**Chapter 58: An Encounter with the Magic Mirror**

"You found a mirror? And you saw your parents in it?" Dylan picked up a small plate of dark berries resembling grapes—black currants and elderberries—and popped one into his mouth.

Harry nodded eagerly. "The mirror showed my parents! They were standing right behind me!"

As if lost in a memory, Harry murmured, "They had such beautiful smiles."

Ron joined the conversation halfway through, his eyes wide with curiosity as he grabbed a piece of bread. "That's incredible! Why didn't you call me to come along? I'd love to see what your parents looked like. My brother said they were heroes!"

Harry smiled warmly. "Well, how about we go back tonight? That way, you can see them for yourself."

Harry had also received gifts from the Weasleys during Christmas, and yesterday he felt like it was the best Christmas he'd ever had!

"That'sounds great. Or, you could just come over to my house during the summer break," Ron said casually.

Harry agreed immediately.

Then Ron turned to Dylan. "What about you, Dylan? Want to come too? We've got gnomes in our backyard—we can mess with them! Or chase garden sprites. Oh, and my parents hide magical treasures around the house. We could spend hours searching for them!"

Dylan blinked.

Seeing the eager looks on Harry and Ron's faces, he thought about his own parents. They were always busy—either working to make money or enjoying their time as a couple. They might even be thinking about giving him a little brother or sister.

He snorted inwardly but nodded. "Sure, we can hang out during the summer."

"Awesome! Just don't spend all your time reading boring books, or my mom will definitely use you as an example to lecture me," Ron said with a grin.

"I'll try not to," Dylan replied, leaving his response open-ended.

Harry chimed in, "Dylan, do you want to come with us tonight? You could see your parents too!"

"I'll pass."

When Harry had mentioned the Invisibility Cloak the day before, Dylan had already guessed it was the Mirror of Erised.

The mirror's full name was "The Mirror of Erised." "Erised" was "desire" spelled backward, and it was also the name of a goddess of discord in mythology. The mirror reflected a person's deepest, most desperate desires.

Dylan was somewhat curious, but he wasn't sure what the mirror would show him. It wasn't as simple as Harry thought—just showing a person's family. What if it revealed something strange? If Harry and Ron saw it, that would be one thing. But Dumbledore was definitely watching. If the mirror showed something troubling and Dumbledore saw it, Dylan could end up in a lot of trouble.

"You're really not coming?" Harry asked.

"No, I've already made plans with Professors Flitwick and McGonagall."

"Oh, you didn't schedule anything with Professor Snape?"

"…No."

"What a shame!"

After finishing the fruit, Dylan decided to head to Professor Snape's office. The proud, sulky man needed a bit of coaxing.

Dylan knocked on the door and sweet-talked Snape for a while before spending the entire day brewing potions in his office.

The next morning, after his lesson with Professor Flitwick, the professor brought up some topics related to Defense Against the Dark Arts. Flitwick, a Ravenclaw alumnus, was sharp and often provided insights that cleared up Dylan's confusion.

In the afternoon, Dylan discussed Transfiguration with Professor McGonagall. She forbade him from continuing his research on entropy distortion spells but delved deeper into the theory of spell shaping and secondary control.

As Dylan left McGonagall's office in the evening, planning to grab a quick meal and review what he'd learned, he stumbled upon an empty classroom with nothing but a large standing mirror inside.

"Huh?" Dylan paused.

The classroom door wasn't fully open, just slightly ajar, but he could see the mirror clearly as he passed by.

He stopped in his tracks.

"Is this the abandoned classroom Harry mentioned?"

He peeked inside. It certainly looked like it.

"Is this classroom always so obvious?"

Dylan raised an eyebrow.

"Hmm… Dumbledore must have set this up after returning the Invisibility Cloak to Harry."

He had refused to join Harry the previous night, but now that he'd stumbled upon it…

Dylan glanced around. Harry wasn't there, and neither was Dumbledore.

After hesitating for a moment, Dylan slipped into the classroom and gently closed the door behind him.

"Let's see what this mirror shows. Maybe I'll unlock some kind of achievement."

He walked around the mirror three times, wand in hand, sensing no other presence or surveillance.

Feeling slightly reassured, he stepped in front of the mirror and read the inscription at the top.

When reversed, it read: "I show not your face but your heart's desire."

Dylan stared into the mirror.

The surface seemed to shimmer with a faint mist, but as his reflection fully appeared, the mist began to clear, revealing a vivid scene.

It was a spring afternoon.

Dylan and his parents had moved out of their cramped, narrow home and into a spacious villa. He no longer slept in a tiny basement but woke up in a large bed, bathed in the warm morning sunlight. He stepped into the backyard, where his parents were arranging a feast on a long garden table. Two small figures—a brother and sister—were running around the lawn, laughing and playing… and whacking gnomes.

Dylan blinked.

"Wait, are my parents really planning to give me a sister? Or… do I actually want a sister?"

Suddenly, the image in the mirror shifted.

A large group of people passed by their garden. Dylan and his parents welcomed them inside.

Hermione was holding a thick book on magical plants, pointing out the various species growing around them.

Harry and Ron were playing with Dylan's siblings, chasing gnomes.

Neville, Seamus, George…

Dylan even saw Professors Snape, McGonagall, and Flitwick.

Snape's expression was as stern as ever, but when Dylan's parents greeted him, he offered a faint, polite smile.

"A garden party, huh?" Dylan chuckled.

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