure rays.

If the leaf was removed or swallowed, the witch or wizard would have to start over again.

To the moon-struck phial, the wizard or witch must add one of their own hairs, a silver teaspoon of dew that had not seen sunlight or been touched by human feet for seven days, and the chrysalis of a Death's-head Hawk Moth.

The mixture had to then be put in a quiet, dark place, and could not be in any way disturbed.

The next thing that had to happen was for the wizard to wait for an electrical storm, whenever that might be.

During this waiting period the wizard would have to, at sunrise and sundown without fail, chant the incantation Amato Animo Animato Animagus with the tip of their wand placed over the heart.

When, at last, there was a lightning storm, the wizard had to move immediately to a large and secure place, recite the incantation one final time, and then drink the potion.

Once the initial training was over, an Animagus could then change at will, with or without the use of a wand.

But they could not choose their animal form.

Rather, one became the animal which suited them best.

Though, in some cases, a wizard's Animagus form may even reflect their corporeal Patronus.

Apparently, the form one's Patronus took may have been determined by the same inner-traits as the Animagus form.

And an Animagus in animal form was not restrained by the usual lifespan of the animal they were.

Though, those who took on the form of species capable of Flight could enjoy the sensation without the need of broomsticks, flying carpet, or riding on flying animals.

It was debated, but generally believed possible, for one's Animagus form to be a magical creature.

And also debated, but generally believed impossible, for an Animagus to be an unnatural creature such as a dementor.

Each Animagus bore an identifying mark on their animal form that was caused by some visible trait on their human body. This could be physical, like their dental structure, or acquired, like glasses.

And if an Animagus underwent a major physical change, such as the loss of a limb, their animal form would reflect that.

Another trivia was that they could consciously choose if they also wanted to transfigure their jewellery and clothing with them.

All in all, Draco believed that he knew everything needed to become one, he just wanted to make sure he wasn't missing anything crucial.

His daily mantra was to not count on his 'plot armor'.

He might've gotten a special result from practicing Occlumency and testing wands, but he needed more proof to believe himself to be somewhat special.

For his own good, he wished he never got overconfident with himself, regardless of how many proofs he ended up getting.

After nearly two hours, everyone stretched from their seats.

It was almost time for their evening classes, so they had to leave soon.

Today Draco and the other Slytherins had history class with the Ravenclaws, so all of them planned to go together.

"I guess I've finished for now." Draco announced, placing his last book on the table. "How about you guys?"

Both Pansy and Daphne nodded while Harriet and Hermione displayed disappointed expressions, but they also nodded in agreement after giving up on their search.

"Excellent, how about we take the tourist route towards our history class?" Draco proposed. "I've got an incredible place for everyone to know."

"You got my curiosity, I'm in." Pansy said.

"Me too."Daphne added.

Since all the boys followed Draco, he just received silent nods from them.

Draco looked at both Harriet and Hermione, and asked. "Are you two coming too?"

"Sure." Harriet replied, dragging Hermione with her.

They walked from one passage to another, and at first it looked like they were getting nowhere.

Everyone was wondering where he was taking them, but they still followed him out of habit.

"Are you sure we didn't take a wrong turn?" Hermione said, looking around and getting anxious about getting late for their class.

"Don't worry, we have arrived." Draco said while pointing towards an old door in front of them. "Welcome to the room of requirements."

He opened the door, and revealed a room that looked like an empty old unused classroom.

The dark shape of desks and chairs were piled against the walls, and there was an upturned wastepaper basket.

But popped against the wall, facing them, was something that didn't look as if it belonged there.

Something that looked as if someone had just put it there to keep it out of the way.

It was a magnificent mirror, as high as the ceiling, with an ornate gold frame, standing on two clawed feet.

There was an inscription carved around the top: Erised stra ehru oyt ube cafru oyt on wohsi.

"Behold, the mirror of Erised." Draco announced.

"What is that?" Asked Hermione, interested in the beautiful mirror in front of her.

In fact, she wasn't the only one interested in it.

"The Mirror of Erised is a mirror that shows 'the deepest, most desperate desire of our hearts'. The name itself is a dead giveaway, since it spells backwards the word 'desire' as if reflected on a mirror." Draco informed them.

"So what happens if a person doesn't desire anything?" Pansy asked.

"It is said that the happiest person in the world would look in the mirror and see a reflection of them, exactly as they were." Draco replied, walking towards the mirror.

Theodore was trying to understand what was written on top of the mirror. "Hey genius, do you know what those words mean?"

"I think it's some sort of dead or very old language… wicked." Ron said, looking confused.

Hermione was also glaring at it, trying to understand.

"C'mon guys! I've already given you all a big hint with the mirror's name." Draco told them.

"It's a mirror…" Gregory recalled. "... so we should read it in reverse."

"Erised stra ehru oyt ube cafru oyt on wohsi." Vincent repeated. "Which reversed becomes… Ishow no tyo urfac ebu tyo urhe arts desire… which with the proper pacing becomes…"

"I show not your face but your heart's desire." Hermione said, completing their sentence.

"Correct." Draco said, standing in front of the mirror.

"What do you see Draco?" Pansy asked.

Draco sighed at her question. "Honestly… nothing." He told them. "I don't see myself different nor equal to how I'm now. My first guess was that this mirror was broken or somehow depleted of its magic."

