Harry Silver

The weeks continued to tick by for Harry and before long Hogwarts was coated in a thick white sheet of snow and the temperature had plummeted. The Slytherin common room had to have several roaring fires going constantly just to keep up a reasonable temperature while everyone walked around stuffed into large coats, hats and scarfs.

Malfoy continued to get worse, emphasised when Harry ended up being the only person in Slytherin to sign up to stay at Hogwarts for the holidays. Malfoy spent the next few days loudly boasting around the common room about all the things he and his family would be getting up to. In fact it got so bad even the older students grew sick of it and it was an enjoyable sight watching a meek Malfoy snap his mouth shut after a sixth year finally told him to shut up.

It was quite an odd group of first years that found themselves saying goodbye to each other at the entrance to the school when the holidays finally did roll around.

“Try not to completely fall apart without us,” Blaise mocked with a wink at Harry and Harrison.

“You can mock all you like,” Harry said with a smirk, “But we’re not the ones who have to attend the ministry's Christmas Ball.”

“Ugh, don’t remind me,” Susan groaned as Hannah chuckled.

“At least we’ll all be there, we might even get a chance to speak to Daphne if she’s not swarmed with marriage contracts.”

“You’re hilarious.” Daphne drawled.

Harry was pleasantly pleased to see that the two groups seemed to be getting along better everyday. He suspected it was mostly down to how Tracey and Hannah seemed less bothered by house divide than the rest.

“I’ll be there too,” Neville mumbled although he looked like he wished wasn’t going to be.

“No doubt your gran will give Mr Malfoy another earful,” Blaise said with an amused smile.

Despite himself Neville allowed a small smirk to pull on his lips, “I hope so.”

“What about you Hermione?” Tracey asked, “Have any plans when you’re back home?”

“Nothing as exciting as a ball,” Hermione said, “I’ll probably just try to spend time with my parents, although Mum says she’s managed to get a few new documentary DVDs for me to watch so that will be fun.”

“What’s a DVD?” Hannah asked with a frown.

“I’ll tell you about it next year,” Harrison said with a chuckle, “Shouldn’t you guys be going? You’re going to miss the train at this rate.”

“Not to mention the food trolley!” Tonks gasped, “I hear they only serve Christmas candy on the way from Hogwarts.”

“What!? Then why are we all standing around!?” Tracey yelled as she grabbed Tonks wrist and made to run for Hogsmeade, “Bye Harry! Bye Harrison!”

Everybody said their goodbyes as the group turned and made their way to the station leaving Harry and Harrison alone as the last few students trickled out of the castle.

“So,” Harry said, turning to Harrison, “What now?”

“Want to visit the owls?” Harrison suggested, “I think Ciaran is getting restless with how little mail I need him for.”

“Sounds good to me.”

The pair made their way down the owlery, spending a couple of hours making sure Hedwig and Ciaran weren’t too worked up, being the least used owls in the school. It wasn’t long before their stomachs indicated it was lunch time and they made their way back to the school.

Meal times during the holidays at Hogwarts were always a quiet affair, unlike the normal stacks of food spread across tables the few students who remained behind normally had to eat whatever they were given. Most people complained about the lack of choice but Harry and Harrison couldn’t care less, a lunch consisting of a ham sandwich, fruit and crisps was far better than they had received before Hogwarts.

They sat at the Hufflepuff table to eat together, the hall was practically empty bar themselves with Ron at the Gryffindor table, a lone Ravenclaw and Professor Flitwick the only teacher around.

“Well well well,” Said a voice from behind Harry as he munched away at an apple, “If it isn't our favourite twins who aren’t twins.”

“We’re not- You know what never mind,” Harry said as Fred and George sat next to them, “You better not be here to sneak anything into our food.”

“Relax,” George said as his own plate appeared from thin air in front of him, “After the whole troll debacle you two and girls have a permanent prank protection shield.”

“Besides, why can’t we just be enjoying a meal with our two friends?” Fred said.

“Right,” Harrison said and narrowed his eyes at the pair, “So you’re not here for any other reason?”

Fred and George glanced at each other before sighing.

