"Yeah. Let me tell you about our night," Harry said, and he regaled the fourth member of their group about their little adventure, all the way up to the point they found the three-headed dog.
"Well… yikes," Neville muttered. "And now there's a new mystery afoot."
"Hopefully we'll know what the deal is with that Nicholas Flamel guy soon," Harry said, before a yawn burst out of him. He clapped a hand over his mouth, flushing red with embarrassment, and Ron sniggered at him, until a yawn escaped the red-head.
"We should probably get to bed," Hermione said, trying to hold back a yawn of her own. It was futile, however, and she also blushed red as she let out a jaw-cracking yawn.
After that, the students snuck back to their dorms, ready to go to sleep. As they settled down, though, Harry couldn't help but find that his mind was racing.
'What is going on in this school?' he couldn't help but wonder as he stared at the ceiling of his bed.
The next morning came far too quickly for Harry, and he desperately wanted to sleep in. It was the weekend, after all.
But, despite all the protests of his body, he sat up and got out of bed and ready for the day. The group had agreed to meet up at breakfast to discuss the events of last night with Hannah and Susan, as well as wait for Edward's response via Hedwig.
"Why does the sun hate us?" Ron grumbled as he staggered out of bed.
"I wish I was a plant," Neville said with a sigh, running a hand through his messy bed-head. "Then the sun would actually serve a purpose."
Harry only managed a nod in response as he yawned loudly, jaw cracking with the effort. Glancing around, the Boy-Who-Lived noticed that the other boys, Dean and Seamus, had already gotten up.
'I should find a way to do some homework or something with the other Gryffindors,' Harry mused. He liked his friend group, but he couldn't help but feel worry that Dean and Seamus might feel left out. He knew they hung out with some of the other First Years from Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw, but there was no reason not to invite them to a study group or something.
As he was thinking about this idea as he walked downstairs with Ron and Neville, he almost missed the curious looks Fred and George were giving him from their spot in a corner of the room. Why? Did they perhaps notice the group come in late last night? He didn't get an answer, as a couple seconds later, Hermione appeared.
"Good morning!" Hermione said cheerfully as she bounced down the stairs to greet her friends in the Common Room.
"You're too peppy this early in the morning, Hermione," Ron said with a slight groan. "Could you please turn it down a bit?"
"Oh, sorry," Hermione apologized, looking down at the ground, embarrassed.
"It's nothing to be ashamed of," Harry assured her. "But you're a morning person, and we… are not."
"Let's get breakfast," Ron suggested. "That's the only good thing mornings have going for them."
Hermione rolled her eyes at Ron's comment, but nodded all the same, and the quartet of friends exited the dorm and headed down to the Great Hall to meet up with the final two members of their group.
The two Hufflepuffs had bags around their eyes, while Hannah looked like she was about to use her omelet as a pillow.
"You two don't look good," Harry noted, before wincing at his choice of words. He hastily continued, "Everything alright?"
"Yeah, yeah, just… didn't get a lot of sleep last night," Hannah whined, Susan nodding in agreement.
"Sorry," Harry said.
"We appreciate the help you gave us, running distractions against Filch with Neville," Hermione assured the pair. Hannah and Susan shared a look with each other
"Actually," Susan began, before going quiet. She looked around before leaning in. "We found something last night while hiding from Filch."
"What did you find?" Harry asked, intrigued. What could have caused the two of them to lose sleep?
"We found this mirror," Hannah began, before yawning loudly.
"We a found a mirror that was in an unused classroom on the First Floor," Susan said, picking up from where her friend had left off. "It was… odd. Very odd."
"Odd how?" Hermione asked.
"When we looked into it, we saw things…" Susan said softly, looking down at her plate.
"Took us a while to figure out it wasn't showing the future or past or anything like that, but merely your 'heart's desire,'" Hannah said with an embarrassed shake of her head. "Though given how it had the instructions written on the dang thing, I feel really silly for not figuring it out sooner."
"To be fair, the 'instructions' were written backwards," Susan pointed out.
"Yeah, yeah," Hannah huffed.
"So, we've got a magical stone that does stuff normal witches and wizards say is impossible, a three-headed dog hiding in the 3rdfloor corridor, and a magical mirror that only shows your heart's desires in an unused classroom on the 1st floor," Harry said. "How much do you want to bet all three things are connected somehow?"
"No bet," Hannah drawled, and Susan let out a giggle as she nodded along with Hermione.
"So, you think the Philosopher's Stone will be hidden in the room the dog is guarding?" Neville asked nervously.
"What else could it be doing in there?" Ron asked. "We should find somebody to talk to about this. See if anyone knows anything about three-headed dogs."
"Let me guess, we're going to ask Hagrid," Neville said.
"Who else do we know that's crazy about dangerous magical creatures?" Ron laughed, and the others joined in, though Harry couldn't help but note that Susan's laugh was hollow, compared to the rest.
After breakfast, as the group left the Great Hall, Harry tapped Susan on the shoulder and motioned with his head towards a corner where they could talk. Susan nodded her head nervously, and walked with Harry over to the spot he'd indicated.
"I think I know what you saw in the mirror," he told her, and Susan flinched.
"Yeah?" she asked uncertainly.
"It was your parents, wasn't it?" Harry guessed, and her eyes widened for a moment before she nodded.
"I thought so," Harry said quietly.
"How'd you know?" Susan asked him, and he gave her a sad smile.
"Because that's probably what I would see if I looked in the mirror, too," he admitted.
Susan blinked at the Boy-Who-Lived, before a look of realization crossed her face. Then, she frowned. "You're going to tell me not to try and find the mirror again, aren't you?"
"Yes," Harry nodded.
"You're just like Hannah," she grumbled, though there was fondness to it. She then gave him a searching look.
"Why would you ask that of me?" Susan demanded softly. "You say your greatest wish is to see your parents again, but you won't use the mirror as well? Worse, you're also telling me not to?"
"And that's exactly why I'm asking you not to go back to the mirror," Harry begged. "Please believe me, I want to go find it, just as badly as you do. I-I don't remember my parents at all. I don't even have any pictures of them! But I know that if I go to that mirror, I'd never want to leave it. It would become an obsession. For both of us. I don't want that to happen."
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