"So you brought us here to test a theory?" Theodore asked, curious about what he would see in the mirror. "Allow me to be the first one to test it for you."

"It's said that many wizards and witches have wasted away before this mirror, not knowing if what they have seen was real, or even possible." Draco told everyone. "The advice to 'hold on to your dreams' is all well and good, but there comes a point when holding on to your dreams becomes unhelpful and even unhealthy. To sit gazing on a vision of what you can never have, will only destroy you. This mirror is bewitched and tantalizing, but it does not necessarily bring happiness. So don't lose yourself in it."

After nodding in acknowledgement to his warning, the young Nott approached the mirror and gasped. His eyes got slightly red.

"Are you okay, Theodore?" Harriet asked carefully, she had never seen the prankish boy like that.

Draco went over and pulled Theodore. "Whatever you are seeing, remember, it's not real. So don't lose yourself in it."

"I know, but it's really tempting." Theodore replied.

Draco's guess was that he had seen his mother.

When they first met one another, Theodore had just lost his mother, so he knew how he really felt about it.

It took nearly the same amount of time it took him to mold Gregory and Vincent, to break Theodore out of his shell.

The last thing he wanted for him was to see him go back to how he was.

"I know one thing, my friend." Theodore wiped his tears and turned to face Draco. "Is that you can accomplish anything. Perhaps one day you might consider doing the impossible as a favor to me."

While all of them were considering whether to look in the mirror or not, Ron went over and looked at it.

"What do you see, Weasley?" Draco asked.

"I'm alone— but different— I look older— and I'm the head boy!"

"Meaning?" Draco asked, surprised that his desire was still the same as it was in the books.

"I'm— I'm wearing the badge like my brother Bill used to— I'm holding the house cup and the Quidditch cup— I'm Quidditch captain too!" He announced excitedly. "Wait, I'm not alone any more. I see Dumbledore greeting me for something I did— and—- and—girls and piles of money!"

"Hahaha!" Both Pansy and Daphne couldn't hold back anymore and started laughing. "Hahaha! It really shows a person's desire! Without care for absurd they might be."

Ron's face turned red, and with his red hair, he looked like a tomato.

Though he was also smiling, Draco grabbed Ron's shoulder and said. "Girls, girls, show some respect to Mr. Weasley's deep desire." He turned to Ron. "Never be ashamed of who you really are and what your desires are."

"Whatever." Ron said, wanting to walk away, but Draco help him in place.

"If it really matters that much to you, I can help you with joining the Quidditch team next year." Draco told him.

That made Ron forget about his embarrassment and show signs of wonder. "Really?"

"Of course." The young Malfoy replied. "Me and Ms. Potter can help you train your flying skills. Perhaps we might even discover which position suits you better. Though the captain post will be depending solely on you."

"That would be so brilliant!" Ron replied. "Maybe with you and Hermione helping me, I can even impress Dumbledore."

"Like I said, that will depend on you." Draco said, ignoring the girls' snickers. "Crabbe, Goyle, do you want to go next?"

Both boys shook their heads.

"I'd rather not risk it." Crabbe said.

"Me too." Goyle added.

Draco nodded in acknowledgement.

"I'm next." Pansy said after clearing her throat and walking in front of the mirror. But after a quick glance, she quickly walked away with a red face.

"What happened, Pansy?" Daphne asked, but she didn't receive an answer.

As Daphne looked at Pansy, she walked in front of the mirror herself, she followed Pansy's example and walked away blushing immediately.

"What did you girls really see?" Theodore asked smugly, getting back to his old self.

"None of your business." Both of them said in unison. They looked at each other and stayed silent.

"My turn." Hermione said, walking in front of the mirror.

"Since it's you, let me guess..." Theodore said to her as she stared at the mirror for a while. "Probably a lot of books."

"What?!—Yes!" Replied Hermione awkwardly. "Just a pile of books."

"Are you sure?" Theodore teased her, prompting her to get just as silent as Pansy and Daphne were.

"Knock it off." Draco spoke to him.

"As you wish, boss." Theodore replied dramatically with a smile.

The only remaining person was Harriet.

She slowly walked over and her eyes opened wide in surprise.

"What do you see, Potter?" Theodore asked.

But Harriet didn't seem to have heard him.

After a moment, she felt Theodore's hand over her shoulder.

"I know how it feels." He told her sincerely. "It helps remembering that you are not alone."

Harriet wiped a tear and adjusted her glasses. "Thanks."

"You're welcome." He replied.

"Hey! Our class with Professor Binns is about to begin, so we should hurry." Hermione said suddenly, remembering them.

"Don't worry." Draco smiled. "I know the quickest way to get there."

—————————————————————

(10/06/2021)

*Hey there! Thanks for reading my work! I hope this chapter is of your liking. I tried to write an interesting but brief match of Quidditch. I personally don't care much for it other than the fact that I helps boost the MC's public image. Besides, I've decided to include the mirror of Erised as an excuse to develop the other characters.

Sorry if you expected more of it. 😅

Any ideas for powers, adventure arcs and girls are more than welcomed. I might not use anything, but you will have my gratitude for trying.

If this chapter is a mess of grammatical errors, please wait that I'll promptly try to fix it. But for that I need your feedback.

Thanks as always for your time, hope you have a fantastic day and please stay safe.

Bye.