The Mirror of Erised
Barnaby had spent a few days wondering if there was a way to spend more time with Tonks or increase their encounters, but in her letters, she explained how the intense Auror training she was undergoing under the guidance of her mentor, "Mad-Eye" Alastor Moody, left her so physically and mentally exhausted that most days ended with her collapsing into bed and falling asleep the next second.
It was always "Constant Vigilance!" and not a day went by without having to respond to a sneak attack or ambush, to instill vigilance into her bones.
Bones broken on several occasions.
"At least she says she's receiving effective training, though..."
Tonks had mentioned several times how Moody occasionally brought up Dumbledore in their conversations or lessons, which irritated her a bit since she had gained a more objective view of the Hogwarts headmaster and learned how he had treated her boyfriend's family.
They both suspected that Tonks's mentor was probing her attitude towards Dumbledore, though the exact reason eluded them. But that didn't lessen the indignation of being subjected to an unknown and undeserved scrutiny.
"That old man should retire once and for all," Barnaby grumbled inwardly as he walked through the castle corridors at night after visiting Fluffy, wanting to get home and sleep after a busy day.
Thanks to Aunt Minerva, he now had more space to move around thanks to the undetectable extension charm in his room, but the young Cerberus still felt bored since he couldn't take him out since the troll incident.
So Barnaby's visits had increased to compensate and keep him company. Too bad he couldn't send him some friends for fear they might get eaten.
"Hmm?" Feeling Sanshi's sudden caution from the shadow, he stopped for a moment, frowning in the middle of the corridor.
Barnaby stood still for a few seconds and suddenly reached out his hand to his right and grabbed the air, pulling back forcefully when he felt he was holding something, revealing a surprised Harry and Ron.
"Invisibility cloak?" Barnaby momentarily ignored the well-known duo and examined the cloak with interest, deftly rubbing his thumb over its surface. "It doesn't seem to be made of Demiguise hair, but it's not a Disillusionment Charm either. It gives off an unpleasant feeling..."
But setting aside his curiosity about the cloak, he turned his head to look at the two Gryffindor cubs who didn't seem to know where to put their hands or feet.
"Is this how you tricked the Tonberries last time?" Barnaby asked with genuine interest, referring to when they were caught coming out of Fluffy's room with the other two Gryffindors.
Harry and Ron could only exchange helpless looks and explain that it was a gift Harry received at Christmas.
"And you accepted a gift from a complete stranger?" Barnaby looked at the boy with the lightning scar as if he were a fool. "You didn't even check if it was cursed or something before using it?"
"Why would it be cursed?" Harry asked innocently, puzzled. "It's just a Christmas gift."
To Ron's credit, he did seem to understand after reflecting a bit and had the decency to look embarrassed, realizing they had really been carried away by the excitement of opening presents.
Barnaby stared at Harry in confusion for a few seconds when he heard the response, finding it hard to believe he was serious.
It wasn't possible that no one had told him that, with his reputation, he had to be careful with certain people after entering the magical world, right?
"I'll tell him later," Ron promised, stepping forward to defend his friend's lack of information and remedy it. "Wait, how did you find us if we were under the cloak?" he said, trying to subtly change the subject.
Although the Death Eaters had been "dealt with" years ago in various ways, he realized it was better for someone to tell Harry about them, since he grew up in the Muggle world and doubted he knew about them based on how the conversation had unfolded.
And who better than his best friend to do it?
"Please do," Barnaby returned the cloak with a simple gesture. "As for how I found you, the cloak might block magic and vision, but you still make noise."
There was also the detail that Ron was passing gas...
Was it the spicy chili with beans and fizzy drinks for dinner?
"Oh," Harry had already realized that, but he thought they were doing a good job by walking slowly and not talking.
"Now, are you going to tell me what reason you have this time for breaking curfew?" Barnaby alternated his gaze between the two with a playful tone.
"If we tell you, will you let us go?" Ron ventured with a negotiating tone.
"Only if it's interesting."
In fact, he was too tired to bother dealing with them, he just wanted to go to sleep. But when he heard their reason, sleep vanished as his expression darkened.
"And that mirror you mentioned, does it have an inscription at the top?"
"Yes, how did you know?" a surprised Harry asked.
"Come on, lead us to that mirror," Barnaby urged impatiently.
Since the three of them couldn't fit under the cloak and they had already been discovered, Harry simply led his two friends to the remote stone room where a human-sized mirror stood silently.
"Look, there are my parents!" the boy with the lightning scar pointed excitedly. "Do you see them?"
