#166 - Dark Mirror Vision

Hogwarts Castle extinguishes all the candles in the corridors after ten o'clock every night.

So when Harry and Moon came out, the castle was still very dim.

However, with Mrs. Norris leading the way, they didn't have to worry about getting lost at all.

But also because of Harry's presence, Moon had to cast two [Fur Smoothing] spells on Mrs. Norris as a reward.

"I remember I don't seem to have come back this way."

Following Mrs. Norris halfway, Harry looked at the walls on both sides of the castle with some doubt.

"Are you sure?"

Moon also stopped and looked back at Harry.

"I...

Harry was still hesitating to observe, and Mrs. Norris in front had already called out impatiently.

"Meow ~" (This is a shortcut ~)

"Okay, it seems that this little castle administrator already knows where you want to go, hurry up and follow."

"But...

Harry's doubts didn't last for three minutes before Mrs. Norris stopped next to a suit of armor in the corridor.

Moon was about to observe the surrounding abandoned classrooms when Harry exclaimed from behind.

"Oh, I remember it! It's here."

Harry pointed to the silver-gray armor and immediately walked into the abandoned classroom next to it.

Moon thanked Mrs. Norris before hurriedly following.

The area of this abandoned classroom is not large, but because there is no light at all, it appears relatively dim. There are three windows, one large and two small, and through the moonlight shining in from outside, one can still vaguely see some blurred scenes.

After Moon came in, he saw a three-meter-high mirror appearing against the wall of the classroom.

The mirror surface is oval, wrapped in a black wooden frame.

"Look! It's it."

After discovering the target, Harry immediately ran to the mirror.

After waiting for a while, he pointed excitedly at the mirror and looked at Moon next to him.

"Look, these are my parents, and many relatives around!"

Moon had actually been staring at the mirror from the side.

However, he had not walked to the front of the mirror, but was carefully observing this magical thing.

A line of text was engraved on the base of the mirror.

Through the moonlight, one could vaguely see that it was written "Erisedstraehruoytubecafruoyton wohsi".

Moon didn't recognize the meaning of this sentence at once, but he vaguely felt that this mirror seemed to be unusual.

Because he only saw Harry's shadow in the mirror, and not the parents and a large group of people he said.

While Harry was focused on looking at the mirror, Moon quietly took out his monocle from his pocket.

Through the glasses, Moon could see that the long mirror emitted a faint white light.

Moreover, these rays of light also had some tentacles that were constantly extending towards Harry, as if trying to pull this little wizard into the mirror.

Because the scene he saw was relatively strange, Moon suddenly took off his monocle, but found nothing.

"Harry, I don't think you should look for too long."

Moon discovered through the monocle that those white tentacles were still slowly approaching.

However, Harry's expression was very focused at this time, and he didn't hear what Moon was saying at all.

Just as Moon was about to approach and pull Harry away.

This little wizard actually reached out and stroked the mirror surface, muttering "Mom" "Mom" in his mouth.

It was after Harry finished shouting that Moon's hand touched his shoulder, and then the little wizard reacted.

"Oh, Moon, come and take a look too, I can feel that they are all my relatives."

After Harry noticed Moon's hand, he pulled him over.

Caught off guard, Moon stood in front of the mirror.

Then he saw that in the mirror, the silvery moonlight that was originally there suddenly disappeared, and then the entire mirror turned into a pitch-black color like ink.

These colors were still slowly becoming more intense, and then gradually formed a vortex.

All the scenes in the mirror were constantly being sucked in.

Finally, when the vortex rotated and disappeared rapidly, the scene in the mirror changed again.

"What did you see? Did you see my parents?"

Harry's words rang in his ears, letting Moon know that he had not entered another world.

However, the scene in the mirror still shocked Moon greatly.

In the mirror, Moon first saw himself standing alone on a ruin.

Next to him was a huge plant. Through its appearance, Moon could judge that this should be a large willow tree, but the willow tree did not have any vibrant appearance. The whole body was black, more like a terrifying ghost willow.

And in the mid-air not far away, there was a black horse that was so thin that it only had a skeleton.