“Alright fine,” George said, “Mum is worried about Ron having a miserable Christmas. None of his friends stayed for the holidays and apart from you two he’s the only one in your year staying back. We’d hang out with him ourselves but…”

“He’s a prat.” Fred concluded.

“So you’re making us hang out with him instead?” Harrison said.

“We’re not making you do anything,” George said, pointing a half eaten sandwich at Harrison, “Ignore him for all we care, Mum just asked us to have a word with both.”

“And after the troll situation we need as much good will from her as we can.” Fred continued, “Hell we were lucky our parents already had plans for Christmas or we would’ve never seen next year.”

“Look, we’re not asking you to hang out with him all holiday or anything.” George pleaded, “Just say hello every now and then. It’d be a huge help to us.”

“So let me get this straight,” Harry said, “First we save you from that troll and now we have to hang out with your brother?”

Honestly Harry didn’t mind the idea but he wasn’t one to look a gift horse in the mouth.

“Alright fine,” Fred said, “What do you want?”

Harrison just shrugged, “Don’t worry about it.”

“Ah, there’s the Hufflepuff.”

Harry thought for a moment, “Supplies. Rumour has it you two experiment with all sorts of pranks. You’d need all kinds of magical supplies to do that. I don’t want to know where you get your ingredients from but if I find myself… in need of any, you’ll get them for me no questions asked.”

“And there’s the Slytherin.”

“Ok but you’re not getting them for free,” George said with a slight frown at Harry, “We can barely afford our own supplies let alone whatever Slytherinesqe plot you’ve got going on.”

Harry waved them off, “Relax, I’ll pay and I don’t have anything I need right now, but I like having options.”

“Slytherins…” Fred mumbled before clearing his throat, “You have an agreement and our thanks from one set of twins to another.”

“We’re not- Oh fine, whatever.” Harrison said with an eye roll.

“AHA!” George cried triumphantly, “They admit it!”

Harry snorted as he stood up and swiped the second half of Fred’s sandwich, “Hey!”

“What? I’m a Slytherin, he won’t even look at me otherwise.”

Before the twins could protest, Harry made off in the direction of the Gryffindor table, Harrison quickly following in his step.

“You’re not actually going to do anything with those supplies right?”

“Nah,” Harry said, “At least I don’t have any plans for them yet. Can’t hurt to have it up my sleeve though.”

As they walked over Ron spied them coming and scowled slightly, covering his food protectively.

“Did Fred and George put you up to prank me?”

“Not at all,” Harry reassured as he and Harrison took a seat opposite Ron, “They just asked us to say hello to you. Sandwich?”

Ron’s reaction was as predictable as the sun rising every morning, his eyes widened and he snatched the sandwich from Harry's hand before stuffing his face. Harry caught the way Harrison scowled out of the corner of his eye and cleared his throat.

Ron paused and took a large gulp, “Oh uh… thanks I guess. So why are you here?”

Harry shrugged, “You’re the only other first year here for the Christmas holidays.”

“Oh,” Ron said before his eyes gleaned and turned to Harrison, “So you want to hang out Harrison!?”

“Uh… Sure?” Harrison said, looking extremely uncomfortable and Harry had to bite back a sigh.

“Oh great!” Ron cried as he devoured the last of his lunch, “Do you play wizard's chess!?”

“Not really…”

“I play!” Harry chirped happily and Ron jumped slightly like he had completely forgotten Harry was there.

“I wasn’t asking you.” Ron snapped and Harry's face dropped.

“Hey,” Harrison snapped back, “Harry was just offering to play.”

“Well I don’t want to play with a Slytherin, don’t you know you can’t trust them Harrison?” Ron said while still scowling at Harry.

“Where would you get such an idea?” Harrison asked with an eye roll, “I knew Harry before he was even a Slytherin, besides it’s just a house.”

“But it’s.. You know…” Ron said in a very pantomime-like whisper to Harrison, “They all follow You-Know-Who.”

“That’s not even remotely true,” Harrison said, “Voldemort had support from all houses and plenty of people from Slytherin fought against him.”

“But still! You just can’t hang out with-”

“Prats like you,” Harrison said as he stood up, “Correct. I’m gonna go to the library, get a head start on that potions essay.” He said to Harry who nodded in response.

