Mirror

First Tale: Mirror ~ Chapter 4

By Diana in collaboration with Meg R.

***

March 7, 11:29 p.m.

Harry shivered in nervous expectation, various thoughts racing through his mind. I thought it was all over already! How could it still be here?! He ran as silently as he could down the deserted halls. We got rid of it! I swear, it's supposed to be gone! Who? Who is it?! His thoughts were becoming more and more frantic as he ran towards the only safe haven left. Suddenly, he stumbled against one of the school's walking armors. Quickly whipping out his wand, he scanned his surroundings for anyone or anything unusual. The armor did not move. He stood still. Dumbledore. The boy thought. He's my only chance now...

A whisper echoed in the darkness of the night. "Shhh..."

Harry took a step back, listening carefully. His eyes flickered from one dark spot to another. I wonder if I'll even get there alive, he thought anxiously as he again scrutinized the seemingly empty corridor. He couldn't hear a thing. It was just too quiet. The silence was damning.

***

February 10, 12:30 a.m.

Sirius vainly tried not to hear what Snape's gift was now rambling about, loudly. He was dead tired and frustrated. Another student had fallen victim to whatever roamed the school halls at night. Despite all the safety precautions they had installed a Gryffindor, fell into the same trap that Cho, Hannah and Padma did. He was definitely in no mood to listen to a very vocal mirror.

"Stupid, Black! Don't you get it? Things are not what they seem to be. Whom you suspect the least is the culprit! The mmph one! Aaaargh! This is so frustrating! Why don't you just give me to Dumbledore?" The mirror was ranting as usual. Although he must admit that it had been a bit comforting to hear the mirror talking again. After a month of silence, he was beginning to think that perhaps Snape was right and it was just an ordinary mirror. Well, now that it's snarling back at him again the way Snape used to do... Hell, I've forgotten how aggravating this damn mirror is! Other profane words, which he used to reserve for Snape alone, began to drift about his mind then.

"Right! I'm going to give Dumbledore a mirror as annoying as you. Dream on!" Sirius growled at Snape's little gift. "Geez, why I'm even talking to a mirror? Dumb thing! Stupid prat! I have other more important things to worry about, like Harry." Sirius sighed as he now talked to a long lost friend, then again it maybe just the ceiling. "I swear Prongs you're deliberately driving me mad." He shook his head as he continued his monologue. "Of course, Harry is always involved in these things, as if having the dark lord after him wasn't enough! Aaargh! Sleep! I'll be able to think of something... by tomorrow..." He yawned once more before wearily collapsing onto his bed with the mirror ranting on at the background.

"Black! Black!!" The mirror shouted.

But, Sirius simply tuned his voice out as usual. Peculiarly his last thoughts weren't of his godson but of Moony. A particularly ragged looking Remus Lupin at that as he was drinking Snape's wolfsbane potion...

***

February 8, 6:56 p.m.

The brown-haired man looked at the smoking goblet in front of him with disgust. "I wonder," he asked ruefully, "why all good medicine taste bad?"

His companion laughed mischievously. "Want sugar? Milk?" He asked playfully even as he waved his wand suggestively over the potion.

The former just rolled his eyes at him. "You do know that sugar makes it utterly useless, right?"

The black-haired man merely shrugged carelessly. "So? This way, we could roam round the castle in canine form. Have better hearing and all."

"Right and I could bite just about anyone patrolling tonight," said the werewolf ironically.

"It's alright if you bite Snape," was the reply of the recently cleared Azkaban convict. "You won't be changing him too much, since he's been a monster from the start."

The tired looking man laughed mockingly "Funny, Padfoot. Real funny."

"Oh, alright! You win, Moony," the other said as he mockingly shook his head sadly. "Go ahead and suffer drinking Snape's disgusting potion." But he still looked at the said potion uneasily. I don't know why, but I still don't trust that greasy haired git. Even more so these days! I don't understand what's going on through that head of his, but I still think he's up to no good, he thought in irritation. He stared at his friend who was about to drink the potion.

Remus grimaced in remembrance of the potion's taste. "Ah well." He said resignedly as he braced himself before drinking the potion in one gulp. He gagged afterwards. "Bleargh! This thing tastes worse every time I drink it!" He stated in revulsion as he wearily sat down on his chair.

