The Three Lords (two lords and a lady)

Come seek us where our voices sound,

We cannot sing above the ground,

And while you're searching ponder this;

We've taken what you'll sorely miss,

An hour-long you'll have to look,

And to recover what we took,

But past an hour,

the prospect's black,

Too late,

it's gone,

it won't come back.

So after Harry's delightful swim in her new magical pool and her morning routine (breakfast, bath, and some possibly questionable potions) she puts on the nice red sheer robe she found and some delightful looking 'fuck me heels' (It's what the note on the box called them and they did make her feel a little sexy so they weren't named that for shits and giggles). On her bed are a bunch of books for helping her in the next task and to stop the things she values most from being taken:

Magical Water Plants of the Mediterranean.

Creatures of the deep.

Giant squids, fact or fiction?

Magical deep diving for first-timers.

Household charms for the winter months.

So you want to hunt grindylows?

Beginners guide to runes.

Advanced runes.

Advanced runic knots.

Counter charms for the ages.

How to layer runes of magical items that already have other runes.

What are the 'Unforgivables' and are they really so bad?

It's all super interesting and she's sure that she will appreciate them... tomorrow. But not today, no. Because today her head POUNDS. She's laying next to the pile of earrings half-heartedly putting them in boxes with a vision blurred like she wasn't wearing her new glasses. She listens to the mirror going on and on about how she must act when she goes to the ball while being completely surprised that her ears aren't bleeding.

Fuck Voldemort, it's not like she wanted to be there. 

The pain flares so high for a moment that she abandons any attempts to pretend to be a functioning human being and curls into a ball, it rockets around her skull as it tries to find any way to get entrance into her mind. She knows that it could all end if she let it, if she just lost the battle but no. No matter the pain she would never bow to Voldemort. So she calls on the pulsing white she has been seeing more and more of since she started the mirrors potion routine and she curls it around her mind like a blanket. Actually crying when the pain melts away. She doesn't realise that she'd closed her eyes during the attack on her mind until she hears a book thunk into the ground in front of her. She cracks her eyes open.

The art of Mind Magics.

"Wha..." She mumbles as she stares at it.

"Your mind was being attacked honey." The mirror says in a huff. "I hadn't even noticed before you curled into a ball, I do not like how good you are at keeping face in such pain. Sweetheart was like that too, in fact, this was the book he first read on the topic of mind magics too. He never took it out of the room so I knew it would still be here."

"... Oh... thank you." She says softly as she pulls it close and flicks it open.

"You're welcome honey, now put a good use to your light magic and build yourself a fort." The mirror says brightly. "And once you're done you can tell me where I lost you in my explanation on how you should act during the Yule ball, it is important as a budding Light Lord that you start building your power base now."

Harry blushes a little at that. "Umm, all of it?"

The mirror tuts. "Well, then you had better read quickly honey." She cracks a smile before looking back at the book.

'The magical art of the mind can be split into four sections. The art of reading a mind, the art of controlling a mind, the art of protecting a mind and the art of locking a mind. Each leaning towards one side of magic.

Legilimency, the act of reading a mind for example is steeped heavily in dark magic. The caster needs to mimic the emotions connected to the memories they seek, the stronger the more accessible. This is why Dark Lords, with their ability to flick through their emotions extremely easily, are known to be the strongest Legilimists.

On the other end of the scale is Occlumency, the act of shielding a mind is steeped heavily in light magic. The caster needs to be able to build complex structures out of impenetrable blocks, to do so with emotions would spell for ruin since all the attacker would need to do is find the right emotion to send it all crashing down. This is why Light Lords, with their ability to cut off their emotions extremely easily, are known to be the strongest Occlumens.

The other two focuses of mind magics vary between the two types of magic, most twisting into the grey areas of magic as most magic tends to do. This is an example as to why Grey Lords are known as the Jack of all trades yet the master of none.'

Harry sits up in interest. Grey Lords? She'd never heard of the term before, grey magic itself made sense of course. She would have much more trouble with darker spells otherwise but Lords? "Mirror? Have you ever heard of a Grey Lord?"

"I've never met one but I've always wanted to!" The mirror says happily. "The offspring of a Light and Dark lord is a rare thing indeed, the last documented was in the time of Merlin and Morgana."

"O-offspring?" She chokes out, oh Morgana. They were having the sex talk again, weren't they?

"Yes! It is said that when a Light Lord and Dark Lord have children of their own, which is rare with how often they fight each other, their children always come out as Grey so that they do not feel pressured to choose a side." The mirror explains... very well.

"You've said this before." She says as she watches the mirror's reflection shift the tiniest bit.

"Of course, I did tell you that sweetheart read that book first, did I not?" The mirror tuts. "He had the exact same questions as you do now which I find quite amusing since your magic is perfectly opposite his own. Just another sign that you would have been perfect for each other." Here the mirror sighs. "If only you had been born sooner, or he later for that matter. Oh well, we must proceed with the paths we have. Now finish your book so we may continue planning."

She's not sure that she likes what the mirror is implying with that because the only one she can think of that has enough magic, in general, to be approved of by the mirror is Voldemort, and she's not marrying him. She'd rather take Gryffindor's sword to the chest than marry that monster. Still, she does as she's told because she never wants to experience that type of pain again. If she has to turn her mind into Fort Knox to do so then so be it! She flips to the section explaining Occlumency.

'There are several states to Occlumency. The weakest is to simply empty ones mind while the most complex is The Labrinth. While everyone can achieve the first, which is mostly used to buy time since your attacker would need some additional time to find what they search for the second has only been recorded as to being achieved by Morgana. Who was able to twist her mind into such a complex maze that the only wizard who had breached her defences (it is highly suspected that she let him in) spent a decade in a coma as he searched for the ever-changing exit (It is also highly suspected that she decided to let him go).

For this reason, this chapter will have miniature chapters of its own:

The act of clearing your mind

How to build your mental walls

The act of sorting through your memories

How to build false mental walls

The act of making memory traps

How to section your mind

The acts of disguising your memories

How to micro-manage your emotion

And finally How to move your mental rooms'

Fascinating, completely fascinating. Harry has a new goal to add to her list now:

• Don't die in the tournament
• Kill Voldemort
• Get married to someone who is a good match for her (hopefully someone she loves)
• Create the most elaborate mind Labrinth ever.

She can't keep the mirror waiting forever though so today she'll have to settle for the first two mini-chapters, she has loads of time for the rest.

'The act of clearing your mind.

There are many ways that can clear one's mind through the one that has been found the easiest by far is the act of doing something monotone. Plucking strands of grass over and over again, matching a pile of gloves or socks, walking a path you have walked a hundred times before. The act of repetition eases the mind into a state where it functions on muscle memory alone, in these states, you will feel your mind drifting in an attempt to keep steady. This is where the hard part comes in, for to keep your mind empty you must learn to let these thoughts slip by. To let yourself simply float in the emptiness because each memory will contain emotion and each emotion is a stepping stone for your attacker.' 