“Homework!? We have ages to do that!” Ron cried to which Harrison just rolled his eyes and walked off.

There was a beat of silence before Ron turned and frowned at Harry, “Slytherins shouldn’t sit at this table.” He said before standing up and walking away.

Harry sighed, “That went well.”

The Christmas holidays continued to roll by, after their first disaster meeting with Ron, Harry and Harrison didn’t attempt to hang out again. Harry did want to build bridges but it seemed Ron was too set in his anti-Slytherin ways for any progress to be made. At least for now. 

Before long Harry found himself opening his eyes on a chilly Christmas morning. He allowed himself a few precious moments in his warm bed before throwing off the blankets. He slipped into a pair of comfy slippers and stood up to stretch. Throwing open the curtains revealed a snowy day outside.

Harry smiled to himself and headed for the common room, he and Harrison had agreed to meet up later but with nobody else staying in the dorms he figured it’d be nice to simply open his presents with Athena and Ares. 

“Merry Christmas guys!” Harry said to the painting as he walked into the common room.

“Happy winter festival Harry!” Athena hissed.

Harry went to grab his presents out from under the large silver tree in the middle of the room when he paused. He was fairly certain he was the only student staying for the holidays so why were there two piles of presents under the tree?

Before he could ask Athena or Ares there was a creak as the common room door opened. Harry looked up to find a very surprised Harrison walking through in a dressing gown followed by an already dressed and slightly unhappy looking Snape.

“If either of you breathe a word that I allowed a Hufflepuff in here I’ll make sure every subsequent Christmas you have in this school is spent cleaning cauldrons.” He growled at them both.

Harry blinked, “Huh?”

Snape rolled his eyes, “How you ever keep those grades up is a miracle Mr Silver… Myself and Professor Sprout thought it would be cruel for you both to spend Christmas morning alone. Therefore we agreed to this one off arrangement. The moment however Mr Potter leaves this room after this morning he won’t be allowed back in and the password will change, understood?”

“Yes sir!” Harrison squeaked while glancing around the common room.

“Thank you Professor,” Harry said sincerely, perhaps Snape did have a heart after all.

Snape merely grunted and turned to leave, “Happy Christmas to you both. Don’t be late for the feast.”

As the common room door swung shut Harrison stopped trying to hide his gaze as he looked around the common room, “You know this is so much bigger than the Hufflepuff room? And you have like double the amount of fires.”

Harry shrugged, “Well nobody is really competing for space down here and we need the fires otherwise the room would freeze. Oh, Merry Christmas by the way!”

Harrison turned to him with a wide smile, “Merry Christmas Harry!”

“Harry! Is this him!” Ares said, “You’re kin?”

“Not you too,” Harry sighed, “But yes, this is him, meet Harrison.”

“A pleasure,” Athena said.

Harrison shivered slightly at the conversation but smiled, “Friends of yours?”

Harry chuckled, “Yeah, meet Athena and Ares. They say hello.”

“Hello snakes.” Harrison said and waved at the painting which hissed back, “So… presents?” Harrison said excitedly, “I’ve never had presents before!”

“Me neither,” Harry half lied as they both sat in large armchairs next to their respective piles.

Harry was starting to realise how isolated he’d made himself the first time around. Sure he’d always had Ron and Hermione and later Luna, Neville and Ginny but it was only when he found this was the biggest pile of presents he’d ever had for Christmas that perhaps he should have reached out to more people.

His Slytherin friends predictably got him presents that were both expensive and useful. Tracey got him a few rare potions that would heal minor injuries, Daphne gave him some expensive silk robes which Harry at first thought was odd until Harrison explained to him it was a traditional gift when someone was accepted as a friend of an ancient wizarding house. Blaise meanwhile got him a selection of books on duelling and defence, they were nice though Harry already knew most of it already.

When he then opened an introductory book on quidditch from the twins he realised that though he appreciated his gifts he doubted many of them would be of too much use to him. Susan and Hannah had joined together to get him a selection of wizarding sweets while Neville had given him a Slytherin themed scarf.

