May Day Eve

Chapter Seven : Twin Mirrors

Draco

Draco gazed at the second-hand of his watch as it went around in circles several times while he waited for Ginny to finish up with the potion. He felt his eyelids droop heavily on his eyes as sleep invited him into its embrace. He was just about ready to let his head drop when he heard Ginny call out to him.

“What is it?” he answered, irritated at the interruption.

“Have you noticed this before?” she hollered to him.

“Noticed what?” he asked.

“Why don’t you come and take a look for yourself?” she snapped.

Draco got to his feet and followed the direction of Ginny’s voice. He found her standing and facing the wall at the far corner of the Potions dungeon, still holding the bottle of potion. When he came up to her side, he discovered the source of her awe. In front of them was an oval mirror framed in oak with nymph carvings. Ginny spoke up when she felt him beside her.

“It’s beautiful, isn’t it?” she said without looking at him.

“Yes, and Snape loves bubble baths,” he said.

“Oh, come on, don’t you feel it? It’s an old mirror, with so much history. I can almost imagine a pair of star-crossed lovers facing this mirror, wishing they could hold each other forever, the way they saw themselves holding each other at that moment,” she said dreamily.

“Interesting? I can almost see Snape and McGonagall facing this mirror and debating about which of them had the worse hairstyle,” he answered her dryly.

Ginny turned and gave him a disgusted look. “You are such a despicable piece of vermin.

“And here I thought we were getting along,” he jeered.

“Malfoy, go away,” she said, bringing her attention back to the mirror.

“Go away? Is that all I’m going to get from the little witty Weasley?” he continued.

“I just wanted to share something really nice with you. I should’ve known better,” she said with the hurt apparent in her voice.

He looked intently at her as she stubbornly refused to pay him any more attention. He didn’t understand why, but he was slightly bothered by those last words she uttered to him. He watched her make peripheral eye contact to check on him. She flinched when she became conscious of his stare.

“Will you go away? You’re ruining the moment for me,” she said, her head turning to him, but her eyes were focused on the floor.

“What moment?” he asked.

“You wouldn’t understand.”

He pulled out his pocket watch once more to check the time. “It’s close to midnight. Isn’t it finished yet?”

“In a minute, now go back to your hole or something,” she answered.

Draco snottily rolled his eyes at her before walking away. He sat himself on the spot where he was earlier and prepared himself to take a quick nap. He stole a quick glance at Ginny before shutting his eyes, and he saw her mumbling something to herself. Sleep instantly came to him, and he was just about to visit Gwendolyn Lovetart (who is a firm believer that flipping your skirt over your head and bending over is a work of art) in his dreams, when his eyes snapped open, alarmed at the stifled shriek that quickly reached his consciousness. His heartbeat rose slightly as he got up from the floor, looking to see if Ginny was fine. His heart almost stopped at what he saw.

Ginny was nowhere to be seen, but in her place was a figure of a woman with raven hair extending down to her hips. The figure moved closer to him, and to his horror, her skin was peeling off, pus secreting from the creases. She was the color of red, burnt blood all over. He couldn’t move. His feet were rooted to the floor, and he dreaded the moment she would reach him. He had never seen anything so horrendous up close. Her yellow eyes observed him with curiosity, and soon, she looked at him with obvious disinterest. With a swish of her hand, she brought him to unconsciousness.

Harry

Harry caught Hermione in his arms just in time before she hit the ground. He shifted her so that her back was lying on his leg. He tapped the back of his hand gently on Hermione’s cheek.

“Hermione, wake up,” he whispered.

“That’s not the way to do it!” Parvati exclaimed as she kneeled in front of Hermione and slapped her cheek with force. Nothing happened.

“You have to put a little more strength into it,” Lavender inserted. She shoved Parvati away and rendered a sound-inducing slap. Still nothing occurred.

Justin came up behind her and pulled her away from Hermione. “I guess it would take a man’s strength,” he said, preparing to give her a jab.

“Hey,” Ron exclaimed before he could do any damage, “I’m much stronger than you are, let me do it.”

“Alright stop!” Harry finally spoke up as he hugged Hermione to his chest protectively. “We’re wizards, remember? We’ve been taught how to deal with situations like this.” He groped inside the pocket of his robes for his wand. Pointing it at Hermione, he spoke the word, “Ennervate!” Her eyes twitched and then slowly opened. It took her some time to regain full consciousness. The moment she remembered the events that had occurred, she immediately sat up, breathing heavily.

“Ginny... Ginny... something’s happened, Malfoy, that ferret,” she said making incoherent gestures with her hands. “Oh no, it’s all my fault.”

“What do you mean?” Ron said, panic beginning to rise in his eyes.

“I’ll explain later. We have to get there now,” she said. She shakily stood up and made her way outside, prompting everyone to follow her.