Harry's eyes move from the book to the large pile of earrings in front of her that are waiting to be matched, a monotone task huh. "Room of lost things, can I have a bookmark?" A second later one slaps into her open palm, as soon as she looks at it she bursts into laughter. "Merlin! You're the best." Her laughter grows when a Galleon cheekily rolls into her foot. With a smile on her face and joy in her heart Harry settles back in front of the earring pile, time to clear your mind, Harry. You can do it.

The book isn't wrong she finds, it's quite hard to let her memories float past her. To ignore the emotional attachments that come with them. The first thought that takes the main stage in her mind as she slowly searches the earrings is, for some reason, of Trevor the escape artist. She remembers every time Neville lost him during their first year and the looks on her friend's face when he found the toad in seemingly more impossible places for a toad to be. It was panic at the beginning followed by anger, then acceptance and further on fondness. She recognises her own fondness at the memories and sees a few more of when Neville decided to let Trevor live with the other frogs by the black lake. Every once in a while Trevor will somehow make it back up the Gryffindor tower, scaring the life out a poor first year every time. She wonders how Neville is doing this year? She feels the tugging at the corner of her lips before she pushes all thoughts of the toad away.

The next to plague her is fear about the coming tasks and Voldemort's involvement in them. Her only comfort is that he's not actually at Hogwarts, she knows this because she now knows what the Legilimens spell is. Not that she doesn't think that he could just walk into Hogwarts whenever he liked, he had basically done that during her first two years in the school, but it was a comfort, all the same, to not be having to deal with him in person. She flicks this memory away with a scowl, she dislikes being scared for any reason.

On and on it goes until she realises what she's doing wrong. This whole time she's been letting the memories play before identifying the emotions connected to them and shuffling them off, maybe if she gets to the emotions first she won't have to view the memories? So that's what she does. When the next memory floats by, one of Fred and George telling her why they were betting on Viktor Krum to catch the snitch, she mentally heads straight to the emotions. Amusement and the general fondness she has for all of the Weasley's. Once she's found that she tries pushing it away and... it works! So she waits for the next memory to swim by and does it again. It works again and again until she's barely registering doing it...

...

"Honey!" The mirror shouts making Harry jump.

"I... what?" She asks as she blinks, her mind swimming back to an 'awakened' state... the pile of earrings is gone and now she has a bunch of boxes in their place, red, yellow, and green boxes. Had she... had she completely finished the earring pile while she wasn't paying attention?

"Finally honey, we've been trying to get your attention for a while." The mirror sighs. She blinks again before noticing the broom that was floating at her side, it floats over to her and pokes her in the side in a practised motion. "You've almost missed lunch." The mirror continues to sigh.

"I'm sorry." She mutters, embarrassed, as she gets up and brushes herself off. "Umm, could you put the earrings without pairs with the single gloves, socks and shoes? And the separate the paired earrings and the earrings that are a part of a set?" She asks the room of lost things as she approaches the desk for lunch. All of the red boxes fly into the unmatched pile while the green boxes separate themselves between the first and third chests. The yellow boxes make themselves into a neat pile where the earring pile was originally. "Thank you." She says before ordering her lunch, a grilled cheese sandwich and a goblet of water.

"I am choosing to assume that you weren't ignoring me on purpose honey." The mirror says simply but there is a dark tone to its voice.

"Of course not. I would never ignore you on purpose." She says between bites of her sandwich, after she's chewed because she's completely sure that the mirror would find a way to beat her to death if she ever spoke with food in her mouth. "The first step to Occlumency is to empty your mind so you're all floaty. That's what I was doing."

"Ah." The mirror says all darkness is gone like it was never there. "That explains the vacant expression on your face, if that is the first step then what is the next one?" 

"The actual building of my mental walls." She says with excitement colouring her words. "It's all really cool! If I get good enough then I could trap people in a mental labyrinth for years!"

"Oh! That is exciting!" The mirror exclaims happily, the room of lost things rolls a small pile of galleons at her to show its support too.

"I know! I can't wait!" She says before realising how bad that sounds. "I mean, ah, not that I want to put people in comas or anything just..."

The mirror cuts her off. "Oh no honey, none of that now." It chides. "It's just us in here and I couldn't care less about what happens to the lesser masses. You're my baby, if you want to lock people in your mind for decades then I'll gladly support you in that effort."

Harry ducks her head with a blush staining her cheeks, it's really messed up (because it's becoming more clear by the day that her mirror mom, and she's never saying that out loud, is not a good object. Hell, it's startlingly clear from her first interaction that her mirror mom isn't even a nice object) but she's never had someone willing to sit in her corner no matter what before. It's a terrifying and intoxicating feeling to know that this mirror will be proud of her no matter what she does. That she could be the golden girl that Dumbledore so clearly wants her to be or be an even bigger monster than Voldemort and this mirror will never change its opinion. "Thank you." She whispers.

"Oh honey, there's no need for that." The mirror says softly. "All a mother wants is what's best for their child, and right now that's building your mental walls and making yourself the most irresistible lady at the Yule ball. Weddings take time to plan you know so the faster we get this pre-courting business done the faster we can get you a respectable husband."

Harry can't help the slightly wet laugh, no matter the occasion the mirror always seemed to bring them back to that. It was an art, really. "Okay, okay, I'll read up on how to build the walls then you can tell me all about your Yule ball plans."

"Good, I'm holding you to that honey."

'How to build your mental walls.

Building walls around your mind sounds quite simple on paper, and for weak walls meant to only stand for a short time, it is. All one needs to do for temporary walls is to pull their magic around their mind like a cloak, making sure to tuck in all of the corners, of course. Simple and effective.

Building an actual wall that is meant to last however is a lot harder. For this, you will need to already have a structured plan in place, something that you are comfortable with mentally walking through for the rest of your life. It is suggested that you look at many options as well as blueprints for these structures before you start, changing what you want halfway through will leave gaps and weak structures that can be easily exploited. Then, as the title suggests, you need to build. Brick by magically constructed brick, the more time you spend forming a brick the more durable it will be so having the patience to fortify your bricks will only help. Luckily most of the building can be done while you sleep if you have mastered clearing your mind.

Another boon to your mental walls is being able to keep as much emotion out of the bricks you use as you can since someone attacking them with that emotion will be able to clear them that much faster.'

She loves this book, Harry is actually in love with this book. Oh, Merlin! "Room of lost things! Do you have any books about magical buildings?! Or blueprints?!" She asks excitedly, three books fly over and so do several pages of loose parchment. She grins at the books:

Magical hot spots around the world.

The top ten most protected buildings in Britain.

Magical schools and where to find them.

