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The award plaque seemed untouched for years, covered in a hazy layer of dust.
Jane hesitated before asking Harry softly, "Is he your relative?"
Harry asked bewilderedly, "What?"
"I mean—James Potter, there's his plaque here."
She watched as the boy lunged forward like a hungry tiger, pressing both hands against the crystal display case, his breath fogging the glass:
"No... he's my father..."
Jane nodded and stepped aside.
Standing on tiptoe, she continued searching for her name among the trophies and plaques by wandlight.
Finally, she found a new golden plaque high up in a crystal case, inscribed with:
[Award for Special Services to the School - Jane Yu]
It didn't seem particularly special, nor did she feel especially honored.
If she could engrave this plaque herself, she'd rather change it to [Failed Dropout Award - Jane Yu].
From the corner of her eye, she noticed an immaculately polished plaque beside hers, inscribed with:
[Award for Special Services to the School - Tom Marvolo Riddle]
Some predecessor, she supposed.
Shaking her head, Jane decided to leave.
But suddenly she heard a sob in the air.
Following the sound, she saw Harry's emerald eyes had misted over.
Realizing another Slytherin student was present, he hastily wiped away his overflowing tears, dropping the Invisibility Cloak in his fluster.
He turned away, voice breaking: "I'm sorry, I..."
Perhaps it was the profound silence with just the two of them, or maybe he felt Jane was truly kind and trustworthy—despite being a Slytherin. Suddenly, he felt an overwhelming urge to confide all his troubles and confusion since starting school, along with his yearning for parental love:
"Voldemort killed my parents, only I survived..."
"They call me the Boy Who Lived, but I hate when they say that..."
Harry pressed against the display case with desperate longing, reaching out as if to touch his father's name through the glass, as though this could bring him closer to his father:
"See, my father won Quidditch trophies, he flew brilliantly, just like me."
Jane understood his feelings.
It was natural for a child who'd never known parental love to become emotional upon finally finding traces of his father at Hogwarts, discovering some connection to his blood family.
After all, she too had once yearned for family bonds, before time dulled everything.
"Perhaps you should clean it," she suggested to Harry.
Harry nodded earnestly, thinking it was an excellent idea:
"You're right, I'll get a bucket and cloth."
He rushed out, forgetting even the Invisibility Cloak on the floor.
Seconds later, he came running back, face pale:
"Quick! Filch's cat is coming!"
Jane found herself pulled along by one arm while trying to hold up the Invisibility Cloak with the other. They stumbled out and ran down the corridor, passing Filch before stopping at a suit of armor.
Because they heard Snape's voice coming from around the corner ahead.
Fortunately, there was a door slightly ajar to their left. They backed up step by step, squeezing through the gap.
It appeared to be an unused classroom, with chairs and desks piled haphazardly. But in the center stood a mirror reaching to the ceiling, with a gilded frame and an inscription at the top that Jane couldn't understand.
She stood still, listening to Snape and Filch's footsteps fade away outside.
Though she was tempted to draw their attention, considering Harry's fragile state, she decided it best not to antagonize the protagonist.
But she quickly noticed something was wrong—Harry had pressed himself against the mirror, almost trying to meld into it, wearing an entranced expression as if a hundred Veela were dancing inside.
Jane pulled him away.
"Don't look! Dark magic!"
Harry came to his senses, but immediately broke free of her grip and threw himself back at the mirror:
"My mum and dad, they're in there!"
He had forgotten everything else—Filch, Snape, even Voldemort lurking in the shadows. What did they matter to him now? He only wanted to be with his parents.
But an elderly voice from the darkness interrupted his gaze:
"Harry."
It was Dumbledore!
Harry jumped away from the mirror as if stung, his face draining of color:
"I'm sorry, sir!"
Dumbledore smiled, casting Lumos to illuminate the darkness where he sat. They realized he had been sitting on a desk, though for how long they couldn't tell.
"It—it showed me my family—" Harry stammered.
"That is the power of the Mirror of Erised," Dumbledore said, sliding off the desk, blue eyes twinkling. "It shows us nothing more or less than our heart's deepest desire."
He turned to Jane, his gaze appreciative:
"Miss Yu, you were very perceptive to recognize something was amiss immediately."
"However... it's not Dark magic, though it can cause people to waste away before it, lost in fantasy. But it also shows us what we most desperately desire."
He gestured for Jane to stand before the mirror: "What do you see?"
He thought he could guess what Jane would see—perhaps becoming Slytherin prefect, Minister for Magic, or leading revolutionary changes in the wizarding world. These were what Slytherins typically desired most: reputation, glory, power...
But Jane's answer caught him completely off guard.
"I see... myself standing in a Muggle neighborhood in London."
Jane understood perfectly why she saw such a scene.
After all, her most urgent desire was to leave school and open a shop in London.
So seeing a Muggle neighborhood made perfect sense.
But Dumbledore was stunned, seemingly unable to comprehend why such an image would appear. His eyes filled with confusion, and he even stopped stroking his long white beard. After a long moment, he finally spoke:
"Ah... I see... what an interesting answer—"
He finally understood what Jane wanted.
She wanted harmony between wizards and Muggles!
She was against pure-blood supremacy! She wanted peace!
She wanted to change the world!
What a noble ideal!
In his youth, he too had been drawn to a revolutionary who wanted to change the world. They shared similar qualities—idealism, ambition... things that had once deeply fascinated him. In the nearly 50 years since, he had never seen these qualities in another person.
But today, he finally saw them again in Jane!
He had seen many brilliantly gifted students before, but they either pursued knowledge to extremes or yearned for ambition, power, and immortality. All this time, he had assumed Jane was one of them.
But today, he finally realized how greatly he had erred!
Jane pursued grand ideals!
He could no longer treat her like an ordinary student, Dumbledore thought.
In his remaining years, he needed to guide her carefully, to prevent her from taking the wrong path.
"If you have time, perhaps you'd care to chat with this old man," he said kindly to Jane and Harry.