Paternal Instincts

Chapter 15

The night after he got back from Christmas break, Harry decided to go for a stroll as he was intrigued to try on his new cloak and take a walk around the castle without being seen, especially by Filch. He decided to visit the Restricted Section of the library to search for more information on Nicholas Flamel while he was at it. Unfortunate he nearly got caught due to a screaming book in Restricted Section that resulted in Filch and Snape storming into the library. Harry managed to escape the library with his cloak, but his efforts to escape their clutches landed him in an empty classroom.

This classroom contained a magnificent mirror that showed Harry an image he never thought he would see. It was of him with both his parents standing behind him with their hand on his shoulders and two other kids smaller than he was on either side of him. His mother looked older than she did in her pictures and the same age as his father in the current day, but just as strikingly beautiful with her dark red hair and green eyes. She looked and felt more real than she did in any of her pictures as Harry reached out his hand towards her. He noticed that the two kids beside him very much resembled himself and his parents. The girl looked like his mother up to her dark red hair and green eyes, but had his father's lips and smile. The boy looked somewhat an even combination of both his parents with dark brown hair and his father's hazel eyes. He understood that they were supposed to be his siblings. "But how?" he wondered to himself. Was this mirror supposed to show the future? But it couldn't. His mother was dead, he thought sadly. Did the mirror show an alternate universe?

Harry immediately woke Ron up to show him the mirror, but Ron saw something entirely different. The red-haired Weasley saw himself as Headboy and captain of the Quidditch team with a Quidditch cup instead. Despite Ron's warnings, Harry was so entranced by the image of the family he never had that he returned to the mirror the next day. This time he was caught by Dumbledore who explained to him that the mirror showed a person their deepest desires. Harry realized that his deepest desire was for his incomplete family to be complete.

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Dear dad,

I hope you're doing well. Classes and Quidditch practice have been going on alright but I'm worried about why Snape's suddenly interested in refereeing our next match against Hufflepuff.

I finally figured out what the three-headed dog is guarding. Opening a chocolate frog card with Dumbledore on it reminded me that I had read about Flamel being friends with Dumbledore on chocolate card. This made Hermione remember one of the thick books she checked out for "light reading" which as our luck had it, contained information on Nicholas Flamel. He created the Philosopher's Stone and that's what Professor Dumbledore is helping Flamel guard. It's the Elixir of Life that stops a person from dying. No wonder Snape wants it. He even talked about "putting a stopper to death" during our first class.

I think Snape suspects that I know more than I should about the Philosopher's Stone and that's why he's out to get me by refereeing my Quidditch game. But I'm not letting him or the Slytherin team get to me. I can't let them think I'm a coward. I'll show them when we win.

Take care

Lots of love,

Harry.

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Dear Harry,

Snape's interest in refereeing your match has me worried too. I'll write to Professor Dumbledore about this. As admirable as your fighting spirit is, your safety is my top priority.