It's moving onto the parchment though that she starts cackling. Because there, spread out on the stone floor in front of her, is a multi-page, highly detailed blueprint of Gringotts. The wizarding bank that was owned by Goblins who dared wizards and witches to try and break in with a slow death as the prize, and by the distinctive burns on a few of the parchments detailing some of the lower caverns that prize almost took this bright and suicidal person. It might not be accurate anymore, with the way the wizarding world had (somewhat) expanded since the aged parchment had been drawn on (maybe, she has no actual idea how long it takes parchment to colour with age) but that didn't matter. In fact, it would be better for her if it had changed, at least until she learnt to move her foundations around on her own. She ignores the book about magical schools (for now, she'll look into it closer to the year's end) and cracks open 'Magical hot spots around the world' and 'The top ten most protected buildings in Britain' to their chapters on Gringotts. While she reads about the magical bank and studies the blueprints she lets her magic stretch out of her skin, letting it shift through the pile of necklaces absentmindedly. Creating neat little piles where the room of lost things directed or adding them to set boxes. It's dinner in no time.

"Explain it to me again honey." The mirror asks while she cuts into the roast beef on her plate.

"I'm going to turn my mind into Gringotts." She says with a childish grin, she can't wait to go to sleep which is a far cry from this morning when she was doing everything to avoid sleep. "Brick by brick, I found some blueprints."

"Okay." The mirror says slowly. "But why Gringotts? Why something so... infested?"

Harry blinks in confusion at that, infested? She's quite sure that the goblins would never let that happen. "I... don't know what you mean." She says, just as slowly as the mirror. She feels like they've somehow ended up on different pages.

"I mean goblins, honey. Nasty, ugly, greedy little things!" The mirror rants and suddenly she gets it. The mirror was racist. She shouldn't be surprised, she'd seen the way some purebloods acted around... everything they deemed lesser than them, and the mirror was clearly made for a pureblood heir so it was natural that it would think like that too but...

Why does she feel like she's about to puke?

"... I think that goblins only act mean because wizards and witches treat them like they're less than dirt." She says softly, her dinner laying on her plate forgotten. It's not like she would have the stomach to eat anything now.

"Yes, well..." The mirror starts but she doesn't think she can listen to more.

"And I think that insulting the living beings that take care of the entire wizarding worlds money is really stupid. So I won't be doing it and I'm still going to use Gringotts as the construction around my mind, I might even add a goblin or two because they are vicious when protecting valuable things!" She's huffing angrily by the end but come on. There are... there are lines Harry has and while she's been slowly pushed over some of them, she never wanted to be a murder before Hogwarts but she'd already killed twice (Professor Quirrell in her first year and the diary in her second), but racism? That was a hard line.

The mirror hums lightly. "I suppose we shall have to agree to disagree on this matter honey, it's okay. I didn't think that we would see eye to eye on every topic. It's not like goblins are going to be the deciding matter in your marriage anyhow so there is no point in dwelling." Merlin, always back to marriage. "Now we don't have enough time today to go over our plan for the Yule ball but we will be dedicating the whole of tomorrow to it, am I understood? There is so much to do and so little time but we have beaten the odds once and we shall do so again."

"I... fine." She sighs as she pushes her plate away. Everyone fights she has to remember, she fought with Ron and Hermione all of the time. Everyone fights but the mirror was quite willing to deescalate instead of arguing its point so it would just be childish if she continued to do so and Harry had never been one to beat a dead horse. "We can agree to disagree."

"Perfect." The mirror says happily.

Harry spends an hour separating the rest of the jewellery out, everything broken that she can't fix, everything broken that she can fix, the finished box sets, and the two piles in front of the first and third chests. She decides to do the moving into the chests the next morning because she's dead tired by the end, she drinks her nighttime potions, kicks off her heels, and flops into bed "Good night room of lost things, good night mirror." Her blankets roll around her like a burrito making her all snuggly and warm.

"Good night honey, sleep well because we have a long day tomorrow." The mirror says softly.

Harry isn't asleep. Well, she is but she feels wide away and very claustrophobic. The mess surrounding her is so much worse than the room of lost things was, so so much worse, and every time she touched something she had to fight against being dragged into the memory it connected to. It's no wonder why it said that she'd need to have perfected clearing her mind first. Still, she's determined to at least lay out her foundation so she gets to work.

She walks in the direction she started looking in until it felt like she was hitting a wall, the edge of her mind, then she imagines one of Gringotts' massive outer bricks and holds her hands apart. At first, she doesn't think that anything is happening but then she feels magic sparking between her fingers. White mist rolls casually down her arms and over her fingers before pooling in the ruff translucent brick floating between her hands. It looks like she was injecting colour into jelly which is really cool. Suddenly a swirl of inky blackness joins the white in slowly filling the brick hovering in between her hands, ah emotions. Fiddlesticks. Harry keeps the flow going with one hand as she contemplates how to get the weakness out, sometimes even one opening can be enough after all. She tries several different methods to get the black swirl out, she tries calling it, pushing it out with more while mist, willing it to leave. Nothing works until she gets so frustrated, adding more black mist into her brick, that she just shoves her hand into it.

She feels more alive than she's ever been before.

She feels like she's dying.

She's freezing.

She's burning.

It all hits her like a truck and it's all she can do to hold on as her hand starts to go numb.  Now that her hand is in the brick it's easy to call the black mist to her, she wills it to crawl up her arm while she grits her teeth. She feels the last of it leave the brick because when it does everything gets so much colder. Ice climbs up her arm almost as if it was chasing the burning heat of the black mist, she yanks her hand out and flicks it. The black mist slides down her arm and lands on the 'floor' a ways away, after a few beats Prongs trots up and starts nibbling on it. He glows brighter as he does. She draws her eyes away and watches the frost clinging to her skin slowly melt away.

"Okay, Harry, no more fucking up." She says to herself as she curls her fingers a few times then moves it back to hovering over the now almost completely filled brick. She waits until the white mist starts curling around it due to no room being left then she gently places it down on the very edge of her mind and starts the next one.

Harry makes the mistake of feeling three more times by the time she feels herself fading from the beginnings of her mental fortress but after the first taste of her black mist Prongs sticks close. The third mistake is actually because she was in suck awe at how powerful Prongs had gotten, the buck prancing around her three brick high foundation glowing so bright that it bordered on painful. Still, as her eyes slowly open to the sight of the room of lost things she can't help but grin. It was working! She was making herself a mental fortress that would sooner or later be a labyrinth. She had plans for all of those underground twisting and turning caverns. So many plans and she's so very sure that Dumbledore will be ashamed of all of them.

"You must be the pinnacle of grace, honey. Every move you make will be watched by the eyes of the world." The mirror says in a no-nonsense tone of voice. "Your partner must also represent that grace, nothing is more embarrassing than having to explain away your date's behaviour."

Harry nods along as she directs the rest of the jewellery into the chests the room of lost things had placed them in front of. Today she's in white again because it reminds her of the frost, which in turn reminds her of her three-layered foundations. She's still very proud of them after all.

"So tell me who you have in mind?" The mirror says, drawing her back and making her realise that she was ignoring the mirror again. Crap. She's got the just of it though so she thinks that she'll be okay.