The group reached the Potions dungeon without event. The door was left ajar, and they cautiously entered one by one. Inside was a burning cauldron, and there were used ingredients on the tabletop. Someone had been working in here. When Harry and Hermione walked around the table, they discovered an unconscious Malfoy on the floor. Everyone gasped in surprise, but Harry noticed that Hermione’s face was curled in perplexity. She came up to his side and brought out her wand from her waistband. Pointing to the body on the floor, she used the spell Harry had earlier used on her. “Ennervate!” In a minute, Malfoy was flinching. Before he could even open his eyes, Hermione jumped on top of him, grabbing him by the collar and bringing his face up to hers.

“You bouncing hamster! What the hell did you do to her?! Where is she?!!!” she cried, shocking everyone in the room.

Malfoy was slightly taken aback but immediately found his voice. “If you haven’t noticed, I was the one who was unconscious! Anyone with enough brains between their ears would conclude that I’m the victim!” he screamed right back at her.

“As if Ginny would do anything to you! You’re evil!” she hollered, trying to match the ring of his voice.

“Maybe I’m not so evil now!” he retorted.

“Idiot, evil doesn’t take a vacation!” Hermione reasoned.

Malfoy grew impatient and forced Hermione’s hands away from his collar, “You can scream all you want, but I didn’t do anything to Ginny!”

“Hey, did you just address my sister by her first name? What the hell is going on here?” Ron said, breaking away from his distressed trance.

Hermione ignored Ron and continued to interrogate Malfoy, “If you didn’t do anything, then what happened to her?” Her eyes had a homicidal glint to it.

“I don’t know either. She was helping me with a potion, I was taking a nap, and then the next minute, I heard her scream. When I went to check on her, she was gone and, and,” he stopped at this point, but it was obvious he was debating internally whether or not to tell them the rest of what happened.

“And what?” Hermione urged with a threatening tone.

Malfoy finally decided to tell her. “There was a woman. She had long raven hair and looked as if she came out of a bonfire. She attacked me.”

“That’s bull! What the hell did you do to my sister?” Ron spoke up, his face the color of his hair, but Hermione shushed him with a finger as she was in deep thought.

“Malfoy, where was Ginny the last time you saw her?” she asked with her logical tone.

“She was looking in front of the mirror, over there,” Draco pointed his finger towards an oval mirror that reminded Harry of the mirror in the big room. In fact, it looked exactly like the mirror in the big room.

Hermione’s hand flew to her mouth as she let out a tensed gasp. “I think I know what happened,” her voice trembled as she spoke.

“Oh goody, please spare us the excitement and do tell,” Draco said with a tone much like the one Snape would use to talk about his trip to Disneyland.

Hermione ignored the sarcasm. The situation was much too grave for her to put her energy anywhere else. She was about to start, but Harry had to tell her something.

“Honey, can you please get off Malfoy first? It’s a bothersome sight.”

“Aww come on, I was beginning to enjoy myself,” Malfoy snickered.

Hermione refused to reply but got off Malfoy. “I can’t believe I didn’t think of it earlier. This legend you were talking about, Harry, the one with the banshee? I know that legend, only I know it as a historical fact. And it’s not a thousand years ago, more like fifty, and there was never a banshee, just a plain witch who fell into a dark wizard’s trap.”

“How is that relevant to Ginny?” Ron asked nervously.

“We have to go to the library, then you’d understand better.” Hermione lead the way out of the Potions dungeon. They stealthily made their way up the staircase to the first floor and down the hall that led to the library. It seemed impossible at the time, but through some miracle, seven teenagers reached the library door without any signs of Filch. Harry began to wonder if he was perhaps dead. Hermione opened the locks using an Alohomora charm and carefully unbolted the door so that it wouldn’t creak. One by one, they entered the library. Hermione was still up front, and Harry was right behind her.

As soon as they were all inside, Hermione broke away from the group and disappeared behind one of the shelves. Harry followed her while the others rested on the chairs, trying to catch their breaths. Harry found her skimming the books on the fifth aisle. She let out a squeal when she finally found what she had been looking for. She pulled out a black leather bound book entitled, “Detailed Digest of Diabolical Dark Wizards and their Devilish Deeds.” She tucked the book under her arm and dragged Harry by the arm back to where the rest of the group was.

Everyone, including Malfoy, flocked around Hermione as she set the book on the table with a loud thud. Harry could tell that they were all holding their breaths as they watched Hermione flip through the pages. She finally landed on the page she was looking for. On the upper left corner was a picture of a young man, around his early twenties. His skin was the color of olives, and his eyes had slits that extended to his temples. He had a thin, curled moustache on top of his withered lips, which kept smirking at them.

Hermione began reading the text aloud for their benefit.

“Diotavelli, born on the 27^th of November, 1922. In his five years of terrorism, (1941-1946) he had killed, mutilated, or injured a total of 13 witches aged 14-16, 8 of which were students of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. During that era, several deaths and kidnappings that are yet unaccounted for have been speculated to be his doing. However, his most notorious and ingenious crime was committed on the eve of May 1^st, 1946.”

