Chapter 258: Christmas Eve

"Huh?"

"Heh, I never thought I'd hear that name again before I died."

Nicolas Flamel spoke in a frail voice. "Actually, the last person to discover the Mirror of Erised...was me."

"That was more than five hundred years ago. I was already approaching the end of my life, and I wanted to spend my final years travelling the world. During those years, I visited countless places, and by chance, I arrived at Hogwarts."

"Many people believe I was able to create the Philosopher's Stone because an angel appeared to me in a dream and gifted me a book—The Book of Abraham the Jew. But the truth is...that's not exactly how it happened."

"After years of travelling, I became more and more reluctant to leave this world. Driven by the desire to find a way to achieve immortality, I accidentally stumbled into the Room of Requirement...and found the Mirror of Erised."

"When I stood in front of it, I saw myself and Perenelle—my wife—happily enjoying a long life together. I saw myself crafting an alchemical artifact that could grant eternal life."

"So...I secretly brought it home."

Nicolas fell into a long silence, immersed in memory.

"You all know, of course, that what the Mirror of Erised shows is nothing more than the deepest desire in one's heart—illusory, unreal. But the very next day after I brought it home...I found a red stone inside the mirror."

"The very one that would become the Philosopher's Stone."

This revelation left not only Edward and Audrey, but even Dumbledore himself visibly stunned—it was clearly the first time he'd heard this.

"Of course, at that time, the stone was just a prototype. It couldn't yet grant immortality, but it gave me a direction. After more than two years of tireless research, the Philosopher's Stone was finally born."

"Once I extended my life, I had more time to think about other things...like where exactly that red stone came from. Did it really come from the mirror? And where did the Mirror of Erised itself originate?"

"So I returned to Hogwarts to investigate...and eventually determined that the mirror had been secretly left behind by Salazar Slytherin himself, after he broke ties with the other founders and left the school."

Edward and Audrey exchanged a glance. It all made sense now—the secret Slytherin left behind was about the existence and location of a god. And the Mirror of Erised...was very likely the entrance to that so-called god's domain!

"He seemed to fear the mirror deeply. He even used the castle's magical array to seal it away, turning it into an ordinary mirror."

"After learning this, I felt deeply uneasy. Just think—something that even the great Slytherin feared so much that he had to seal it...could only mean serious trouble. My first thought was to destroy the Philosopher's Stone, but...I couldn't bring myself to do it. Please forgive an old man who had just gained immortality—his greed for life."

He chuckled at himself, then continued, "But I did return the Mirror of Erised to the Room of Requirement and strengthened the seal...until Albus rediscovered it a little over a decade ago."

At that moment, a thought occurred to Edward, and he asked, "Mr. Flamel, by your account—does taking the Mirror of Erised out of Hogwarts mean breaking its seal?"

The old man nodded slightly. "That's correct."

Then something was off.

If that was the case, why hadn't Barty Jr. tried to steal the mirror outright? That would've been far more straightforward than everything else he'd done.

After all, everyone believed his target was the Philosopher's Stone—not a mirror.

Was it because Voldemort was hiding inside Harry?

But even then, he could have kidnapped Harry and taken him out of Hogwarts.

There were simpler, safer, more effective ways—so why choose the harder route?

Something wasn't right.

Just as that thought struck him, Edward suddenly froze—he realised that, because he didn't know when his past self might emerge from the mirror, he'd been carrying it around with him for the past few days...That could be incredibly dangerous.

At that moment, Flamel began coughing violently. Dumbledore quickly handed him a glass of water. "Take a rest, Nicolas."

"Thank you."

The elderly man cradled the cup in his trembling hands and took a small sip. "That's all I know about the Mirror of Erised. After returning it to Hogwarts, I tried to follow the traces Slytherin left behind to learn more. Unfortunately, I found nothing. After placing the mirror back, it was as if Slytherin vanished into thin air."

"All right, old friend," Dumbledore said gently. "I'll take you to rest now. Once Harry returns, I'll be needing your help to check on him."

"No problem," Nicolas sighed. "In the end, both the Philosopher's Stone and the Mirror of Erised began with me...It's only right that I see this through."

A few minutes later, after settling Nicolas Flamel in, Dumbledore returned to the office.

"What are your thoughts?" he asked.

Audrey spoke up first, "Could it be that Slytherin didn't disappear—but entered the world inside the Mirror of Erised?"

The others nodded in agreement.

"But if he was so afraid of the mirror, why would he go in?" she added.