Who is she planning to ask to the ball? She wants to say, Hermione, she really does but she knows exactly how big of a fit the mirror will throw at that. She loves her best friend, even if she's not sure that they are best friends or vices for each other, but she knows that Hermione believes in marriages based on love. She'd never understand why Harry is suddenly looking for an almost political marriage, why her goal was power and not heart. She can almost hear it now. "What are you talking about Harry? Don't you want to be as happy as Arther and Molly? I thought you had a crush on Ginny? Who told you that you would need a man to be safe? Why are you even thinking about marriage anyway? You're fourteen, you're way too young for this!" She almost chuckles at the thought of Hermione's 'war against the world' face. She could take Lavander, Kellah, or Parvati in a show of house pride but... well she doesn't have a house to be proud of anymore, does she? So who did she have left then?

 Well, she couldn't take Hannah, Susan, Megan, or Leanne because they did believe in house pride and would never look at her twice for 'what she did to Cedric'. Or if they did it would likely be to sabotage her in some way or another. She couldn't take Padma because of Parvati, meaning that she also couldn't take Mandy because they were best friends. She couldn't take Daphne because she wasn't about to let herself be connected to Draco in any way. Millicent would murder her if she asked her or Tracey. That left Lisa, Morag, Sue, and Pansy. All options she knew very little about... actually no, she knew very little about the first three.

Pansy, she knew was having sex with Draco and while that was a link to the blonde it didn't have to stay like that because she'd never be his wife. And information like that? That was gold for a Slytherin. That meant that she had an in, that for keeping her tongue on the issue or bringing it to light Pansy would owe her one and Harry knew exactly what she wanted to ask. "Pansy Parkinson." She says eventually. "She's a fourth-year Slytherin."

"She sounds delightful!" The mirror gushes, hardly. Harry still remembers the relentless teasing from last year. "What gift will you be giving her?"

"Gift?!" Harry splitters, it was one thing to ask the other girl to the Yule ball (something that was going to cause so many problems for her with her friends) but to give her stuff too? 

"Of course a gift!" The mirror snaps."You cannot just ask the girl and expect her to say yes just because you want her to. If she is of high enough standing to be considered as your date to the ball then she will be getting lots of offers. You need to make sure that your offer is the best or you'll look like a fool. You also need to make sure that she knows that she can keep the gift even if she says no, she will be more likely to accept that way."

That... made sense, she sighs. Merlin, she never thought that she would be putting work in to woo Parkinson of all witches. "Alright, that makes... sense. I guess." She grumbles. "Room of lost things, is there anything that would make a good 'please go to the Yule ball with me' gift?" Two dresses fly up to her before two of the jewellery set boxes land under them. She gently opens each box and sees that apart from colours they both match each other (one and two). "You want me to gift her a whole outfit for the ball?" She gains a galleon.

"It's perfect. Now we won't have to try and guess what she is planning to wear, let me see the jewellery the room picked!" The mirror says happily, Harry is happy to show her because one less thing the mirror has to worry about is one less thing she has to worry about. "OH MORGANA!" The mirror cries in shock making her jump. "Are those... oh great Circle they ARE! You will not be handing any of those over until she has agreed honey! In fact, you aren't to give her a single earring until you are meeting her at her dormitory door right before you both make your way to the ball!"

She looks at the two box sets again before looking up. "So these are... important?" She asks.

"Important? Those are two out of five sets of Anastasios Periklis' last works, called 'the keys to Olympus'. There have been brutal and bloody wars over the remaining three since the last two had been thought lost." The mirror cries out in glee. "They are said to be the most valuable sets of jewellery in the world."

... Well, fuck, what else was in here that was completely priceless? "Okay... so I shouldn't give them to her?" A knut is tossed at her head.

"You most certainly should honey, once she's agreed to be your date to the Yule ball of course because letting her wear a set for the world to see will have her in your debt for the rest of her families life. And the Parkinson's are a powerful family to have in your corner honey, fingers in many pies as the new blood's would say."

That did sound like a better 'in' than telling Pansy that Draco was playing her, not that she wouldn't be doing that anyway because screw Draco but still. "I understand now." She says as she gently closes the two boxes and places them on her nightstand.

"Do you honey?" The mirror asks, it's not unkind the way it says it, just curiosity about whether she actually understands the magnitude of what was happening and while she's starting to feel like the ground under her is giving way quite fast she does get it.

"I do. Which one is mine?" She asks, the light blue dress floats over to the manikin that previously held the battle robes she wore for the first task and the light pink dress folds itself and puts itself into a nice dress box. "So the blue one?" She gets a galleon for her correct answer as the dress box floats over to her, landing on her bed.

"Now that, that's settled let's find you something to wear for dinner tonight. I'm thinking something shows honey's upper-class status while being approachable." 

"Umm, why can't I wear this to dinner?" She asks as the clothes in the first chest shuffle around. "You've never made me change before."

An outfit finally pops out and the mirror coos happily. "Perfect, honey'll look positive darling in that." It says to the room of lost things before answering her. "I like your confidence honey but I will never let you eat in the great hall in that, it is a sight only for your husband I'm sure you understand."

She chokes a little. "What do you mean I'm eating dinner in the main hall?! Why?!"

"Well, how else are you going to deliver your gift?" The mirror sasses. "You will need to ask her publicly or it could be seen as you being ashamed of her or, Morgana forbid, scared of her rejection."

"And that means I have to brave three schools who hate my guts during a time where there will be no classes after the meal? Nothing to stop them all from stalking be through the halls and cursing my back?" She growls back.

"Yes. Because this isn't just about your date to the Yule Ball." The mirror says, more serious now. "This is about showing them all who you really are.  It's about walking in front of them all while your magic runs free and making them tremble under just how powerful you are. They think you hide because you're scared of them and it is time to show them that you only hide because they aren't worth your time."

She sits back on her bed, the box containing Pansy's dress slides into her side as the bed dips. "But I am hiding because I'm scared of them." She says softly. "I'm terrified of them. Not the other schools and not really the other houses either, I'm scared of the looks I'll get from my friends. I could see their anger when my name was called, the accusations circling around their minds." She flops back to avoid looking at the mirror and her 'dinner outfit', this felt like a bridge being crossed. An emotional barrier she had put up to protect herself that was crumbling in the face of two magical entities that held somewhat unknown intentions. It's a dangerous and deadly fall but she can't seem to find purchase to help her slow her descent. "They have been the closest thing I've ever had to a proper family and all it took was a slip of paper to rip it all away. How can I face that?" Merlin, she feels like she's about to cry. She does cry when the blanket that had been lying under her rolls itself over her in lieu of a hug.

"The same way you walk around here honey." The mirror says after her sobs subside. "With your head held high and your magic speaking for you. They may have been your family but they are not now. We are and we will never abandon you. Now dry those tears and get the green gemstone on the sixth shelf, the glowing one. It's called Tranquility's Root and one of its many properties is its ability to reverse the effect that crying has on your eyes. All you need to do is close your eyes and gently hover it over each eye for ten seconds." Harry swallows back the new wave of tears at the mirror's declaration and follows its direction. Her eyes certainly feel less puffy when she puts Tranquility's Root back in its spot.