Sirius looked at him with concern in his eyes. "Are you sure you're okay, Moony? You look more tired than usual."

Remus smiled weakly. "You know how it is for me during this time of the month."

Sirius frowned. "No joking around this time, Moony. You really look like you've been through a ringer and you haven't even transformed yet!"

"It's nothing, Padfoot. Quit being such a mother hen! Isn't hounding Harry enough for those overprotective instincts of yours? I thought you were a dog not a chicken, and a female one at that!" Remus said teasingly.

The 'overprotective mother hen' rolled his eyes. "Here I am trying to express concern for an old friend and he makes fun of me. There's no justice in this world!"

The 'old friend' motioned him away. "Go ahead, Padfoot. I'll see you in the morning. You have patrol later, right?"

Sirius smiled recklessly. "Nah! I changed shifts with the old bat, Trelawney, just so I could stay here with you. It'll just be like old times..." His voice trailed off as he remembered long lost friends. Make that A friend for Wormtail sure isn't one! He snarled inside at the thought.

Remus looked out the window sorrowfully. He too remembered how it used to be. "Those days will never come back, Padfoot. Now, it's just the two of us, Moony and Padfoot..."

It was a full moon already. It came upon them unexpectedly as they were talking about their current problem, the unknown predator in Hogwarts. As Remus slowly began to transform, Sirius quickly changed into Padfoot. Hair grew all over Remus' body. Wolf hair. But this was nothing unusual for the man who had seen this particular transformation many times before. However, it was what happened next that shocked him.

Suddenly, Remus cried out in agony as his face slowly stretched, elongating into a snout. Human bones seemed to melt like a candle to form the face of a canine. It was obvious he was feeling every facet of his transformation.

Padfoot stared in morbid fascination, as human teeth became that of one of the fiercest canine. It had always fascinated him the way the sickly human becomes a wolf. Deep inside the dog's psyche however, Sirius thoughts were panicky. Why's the transformation so slow! It doesn't usually take him this long to change!

Moony howled in anguish as his human limbs slowly changed into that of a wolf's. He felt each and every bone that increased or decreased in length and width. It was like being pulled apart and compacted at the same time. He felt like his hands and feet were on fire as it turned into paws and the nails into claws. The torturous change seemed to take forever when, suddenly, it was all over. Where a weary man used to stand, there now lay a twitching werewolf. As weak as a newborn chick, Moony panted heavily as he lay on the cold hard floor.

Padfoot howled in sympathy. He understood pain. He will mete out equal suffering to whoever hurt his fellow canine. He looked about the enclosed room for the enemy. The vicinity was empty but for the two of them. He growled in frustration. Hating his inability to avenge his brother dog, he howled again. Meanwhile Sirius, unable to do anything to help ease his friend's suffering, simply continued to stare in a sort of stupefied horror. One thought stuck out in his confused mind. What's going on here?!

***

February 10, 6:49 a.m. at the 5^th year boy's dormitory: House of Gryffindor...

Ron woke up at the sound of something hard falling to the floor. "What?" He asked sleepily. Pulling the screens aside, he saw Harry lying on the floor with his head on Neville's bed. "What's going on here?" he exclaimed. Harry was sleeping on the floor. Neville's bed was empty. Adding two and two he came up with... "Merlin! Neville's been attacked, too?!" He wearily plunked down beside Harry. "Hey, ouch! What the?" Ron yowled. Harry stirred. Ron looked at the hard object he had inadvertently sat on. "Oh, it's Snape's gift!" He gagged on the thought of Snape giving Harry Potter a gift. He shrugged as he remembered how strange Snape had been acting since Christmas.

Meanwhile, Harry finally woke up. "Ummm... Ron?" he asked yawning. "What's the matter?" he asked innocently.

"Oh, I don't know." Ron started sarcastically. "I mean whatever could be wrong with the fact that I found you sleeping on the floor looking like you've been run over by stampeding hippogriffs and Neville's bed is empty looking like, oh just like, that it had not been used and with all the attacks going on and not to mention I found this stupid thing right beside you. I must conclude that you're having trouble sleeping so you've resorted to reading Snape's Christmas gift to you to Neville who couldn't stand it so he finally left the dorm. Well, am I right or am I right?" Ron finally took a breath at the end of his long monologue. Harry laughed. Ron glared at him.