Grindelwald glanced at Edward and chuckled. "Isn't it possible that he was forced to go in?"

Audrey narrowed her eyes. "Mr. Grindelwald, are you implying something else with that statement?"

Grindelwald: "...…"

This girl's instincts were far too sharp.

Edward quickly cut in, "Based on the information we have now, we can be fairly certain that the Mirror of Erised is the entrance to that so-called god's domain. The remaining question is whether there really is a god inside. And if there is, what kind of existence it is—and what power it holds."

Grindelwald stroked his chin. "Why don't we go in and take a look ourselves? If Voldemort dared to enter, why should we be afraid?"

Dumbledore pondered for a moment, then said, "That's a last resort. Let's wait a little longer."

Edward and Grindelwald immediately understood what he meant—they were waiting for the past version of Edward to return from within the mirror. He might bring back valuable information about what lay beyond.

Even Audrey, though not a Seer, could tell the three men had reached a silent understanding. She puffed her cheeks and lightly punched Edward on the arm.

———

Morning of December 24th.

Edward and Audrey visited St. Mungo's Hospital again—this time, Neville was with them.

As soon as he saw them, Neville ran over excitedly, blurting out a stream of gratitude. Over the past few days of the holiday, he had spent most of his time at his parents' bedside.

Compared to before, his parents were clearly doing better. They could recognise him now. His mother, Alice, could even utter a few words—she was trying to talk to him.

Lady Longbottom took the opportunity to invite Edward and Audrey to spend Christmas Eve with them, but they had already promised Sirius, so they had to politely decline.

Afterwards, Audrey spent more than two hours performing treatment on the Longbottom couple. Unfortunately, they were still stuck at the final, critical stage—the so-called "Messenger."

Regrettably, they hadn't learned much from Luna last time either—she had only seen the Wrackspurt once, on the day her mother died.

Still, comparing two seemingly unrelated cases allowed them to make a tentative guess: the appearance of the Wrackspurt seemed to be associated with death—or being close to death.

But during the "Defence of Hogwarts" on the 20th, many people and goblins had died, and yet there was no sign of the Wrackspurt at the scene.

So the matter remained at an impasse.

———

By evening...

Edward and Audrey, along with Lilith and Susie, arrived at Number 12 Grimmauld Place in northwest London.

However, for most people—Muggles and wizards alike—this place didn't exist. When one arrived, all they would see were Number 11 and Number 13.

But once granted access, all it took was standing between 11 and 13 and silently thinking "Number 12 Grimmauld Place" for a shabby, worn-down door to suddenly materialise between the two buildings—as if an extra house had inflated from thin air, forcing the others to squeeze aside to make room.

"Hi~ Welcome!"

Sirius stood at the doorway with the three kids, arms wide open, beaming with enthusiasm.

"Good afternoon, Sirius. And hello, Harry, Ron, Hermione."

"Good afternoon, Edward, Audrey~"

After exchanging greetings, the two adults, one cat, and one dog followed the group into the ancestral home of the Blacks.

Thanks to what was clearly a thorough pre-cleaning effort, the house no longer resembled the filthy, dark space described in the original book. The wallpaper and carpets looked freshly replaced, everything had been cleaned with magic, and instead of the musty odour of long abandonment, a faint pleasant fragrance lingered in the air.

Still, the wall leading to the staircase was draped in an enormous sheet that clashed awkwardly with the otherwise refreshed surroundings. Edward knew what was behind it—the portrait of Sirius's "dearest mother." The sheet was meant to keep her from being woken, because once she was, she would begin screaming in the most bloodcurdling voice imaginable, cursing everyone around her and trying to rouse the other portraits to join in.

Unfortunately, just before her death, Sirius's mother had placed a Permanent Sticking Charm on the painting. No matter how much Sirius despised it, he couldn't remove it.

Edward had always thought, back when reading the original book, that if he were Sirius, he would've just torn down the whole wall.

"What are those…?" Audrey suddenly recoiled in shock, pointing to the grotesque row of house-elf heads mounted beside the stairs.

"Sorry," Sirius said grimly, clearly disgusted. "Those are the heads of the house-elves who served the Black family all their lives. Pure-blood families often keep that revolting tradition, thinking it somehow proves their noble lineage."

"I wanted to take them down, but that mutt Kreacher went absolutely mad. I was worried he'd smear filth all over the house we worked so hard to clean, so I had to let it go."

