The Mirror of My Dreams

Chapter Five

"Twinky is here to serve you, Miss. Miss?" A high, squeaky voice woke me. "Would you like breakfast?"

I lifted my head to find a hideous, pointed face with huge eyes the size of tea cups. It had brown skin that was wrinkled and creased like an old paper bag. Its body was covered in old rags. I screamed. I heard a shattering sound, like glass breaking. The creature jumped back and started a high pitch squeaking that hurt my ears.

Mr. Malfoy stalked into the room, wearing black, velvet robes. "Get out!" He snarled at the creature. He raised his walking stick above the creature's head, but the creature squeaked and vanished into thin air!

He sat next to me on the side of the bed. "I'm terribly sorry, my dear. I regret that you were frightened." When I panted so hard I couldn't answer, he held my hand and stroked my shoulder. His voice was as smooth and soothing as warm oil. "My dear, you're shaking. It's only a house servant. Yes, I know, they're dreadfully ugly, but quite harmless. I wish there were some way we could improve their appearance, but as of now we must endure it."

I wasn't sure which was more disturbing, Mr. Malfoy snarling with anger, or attempting to be nice. "What happened?" My throat was so tight I had to force the words out. The previous night seemed like a hazy, bizarre dream. I had been vaguely aware of being pushed through a fireplace of some kind, and being surrounded by green flames.

"You were a little woozy when we arrived. It must have been a residual effect of the veritaserum. It did not seem to agree with you at all. I apologize about the truth potion. I hope you understand that it had to be done." Mr. Malfoy appeared much more relaxed now, and there was actually warmth in his silvery eyes that hadn't been there previously. "I realize I needed to prepare you much more about coming here. The last few days have been most stressful." He did look quite exhausted, and there were faint violet circles under his eyes. "I'm afraid that you were a bit of a surprise. A good one," he added hastily, "now that I've had a bit of time to consider it. I'm afraid that I was not very patient with you, and I am profoundly sorry."

During his little speech, my eyes wandered around the room. It was huge, at least three times larger than my entire apartment had been! It was furnished as though I had traveled back a few centuries to a magical version of England. Big, bay windows accented with stained glass let in a glow of dim, morning light. Antique dressers, bookcases and tables gleamed with polish. The bed I sat on was enormous, covered by a bedspread of deep, green satin with a big silvery "M" in the middle of it. Above me, the ceiling looked like a night sky, with constellations of glittering stars and a crescent moon hung in the corner. Tiny meteors shot across the ceiling. My eyes caught a portrait on the wall and...Oh my God; the people in the painting were moving and pointing at me!

"Are you listening, Miriel?" His hand grazed my back, a concerned look on his face. "You seem a bit dazed."

"How long have I been asleep?" I said slowly.

"Not long. It's already morning, because of the time difference, of course. I do have an anti apparition-lag potion if you like. No? I understand. I hope the place is suitable for you? It's one of Draco's extra rooms. When he was small he enchanted the ceiling to show off the Draco constellation. He was quite a precocious boy. That door opens to the courtyard garden, and I thought you might like that."

My eyes caught a huge mirror on the wall that had been shattered. "What happened to the mirror? Did I, um, do that?" Distant memories of my childhood were coming back to me.

"No problem, my dear. It's easily taken care of." He waved his wand and said "Speculum reparo." All the slivers of shiny glass on the floor flew back into the frame and became solid again.

"That's amazing." I tried to keep my mouth from gaping open. "Everything's amazing."

He chuckled. "Well, no doubt such things will become old to you in no time. You had a containment spell placed on you, no doubt since you were small."

"A containment spell?"

"Yes, to prevent your powers from causing things to happen when you were angry or frightened. Your mother must have placed it on you. No doubt it helped to disguise your identity these long years. I took the liberty of removing it. It would be impossible for you to learn to use your powers in any way with the charm in tact."

"You mean, I'm really a witch? I can do... magic?"

"When you're trained up a bit. Both the Malfoys and the Silverthorns have been extremely powerful, pureblooded wizarding families. You have much potential." He sounded quite pleased with this. "I know you have a lot of questions. We'll talk more later when you've freshened up. Are you hungry?"

"I couldn't eat anything right now if my life depended on it."

"Well, why don't you relax a bit and wash up. The bathroom has been enchanted to reflect the tastes and needs of the person using it, so you should find whatever you need. I'll be back in a short time."

The bathroom looked like it belonged in one of the wealthy homes I had admired in the New Orleans Garden District, only this one had an enormous sunken tub. It included fluffy towels monogrammed with my initials, and baskets of soaps. The room must have picked up that I was terribly vain about my hair, because on the counter I found beautiful brushes made from wood and natural bristles, gold and silver hair sticks, crystal hair combs, shampoos, conditioners, and hair ornaments. Everything was much finer and more expensive than I'd ever seen before. When I opened a crystal bottle, a sweet, flowery smell filled the air. It was the most heavenly thing I'd ever smelled.

"Mmmm...Is this perfume?" I asked myself.

"It's a mixture of orange blossom, chamomile and vanilla oil," a voice said. Just brush a few drops into your hair to smooth it down and make it shine, dearie, or you could use it as bath oil. The scents are supposed to be very soothing for the nerves. Just take a little time for yourself; you do look a little frazzled."

"Cool. Wizard aromatherapy. Wait!" I looked around the bathroom. "Who said that?"