Hermione predictably had given him (and Harrison) a study planner along with some basic school supplies, something Harrison was much more enthusiastic about than Harry. Tonks gave Harrison a coupon to Flourish and Blotts (with a note calling him a nerd) and gave Harry a coupon for some wizarding clothing stores (with a note calling him terribly unfashionable). 

Harry was surprised to find a small and elegantly wrapped present from Snape, he had gifted both he and Harrison a potions book with a note claiming that they shouldn’t waste their potential in the subject. Harry was also a little touched to find a box of cookies from his old orphanage (which he shared with Harry when the latter opened his 50 pence piece from the Dursleys).

The single most surprising gift Harry received was a poorly wrapped present that all but fell onto his lap when he tore it open. But he’d recognize the stitching anywhere. Pulling out in front of him Harry was present with a large dark green woolly jumper with a silver H stitched onto the front and not attached.

Dear Mr Silver,

I wanted to both apologise and thank you for the incident that took place between yourself and my twin sons on Halloween. Rest assured my wife has made sure something like this won’t happen again. However regardless of that we greatly appreciate what you did for them so please accept this gift as a token of our gratitude.

Regards

Arthur Weasley 

P.S. The twins told us that you reached out to Ron, thank you although once again we apologise for his attitude, I hope one day he can get past his prejudice towards your house.

Looking over it appeared Harrison has also received a jumper, his was a warm shade of brown with a yellow H on the front. All it took was the pair to make brief eye contact and smirk at each other before tossing the jumpers to each other and slipping on the wrong ones.

Finally Harry got down to his last present. It was a very small box wrapped in brown paper. He glanced at the tag and saw it was from Harrison. He shrugged and quickly opened it to reveal a ring box which he flipped open. Inside was a small silver ring,  the middle of it it had the letter P with what looked like wings either side of it.

“Harrison… Did you just propose to me?” Harry asked, turning to his friend with a confused look who just snorted.

“No… You really don't know anything about this stuff do you?” Harrison said with a chuckle.

“What stuff?”

Harrison sighed, “It’s a formal alliance ring from House Potter.”

“Huh?”

“It means that you’re an official ally and confidant of House Potter.” Harrison explained.

“Oooh, you mean like Daphne’s robes?” Harry said as he slipped on the ring and glanced at it, it looked good.

“No Harry,” Harrison said with a shake of his head, “Daphne's present is like an invitation, it shows that you’re on good terms with the Greengrass's but that's as far as it goes. An alliance ring basically means you’re a part of the family. If someone feuds with you they feud with me too, if I die you receive all my inheritance, if you’re accused of a crime you’re tried under the Potter name. It uh… it basically makes us family. According to Neville and Hannah they’re extremely rare, in the past century only three have ever been given out and not a single one was to a muggleborn. Some might consider it a little early for me to give you something and I know you don’t really care but as a muggleborn you’re going to have an uphill battle a lot of the time, I figured this would make things easier for you. Plus everyone calls us brothers anyway I figured we may as well make it official, kind of.”

Harry paused as he stared down at the ring on his finger. He understood what Harrison was saying. With this ring he was basically a Potter, a member of his old family. Harrison probably didn’t understand what this meant to Harry but he felt tears in the corners of his eyes. 

“Thank you Harrison.”

Harrison smiled at him, “Of course. It doesn’t really mean much at our age but I figured if I was going to ever give anyone one of those rings it was you.”

Harry could only smile as Harrison reached for Harry’s gift to himself and unwrapped it. He was presented with a neat photo album, similar to the one Harry had received from Hagrid.

Harry had figured without the pair being so close Hagrid wasn’t planning on getting Harrison the same thing. When Harry wandered down to the gamekeeper's hut one afternoon he’d learned as much. Though Hagrid was more than happy to help Harry create his own version for Harrison.

Harrison was silent as he flicked through the various moving pictures of his parents before turning to Harry.

“How…?”

Harry scratched the back of his neck, “I just kinda asked around, turns out a lot of the teachers here were the same as back then. I just got a few of them to post me some old pictures they had.”

“Harry, this is amazing, thank you.” Harrison said and spent a few minutes simply flicking through the photos. 

Eventually Harrison came to his last present and picked it up with a frown, “This one doesn’t say who it's from. Though there is a note. Your father left this in my possession before he died, I thought it was about time it was passed onto you. Use it well.”

