Chương 62: ITW,H - Chapter 62 - The Mirror of Erised

(Word Count: 1, 551) Entering into the last chamber, Harry sighed in relief at seeing no one was there. He knew it would be, because he had already taken care of Quirrell, but all of his talks with Dumbledore and the others about how something may happen got into his head and he was halfway expecting something to show up. There was nothing and no one in the chamber except for him and the Mirror of Erised. When he crossed the threshold into the room, he received a notification of a quest completion.

[Fate Quest: Through the Trapdoor! You've brought your friends along and made it through the obstacles as intended. Good job! Reward: +1 Skill Point] Harry dismissed the notice, put his wand away, and walked to the mirror. He knew what he wanted already, so he wasn't surprised to find it reflected in the mirror. In the mirror, he saw himself. Not as he was, but as a god. He had his own magical realm.

It looked similar to the lake and mountain range he had built in his subconscious, without the locations on the tops of the peaks. Or rather, he shaped his mindscape after this dream. In the center was the seat of his power, a large majestic castle within which held a library containing all the knowledge in the world. Not that all of this was actually shown in the mirror. No, he just knew they were there. In the mirror, he was sitting within the castle and he was surrounded by his family.

Since he was a god with his own realm, the souls of his loved ones came to him instead. Ever since he had gotten his system, he had wanted to ascend to godhood. He would be a pretty poor transmigrator and system user if he didn't. Then, when he was visited by the three gods of Fate, Magic, and Death, it only strengthened that desire. Wait a second.' Okay, this is embarrassing,' Inside the mirror, mirror-Harry was surrounded by women. Dora was hugging him on one side, and an older Hermione was hugging the other.

Ginny, Luna, Fleur, and pretty much every woman in canon was there—Thank Merlin Mrs. Weasley wasn't among them! —looking at mirror-Harry lovingly. There was nothing indecent happening and everyone was clothed, but it was obvious that everyone there was one of his lovers.

They switched between looking at mirror-Harry in adoration to looking at him through the mirror in amusement. His parents in the back looked like they were caught between being proud, exasperated, and angry. His mom looked at him through the mirror and shook her fist at him as if to say, "Don't you even think about it, Harry James Potter!" Mirror-James discreetly gave him a thumbs up out of Lily's sight. Sirius next to them looked jealous.' Mother Magic,' Harry thought, hiding his face with his hands.'

Am I really such a scumbag? I'm sorry, mom!' Sure, he was a transmigrator, so naturally all of the isekai harem stories he's read about them came to mind. He never really planned on acting on them! He blamed Sirius. And Arcturus. Having a playboy godfather and a grandfather talking about getting a second wife to keep the two houses separate did not do him any favors.' Even if I do marry more than one woman, I definitely don't want that many wives! There's like thirty of them!... I don't, do I? Hmmm… No no no!

What am I thinking? I'm not some ancient emperor with dozens of concubines!' Harry wanted to die from embarrassment. He looked at the mirror again, and mirror-Harry gave him a grin and raised a hand to him, revealing the Philosopher's Stone. He placed the stone into his pocket, and suddenly Harry could feel the stone appear in his actual pocket. Reading on Amazon or a pirate site? This novel is from Royal Road. Support the author by reading it there.

Harry reached into his pocket and pulled it out, eager to take his mind off of what he had just seen. The Philosopher's Stone was like a large uncut ruby. It was blood red. Unlike what he was expecting, Harry didn't seem to feel any sort of magic from it. It didn't feel like some supremely powerful artifact. He would have assumed that this was a fake if it weren't for the perk that popped up when he held it.

[The Philosopher's Stone: With it you can bend any of the restrictions in Transfiguration, (such as Gamp's Law) and Alchemy (such as equivalent exchange). With it, you can brew the Elixir of Life.] It was the real thing. So why couldn't he feel anything from it? Curiously, he tried channeling some magic through it. Suddenly, the stone seemed to explode in magical power. This wasn't just his own power, as how a wand would react, no. It seemed as though the stone itself was also its own source of magic.

Channeling his own magic seemed to awaken the stone's own.' How is this possible?' Harry thought.' Is this some sort of crystallized mass of blood from a magical creature? Hmm… it said I can use it for transfiguration as well. I wonder if I can…'

"Incredible, is it not?" Just as he was about to try and transfigure something as a test, Dumbledore's voice sounded right behind him. Harry startled, cutting off his magic. The stone quieted back down to its inert state. He looked at Dumbledore grumpily, who had an amused smile as he looked down at him. He extended a hand, asking for the stone.

"Yeah. It is. Do you have any clues towards what this is made out of?" Harry said, handing over the stone. Dumbledore tucked it into his robes and stroked his beard thoughtfully, "Unfortunately not. There is a process in alchemy called Congelation, where a wizard can crystallize the essence of something. I'm sure this was used in the creation of the stone, but as to what was crystallized, I cannot say." Harry just hummed thoughtfully. Dumbledore continued.

"I must say, I'm glad you were able to retrieve it from the mirror. Had you not been able to, you would not have been allowed to study it." Harry perked up, "You got a letter back to you! He allowed it?" Dumbledore nodded.

"Yes, on the condition that you could retrieve it." Harry grinned.

"I guess just wanting to study it for a bit doesn't count as wanting to use it, huh?"' I don't really care about creating gold. I'm filthy rich already. And I'm sure with the system, I could get even better ways to gain immortality. I mean, a Death quest from first year already gives me a vial of the elixir of life. What else could I get?'

"I suppose it didn't. For the next week, until you board the train to go home, you may study it. Though it will have to be supervised. I will hold onto the stone for safe keeping, and you can come to my office in the mornings," Dumbledore said.

"I can't hang onto it? I can keep it in my trunk so no one knows," Harry said, bringing out his trunk necklace.

"I'm afraid not, Harry. This is too sensitive to allow out of sight," Dumbledore said.

"Hmph."

' Well, this is better than nothing. Hopefully it'll be enough to count towards the Magic Quest.' Dumbledore casually looked around the room.

"I see our guest hasn't made an appearance? Are you sure you got the day right?"

"I'm positive," Harry nodded.

"I think I've managed to successfully chase him away for good. I don't think he was able to make it back into the castle after he left."

"Hmmm… perhaps prophecy isn't as set in stone as we believe," Dumbledore stroked his beard again, looking a bit troubled.

"Harry… If I may ask, why did you allow young Weasley to sacrifice himself in such a way? Did you not want to change that?"

"Of course I did!" Harry said angrily, "But I couldn't see how I could change the outcome of a chess match. I know how to play, but I'm no good at it. I couldn't just tell Ron about it either, because what if he played too defensively and we couldn't get past? I did try to play more wizard's chess with him, and try to urge him to play more against others, but as you saw, the outcome was the same." Though Harry couldn't help but feel more than a bit guilty.

Afterall, he didn't strictly need to make it all the way through. Quirrell was gone, and he was only doing this for a skill point. And… he could have definitely tried a bit harder to get Ron to play more chess before this happened. He probably didn't try so hard because he knew Ron would be fine.

"I see," Dumbledore sighed.

"You did everything you could."' Yep… definitely.' Harry sighed.' I'll just have to try to make it up to him.'

"I don't think Ron will see it that way."

"I'm sure Weasley will come around if he hears your side of the story… eventually." Harry began walking back out of the room, passing Dumbledore just as he asked.

"By the way, just out of an old man's curiosity, what did you see in the mirror?" Harry flushed.

"Nothing! Just my family."' A very large family.'