"Thank you. Both of you." She says thickly.

"Think nothing of it, honey." The mirror coos at her. "Why don't you pass the time until dinner reading some of the books the room gave you for the second task, hmm. I'm sure it will make you feel more like yourself."

She nods and picks up the first book in the pile, 'Magical Water Plants of the Mediterranean.', and cracks it open to a random page.

'When Gillyweed is eaten by a human, it gives them fish-like attributes, including gills to process oxygen from water, webbing between the fingers and toes for easier swimming, removing the need for blinking, and adapting to cold temperatures in water. While under the effects of Gillyweed, one cannot breathe air with their lungs. There is some debate among Herbologists as to the duration of the effects of Gillyweed in freshwater versus saltwater, but in freshwater, a sprig of Gillyweed lasted for well over an hour.'

... Huh.

"It's time to get ready now honey." The mirror cuts in while her nose is buried in 'So you want to hunt grindylows?', she's learnt several spells she's a little excited to try:

• Oculi venatoris. Pronounced O-culi ve-na-toris. It is cast while pointed at the eyes and what it does is highlight hostile beings in visual range making it easier to tell friend from foe.
• Nodum tentaculi. Pronounced No-dum ten-taculi. It knots the Grindylow's tentacles making it impossible to swim away.
• Missa decollatio daemonis. Pronounced Mis-sa de-col-latio dae-mon-is. A mass beheading spell was made to specifically target Grindylow's.
• Retia maris. Prounanced Re-tia maris. A net shooting spell.
• And Relashio. Pronounced Re-la-shio. A jinx that forces someone to release their grip.

These paired with the Gillyweed makes her feel like she has the beginnings of a solid plan, which in turn makes her relax a little. She closes the book and gets dressed. "So, how do I look?" She asks as she gives the mirror and the room of lost things a little spin. She's nervous of course but she's trapping the feeling in a bubble and forcing it to the back of her mind.

"You look like you couldn't care less about what they all think of you while also showing them all up like you were clearly born to do." The mirror says smugly while galleons dance around her feet.

She laughs because that was such a mirror response that she's a little shocked she didn't expect it. "So perfect then? Great, wish me luck." She says as she picks up the dress box and the satchel the room of lost things had given her to protect her cloak and map while she was eating dinner.

"If anyone needs luck honey it's them. Now go have fun, I expect you back no later than midnight young lady. And no sex!" Harry's cheeks burn at the mirror's joke. She quickly swings her invisibility cloak over her to hide and rushes off as the mirror's laughter grows.

She has to stand in front of the doors for three minutes to calm her breathing and compartmentalise before she's even able to put her map and cloak in her satchel. This was it, she was going to be on ground level with everyone. There was no dragon to keep them away this time. Just her and the reassurance of the mirror in the back of her mind. Can she really do this? Can she really walk in there like nothing happened and gift Pansy Parkinson a Yuletide dress? She takes a deep breath and slowly lets go of the tight hold she'd had on the walk here. She can because the slight glow to the air around her reminds her that she's a different person now. This isn't about petty fights between friends, between siblings. Not today. Today it was about taking the first real steps in securing her future. Today was about showing everyone how powerful she was and ensuring that only the equally powerful had any chance at pursuing her.

She takes one more deep breath, loosening her tight hold on the dress box slightly and pushing a little more magic into her temporary mental shield, then she rolls her shoulders and pushes open the large wooden doors. No one notices her at first, absorbed in their meals, which suits her just fine as she casually strolls towards the Slytherin table where the Slytherins and the Durmstrang Institute students sit. She doesn't notice who notices her first but soon she's walking along the Slytherin table with the only sound being the clicking of her heels.

"H-Harry?!" She hears Ron choke but she ignores him for now, she has a goal that she needs to accomplish before she speaks to anyone else.

"Harry Potter!" Dumbledore growls as he stands from his seat. She ignores him too, stopping in front of Pansy who is flanked by Draco and Blaise. Across from Pansy, and sitting on her side of the table, are Millicent and Tracey who glare up at her and show no signs of moving. So she simply clicks her fingers and watches, emotionless, as they are forced apart. Making enough room for her to sit if she wanted to, she doesn't.

"Hey!" Tracey growls furiously from where she's now squished against Daphne, Millicent just growls. She ignores them and the wide-eyed look Blaise has had locked on her since she stepped into his range.

"Heir Parkinson." She starts politely. "I have brought you the first part of what I hope will be a two-part gift in exchange for your consideration of me as a viable date to the Yule Ball approaching us. I would also like to make it known in front of the eyes of this hall and all those in it that should you turn me down in this that you will still be able to keep this first part of my gift. It is yours now after all." She holds out the dress box, slotting it in the space now open to her. She must have really shocked everyone because Millicent and Tracey have stopped growling.

She sees Pansy's eyes widen a fraction before she can mask it and fights the urge to smile. "What the fuck Potter!" Draco growls as he shoots up. "What gives you the right to come over here and..."

"Extend an offer to another female heir to a social gathering, thereby stating that I am now willing to start my season debut?" She asks making nearly every pure-blood and half-blood gasp. Even Snape is shocked into stillness which she takes as a very large achievement. "Why I thought it was none of a wizards business when a witch decided to look for a husband? Only to state their interest in competing? Is that what you're doing heir Malfoy?" Draco goes red, then white, then red again in the span of a few seconds. Dumbledore is now storming over which puts her on a very tight schedule, if he manages to get the dress box before Pansy has taken it then it will be an automatic rejection the mirror had told her. If Pansy lets it get taken then it is clear she didn't want it enough to fight for it. She knows it and Pansy clearly does too because, with a quick look at Blaise who is still watching her with a look she doesn't have time to decode, Pansy takes the box.

Dumbledore is forced to stop or risk insulting them both though he is furious, now it's in Pansy's hands. Harry stands stock still while explanations are whispered to everyone who doesn't understand what was happening, waiting patiently while Pansy slowly stands and opens the box. Pansy gently pulls the dress out for everyone to see, there are gasps and more whispers but she pays them no mind. She is in control, their reactions do not affect her (... much).

"This is a very well made gift heir Potter," Pansy says slowly as she sets it back into the box. "This is what you wish me to wear to the Yule Ball if I agree to go with you?"

"You do not have to, of course." She says pleasantly. "But it would be easier on me if you did since the second part of the gift matches, as does the dress I had planned to wear if you agreed."

Pansy eyes her, looking for weaknesses no doubt, before looking down at the dress. "And what is the second part of the gift?"

"A surprise." She says making Pansy snort lightly.

"Fine heir Potter. I will go with you to the Yule Ball and start your season." Pansy says before sitting back down at the table, Draco splitters helplessly next to her.

"I thank you for your help heir Parkinson. I will meet you outside the Slytherin comment room an hour before we are meant to open the Yule Ball." She replies before giving Pansy a polite bow. She's quite happy to continue to let Pansy think that she had the upper hand in this arrangement. It's funny but she's quite looking forward to seeing the look on Pansy's face when she presents Pansy's set of the 'keys to Olympus.