Harry couldn't help it. "Ron... That's just so..." He collapsed on the floor, laughing.

Ron threw his hands up. "That's it, Harry Potter has gone nutters!"

Harry just laughed and laughed; forgetting his worries while the others began to look at him from their beds... "Er, is he alright?" Dean asked hesitantly. The redhead just glared at him balefully.

Later at breakfast, Harry explained everything that happened to Ron and Hermione. News was buzzing about as Neville was the first Gryffindor victim. More notably, he was the first male to be attacked by the school's mysterious assailant. Rumors abounded on the possible reasons why he was assaulted. After the meal, Dumbledore cancelled morning classes for the teachers to investigate while the students were confined to their common rooms.

***

February 10, 8:30 a.m. at the staff room...

"As you all know, Mr. Neville Longbottom is already the fourth victim of this mysterious assailant. Professor Sinistra," Dumbledore nodded in her direction, "found him in a corridor in the fifth floor near the portrait of old Wulga. His condition is similar to those of the other victims. As to how Mr. Longbottom was able to elude Professor McGonagall, it is more than likely that he left as she escorted a first year student, Mr. Forrest, to the loo which is..." Professor McGonagall made a motion with her hand. "Ah yes, of course. I suppose that wouldn't be necessary, yes? Where was I?"

McGonagall whispered something in his ear. Dumbledore then sat down while she continued the debriefing of the staff. "He was found at the most 15 minutes after I left the Common Room. It would have taken the boy 5 minutes at least to get there even if he ran. As Professor Sinistra and Ms. Leslie were patrolling the fourth floor, it would have taken him longer, as he would have to evade the patrollers. There is a window of five minutes within which Mr. Longbottom most probably met his assailant." Silence reigned as her last words sank in.

"The likelihood that Mr. Longbottom intentionally set out to meet someone after all our warnings to the students is high, I must admit," Vector spoke out. "After all, as had been mentioned before..."

***

Hufflepuff Common Room...

"...they all looked betrayed! It's like they met with someone that they trust. Completely at that! I mean, think about it! Would you risk going out at night with all these attacks and add all that security and stuff?" Ernie flung his arms dramatically as he said the last.

"But, maybe they were under the Imperius Curse or something?" A fourth year Hufflepuff asked.

"Nah," Ernie replied dismissingly. "Why would they look like they were deceived then? I'm telling you, it must be Potter."

Susan Bones grimaced. "You said the same thing in our second year and you do remember how that turned out, right?"

"That's exactly what I'm talking about!" Ernie said excitedly.

Susan snorted. "You lost me there!"

"No, no! It fits exactly with my theory!" Ernie gestured wildly with his hands.

"Which is?" Justin asked, eyebrow raised.

"Potter's finally lost it!" Ernie replied spectacularly.

***

Staff room...

"What? You're out of your mind!" Sirius thundered angrily, standing up in violent protest.

Professor Froyde of Muggle Studies ignored him to calmly continue his lecture. "I only meant that it is quite understandable considering all the things that had happened to him through the years and now with You Know Who back, this may just have been the straw that broke the camel's back."

Dumbledore stood up, his expression serious for a change. "As I have already said before, Mr. Potter is as sane as you and I. I would not entertain any more theories as such..."

"Pardon, Headmaster." Froyde smoothly continued. "But it seems to me that you are, well, sort of biased when it comes to the boy. You must admit that it is very suspicious that Mr. Potter is connected in one way or another to the victims." The tall cadaverous looking professor raised a finger. "First, Mr. Potter supposedly has a crush on Ms. Chang, who," he said raising an eyebrow superciliously, "was Mr. Diggory's last girlfriend. Second," he went on even as he raised another finger, "he was the one who found both Ms. Chang and Ms. Abbot and under mysterious circumstances at that. Third, his 'accident' at the bathroom that happened quite coincidentally, I suppose, at the same night that Ms. Patil was attacked. Though in my opinion, Ms. Patil probably fought back and he went there to tend himself... Fourth, Mr. Potter was in the Common Room looking quite guilty as Professor McGonagall discovered him right in front of the portrait hole..." A furious scuffle returned the oblivious professor to the real world. An exhausted Remus was holding back Sirius, who was looking absolutely murderous.