Harrison shrugged as he opened it up and a fine cloak spilled out onto the floor. Harry felt his wand buzz in his pocket, clearly detecting one of the hallows nearby. Harry himself felt a slight drawing to it and had to shake his head to clear his mind.

“A cloak?” Harrison said as he picked it up and threw it over his shoulders, immediately his lower body vanished and he let out a panicked gasp, “It’s gotten rid of my body!”

Harry couldn’t help but snort, “Or it’s an invisibility cloak?”

“They exist?”

“Of course they do, though not normally to this quality.” Harry said.

Harrison stared at him, “How on earth do you know that but have no idea about wizarding politics?”

Harry shrugged, “I try to remember the important stuff.”

Harrison rolled his eyes as he put the cloak away. The rest of the morning was largely spent eating their sweets and discussing unimportant topics. Eventually Harrison returned to the Hufflepuff common room with his gifts to get ready for the day. Harry himself jumped in the shower before putting on one of the silk shirts Daphne had given him and the Weasley jumper (which technically belonged to Harrison). He smiled as he slipped on the Potter ring and met back up with Harrison by the kitchens.

As they walked the halls of Hogwarts there was a shout behind them.

“Oi! Unofficial brothers!” Fred called, “We wanted to say thanks for the-”

Fred paused as Harry and Harrison turned around and he spied their jumpers.

“Hey!” George cried in outrage as he looked down at his red jumper with a yellow F on it, “That’s blatant plagiary! You can’t just steal a Weasley original joke like that!”

“Besides,” Fred said, “It’s still pretty easy to tell the difference between you two so the joke is lost.”

“You’re just mad that me and Harry wear these better than you do,” Harrison said with a smirk.

“Oh ho, the cheek on these youngsters these days!”

“Yeah yeah, come on,” Harry said as he and Harrison turned around, “If you make us late for Christmas dinner I’ll never forgive you.”

Walking into The Great Hall Harry’s stomach let out a suitable growl at the tables laden with roast turkeys, roast potatoes, gravy and hundreds of other mouth watering options. He was slightly dismayed when he saw the empty Slytherin table but quickly found himself dragged over to join the Hufflepuff table with Harrison. Fred and George also joined and while the Hufflepuffs were slightly cautious at first the groups quickly merged together as everybody tucked into the meal.

Harry was able to officially meet Cedric for the first time in this timeline who didn’t seem to care about Harry’s robe colour and chatted to him throughout the meal. The twins tried to rile him up several times but Cedric was more than capable of handling them alone.

Up on the head table Dumbledore seemed to constantly look over to the group with a small smile, probably happy to see that for the first time in a while the houses were freely mixing without issue.

Sadly for those who had never eaten with the Slytherins before they were unprepared when a treacle tart popped up in the middle of the table. Poor George nearly lost a hand as Harry practically dived across the table, frothing at the mouth to get to it. The red head let out a loud shriek as the feral first year snapped the entire tart away faster than any professional quidditch player could. Cedric, Harrison and Fred found the entire thing hilarious.

But even Harry could only stomach so much food and eventually everybody left bloated yet still full of energy. It didn’t take long for the twins to rope half the remaining students into a huge snowball fight. When it was suggested they split via houses everyone immediately offered to take Harry in on their side. Harry refused however and said he would single handley represent the house of Slytherin.

Everyone else looked on nervously, unfortunately for them they’d failed to realise that Harry was both small, fast and had the accuracy of a seasoned seeker. Using hit and run tactics Harry would pop out, get a few people clean in the face before ducking down and vanishing. Only Harrison and Cedric were even vaguely able to keep up with his movements. 

Even the teachers got involved at one point, with Flitwick using his expert duelling skills to bring the Ravenclaws from last to first place. 

For a moment it looked like Harry and Slytherin were destined to come last, especially when Professor Sprout managed to bring him out of hiding. But then, in a moment that would go down in Hogwarts legend, every other student and teacher was hit with a combined assault from Professor Sinstra and Snape who came to the aid of Slytherin (though Harry was fairly convinced Sinstra had gotten Snape drunk first before the attack).