This horse had two bat-like wings growing on its body, and it was trying to fly towards the moon in the sky.

Crimson Moon!

This should be the thing that Moon is most familiar with.

Moon once guessed that he came to Hogwarts precisely because of the appearance of the Crimson Moon.

However, the Crimson Moon in the mirror has a different appearance.

Huge cracks appeared on the Crimson Moon, and black substances were constantly涌现 from these cracks.

"What did you see? Why don't you say a word?"

Harry's voice rang again, Moon suddenly came back to his senses, and then quickly left the area in front of the mirror.

At the same time, Moon and Harry both heard a sound of kicking something in the corner of the classroom.

"Who? Who's there?"

Harry took out his wand first and used a [Luminescent Flash] to walk over slowly.

Moon looked back at the mirror with lingering fear, and after finding that there were no strange scenes on it,

He breathed a sigh of relief.

"Luminescent Flash"

Moon also took out his familiar old willow wand and cast a [Luminescent Charm] to walk towards Harry.

"Is there anyone? Did you find anything?"

"I didn't see anyone's shadow, but there's a big footprint on the ground."

After hearing Harry's words, Moon walked over and pointed his wand at the footprint on the ground.

This should have been left by a soft shoe, because there were no embossed prints on the footprint.

"Would anyone wear slippers here?"

Harry asked curiously.

"I don't know, but it should be a very tall adult wizard."

Based on a footprint alone, the two little wizards couldn't guess who it was at all.

The only conclusion they could draw was that it definitely didn't belong to Professor Flitwick.

When Moon and Harry were guessing who the owner of the footprint was, Mrs. Norris, who was guarding the door, suddenly called out.

"Meow ~" (It's time to leave ~)

After Moon heard it, he pulled Harry out of this strange abandoned classroom.

Mrs. Norris was very conscientious, and she led the little wizards to the door of the Gryffindor common room again.

After Moon cast a [Fur Smoothing] spell on it, the kitten left satisfied.

"I think I have to call you for night tours of the castle in the future."

After seeing Mrs. Norris' performance tonight, Harry looked at Moon with some envy.

"It's best not to, it will embarrass Mrs. Norris, after all, her real owner is Filch."

", okay, Pig Snout."

After saying the password set by the Fat Lady, the two little wizards had just stepped into the common room when they heard Hermione's voice.

"Are you two wandering around the castle at night again? That's against the rules!"

Seeing Hermione appear so early really startled Harry and Moon.

After all, it wasn't even close to wake-up time yet, and most of the young wizards were still fast asleep.

"Okay, we went out for a stroll, but didn't you do that once too?"

Harry knew that Hermione cared a lot about the rules, so he simply admitted it directly without hiding anything.

"I knew it. So what exactly did you guys go to do? You wouldn't be wandering around the castle for no reason, would you? Don't tell me you went to duel Malfoy again?"

Hermione guessed with a frown.

"Not at all. Since Malfoy was taught a lesson by Moon, he hasn't requested a duel again," Harry said, looking around to make sure no one else was there, but he still lowered his voice cautiously.

"We found a magical mirror in an abandoned classroom. In it, I can see my parents and relatives."

When Harry spoke, his face was filled with a happy smile.

But as soon as he finished speaking, he immediately looked at Moon.

"Right, what did you see just now? Was it my family too?"

Moon shook his head.

Then he noticed the curious gazes of the two young wizards opposite him.

"I saw a moon, a strange willow tree, and a winged, skinny black horse."

"A winged, skinny black horse? That's a Thestral! You can actually see it."

After listening to Moon, Hermione revealed a surprised expression.

Having already finished reading all of "Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them", Hermione was very clear that this kind of uniquely-looking horse was a magical creature that very few people could see.

"Wait here for a moment, I'll be right back."

Hermione said, hurrying up the stairs, afraid of disturbing others' rest.

Moon and Harry also came to the sofa by the fireplace.

Harry was still curious as to why Moon saw a different scene than he did.

"I think that should be a magical mirror. What everyone sees should be different."

Moon had just finished explaining when Hermione came out carrying a very large book.

"Take a look, is this what you saw in the mirror just now?"