Remus tried to distract the mad godfather by asking the naïve professor, who looked like he was giving a mere lecture about muggles, a question. "Harry is not stupid. If it was him, why would he inform the headmaster that he was having dreams that he thinks have something to do with these attacks?"

"Ahh," the man said warmly, "but Mr. Potter obviously had not yet lost all his faculties as he tries to 'warn' us of these attacks. Personally, I think, this merely confirms my 'crying for attention' theory, as Mr. Potter subconsciously wants us to catch him. He is after all raised by muggles and they have so many interesting theories about the human psychology..."

The others began ignore him then for the far more interesting activity of arguing with their fellow teachers. Some agreed with his theory. Some disagreed. Some looked like they wanted to kill the already dead looking professor. (Guess who and the first two don't count!) Dumbledore sighed as he looked at the free-for-all. The teachers were all arguing by now. "Ahem!" No one paid any attention to him. He stood up and sent violet sparks into the air. The staff turned to look at him. "As interesting as this all is, I trust Mr. Potter and have no intention of committing him to St. Mungo's. Still, I do believe that he needs constant surveillance at the least as I have reasons to believe that he will be victim number 6."

Remus wearily sat down, releasing Sirius who sank back unto his chair. "Of course, the number on his forehead! But, how come only he could see it?"

The rest of the staff turned to look at him dumbfounded. Snape voiced out their thoughts. "Er, a number on the forehead?"

"Yes," Sirius said, snapping at Snape, "he saw a number on his forehead during the bathroom incident which caused him to freak out!"

"Are you saying that the victims have been marked in advance?!" McGonagall asked in a horrified voice.

Dumbledore nodded at the bedraggled Remus to continue. "The attacks indicate careful planning. I believe, that this is a well thought out plan." He said thoughtfully.

"You mean You Know Who?" Sprout asked worriedly.

***

Ravenclaw Common Room...

"Is he trying to wear the teachers down? Scare us to submission? Or does he just enjoy wreaking havoc and terror in the supposed to be inviolable Hogwarts School?" Terry Boot asked logically.

"Perhaps one or all, but still the hypothesis that this is the work of You Know Who is shaky for several reasons." Lisa Turpin replied.

"True, there are pros and cons as is in any theory..." Mandy Brocklehurst reasoned out.

***

Staff room...

"I don't think so, though, it would be convenient for him." Dumbledore mused out loud. "Still, it is not like him at all. For one, there are no telltale dark marks. Two, the students involved are not muggle born. (A/N: Pretend with me!) Three, the Chamber of Secrets is currently blocked, so it could not be coming from there..."

***

Ravenclaw Common Room...

"Still, Harry Potter is the one constant in these incidents. This may be a move to either wear him down with suspicions similar to what occurred during our second year or to have him expelled, making him as easier target outside these walls." Lisa shrugged apologetically, pitying the boy. "Or maybe, he was the target all along and the others just got in the way..."

Mandy stood up. "The assailant must be pretty stupid if that is the case! I mean, think about it! Potter must have been within striking distance several times including the first time." She ended there quietly, all remembering just who the first was...

***

Slytherin Common Room...

Draco was bored. "This is all Potty's fault! Why don't they just expel him so that we can go on with our lives? I thought this was a school not a theater for Pothead to exercise his dramatics!" Crabbe and Goyle just agreed with him as they usually did. Draco snorted in annoyance. "You two stay here, I'm going to write to father about this!" he said righteously as he royally left the room.

At the dorm, he quickly took a parchment from his bedside drawer. "Now, where's that quill?" He grumbled under his breath. "Aha, there it is!" he cried out triumphantly as he saw the object he was looking for behind the candle on the table. Quickly reaching out, he accidentally burned himself as he got too close to the candle. "Yeow!" He yelped more in surprise than in pain, as his bracelet suddenly wiggled. He stared at it in disgust. "What the hell was that?" Bracing himself for the pain, he deliberately placed his arm over the fire. The bracelet fell off, wriggling madly, as he made sure that it was directly over the fire. He gritted his teeth in pain. Grimacing, he looked at the burnt skin. It was all red and puffy and it hurt very much. His nerve endings were screaming at him.