Now that their exchange is over Dumbledore can happily stomp his way over. She's expecting to be physically dragged to the headmaster's office and yelled at well into the night before being stalked until she reveals where she was staying. It's clearly what the look on his face said. Except Mad eye Moody seems to have other plans.

"Potter!" Moody snaps as he quickly hobbles past Dumbledore with a look of rage on his face. "Ya have missed every single one of my classes and it will not stand. With me little lass!" He snaps.

"Now Alastor..." Dumbledore starts but Moody is having none of it.

"NOW!" He roars as he continues to hobble out of the room. Out of the two of them, Moody is the unknown to her but he is the defence against the dark arts teacher and so far two out of three of them have attacked her so she spins on her heel and hurries after him. If she plays along for now then it could save her a headache later... hopefully. The continued walk up to Moody's office is spent in tense silence where she slowly starts to regret agreeing to be alone with the gruff man. Then he leads her into his office and shuts the door, as soon as it's done he starts laughing making her extremely confused. This didn't sound like evil 'I'm about to murder you' laughter. "Oh lass, his face! Oh, I haven't seen that old geezer look like he choked on one of those muggle candies in years! Well done lass, well done."

"... So... you're not mad?" She asks making him laugh more.

"Not at all lass, of course, it would be easier tryin' to keep ya alive if you'd stop hidin' and came to class but it seems ya have your own teacher. A season debut! Ha!" 

She relaxes substantially at that. "Well, it's been pointed out to me that not everyone plays fair and having someone watching my back would be a great benefit." She sighs with a slight smile, it's nice to talk to someone human about this she's finding.

Moody's human eye lights up. "Ay, that's a smart move lass. No one can keep CONSTANT VIGILANCE up forever, as much as it pains me to admit. I reckon I could'a kept my leg if I'd had someone at my back." He stomps his peg leg onto the ground before moving behind his desk and sitting down. He waves at the seat in front of him on the other side of the desk. "Sit, I'll let ya eat in here with me this once so that you don't have to worry about tails on your way back to where you're hidin'. In exchange I wanna know what you're planning for the second task, it won't be as easy as the first one was now that they all remember about your extra skills. Let me tell you that." He huffs.

As soon as she sits down two plates pop up in front of them. "I know that it'll be harder but I have a plan." She assures the grizzled, retired Auror.

"So ya figured out how to open the egg then?" Moody asks and at her nod he grins, with the lighting and his scars he looks quite menacing while doing so. "Well done lass, you're the first. And what is this plan of yours?"

She grins back over the grilled fish and rice on her plate. "Gillyweed and liberal use of a targeted beheading charm." She had him pegged right because a second later he's laughing so hard that his magical eye almost falls out.

"Oh lass, the way Dumbledore talked about ya before I agreed to teach this year made ya sound like a wet noodle. I thought I was goin' to have to walk ya through everything step by step when your name came out of that goblet." He laughs. "But that's not who ya are at all, is it? Smart little lass you are, powerful too. I can promise ya now that you'll be swimming in requests before the Yule Ball even starts." His human eye gleams with excitement. He must be really bored in his retirement to find a debut exciting but who was she to judge? She was looking forward to talking to a magical mirror and room about Pansy accepting her invitation after all.

"That is the hope." She chuckles herself, it was really nice to talk to a human about this. Reassuring to see physical reactions to her new goals. "Though I've been warned that if I even look at someone with a power level lower than my own I'll be beaten to death with my shoes."

"Which a completely acceptable condition." Moody points out while waving his fork around. "Ya should never settle for someone who can't protect you just as well as you can protect them."

"That's what they said." She laughs. " 'You must be a soft beauty and a deadly spell caster. Able to make wizards flock to your husband for political advice so they may spend a moment breathing the same air as you yet vicious enough to rip any who would endanger your future children limb from bloody limb. A wizard that marries you must know that you are the tool to his growing success as well as the defender at his back.' " She mimics.

"A very wise way of looking at it," Moody says with a pleased lit to his voice. "I'm glad someone is teaching ya how things work in our world, from what I hear you were stumbling along before. Not a care for social rules or values."

Harry huffs. "It's not like I wanted to do that! No one told me what the rules were, they just all expected me to know like I wasn't raised by muggles."

Moody's fork freezes on its way towards his face. "I'm sorry, did ya just say that ya were raised by muggles?!"

"Yes." She says slowly. "Everyone knows that."

"Everyone does not know that!" He snaps as he slams his fork down. "We were all told that ya were being raised away from the wizarding world to keep ya safe! Not that you were raised by MUGGLES!" She blinks in shock... people didn't know? But Dumbledore said... she thought that she couldn't do anything! That everyone knew that she had spent the first ten years of her life in the cupboard under the stairs and didn't care. But that didn't! They didn't know and Dumbledore was a lier and they didn't know!

"Mr Moody, I spent the years before my Hogwarts letter came calling the utility cupboard under my muggle relatives staircase my bedroom." She says quickly and feels the magic in the air still. They didn't know, they didn't know, they didn't know. "In fact, My Hogwarts letter was addressed to that cupboard. I told Dumbledore at the end of my first year, begged him to let me stay at Hogwarts during the summers but he refused.  He said a bunch of bullshit words that basically boiled down to him saying that everyone knew and no one cared. Are you telling me that was a lie?"

Moody looks at her straight in the eye, brimming with furry, and simply says. "Yes."

... She feels like things around her should be exploding, that she should be exploding and yet there is nothing. Nothing but an empty hollowness and magic, so much magic. She lets it solidify around the fingers of her left hand and watches the freezing white tendrils curl around them and her wrist. Nothing. Eventually, she feels them wanting to go towards the dead spider in the jar on the corner of Moody's desk so she lets them go, watching with a new sort of blankness. They curl around the spider then sink into it. In the back of her mind, she feels a weak thread link up then the spider starts slowly twitching. Soon it's calmly scuttling around the glass like it wasn't dead moments before. She still feels nothing.

"I see." She says finally as she takes her eyes off of the spider, Moody is still watching it in shocked awe. "Thank you for telling me, not that it really matters anymore since I am free to never return now but it is nice to know regardless." Moody finally looks up at her. "Thank you for dinner as well, I will see you at the Yule Ball." 

"Ay lass," Moody says as she gets up and pulls out her invisibility cloak, swinging it over in a practised motion. "That you will."

She can tell that the mirror is concerned by her lack of emotion when she returns even though it's glad that Pansy accepted her invitation but they let it go when she promises to tell them the next morning.

She has no trouble with the creation of her mental bricks either when she sleeps, managing to get another five rows up without the need to dunk her hand in and fish out emotions.

When she wakes though? When she wakes she storms over to the pile of broken things that she has no hope of fixing and throws herself into further damaging them. She doesn't even use magic, preferring to rip fabric by hand and throw mangled jewellery as hard as she can at the floor while screaming her rage out until all she has left is massive tears. How could he!!!!!!!!!