“Diotavelli created the Specchi Gemellare al Paradise di Fuoco, or the Twin Mirrors to the Paradise of Fire. The twin mirrors were said to be the gateway to hell; however, there is no evidence proving this claim. What is accepted is that this instrument of the dark arts is used as a device to trap human victims within their confines. The methods that govern the curses surrounding these mirrors are not very clear; however, there are a few important details that are known about them.”

“First, the inscription at the bottom of the mirror that reads, “Una volta che venite in voi non potete andare vi ritirate.” In English, this translates to, “Once you come in, you cannot go back out,” which is quite misleading. It means that although you cannot go back out through the mirror you have entered, its twin mirror can always be used as an exit. It is also an important fact that only one of the mirrors can be activated at one time.”

“To be able to enter through the mirror, the spell Diotavelli applied was a simple muggle verse from an old Beltane tradition. It was a cunning ploy to trick young maidens into saying the spell without full-knowledge of the dangers that lie behind it.”

“To be able to exit the mirror is the complicated part. One must first trade places, knowingly or unknowingly, with the one trapped inside by reciting the spell in front of the proper or activated twin mirror.”

“The first and last victim of the mirrors was a sixteen year-old girl named Aurora Belpo, who fell into the trap on the night of May 1, 1946. Futile attempts were made to rescue her. On the same night, Diotavelli disappeared from the Wizarding world and was never heard from again. His status and whereabouts are still unknown up to this day.”

Hermione turned the page to the other side. There was a picture of Aurora Belpo, she had raven hair that went down to her waist and translucent blue eyes. Her chiseled features complimented her oval face as well as her alabaster skin. Below it was a diagram of the twin mirrors, the words inscribed below were magnified.

“Are you telling me that the woman I saw earlier, that was her?” Malfoy asked, pointing to the picture of Aurora.

“It might as well be. It’s the only logical explanation,” Hermione answered morosely.

“Wait, she never managed to get out?” Ron asked, the color draining from his face.

“She just did, or haven’t you noticed?” Malfoy sneered. Hermione gave him a deathly glare.

“No, no one was able to retrieve her. No one knew how else. And trading someone else with her, well, it just wasn't an option,” Hermione said sadly.

“But what about Ginny?” Ron asked, the lump in his throat building up. Parvati walked over and put a hand on his shoulder.

“Don’t worry, we still have a chance to get her,” Hermione tried to reassure him.

“How?” Harry asked.

“We have to get Aurora to trade places with her,” she said.

“Hermione, how exactly do we do that?” Justin spoke up.

“It sounds hard, but I have a plan. First, we have to find her, and we have to do that fast because she may not be able to survive this world for long. Her stay, wherever it was she was staying, could affect her reaction with the current atmosphere. It may be detrimental to her health. To be able to get her to perform the spell, we can put her under a Confundus charm. We’ll use the mirror in the room we were in earlier because that would be her entrance, and it would be Ginny’s exit. Now, here’s what we need to do. Lavender, Parvati, the two of you, go look for the Professors. We need as much help as we can get. Justin and Ron, you try and find her and use every spell you know to knock her unconscious. Harry and I will study the Confundus charm,” she took a deep breath after her long speech. Everyone was in agreement with her.

Lavender, Parvati, Justin, and Ron began to stalk out of the library when Malfoy reminded them of his existence, “What about me?”

“What about you?” Harry asked, turning to him.

“I want to help too,” he answered sheepishly.

“Um, no,” Ron said, turning away, walking towards the opposite direction.

“But I’m in love with her!” he called. This made Harry, Ron, and Hermione freeze in position.

“What?!” The three of them cried in unison.

“That got your attention.”

“Are you really?” Hermione asked sincerely.

“No, but it sounded like a perfectly good reason to want to help.” Malfoy explained, “Besides, she still has my potion.”

Hermione rolled her eyes at him, “Since you’re so persistent, you can go with Ron but that doesn’t mean we trust you any more than before.”

“Hermione!” Ron protested.

“You act like you’re on the losing end. Am I going to be a giant obstacle between you and your boyfriend?” Malfoy snickered, “I don’t need your trust by the way. I just want my potion.”

“See what a nuisance he is?” Ron whined.

“At this point, we need all the help we can get, Ron. This is for Ginny, okay?” Hermione told him.

Ron glanced at Malfoy, giving him a deathly stare, “I suppose so. Just don’t try anything funny.”

“Tsk, and here I was planning to dress up as a clown,” Malfoy said in mock seriousness.

“We better get a move on now, if there’s trouble, Hermione and I will be right here. Is that clear?” Harry said, trying to stopper the fight that was close to brewing up.

“Yes, I’m doing this for Ginny,” Ron answered, leering towards Malfoy.

“Well, then so am I,” Malfoy answered with a challenging tone.

Justin threw up his hand in annoyance and came between them, “Alright, alright! We get it, you’re men. Now let’s go, you can decide outside, which one of you can pee farther.”

Harry watched them file out the door, and then followed Hermione as she slipped behind one of the shelves.