While on the table, the bracelet lay innocently. It looked like an ordinary bracelet. It didn't look as if it had just changed into this disgusting wormlike thing for a moment under the candle's flame.

Draco looked at it with surprise. "I think it's time to send a note to mother." he said grimly. His thoughts were even grimmer for he wasn't in the House of Slytherin for nothing. Devious plans were his cup of tea. Let's see, I can't tell father for he'll kill me if he finds out I've got suckered in by Snape! And especially not after all those lessons on the Dark Arts... Mother it is, then , he grimaced as things began to click inside his mind. I still can't believe that Snape would do something like this! I'm a Slytherin! Why would he do this to a member of his own House?! Come to think of it, I'm not the only Slytherin who's a part of that special project...

The slender boy remembered the day he got the name bracelet.

***

During Snape's Special Project...

"... thus, you'll all have to wear a name bracelet." Snape ended with a smile while the class chattered about excitedly. The trio glanced at each other knowingly. They've had firsthand experience with the Polyjuice Potion themselves during their second year.

Hermione nodded approvingly. "Yes, that would be best if we're to avoid unnecessary trouble."

Ron snickered. "But, wouldn't it great if we fool the Slytherins again?" He muttered the end, as he didn't want to be overheard.

Hermione started to retort when she noticed the expression on Harry's face. The boy's face was all squashed up from trying to keep himself from laughing out loud in the middle of their class. Hermione frowned at the other a if to say that it was all his fault. The gangly redhead shrugged indifferently even as he reached for the necessary ingredients.

Draco's eyes narrowed in suspicion as he looked at the inseparable Gryffindors. What do they know? He asked himself even as he started to make the potion. He was pulled out of his thought when he heard his name being called. He looked up to see Snape. He tried to keep his face from crunching with disgust. THIS is our Head of House! What happened to him?!

Snape smiled at him as he asked for 'Mr. Malfoy' to extend his arm. The boy nonchalantly complied. As the metal touched his skin, he felt queasy. It was like something alien entered his body. For one embarrassing moment, he thought that he would either faint or puke. I'll never live that down! He thought even as Harry's smirking face quickly flashed through his mind. He swiftly regained his composure after that. The rest of the class past him by unnoticed. If anyone had questioned him about what happened next he wouldn't have been able to answer. It was a good thing that no one asked him about that.

***

Back to Draco's musings...

I knew there was something fishy about that damn bracelet! I don't care what happens to that Ravenclaw Seeker or that Hufflepuff and especially not to that Gryffindor Longbottom, but ALL students in their fifth year and above are participants in Snape's project. That means, even we, SLYTHERINS, are in danger! This is just absurd! But then again, he'd been acting real strange for a while now...

Quickly, grabbing a quill, he wrote down everything he knew about what was happening in Hogwarts. Carefully using magic instead of touching it again, he enclosed the worm/bracelet in a small nondescript pouch. He sighed in relief, as it remained docile. Signing a warning in front, he sealed the entire message when he suddenly realized something important. "Oh no," Draco moaned in disgust, "how am I suppose to send this when I'm locked up here?"

The pale haired boy stared at the parchment in his hand and at the burnt skin on the right. "Hmmm, I better replace that bracelet with something else before the professor suspects something." He muttered to himself as he thought of a plan. Searching through his things, he found another bracelet. It was silver but... he grinned at his own cunning. "One name bracelet coming up!" he said as he transfigured it to an exact copy of the worm/bracelet.

***

Staff room...

The Arithmancy professor stood up. "I've think I may have found a pattern in these attacks." The professors turned to listen to her. "Thinking back on it, this assailant of ours struck on the following dates: January 7, 20, 31 and the latest was at February 9. Subtracting one from another, you'll find that there is a difference of 13 days between the first and second attack, 11 on the following and so on. If this continues, the next attack will then be 7 days from now. That would be February 16." She sat down then. Silence reigned after this proclamation. It didn't last long as a discussion of plans began in earnest.