"Harry," Barnaby blocked the two students' attempt to approach the mirror with his staff when he saw their excited and curious movement. "How many times have you come to see it?"
"Huh?" Harry was once again surprised. "How did you know I've been here several times?"
"Because that..." Barnaby pointed with his free hand, "is a dark artifact!"
He could feel the aura of ill intentions for which the artifact had been created since he set foot in the room!
Ron's expression changed when he heard that and he took two steps back to keep his distance, much to Harry's confusion.
"What? No! It's not a dark artifact," Harry denied while looking back at the mirror, where his parents greeted him with warm smiles.
"Harry," Barnaby called, managing to divert Harry's gaze from the mirror. "That mirror is called the Mirror of Erised, it's a dark artifact that shows the deepest desires of a person. I suppose you wish to see your parents and that's what you see, but if Ron or I looked into the mirror, we'd see completely different things."
"He's right, Harry," Ron felt he had to be honest with his best friend, especially if he was under the influence of something dark. "In the reflection, I only saw myself, but I was a prefect, won the House Cup, and was on the Quidditch team. I didn't see anyone else."
He definitely wouldn't mention that he was surrounded by a bunch of pretty girls winking at him.
"That doesn't make it a dark artifact!" Harry insisted with less conviction in his voice. "And what did you see, Barnaby?"
Barnaby didn't answer that question due to a hunch while his eyes scanned the surroundings discreetly, but he approached the mirror with slow steps.
"Harry, the effect of the Mirror of Erised on a person can destroy them, chaining them to the past and preventing them from moving towards the future or burying themselves in an imaginary world, fleeing from an undesirable reality," Barnaby explained sternly. "Perhaps the mirror showed you your parents, but you must remember that what you see there is not real."
Barnaby stood next to the mirror and raised his staff.
"Wait, what are you doing? No!" Harry's eyes widened and he tried to stop him desperately.
He saw the staff descend towards the mirror, with the unmistakable intention of shattering it, or it did until Barnaby was suddenly paralyzed, unable to move a muscle.
"Oh, Merlin, it also has a protection curse!" a startled Ron shouted.
"It's not a curse, Mr. Weasley," an elderly voice sounded in the stone room, and the headmaster of Hogwarts appeared before everyone, as if... he had always been there.
"The great white wizard doesn't want me to destroy a dark artifact?" Barnaby asked in a flat tone. "And you, Harry, didn't you realize how you acted just a moment ago?"
As he suspected, it wasn't possible for something like this to enter the castle without the headmaster's knowledge, much less for Harry to "accidentally" stumble upon it in such a remote room in the middle of the night.
Barnaby was furious inside. What kind of person deliberately exposes a child to a dark artifact like this?
Harry could have been trapped in the past forever!
Just look at his condition and behavior!
"I'm afraid it's not that simple to deal with the Mirror of Erised," Dumbledore began his performance as an old man. "Besides, didn't you hear that breaking a mirror brings bad luck?"
Barnaby was actively restraining Sanshi from lunging at the Hogwarts headmaster's throat, as furious if not more so than he was at this moment.
But he wouldn't let Dumbledore become aware of Sanshi, at least not so soon.
Because he was very aware that if the headmaster did something to Sanshi, he himself would try to tear him apart with his own hands. One should not underestimate the bond they share.
"Headmaster Dumbledore, is it true that the mirror is a dark artifact?" Harry became aware that he really seemed to be under the influence of something, as his reaction just now was a bit exaggerated.
"I didn't expect anyone to stumble upon the mirror in this corner of the castle," Dumbledore levitated Barnaby away from the mirror and canceled the paralysis. "Indeed, Harry, the Mirror of Erised is not something people should face casually. But the mirror is not mine and I'm only keeping it temporarily for an acquaintance. Tomorrow I will move it to another place and ask you not to seek it again for your own good."
"I... yes, Headmaster Dumbledore," Harry had a sad expression knowing he couldn't see his parents again, but he consoled himself with the thought that at least he had seen them and now he would remember them.
Ron wisely kept silent in the presence of the greatest white wizard, but inwardly he was surprised that someone like Dumbledore would agree to keep a dark artifact for someone instead of destroying it as should be done.
He made a mental note to write a letter to his father to tell him about what had happened, just in case.
As for Barnaby, he stared at Dumbledore while he talked to Harry and then turned around to leave without saying another word, knowing that with the old man here, it wouldn't be possible to destroy that abomination.
But now he knew it was in the castle and had alternative means.
"That's all, I need to sleep!" he concluded for the day.
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You know, I've never seen someone try to break the mirror in an FF.
Or try to be the mirror for them.
They always think of ways to steal the stone...
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