Chapter 78 — The Mirror of Eris

Chapter 78: Chapter 78 — The Mirror of Eris

Chapter 78 — The Mirror of Eris

That afternoon, Vesey went outside and spent the entire afternoon having a snowball fight with Fred and the others.

Even Percy, the model student of the Weasley family, joined in.

The moment Percy saw Vesey, his face flushed.

But after Fred and George teased him for a while, he immediately looked away from Vesey as though trying to avoid suspicion.

Vesey didn’t care.

Ever since becoming a girl, she had seen looks like that countless times.

She had seen ones far more obvious than Percy’s.

Besides, once everyone started playing, nobody really cared about anyone’s gender anymore.

They only cared about having fun.

And Vesey had a great time.

By the time she returned to the castle, she was completely soaked.

She was shivering from the cold.

Vesey immediately rushed into the bathroom and took a hot bath before finally feeling alive again.

Unfortunately, the snowball fight came with a price.

She caught a cold.

She kept sneezing, so she had no choice but to go to Madam Pomfrey’s office for some medicine.

After drinking the potion, Vesey’s ears suddenly began releasing bursts of hot air.

Vesey was so embarrassed that she didn’t even dare return to the dormitory.

She decided to wait until the hot air stopped before going back.

She was extremely worried.

What if someone sees me like this? How am I supposed to face everyone afterward?

Madam Pomfrey smiled at her for a while before finding her a bed in the hospital wing.

The moment Vesey lay down, she closed her eyes and pretended to sleep.

In reality, she was reading a novel inside her mind.

She had no idea how long she had been reading.

When Vesey finally opened her eyes, the hospital wing was completely dark.

Her ears had stopped releasing hot air.

Should I go back now?

Vesey thought about the plot for a moment.

It seemed that Harry was supposed to sneak around Hogwarts tonight and discover the Mirror of Erised that Dumbledore had deliberately left there for him.

Go back?

What the hell!

If she ran into Harry, she would have to accompany him on another adventure around the school.

And in weather this cold, she really didn’t want to keep maintaining her persona.

She was staying in the hospital wing.

The hospital wing was wonderful.

Vesey rolled over and immediately went back to sleep.

---

The next morning, Vesey slowly left the hospital wing.

On the way, she ran into Harry.

He excitedly grabbed her and whispered about what had happened the previous night.

Sure enough, he had found the Mirror of Erised.

"There are Mom and Dad in the mirror! Vesey, you can look at them when we go there. They’ll definitely love you!"

Vesey immediately looked surprised.

"Really? Really? Brother, do you think they’ll like me? I’m so stupid, so..."

She and Harry talked about Lily and James for a long time.

In the end, they agreed to go and see the mirror together that night.

Vesey agreed.

After all, if she refused an opportunity to see her parents, that would certainly make people suspicious.

---

That night, Vesey quietly slipped out of the Slytherin common room.

Harry and Ron were already waiting outside.

The moment they saw Vesey, they pulled her under the Invisibility Cloak with them.

There were more people this time, and Harry couldn’t remember the route he had taken the night before.

As a result, they spent nearly an hour searching.

Vesey really wanted to go back to bed.

But for the sake of maintaining her persona, she actively encouraged Harry and Ron, pretending to be just as excited as they were about seeing their parents.

Finally, when Vesey could barely endure it any longer, Harry found the right place.

They carefully entered the room.

Inside stood an especially tall mirror.

It was majestic and beautifully decorated, with two golden claws supporting its base.

"Look, Vesey! Come over here. Mom and Dad are right there. Do you see them? Mom looks so much like you!"

Harry shouted excitedly.

He pulled Vesey over to take a look.

Vesey also looked toward the mirror curiously.

[Ding! You have detected that the magical mirror is using Legilimency on the host. Would you like to fabricate your memories?]

Vesey:

Fine.

This was the Mirror of Erised, a magical object that showed a person’s deepest desires.

It was perfectly normal for it to be capable of probing someone’s mind.

Vesey sighed.

She was just about to step back when another system notification appeared.

[Ding! You have detected that a wizard is using Legilimency on the host. Would you like to fabricate your memories?]

A wizard?

That was completely different from the mirror’s Legilimency.

Vesey could ignore the mirror probing her mind.

But she couldn’t ignore a wizard doing it.

There was no doubt about it.

The wizard using Legilimency on her was Dumbledore.

Vesey immediately gave the order.

"System, fabricate the memories and transmit all the memories I want him to see."

[The girl excitedly followed her brother to the mirror. She thought she would finally be able to see her parents.

Even though she was tired and thirsty, she couldn’t help but encourage her brother and Ron.

The girl immediately understood the meaning behind the name of the magical mirror when she saw it. She had read about it in a book before.

The mirror could only show a person’s deepest desire.

Thinking about the parents her brother was seeing, the girl’s eyes reddened slightly.

She knew that she wasn’t the only one who missed their parents. Her brother missed them too.

Harry pulled the girl toward the mirror. She didn’t want to look because she knew everything in the mirror was only an illusion.

But she couldn’t help wanting to see it anyway.

What if she really could see her parents?

The girl looked into the mirror.

She saw Hogwarts.

She saw the professors, Professor Dumbledore, and Harry.

Every one of them had a sincere smile on their face.

The girl suddenly realized that what she wanted most was for everyone she knew to be happy every day.

[...]

Dumbledore suddenly broke out of his reverie.

A bitter smile appeared at the corner of his mouth.

He had guided Harry here the previous night.

He knew Harry would certainly bring Vesey with him tonight, so he had deliberately remained nearby.

The moment Vesey stood in front of the mirror, Dumbledore used Legilimency on her.

This was the perfect opportunity.

With the Mirror of Erised in front of her and himself behind her, even someone as cunning as Tom would have difficulty hiding every flaw.

But Vesey had shown none.

Everything she was thinking about made Dumbledore feel ashamed.

He felt guilty.

No matter how suspicious he became of Vesey, the child always responded with actions that made him feel ashamed of doubting her.

He had never seen such a wonderful girl.

Dumbledore even believed that if the diary had never existed, and Vesey had grown up under his supervision from the beginning, he would have genuinely loved the child.

There were so many qualities in her that he admired.

Unfortunately, that was no longer possible.

The existence of the diary meant that he could never completely trust Vesey.

With such a mysterious child and an equally mysterious diary, even if Dumbledore wanted to believe her, he couldn’t.

All he could do was doubt her again and again, only to have Vesey’s actions dispel those doubts again and again.

He knew it was unfair to Vesey.

But the wizarding world could no longer afford another Dark Lord.