"Over here. Against the wall." The only thing against the wall was a beautiful, full length mirror made of polished oak. A woman's face was carved into the top of the frame.

"You're a mirror and you're talking to me," I said, wide eyed.

"Yes, I recognize you." The mirror's voice rose with excitement. "You're a mirror-mage."

"I am? You mean, I could create magical mirrors? Like my mom?"

"Goodness, yes. Your family is famous. Your grandfather Sebastian Silverthorn created the mirror of Erised and the mirror of Emit among other things. He was quite close friends with Albus Dumbledore. All of us enchanted mirrors would recognize you. Of course, the wizard who enchants bathroom mirrors doesn't have to be very skillful. We don't do much, you know, but offer advice on your appearance."

"I'm sure you do a wonderful job," I said, wondering if I was really and truly crazy for trying to encourage an inanimate object. I tried to smile at the mirror, but it came out more like a grimace.

"You do look a little nerve-wracked, dearie, why don't you try a nice, warm bath?"

I found my suitcase near the bathroom door. I felt much better after washing up, and put on a clean pair of jeans and a tank top. I brushed out my waist length hair and decided to leave it down. Before I left, I stood in front of the mirror once again. "You, um, wouldn't happen to know exactly why Mr. Malfoy brought me here, do you? He's acting awfully nice."

"The Malfoys respect two things as much as wealth, dearie, and those are power and good breeding. Thank the gods that you aren't a Muggle or a Squib, or you would not be alive right now."

I shuddered.

"Just a bit of advice, Miss Silverthorn," The mirror continued. "Don't cross the Malfoys. They're the worse sort of dark wizards. Don't do anything foolish, like try to escape. Just go along with them. If they're nice, accept it graciously. You'll find out what they want from you soon enough. Oh, and another thing-"

I stepped closer to the glass.

"It won't do for you to go poking about Malfoy Manor too much. There are cursed and dangerous items hidden around here, and believe me, you don't want to find any of them."

I remembered, then, what Draco had told me outside the voodoo shop. Hadn't he mentioned dark magic? When Mr. Malfoy came to my door a little later, I stared at him. Even though he was dressed in black silk and velvet, he didn't exactly look like my idea of a dark wizard. I had always imagined the dark wizards in the books I'd read as being, well, old and ugly.

"Come along, my dear. I won't bite." A smile tugged the corner of his mouth, and he guided me down the hallway. Soon a woman in ice-blue robes seemed to float gracefully toward us.

"Ah, my lovely wife approaches," Lucius told me. "Narcissa dear, I would like you to meet Miriel Silverthorn."

The woman was almost too beautiful and perfect to be real. Her blonde hair swept elegantly back from a face that could have been carved from alabaster. Her eyes were cold, but her voice was low and melodious. "Gaius' daughter, who would have thought? How charming. And you have such beautiful hair." Her eyes then fell to my clothes, and she actually flinched. She wrinkled her nose a bit as if she had just smelled something bad. In a second, though, the gracious smile was fixed back on her face. "I appreciate your kindness to my son. I shudder to think of him alone in a Muggle city, defenseless, without his wand. And those filthy Muggles who had the gall to attack him like that! I'm certain he must have been terrified. I'm glad that someone was there to look after him." She shot Lucius a hard look.

Lucius' lips tightened. "The boy is sixteen. I was attempting to give him the chance to demonstrate some kind of responsibility, but obviously..."

"We'll discuss this later, Lucius. I'm sure that our guest would like her stay here to be pleasant." Narcissa turned toward me. "I can't tell you how pleased I am that Lucius found you, Miriel. I can't bear the thought of you living like that, believing yourself to be a Muggle. It sounds like some horrible novel."

"It was kind of a weird coincidence that I ran into Draco at the café like that," I told her. "I didn't know that Mr. Malfoy was looking for my mother."

Narcissa nodded. "Well, part of that may have been the attraction spell that my husband cast on both of them before they left England. It should have attracted anyone in the near vicinity who knew Miranda to them. Those kinds of spells can work in unforeseen ways."

"Where is Draco?" Lucius asked. "I was hoping that he might show Miriel around the Manor."

"I gave him permission to floo to Ollivander's to replace his wand."

"Are you sure that was wise?" Lucius asked a bit sarcastically. "He might get lost."

"He promised to be back immediately when he was finished," Narcissa told him. "That wand needed replacing anyway. He was already beginning to outgrow it."

"I didn't realize that." Lucius relaxed, and his face lit up with a small, proud smile. "He's rather young for that to be happening."

"Excuse me," I said. "How does somebody outgrow a wand?"

"That means that Draco's magical potential has increased, and his wand could no longer handle the extra magical flow," Narcissa told me, a note of pride in her voice. "When that happens, it causes the person who owns the wand to require much more concentration than usual for any kind of magic to be performed. Draco had been having problems with his last wand at school. When he attempted to hex that Muggle studies professor at Hogwarts, the best he could do was to inflict a mild case of boils. This phenomenon is very rare and only occurs among wizards who are very magically powerful."

"Why was I not informed about this before now?" Lucius asked. "A faulty wand could have been dangerous."

"You were preoccupied with other matters." Narcissa glanced at me.

"Yes, well," Lucius cleared his throat and offered his arm to me. "I guess I have the honor of being your tour guide for today."