"HONEY!" The mirror cries as jewels and twisted metal explode across the floor. "This highly unbecoming of a lady of your standing! Stop it at once!"

"Unbecoming?!" She cries out before grabbing another hand full of twisted metal and tossing it at the ground in front of the mirror. "Un-fucking-becoming?! Do you want to know what's unbecoming?! It's spending as long as you can remember locked in a utility cupboard!" Another fist full of warped metal and cracked gems gets lobbed at the floor. "It's spending your whole life being told to sit down and shut up! To curling into a ball and pretending that you don't exist because if you stay out of the way long enough your 'family' might remember to feed you that day!" She grabs a ripped skirt and shreds it. "It's being forced to do every household chore in an impossible timeframe because your uncle had a bad day at work and he's just looking for a reason to beat you! It's finally, finally going to some bullshit magical school and getting your hopes up only to be told that no one gives a shit and that you have to go back to that stupid muggle family in their stupid perfect house." 

"Oh, honey..." The mirror whispers she can barely hear it over the ringing in her ears. The fabric in her hands is starting to get wet and it takes her an embarrassingly long time to realise that it's because she's crying.

"It's finding out that you've been lied to for years. Finding out that people didn't know and that you were right to hope, that the only reason you had to continue to go through it all was because you messed up and trusted the wrong person... Oh fuck. Why did I trust him!? I'm so stupid!" She sobs as her knees hit the stone floor, gaining a few cuts from the gagged metal scattered around. 

Harry cries and cries as the room of lost things and the mirror try and comfort her. She sits on the floor mourning the happiness her younger self could have had, the life she could have had. Why had Dumbledore not done anything? Why had he lied to her?

Eventually, she realises that it doesn't matter, none of it matters anymore. She's free now after all. The Goblet of Fire has made her an adult in the eyes of magic and there is nothing Dumbledore can do about it. He'll have even less to do with it if she manages to find herself a husband before her fifth year, her eyes cut towards 'Magical schools and where to find them' if she chooses to finish her schooling at Hogwarts that is. Harry had assumed that her mysterious husband would be someone who would help protect her from Voldemort but now she may have to also have them help protect her from Dumbledore.

Suddenly it's like she's stuck at a crossroad. If she goes one way she'll end up married to someone under Dumbledore's control, protected from Voldemort but open to attacks from Hogwarts headmaster. If she goes the other way she'll marry someone bound to Voldemort, protecting her from Dumbledore but leaving her open for the Dark Lord to take advantage of. She sighs and opens her eyes, looks like she has even more questions for Pansy now. Fun.

"I'm sorry for losing my temper." She mumbles finally as she lets go of the fabric in her hands. She watches it flutter back into the pile of broken things she can't fix, the scattered metal and gems also roll over now that it's clear that she's done throwing a temper tantrum.

"It's okay honey." The mirror coos softly. "I know I was annoyed in the beginning but it sounds like you really needed that, hmm. Feel better?"

She thinks about it and... she actually does. "Yeah, I... I do."

"Wonderful, now I am assuming that this is what had you shutting down last night, yes?"

"It is."

"Hmm, and have you figured out a solution?" The mirror asks and she almost laughs because she did and it's exactly what the mirror has wanted this whole time.

"I have."

"... And?"

She huffs but she manages to push herself up. "I need to get married before my fifth year."

"Oh, perfect honey!" The mirror cheers. "I am so glad that we are finally on the same page. Now meet enchanted manikin, they will be teaching you how to dance for the ball." A tall manikin leaps out of the furniture section and lands next to the mirror with a bow. "No, no! She's doing a debut dance, she needs a female dance partner." The manikin straightens up and makes a vague hand gesture that has the mirror letting out a scandalised gasp before it shortens a little and grows fake breasts. Harry bursts into delighted laughter when it pokes one of them playfully. "YOU HEATHEN! Why I ought to have you turned into wooden chips!" The mirror cries out. 

The manikin rolls its hand in a dismissing gesture, drawing another scandalised gasp and a knut to the back of its head before it holds its hand out to her. "Oh, we're starting now?" She asks and the manikin nods. "Alright, umm, teach me how to dance then."

That seems to be all it needs because it snatches her hand and starts dragging her around the space she's made for herself, when it becomes clear that she's utterly hopeless it pauses to place her feet on top of its own so she can feel the steps. When she's mastered that it forces her into heels then forces her to do it all again. She flops into bed that night and despite the mirror's very loud protests the manikin flops in too, dragging her into a hug and petting her head like a little kid after a nightmare. "Thank you." She whispers softly. It pets her head more. "Good night room of lost things. Good night mirror. Good night manikin." Her blankets snuggle around her and the manikin pulls her in for a tighter hug.

"Good night honey." The mirror huffs, clearly regretting introducing her to the manikin. "Tomorrow will be brighter, I promise."

Harry knows almost instantly that she will be unable to build up her walls tonight, too many emotions still swim right under her skin. It heats her up inside to the point where she feels as if she were stuck outside on an especially hot summers day, forced to slave away in aunt Petunia's garden with the sun burning the back of her neck. She always preferred the snow anyway.

So instead she lets herself float, she lets herself dream.

She dreams of empty diaries bleeding ink into smirking redheads.

She dreams of beautiful crowns sitting in chests, watching and waiting.

She dreams of goblets brimming with heat and promise.

She dreams of necklaces cackling smugly while desperate house-elves try again and again to break them.

She dreams of snakes hunting mice who turn to men.

She dreams of rings singing promises of lost family to unsuspecting fools.

She dreams of a family graveyard that contains no family of hers. Of a manor house covered in vines, discoloured by age and neglect. Of twisting halls and broken stairs. Of a baby who is a man and a monster all at once. A monster who wishes to devour her and keep her. A man who wants to kill her and save her. A contradiction of mind and body, of power and desire.

She dreams of blackness that curls around her like a warm blanket on a perfectly chilled night. She dreams of white snow and mugs of blackened hot chocolate. Of cold on her skin and warmth in her belly, a mixing of two powers that could both reach devastating heights and yet are perfectly happy to interact on softer levels.

But most of all she dreams of her spider, scuttling along in its jar. It needs no food but it eats anyway, it needs no web but it makes one anyway. It needs no sleep but it pretends to do so anyway. An illusion of normality, an illusion of peacefulness wrapped over a deadly calm. She wanted it to live and so it does. She wants it to behave as a normal spider does as so it will. Until she needs more it will eat and build and watch instead of sleep. 

It tastes of frost and bleeds snow. Its webs feel like ice. Its heart a sharp stinging cold.

And Harry?

Harry has always preferred the snow.

Harry wakes slowly, she is warm and being hugged. Safe in a way she's never been before yet she feels like something is wrong. There is something else in her space, something that shouldn't be there and it's bugging her.

