Harry was relieved that his father's invisibility cloak was large enough to cover three young wizards without any problem. After a while, they arrived at the abandoned classroom again. Lifting the cloak, Ron pointed to the huge mirror in the middle and said, "This is it. Look, it's a magic mirror."
"A magic mirror?" Tom, puzzled, looked at the lavish mirror. "What does it do?"
"I don't know, but I saw my parents in it," Harry said. "You know, they died when I was very young."
Tom suddenly understood.
Did Harry want me to see my parents here too? He knows I've never seen them.
"But I only saw myself becoming the head of the student council and winning the Quidditch Cup. I think this mirror might show the future," Ron added.
"Go ahead, Tom, see what you can see."
Tom approached the mirror, expecting to see his parents like Harry did. However, in the mirror, he saw only a boy.
The boy was chained, and standing face to face with him. They were almost the same height, even their movements were similar, but the face was not his own.
In an instant, he recognized the other boy.
Tom Riddle.
"You… why are you here?" he asked in shock.
The boy in the mirror mouthed something. Though no sound came out, Tom understood him somehow.
[This is a mirror, Tom. People always see themselves in a mirror.]
Tom shook his head in denial. "No, that's impossible. You've been... the timeline is wrong... and your appearance..."
[Appearance can be falsified, time can be rewound, even death might not be the end... don't you know all this?]
"No, it can't be... that notebook…"
[It's a liar.]
"How do I know you're not lying to me?"
[Ask your heart. Tom.]
[What are you afraid of?]
"If I am you, then what is me? Who is me?"
[Only you know the answer to that, Tom.]
[Set me free, and then set yourself free.]
In the mirror, Tom saw the boy suddenly tear off his chains and turn into a black smoke that rose to the sky.
"Tom, what did you see?" Harry asked curiously. "Did you see your parents?"
"No." Tom's furrowed brow slowly relaxed. "I saw freedom."
…
"Nicolas Flamel is Dumbledore's good friend, a master alchemist. His greatest achievement is the Philosopher's Stone," Tom told Harry and Ron the next day at breakfast. "I found him in 'The Compendium of Alchemy Through the Ages.'"
"You found him?!" Harry exclaimed joyfully. "We should write to Hermione; she'll be so surprised."
"What's the Philosopher's Stone?" asked Ron. "Sounds pretty ordinary?"
"On the contrary, it's extremely precious," Tom replied, idly pushing mashed potatoes on his plate. He still had little appetite.
"The Philosopher's Stone, also known as the Stone of the Wise, is an alchemical creation."
"It's said to turn any metal into gold and can create the Elixir of Life. Nicolas Flamel lived for over six hundred years because of it."
"To create gold! To grant eternal life! Blimey…" Ron exclaimed. "Everyone would go crazy for it."
"Not just that. Its rarity lies in the extreme difficulty of its creation. Now, there's only one Philosopher's Stone left in the world."
"And I think, right now, it's in…"
"The school!" Harry's eyes lit up. "Behind the trapdoor! No wonder Snape wants it…"
But then he noticed Tom's expression and felt something was off. "Tom, what's wrong? Does this have something to do with you?"
Tom hesitated for a long time.
Suddenly, he thought, [This seems like an opportunity.]
"Do you want to stop Snape?" he asked.
"What? Of course."
"How do you plan to stop him?" Tom probed. "We know about the Philosopher's Stone, but you heard what Hagrid said. No one will believe us; they won't listen."
Harry pondered for a long time. "That's because we don't have evidence. If we can find proof that Snape is after the Stone, the professors will surely listen."
"Okay," Tom nodded. "How do we find evidence?"
"…I don't know." Harry hung his head in despair. "Snape certainly won't tell everyone about it."
Tom watched him for a long time, then said, "There's one way to absolutely stop him."
"What is it?"
"Get the Philosopher's Stone before Snape does."
Tom's radical suggestion was eventually rejected. After all, sneaking into a dangerous place to steal an extremely valuable object was not a good idea.
"We could end up in Azkaban," Ron said, turning pale.
And Harry didn't want to do it either. To stop a thief by becoming a thief... it was too bizarre.
"Alright." Tom hadn't expected to persuade them right away. Besides, [Having the Stone alone is useless; I also need the Elixir of Life formula.]
…
That night, Harry visited the abandoned classroom again, hoping to see his parents in the mirror. Instead, he found Dumbledore waiting for him.
Dumbledore revealed the truth about the Mirror of Erised, "It shows us the deepest, most desperate desire of our hearts."
"You've never seen your family, so you saw them standing around you. Ron Weasley has always been overshadowed by his brothers, so he saw himself standing alone, the best among them."
"As for Lucas…" Dumbledore's blue eyes showed a hint of thought. "He saw freedom…"
"No matter what, Harry, this mirror can neither teach us anything nor tell us the truth."
"It's going to be moved to a new location tomorrow. I ask you not to look for it again. If you happen to see it, be prepared. To be lost in dreams and forget to live is of no benefit. Remember this."
…
School resumed, and Hermione returned. She was delighted to hear they had found Nicolas Flamel but was shocked when she heard about Tom's suggestion to get the Stone before Snape. She realized that this usually quiet guy was the most rule-defying of them all.
"Goodness, that's ridiculous. We could end up in jail!"
"No, we won't," Tom said. "As long as we hand over the Stone to a trustworthy professor, right?"
"Hand it to whom? They'll expel us!"
"There's one professor who won't."
Hermione immediately realized, "You mean... Professor Murphy?"
___________________
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