After Hermione opened the book, she pointed to a strange black horse with wings.

However, before Moon could speak, Harry curiously spoke up from the side.

"There's nothing on the page?"

Hermione didn't rush to answer, but instead stared intently at Moon.

After noticing the little witch's gaze, Moon nodded heavily.

"I knew it. What Moon saw must be a Thestral. The book says that this is a magical animal that can only be seen by people who have experienced or witnessed death. Ordinary people can't see it at all, not even if it's drawn."

After Hermione said this, Moon noticed that the two young wizards' gazes towards him became even more curious.

Moon didn't know if Hermione's explanation was correct, but he was very sure that he had witnessed death many times.

Not to mention [Night Owl], Moon had seen the corpses of many pirates blown apart by gunpowder when he was exterminating pirates at sea.

"I think the things in the mirror aren't necessarily real, are they?"

Moon didn't know how to explain, because he knew that this world where Hogwarts was located was actually relatively peaceful, and the young wizards rarely saw war, and rarely saw dead people.

"Leaving aside the things in the mirror, you saw this horse in the book, didn't you? Tell me what it looks like?"

Hermione had long known that Moon must have some secrets, but she wasn't in a hurry to explore them.

What she was more interested in now was what the content of the book was.

Although she had already finished reading the entire book, she didn't know what this picture was, which made Hermione feel very uneasy.

Harry didn't understand Hermione's strange thought process, but he was indeed very curious about what a Thestral looked like.

"It's taller and thinner than a normal horse, with almost no muscles, bat-like wings, and a dragon-like face..."

,

Moon described the appearance of the Thestral in the book as detailed as possible, and the two young wizards listened very carefully.

"Okay, this book can be added to my completed reading series."

After Moon finished describing it, Hermione happily closed the book, and then looked at Harry and Moon again.

"Now tell me about that mirror, okay? I'm also very curious."

Under Hermione's urging, Harry re-described the appearance of the mirror.

However, what he remembered most deeply were the relatives in the mirror, while Moon wrote down the words under the mirror.

"I haven't seen it either, but it must be a rare magical creation, otherwise there would definitely be an introduction in the book."

Hearing that Hermione didn't know either, Harry's interest decreased a lot.

"Okay, if you can find the answer, remember to tell me. Now I'm going back to sleep."

The time now was 5:30 in the morning, and Harry, who had been wandering all night, was already very sleepy.

After Harry left, Moon looked at Hermione curiously.

Because this time was when Moon usually got up to study every morning, but Hermione had unexpectedly gotten up so early today.

"Don't look at me, I just feel like I've wasted too much time in the past, and I can't continue like this."

Hermione clipped the words on the Mirror of Erised that Moon had written down into the book, and then started flipping through another large tome.

This little witch was actually stimulated by Moon.

She originally thought that she could do it as long as she read enough books, after all, this was her talent.

But after knowing that Moon would get up to study every morning, and had also mastered special memory magic, Hermione felt a considerable sense of crisis.

She knew that she had to work harder, otherwise she might be left far behind.

Although Moon didn't understand, he didn't say anything.

He returned to his dormitory and took out "The Secrets of Charms: Methods of Charm Modification" to begin studying.

Regarding charm modification, Moon had actually been studying it all along.

He had now completely disassembled all three growth charms.

Although he didn't have any ideas on how to modify them next, Moon had a deeper understanding of the basic structure of charms.

At the same time, regarding charm construction, Moon had already densely written five three-inch notebooks.

This knowledge still needed to be sorted and digested, but after Moon obtained the magic of another world, he knew that he was still lacking something.

[Mirror Light Reverse Tide]

This magic was very similar to the ancient magic of the current world that Moon knew.

Both required very complex gestures and incantations.

And if Moon wanted to modify this spell, he had to figure out the meaning represented by those gestures.

This was also the kind of knowledge that Moon lacked in terms of charms.

"Perhaps I can go to the library to see if there are similar books, and I can also consolidate the basics of charms."

It was also when Moon and Hermione were studying quietly that a faint candlelight lit up in the Hogwarts headmaster's office.