In the end it was the Gryffindors who came last, mainly due to the huge amount of friendly fire between Fred and George. Harry was offered to come back to the Hufflepuff common room for the rest of the evening but he declined, not least because, while some were alright with the idea, he could very clearly see several scowls sent Cedric's way when he asked.

Instead Harry bid farewell to everyone and decided that he would simply have a quiet evening on his favourite armchair back in his common room. Gorging out on sweets as he told Athena and Ares all about his day. Before long it was a full and happy Harry that trudged back to his bed. A content smile on his face.

So much so it was easy to forget in the background there were cogs turning that Harry couldn’t control.

Harry had always wondered just exactly how deep Dumbledore’s chess game had gone. If at times he'd given Harry a simple nudge or forced him to a square like a knight in his game. Had he always known Quirrell was the traitor? Choosing to allow Harry to discover the mystery and move along the path Dumbledore wanted for him. Or had he simply been naïve and allowed Snape to deal with the situation? Never suspecting Harry would get so directly involved.

It wasn’t until the Christmas holidays were almost over that Harry would receive his answer. He was sitting in the library, putting the final touches on his holiday homework when a very tired and nervous looking Harrison came up to him.

“Harry!” He hissed.

“Hi Harrison.” Harry said looking up from his essay.

“Can you meet me outside the Slytherin common room,” Harrison said quickly, “At like 11 PM tonight?”

Harry blinked, “I mean… sure? But why?”

“Just trust me,” Harrison said, leaving before Harry could ask any further questions.

For a few moments Harry stared at the empty space Harrison had occupied, trying to figure out what was going on until his mind clicked.

The Mirror of Erised.

But that didn’t make sense. If Harrison had found it… how? Harry stumbled upon it when he had been looking in the restricted section. But Harrison had no knowledge of Nicholas Flamel or The Philosopher's Stone to go looking in said section to research. So how on earth was he aware of it? There was of course the chance it was something else entirely but somehow Harry doubted it. The only way he would know for sure would be to wait for Harrison.

So at exactly 11 PM that night Harry snuck out of the common room, much to Francis’ displeasure.

“You’re lucky your housemaster is not a parselmouth or I would be obliged to inform him of this.”

“I’ll be fine.” Harry insisted as the door swung closed behind him.

A moment later, Harrison appeared from thin air in front of him, “Harry! You made it.”

“Uh huh,” Harry said, “You gonna tell me what this is all about?”

“Just get under the cloak,” Harrison said, “I have something to show you.”

Harry did as he was asked and ducked under the cloak. It easily covered the two small boys as Harrison led him silently through the halls. Eventually they arrived at an old classroom and it was Harry's first indication that something was wrong, his memory was a little vague but this wasn’t the same location he himself had discovered the mirror.

Harrison pushed the door open and there it was, The Mirror of Erised. Planted in the middle of the room as the moonlight glinted off its golden border. Once it had been a place of safety for Harry, now its elegant design made him gulp bile back down his throat.

“You have to see this,” Harrison said excitedly as he threw the cloak off to shut the door, “This mirror shows my parents!”

“Your parents?” Harry asked.

“Yeah!” Harrison said and stood in front of the mirror beaming, “Come on! You’ll be able to see how similar I look to my Dad!”

“Harrison… Your parents…”

“I know!” Harrison snapped, “I just… it’s magic right?”

Harry looked around the room with a slight frown, “How did you even find it?”

“Oh…” Harrison said and looked a little embarrassed, “I’ve been looking at that photo album you got me. Hufflepuff is great but… people can be a little nosey. I didn’t want anybody asking about it so I’ve been sneaking out to this classroom. I did it for a few nights and then the other night the mirror was in here.”

So that was Dumbledore's game. It didn’t matter what Harrison did, he was always going to find the mirror. Dumbledore probably knew that Harrison didn’t always obey the rules so it was inevitable he’d use the cloak to sneak out at night, regardless of the reason. At that point it was just a matter of following his movements until a pattern emerged and he could place the mirror in a location Harrison would be guaranteed to find it.

“Come on!” Harrison said and grabbed Harry’s wrist, “I’ll show you!”

