Bab 32: Chapter 32
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Ethan, who had been ready for a fight, looked at Cassia, who moved closer to the mirror, observing herself in it. After taking a glance at its reflection, she twirled around on herself, and looking deep into Ethan's eyes, she said, "Come and see."
Ethan glanced between her and the mirror, and after a moment of hesitation, stepped forward. He could see a playful glint in her eyes, behind her dark red hair. She stepped out of the way, allowing Ethan to look into the mirror's reflection.
He was familiar with this mirror, not because he had ever seen it in the past, but because of his meta-knowledge. This was the Mirror of Erised, which was the reverse for Desire. And as its inscription said, this mirror did not show one's face, but their heart's desire instead.
Curious about what he would find in the mirror, Ethan looked with attention, and he indeed did not see his current self. Instead, he spotted an older version of himself. His hair was slightly longer, and he was not wearing his usual Slytherin robes, or any other Hogwarts' clothes for that matter as he had a deep blue coat on instead.
His hands had large purple sparkles around them, crackling with untold might, while in his back were several runic circles, each looking similar yet bigger to the ones his mother had used to defeat the Seven Tailed Kitsune. Speaking of Kitsune, Ethan could also see Miyuki from the corner of his eyes, with nine tails swishing behind her, instead of her current three.
But as he was drawn into the reflection, Ethan suddenly felt someone grab his hand. Ethan felt like a thunderbolt coursed through his entire body as he looked at Cassia, feeling the instinctual urge to move away.
Cassia firmly gripped his hand however, softly muttering through her thin lips, "Wait, look."
Ethan followed her gaze, and noticed the reflection had changed somewhat. The runes were still there, and one of Ethan's hands was still crackling in that purple energy. However, he could also see Cassia in the reflection now.
Just like in real life, she was holding onto his hand, and her form was slightly different, as she was around the same age as him. But other than that, Ethan failed to notice what her desire was right away, because she was just that. An older version of herself with nothing special.
While he struggled to understand what that meant, Cassia muttered, "Is this what your heart desires? Power?"
Pausing, Ethan looked away from the mirror, and down at Cassia, and noticed she was looking back as well. Smiling softly, he said, "It isn't power. It is the achievement of ultimate magic."
Cassia broke eye contact, muttering, "I wasn't expecting that."
Glancing back at the mirror, Ethan remarked, "Yours is different as well."
"How so?"
Ethan shrugged, the magic in the mirror slowly moving to envelop the two of them as he said, "You are the sister of the Boy Who Lived. You must have been compared to him your whole life, or worse, ignored. I thought you would want to prove yourself as someone just as good. To affirm your own identity."
Ethan suddenly felt very conscious of the fact they were still holding hands as he felt her grip tighten slightly, before relaxing as she said, "Maybe a part of me does, but Harry and I have a special bond, as twins, and I know better than anyone that he isn't to be envied. I would very much rather live an ordinary life than being chased all my life for something I can't even remember."
As he heard her words, it finally clicked in Ethan's mind. He had failed to notice it, too focused on his own desire, but the background in the mirror had changed. They were on a small, windy hill, with a house behind them.
It was a simple vision, one so simple he had inadvertently dismissed it.
The two remained silent for a while, simply gazing into the mirror, before Ethan took his hand away from Cassia, the image in the mirror disappearing as he asked, "Why did you do this?"
Cassia placed both of her hands on her back, tightly clutching them as she replied, "You don't want to know."
Sighing, he asked, "Is it about Nicolas Flamel?"
Cassia looked like she was about to refute, but she eventually nodded, asking, "How did you guess?"
Ethan's eyes glazed towards the mirror, groaning, "It was a cruel thing to do, what you just did."
Cassia looked down, biting her lower lip as she tried to find something to say, but Ethan added, "I would prefer it if you didn't try to speak to me again."
Cassia looked up sharply from the ground, definitely not expecting such a clear cut reaction, but Ethan was already halfway through the door. Cassia tried to follow, but only found Miyuki to be blocking her way, her tails swaying menacingly as the fox looked at her with surprising intelligence behind its eyes.
Walking away from the abandoned classroom, Ethan had his heart in a mess as he wandered back towards the Slytherin dungeon, feeling conflicted.
Ethan had never been much of a people's person, be it in this life or in the past, and girls had always been a sensitive issue. His isolation from other people his age during this life also hadn't helped.
Still, Ethan thought that with his accumulated life experience, he would be beyond matters of the heart.
It wasn't even that he had fallen in love with Cassia Potter, he barely knew the girl, and she had been mostly annoying in all their encounters since they met. And not the cute kind of annoying. Besides, she was an eleven years old girl, it would be absurd to fall in love.
But they had shared something in that room, in front of that mirror. Thinking back on it, Ethan wasn't even sure how she had done it, as Ethan did not remember visions could be shared in the mirror, although he doubted Harry and Ron had tried to hold hands in the original story.
Still, whatever means she had used, the two's hearts had been connected in a special way, and all boundaries of souls had been breached as they looked into each other. It might not have seemed to be much, but their hearts had metaphorically touched in that experience.
It had been a sweet thing to experience when it happened, but it only made the betrayal he felt at having been used bitter. All she wanted was to know if his desire was in the stone, and she had used a devious means to get into him.
A part of him understood. Hells, Ethan hadn't hesitated to break the bleachers under Diego Basco, the exchange student, which would have most certainly broken his legs had he not managed to swiftly catch himself.
Still, Ethan could not help but feel hurt. He felt like he had been played with, and that wasn't a good feeling by any stretch of the imagination, especially not coming from someone with whom he had created this kind of connection, even though said connection was made to trick him in the first place.
The girl probably hadn't even realised what she had set out to do either, but it didn't stop Ethan's heart from feeling betrayed.
Quickly, Miyuki returned to his side, and Ethan was glad Cassia hadn't followed her to him, he didn't want to deal with her.
Ethan was not paying much attention to his surroundings as he returned to his dorm, but fortunately he did not bump into Filch, or any Professor who might have been patrolling out at night.
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