***

February 10, 12:47 p.m.

Draco strolled calmly out of the Great Hall. He had made sure that a lot people heard him boasting about writing a complaint to his father during lunchtime. Goyle and Crabbe accompanied him as usual. Oh well, they'll be good cannon fodder. There's no way I'll be going about alone these days, especially not when I suspect it's the Head of my House that's doing all this! he thought sarcastically as they strode towards the Owlery. As if summoned by that thought Professor Snape suddenly appeared at the next corner.

"Mr. Malfoy." He greeted cheerfully.

Draco felt his blood run cold. "Professor." The word stumbled out of his mouth automatically. He tried to smile his usual knowing smile. "I'm just sending a letter to my father." he said as close to his usual tone of voice as he could when he felt like running down the halls screaming bloody murder.

The black-haired man smiled. It was a very un-Snape like smile. It chilled Draco to the bone though it was a very unthreatening expression. "Yes, I've heard about that Mr. Malfoy. I was wondering if you could perhaps not send such an inflammatory letter to your father. After all, the staff is doing everything possible to protect the students." He said smoothly, his ebony eyes fixed on pale ones.

Draco felt something come up his throat. He forced it back down. "Er, of course, Professor. Really, it's not about how the school is run and all." He said slickly. "It's... sort of personal, you know." He said confidingly. He was now so close to Snape that he could smell the soap the professor used that morning. A stray thought ran through his mind amidst the blubbering ones. He actually smelled good.

"Oh, very well then, Mr. Malfoy." he smiled at the Slytherin students. "Send your mother a greeting for me as well."

Draco felt a chill ran up his spine. "Er, of course, Professor." he said as the potions master turned to leave. Does he know? he thought, panicky. Crabbe and Goyle turned to look at him.

"What's wrong Draco" Crabbe asked looking at Draco in askance.

"Yeah, why are you being so, I duh know, nice to Snape." Goyle asked dumbly.

"Yeah," said Crabbe complainingly, "when he's been acting real weird lately. Acting goody-goody and kind to those Gryffindors "

Draco gulped. "Never mind that!" he snapped at them. "I have a letter to send!" And it was burning a hole through his school robes.

As he watched his eagle owl fly towards the Malfoy Mansion, he wished that it was him instead that was going home. His thoughts were somber as he stared at the bird disappearing in the horizon. But, I have a feeling it's too late. I have to see this through to its end. I never thought this day would come when I'd be wishing Potter luck in solving something, but this time... Damn.

***

That day ended normally enough after all the irregularities that preceded it. Perhaps it was to make up for that... the following day, Neville, like the others, was sent to St. Mungo's. Owls flocked the staff, especially Dumbledore, as news of what happened to Neville Longbottom spread. It was splashed all over the Daily Prophet . Ministry officials came and went. Later, the Ministry posted guards in the school at night. The school board convened but decided that the classes would go on... for now. After all, if Dumbledore couldn't fix this mess, who could? This was the reasoning behind the decision, but they were ready to reconvene if another incident occurred.

With this entire hullabaloo going on, nobody noticed how intensely a certain pale haired Slytherin waited for an owl post in the days that followed.

***

February 10, 9:54 p.m. at the Malfoy mansion...

Narcissa's eyes widened as she read the content of Draco's letter. She had heard, of course, of the strange events occurring at Hogwarts, but she never suspected that her son would become involved in it! Carefully using magic to unseal the pouch, she opened it. A plain slender gold bracelet fell on the table. On one side, the name of her son was inscribed. Scrutinizing the bracelet, she floated it over to a candle. It reacted as her son wrote. It changed into a hideous wriggling wormlike being, obviously in pain, as it writhed as far as it could from the flame. She held it, impassively, directly over the fire. Strange scripts appeared in its side as it continued its silent dance of torture. Draco never said anything about this . she thought, as her eyes narrowed in concentration. There's something familiar about this writing. She gasped as she recognized it. Cursing vehemently under her breath, she dumped the bracelet back into the pouch and went to the library.

The Malfoy's library smelled of age, telltale signs of old parchments, books and various other knickknacks. It might not be as large as the one in Hogwarts, but when it comes to the Dark Arts Lucius' collection was quite extensive.