"I hold very little care for what your orders are elf." She hears the mirror growl menacingly. "You will be skinned and quartered before you ever get to report on my daughter's location. Am I understood?!"

"I's not be meaning harm." She hears Dobby say worriedly but determined. "I's just be wanting to know that the great Harry Potter is safe."

"My honey is perfectly safe in here elf. And she will continue to be no matter what your master thinks. Now give me one reason not to have you gutted!" The mirror snarls.

It takes a moment for her to realise that she's not dreaming up Dobby's voice but when she does she shoots up, the manikin jumps a little as she accidentally wrenches herself out of its arms. "Dobby?" She asks, her head swivelling around until she spots the delightful little house-elf. She feels a blinding grin spilling across her face as she scrambles out of the bed. "Dobby! I haven't seen you in ages! How are you? Where have you been staying? Are you staying?" She asks as she picks him up and hugs him to her chest.

His wide eyes widen further before a bright smile stretches across his face as well. "Miss Harry Potter! Oh, I's be missing you too!" He cries as he throws his little arms around her neck for a hug. "I's be doing well Miss Harry Potter! I's be working in the kitchens here now's, with Winky. We's being paid too! A whole galleon a week!"

"Of course, you're friends with an elf." The mirror sighs in the background but Harry has too much happiness spilling around her to start dealing with the mirror's inherent racism and...

"Oh, hello Prongs." She says as she feels the access happiness pool forward until Prongs bursts forward, he trots over and rubs his warm snout onto her cheek then trots off to explore the room of lost things. With all of the access emotions now dipping between mountains of objects, she can think clearly again. "That's wonderful Dobby but, violence aside, I do need you to keep my location a secret." She tells him as she finally puts him down. "This is the only place I feel safe right now and if anyone else knew about it then it would be ruined, do you understand?"

Dobby nods his head almost frantically. "I's be understanding Miss Harry Potter, Ma'am. Dumblydore be's asking but Dobby's a free elf. I's not be telling if I's don't want. Your secret is being safe with me Miss Harry Potter."

She smiles down at him. "Thank you, Dobby. You're a really good friend."

Dobby beams then looks a little sad, then his eyes widen like he's figured out a difficult puzzle. "Miss Harry Potter, is you be looking for help?"

She tilts her head to the side. "What do you mean?"

"Well, you is being surrounded by big piles of things." He says slowly like he's sort of scared of her reaction. "It's being very messy but organised at the same time, so I's be thinking that Miss Harry Potter be sorting."

"Well, you aren't wrong." She snorts.

"Yes! But sorting must take up much of Miss Harry Potter's time and Winky is being so sad without a master." He tells her earnestly. "So Dobby be's thinking that maybe Miss Harry Potter could be Winky's new master and then Miss Harry Potter be getting help sorting!"

She wants to protest because she doesn't actually want a slave but Dobby looks so lost and sad and hopeful. "And what about you elf ?" The mirror cuts in sharply. "You would be happy to just wither away and die while your friend gets to be honey's house-elf? A job you clearly want?"

Harry feels her heart still at that, Dobby was dying? Why? How?! "I's being perfectly happy if Winky is being happy!" Dobby snaps at the mirror... but he doesn't dispute what it said.

"Dobby, what is the mirror talking about?" She asks quietly as she kneels on the stone floor in front of him.

Dobby looks at her with a deep sadness in his eyes before looking away which makes the mirror tut like it was dealing with an unruly child. "House-elves need to feed on a witch or wizards magic to live. It's why freeing them is so devastating to them, it is essentially condemning them to a slow and painful death should they not find a new one to take their place."

"Dobby." She whispers in horror. Her friend is dying, he's in pain and has been for over a year because of her. Because she thought she was helping but, once again, she was only making it worse. Because she was a fool who was just stumbling through this magical world with no clue what to do. Moody had been right about his initial assessment of her.

"I's being fine Miss Harry Potter," Dobby assured. "Winky is being the one needing help, will you's agree? To being Winky's master?" 

"I... Why do I have to choose?" She asks in a slight panic. "Why can't I be both of your masters?"

Dobby's eyes widen like saucers. "You's be willing to be Dobby's master too?" He asks in awe.

"Of course!" She cries as she cups his cheeks. "You are my friend Dobby and I refuse to see you hurting."

Dobby blinks once then he bursts into tears. "Oh, Miss Harry Potter! You's being so kind! I's promise to be the best elf for you's! I must be getting Winky! She'll be so happy!" He then throws himself into her for a quick hug then he pops away.

"Well done honey." The mirror purrs making her blink. "Being able to feed two elves by yourself whilst still being able to cast more complex spells with ease will only increase your popularity."

"So it takes a lot of magic to have a house-elf?" She asks as she stands back up, completely ignoring how furious Hermione is going to be about all of this.

"There is a reason why the upper class only have one personal house-elf usually, it's a sign of power as well as having a servant." The mirror coos delightedly. Harry scowls at that, she doesn't need a servant nor does she want one. This was only so her friend could stop hurting, nothing more. 

When Dobby pops back in with a drunk house-elf in tow she schools her expression into a kind smile, she doesn't want Dobby to think that she's changing her mind. It takes her a second to see past the drunkness and realise that this was the house-elf who stole her want to cast the dark mark. She should be mad about that but all this was, was another house-elf with a broken bond that she had caused. It would be easier to pass Winky off if the drunk little elf wasn't trying so hard to be presentable for her, no, for her ticket to making the pain stop. It hurts but Harry knows that feeling too so she pushes extra kindness into her smile and hopes it doesn't come off as fake. "Hello, you must be Winky. Dobby has told me a bit about you and I was wondering if you'd like to be my elf, alongside Dobby? I need help sorting you see."

Winky's large ears flop as she throws her whole body into nodding. "I's be *hic* helpful. I's *hic* promise!" 

"I know you will." She assures before looking at Dobby. "I, ah, I don't know what to do next." She admits making Dobby smile up at her.

He holds out his hand and she takes it. "I, Dobby, do swears myself to Miss Harry Potter. Do you's accept?"

She nods. "I do." Suddenly she feels a yanking sensation in her chest, it's uncomfortable for a moment but then she feels it snap into place.

Winky's hand shakes as she holds it out but Harry ignores it and takes the hand offered to her. "I, *hic* Winky, do sw-swears myself *hic* to Miss Harry *hic* Potter. Do you's accept?"

"I do." She echoes. She's more ready for the tugging and snapping sensation now. "Good." She says when everything finally settles. "Now your first job is to take the day off to let the bonds settle." Winky tries to protest but she holds her hand up. "And to not tell anyone where I am. Tomorrow we will go over what jobs you both prefer. Okay?"

"Yes, mistress Harry Potter!" Dobby says happily, looking a lot healthier. "We's be seeing you tomorrow!" Then he loops his arm around a still protesting Winky and pops away.

"Well." The mirror chimes in. "Now that, that's done we can start the day! You'd better get something light to eat for breakfast because we are already running behind." Before she can reply the manikin scoops her up and drops her into her chair making her laugh.