He shrugged. "Oh, Kreacher's another house-elf. He thinks getting his head mounted here after death is some kind of great honour."

Ron muttered under his breath, "You really don't want to meet that nutjob, Audrey."

Hermione instantly took offence. "Kreacher's not crazy."

"Then what is he? His life goal is to be like his mother—decapitate himself and stick his head on a plaque. If that's not crazy, what is?"

"He…he's just been brainwashed for generations!"

"Oh, great, a brainwashed lunatic. Still a lunatic, isn't he?"

"You—!"

Harry, used to their bickering, simply turned to Edward and Audrey with a helpless shrug, as if to say, Yeah, this is normal.

Soon, the group reached the dining room, which had been carefully and festively decorated.

Small decorative lights sparkled everywhere, and a towering Christmas tree almost touched the ceiling, adorned with glittering ornaments and surrounded by neatly stacked gifts. On the table sat a massive roast turkey and a spread of other delicious dishes.

"These were all ordered from top-tier Muggle restaurants. They should taste great," Sirius said, clapping his hands. "Now, even though it's not quite dinner time yet, I'd like to welcome everyone to tonight's feast. Thank you all for coming!"

Everyone clapped in response.

At that moment, a very old, bloodshot-eyed house-elf shuffled into the room, wearing nothing but a grimy rag tied around his waist.

He looked utterly worn out. After a brief glance at Audrey and Edward, he muttered under his breath, "More filthy strangers…"

Then he plopped down under the Christmas tree and spaced out. Every once in a while, he would suddenly slam his head into the wall or burst into pitiful sobs.

This behaviour was a little different from what Edward remembered—most likely because Dumbledore had already taken the locket that once belonged to Regulus.

Sirius quickly lost patience. "Kreacher, get out of my sight—now!"

The elf stood with agonising slowness and began shuffling off, muttering as he went, "Oh, my poor mistress…if she knew what kind of filth they were letting into her house…what would she say to poor old Kreacher…such disgrace…what can he do…"

Once Kreacher was gone, Sirius took a deep breath and forced a smile back onto his face. "Sorry about that. That mutt picked up every single one of my pure-blood-obsessed mother's horrible habits. He's just a house-elf, yet he looks down on everyone."

Naturally, Edward and Audrey chose not to comment on that.

"Well then, please, everyone, have a seat."

There were six people in total, yet Sirius had set the table for eight. Harry and the others had thought someone else might be joining, but Sirius seriously invited Lilith and Susie to each take a seat.

Lilith immediately warmed to him—Miss Lilith approved. Susie, meanwhile, was surprised. This was her first time ever being invited to dine at a table.

"Edward, Audrey," Sirius said, producing two gift boxes—one large, one small. "These are for you—Christmas presents. I asked Professor Dumbledore for suggestions. I hope you like them."

Inside Edward's box was a small knife, and inside Audrey's was a travel case.

"The knife's an old find from Knockturn Alley. I heard you've been collecting things like this. The suitcase—I got it through Dumbledore, from Newt Scamander himself."

"Thank you," they both said sincerely.

Then Sirius handed out two more gift boxes to Lilith and Susie. Each contained a miniature wand.

"I heard you two are learning magic. These are the smallest wands I could find. Maybe they'll be useful to you."

Lilith accepted hers gleefully, while Susie blinked in surprise but offered a grateful nod.

Harry and Ron were stunned. What?! Even cats and dogs can learn magic now? Is there any hope left for underachievers?

After that, Edward, Audrey, and the three kids exchanged gifts:

Even though Edward had claimed Harry's gift was "technically from Sirius," he still gave him a revolver along with 15 rounds each of purification and anti-demon bullets. Ron's wand had already been gifted earlier. Hermione received a thick magical tome.

The trio's gifts to Edward and Audrey were some chocolates and candies.

Edward then looked at Sirius. "Audrey and I have a gift for you as well…"

"No," Sirius cut in. "You already gave me the best gift—getting me out of Azkaban!"

Though they had heard the story from Sirius before, the three kids couldn't help but marvel again. So it was really Edward and Audrey who broke into Azkaban last time? That's insane!

"It's different," Edward said with a small smile. "And I believe you'll need this gift."

"Oh?" Sirius looked mildly surprised. He truly couldn't imagine what he might need—not because the Blacks were wealthy, but because, other than raising Harry well, he honestly had no other desires.

"It's related to your brother, Regulus."

———

[Note]: Don't forget to VOTE. It keeps me motivated.