She looked up demonic objects.

***

February 12, 7:04 a.m.

Draco breathed deeply as the owl dropped a letter on him. He eagerly took the letter and hid it in a pocket in his robes. Looking about, he saw that Professor Snape was not yet there. As much as he wanted to open the letter already, he knew it would be better if he kept it a secret for now. I don't want Snape to know about this! he thought as he scanned the area around him.

***

February 11, 1:49 a.m. at the Malfoy's library...

Narcissa shook the heavy mass of long silver blond hair. She had been reading up on demonic writings, objects and now, legends. Straightening up, she continued reading. 'Legendary Demonic Objects: A Collector's Utopia .'

[Text from the book]

Three of the most powerful demonic artifacts that are known of are those that feed upon human desires. For the greatest of evil, of course, can only come from the human psyche.

The first is a pair of objects. The Mirror and Spear of Erised. As the name suggest, it has something to do with desire. (Erised is the reverse of the word 'desire.')

The Mirror of Erised is a magnificent huge gold-framed mirror, which stands on two clawed feet with the following words inscribed on its top: "Erised stra ehru oyt ube cafru oyt on wohsi." Translated this statement means, "I show not your face but your heart's desire." As could be insinuated from this statement, the Mirror of Erised shows to the observant what he wants most to see. It has driven a lot of people, wizards and muggles alike, insane with the paradisiacal visions it shows. Unless the observant has a firm will and grip of reality this mirror could entrance you until you forget to live out your life in favor of the dream it conjures that is tailor-made to its viewer.

The demon, Arianthua (See Chapter 8: Demon Creators for more information on the aforementioned demon.), which created the mirror, is alleged to have originally given the mirror to a muggle king as a 'gift.' The said ruler went mad and waged war upon his neighboring nations. The strife only ended when he was killed during one of his insane attacks upon another kingdom. It was then passed from one person to another until a witch got a hold of it. From then on, the mirror remained in the wizarding world. [See Chapter 5: Holders of Demonic Objects: Mirror of Erised for more information on the people who possessed this.]

The last known location of the Mirror of Erised is in the Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, which unfortunately for collectors, would be a difficult place to procure the said object for it is rumored that Albus Dumbledore himself, the current headmaster, hides it.

[End text from the book]

Narcissa placed a well-manicured hand before her lips as she yawned delicately. "Coffee." she ordered. A house elf quickly appeared with a cup full of freshly brewed coffee. The scrumptious aroma was enough to wake her up. The house elf quickly vanished after adding some more logs to the fire in the fireplace. After sipping some of the rejuvenating drink, the blond woman rested her eyes for a second. A sudden draft of cold wind blew in from nowhere... The pages flipped rapidly. Her eyes snapped open at what she saw...

For it was just a fairy tale.

***

5^th year boy's dormitory: House of Slytherin...

It was night already. Draco quickly unsealed the letter he'd been dying to open since that morning. As he scanned the letter, he felt some relief that at least his mother knew and was doing something. It didn't last for long. He continued to read his mother's account of what she had learned. The Mirror of Sadako. he thought sickly. How could that be? It's just a stupid legend!

***

[Text from book]

The third is called the Mirror of Sadako. It is an ebony framed handheld mirror with a solid gold back and handle. Demonic writings are inscribed on its black surface. Translation, however, is not available, as all holders of the mirror are never heard of again. (There are unconfirmed rumors of a book, which speaks of this artifact in more detail, but this too, like the mirror, is lost.)

Origin

Legend says that Sadako was a half-demon witch. It is said that Sadako's mother, a seer, bore the child of a sea demon. The mother, however, fell in love with a muggle doctor that was merely using her. Later, she threw herself into the mouth of a volcano after predicting its forthcoming eruption. Sadako was then left under the muggle's care, which upon learning of the child's monstrous powers (She could kill people just by looking at their eyes.), inflamed the inhabitants of that island to kill the demonic child by burning her. It was said that the flames burned so hot that the sand became black glass. Then, the demon out of 'love' for the mother tried to save his child. But, unfortunately, the child was already dead. Using his powers, he burned the entire island down. He caused the volcano to erupt, covering everything in its fiery magma. Then, he placed what was left of his child in a mirror made from the black glass that was created when the muggles killed her. That is the mirror that people came to call as the Mirror of Sadako .