Harry suddenly froze. He knew exactly what he’d see in that mirror. Legions of dead friends smiling back at him. He was just starting to get settled in this new timeline. The last thing he needed was a painful reminder of his previous life.

“Ah… That’s ok Harrison.” Harry said and yanked his wrist back, “I’ll take your word for it.”

“Huh?” Harrison said, looking confused, “Don’t you want to see them?”

Harry sighed, “Harrison… That mirror, can’t you see what it’s showing you?”

“My parents, maybe it’s like I dunno a portal to the other side?” Harrison said, a hint of desperation in his voice.

“Erised Harrison,” Harry said, “E-R-I-S-E-D. That’s desire spelled backwards. I think this mirror shows you what you truly desire.”

“Oh,” Harrison said, deflating significantly, “That makes sense… Still don’t you want to see your parents in it? At least I have multiple photos, you only have that single one.”

“Harrison it’s fine really,” Harry said but before he could react Harrison had tugged him forward.

“Please, just a quick look.”

Before Harry could protest he found himself facing the mirror. He froze. His blood turned cold and his throat closed up. His eyes remained glued to the scene yet he wanted nothing more than to pull away.

He became aware of Harrison’s distant voice, of a hand on his shoulder but Harry couldn’t pull himself away. He could only stare in horror at what was in the mirror.

It wasn’t until an old face, framed with long grey hair appeared in his vision instead of the mirror that Harry finally snapped out of it.

“H-Huh?”

“Are you ok my boy?” Professor Dumbledore asked as he led Harry away from the mirror, Harrison stood on the other side of the classroom, looking terrified.

“I… Yes… I just… I’m sorry.”

“There is no need to apologise Mr Silver,” Dumbledore said as his eyes sparkled, “Better wizards and witches than you have lost themselves in that mirror. If anything I’m most impressed you figured out its true nature so quickly.”

“You were watching us Headmaster?” Harrison said, calming down from the incident.

“Indeed I was and I must apologise, I allowed my curiosity to get the better of me and should have intervened earlier. You see, Mr Potter, not everybody can accept so easily what they see in the mirror.”

Harry frowned, that sounded awfully like a subtle insult towards himself.

“I’m afraid however the mirror will be moved tomorrow. Its location here has only been temporary.” Dumbledore said.

Harry bit his tongue as Harrison nodded, “I see. Are we in trouble, professor?”

Dumbledore hummed, “Perhaps we can consider this a lesson? Mr Silver told you twice he didn’t want to see what the mirror had instal for him yet you ignored his request and pulled him along anyway. Above all else Harrison we must respect a person’s free will and ability to make their own choices.”

Harry nearly baulked, this coming from the man who played chess with people's lives?

“The next time such an incident occurs I urge you to listen to what your peers want. Is that understood?”

Harrison winced and looked downtrodden, “Yes sir. I’m really sorry Harry.”

Harry shook his head, “It’s fine, honestly.”

“And all's right with the world!” Dumbledore said and clapped his hands, “Now off to bed the both of you, it’s far too late for you to be up, even if it is the holidays.”

He quickly shuffled Harry and Harrison out into the corridor before shutting the door behind them. An awkward silence hung over the pair and Harrison turned to Harry.

“Again Harry, I’m really sorry. I was just so excited by the mirror I didn’t think you wouldn’t want to see your parents too.”

Harry once again waved him off, “Honestly Harrison don’t worry about it. Just… don’t do it again, ok?”

“Never!” Harrison said before pausing, “Um… You did see your parents I assume?”

“Of course!” Harry lied.

Harrison stared at him for a few moments, his face expressionless, “Right. See you tomorrow?”

“Yeah, see ya,” Harry said as they split and took off for their own common rooms.

As Harry walked back though he couldn’t help but pause and lean up against the wall, breathing heavily. He knew the war had changed him. He knew he wasn’t quite the knight in shining armour most people thought he was. But he still hadn’t expected what he’d seen in the mirror.

Sure, he’d seen his friends. All happy and laughing together, though that had been far in the distance of the mirror. Instead one image took up most of the scene. It was of Harry, older, bruised and battered. Covered in blood with his want in his hand.

And he stood atop the bloodied corpse of Tom Riddle.