Accordingly, whoever finds this mirror would then be sucked inside it, while the demon takes the place of the holder. It is like a reversed Mirror of Erised, wherein instead of seeing what you most desire, it would become what you most hate to be like. The demon being an evil creature will always, of course, be doing things for the worse. So, even if the person he copied is an evil person, it would always only be a seeming that he's doing good. In the end, whatever 'good' actions he did would be revealed to be a cunningly good deception only.

The sea demon that created this mirror is also called the demon of chance, not only for it's just dumb luck if you find it, but also because it almost shows an alternate you. A 'what if?' you, it is said. It, like any demon, loves to play with its victims. Its usual modus operandi is to drain the life of the people demographically close to the victim in some sort of order known only to the demon. Some says it's all up to just chance again... But whatever reason it has, it just cannot resist creating havoc in a community by frightening everyone that he'll be the next to die. To mark its victims, it usually imbues a part of itself on the said person. It also traditionally uses name bracelets in doing this. These bracelets originate from the demon, which is why they are alive in a sense. It carries over some of the demon's essence unto its bearer. In this way, it'll always know where its prey is for it can sense a part of itself within its victim."

[End text from book]

Narcissa dropped the cup she was holding. Crash! The house elf reappeared, apologizing for the cup that blond dropped. The beautiful woman never noticed the cringing elf for she was too busy penning a reply. Immediately after, she sent the owl to her son.

***

5^th year boy's dormitory: House of Slytherin...

Draco felt worse when he realized that he'd been marked already. Absentmindedly, he rubbed the skin where the bracelet used to lay. His head fell on the bed as he reviewed his mother's message on his mind. It's only a theory! I haven't seen any strange black mirror so it maybe not that object. I mean mother could be wrong about this. he gulped as he remembered the way Professor Snape had been acting in the past weeks. Damn. It fits. Damn it all, it seems that Snape's the one who got suckered in!!! So that's why he'd been acting all goody-two-shoes! he snorted as he remembered the current disastrous results in their Potion class. I knew it! But the problem is, who would believe me if I say that the current Professor Snape is an imposter? He's ingratiated himself to the entire school already! Even Potter thinks he's the next best thing to Dumbledore, for Merlin's sake! Aargh! He's a demon alright. But I'm a Slytherin, I can outwit that demon of chance. But deep inside his mind a voice seemed to be squeaking, "I hope!"

***

February 16

After classes ended that day, the entire student population of Hogwarts, except for some chosen 7^th years, stayed within the confines of the Great Hall. It was a week already. It was the Arithmancy teacher's moment. After all, it was her theory that was going to be put to the test tonight. As usual, the House heads stayed with their respective Houses, while the night patrollers roamed around the castle. The Head Boy and Girl, as well as the prefects, were all up that night. Dumbledore came back from time to time to check if everything was okay with the House heads. Nothing happened that night. No new victim was found, as there was no missing student either. The professors all felt relief at this, as did the students. There was a jubilant note in the air at the feeling of having escaped fate. Classes were suspended that day as the teachers were tired from the constant vigilance and the students, as well, had not really been able to sleep much with the thought of being the next victim stuck on their minds. That night, the students were sent back to their respective dormitories...

***

February 18, 12:01 a.m.

Emerald eyes gleamed in the darkness as Harry sat up. Not again! he groaned at the thought. The attack was supposed to be yesterday! Why now? It's the day after already! No, wait make that 2 days after. Today's February 18. It's already 9 days after! Aaargh! I don't understand! Harry thought, forgetting that the dream began a few minutes ago, which meant so did the assault.

The boy got out of bed meaning to talk to Dumbledore. I hope the school doesn't close because of this... His mind whirled with the number of thoughts in his head, but the one thing that he shied away from thinking about was the identity of the new victim.

A familiar voice quietly called out. "Mr. Potter."

Harry looked up to see Professor McGonagall. "Professor." he said as somberly.

She sighed. "I had hoped... Very well then, Potter. Let's go."

Together, they went to see Dumbledore... and to find out who the new victim was.