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Not far from the balcony, a large gilded mirror can be found on the fourth-floor corridor. Once upon a time, the mirror hid a secret passageway that would take anyone to Hogsmeade undetected at any time. Unfortunately, there was a cave in mid-way that made the passage end up not leading anywhere. Nevertheless, if you're in a pickle and can get the mirror off the wall and back again, you would at least have a neat hiding place.
Most people just try using the mirror to check on their appearance throughout the day. Oddly enough, however, the mirror doesn't show ones reflection. Always being shown in the mirror is a scene of handsome chandeliers, elegant landscape oil paintings, and golden draperies, which is not at all what the wall of the corridor behind you looks like. This is, of course, one of Hogwarts' many mysteries. The location of the room that the mirror is showing is unknown to everyone today. But every now and then, a dark figure can be spotted in the background before disappearing again.
Mia was on her way to the library for the first time. She had things to do, people to meet, and books to check out - she was seeking information on famous Slytherins and needed to find out if people had tried to stage a mutiny against the house in the past. It was important work, and she had set aside this afternoon to make some decent progress.
On the way, she walked by a mirror, offering it just a passing glance - but did a double-take. What she had been sure was a normal mirror was not a mirror, it seemed. Not a proper one, at least. It seemed like it was maybe some kind of two-way mirror, maybe, not unlike the one she used to communicate with her family back home, but just on a larger scale. But was it two-ways? She approached the mirror with some hesitancy, attempting to look deep into it and see further left and right than it was allowing.
It didn't seem like there was anyone or anything in particular within the mirror. And even though it was giving her the creeps, she couldn't quite tear herself away from studying it. What if someone showed up on the other side of it?
Brandon was walking down the hallway on his way back from the balcony when he saw a girl looking in a mirror.
As far as Brandon knew, mirrors were ordinary tools to see if you had something on your face, or to look behind you without really looking behind you. Some of the magic ones were for talking to people, or getting fashion advice, and the worst of the worst ones were for putting people in. And excluding communication mirrors, mirrors were for passing by, glancing at, and moving past. Not to look at for too long.
But this girl was taking forever! There was no pasta-sauce on her face, or a big bruise, and her clothes seemed fine. What could possibly be taking her this long to look in a mirror?
He stepped towards her, and realized that she was 'entranced'. That worried him, and he frowned. "Are you okay?" Did she know that she'd been here for several whole minutes? Brandon was Concerned. He looked towards the mirror, wondering what was so interesting for her. "Whoa." It didn't even take a full second for him to understand that the mirror wasn't normal. It had a hidden place behind it, an empty... was that someone in the background? He froze, taking in every detail. "I don't like it." Not at all. It really was fascinating. And it wasn't right... that wasn't what a mirror should do. "Did you just see someone?"
Mia had experienced her fair share of magical items in her eleven years on the planet, but this was something else. She couldn't wrap her head around it - why was there a mirror like this, posted up in a random corridor, with... a place or something within it, through it, on the other side? In a school? A school that had a dark, messy, horrific history? Shouldn't they have, like, tried to keep the extra bizarre magical objects to a minimum?
Just as she was considering reaching out a finger to touch the glass, she jolted as a voice startled her, having been oblivious to his approach. She turned to see one of the boys from the sorting ceremony, one she knew to be a fellow first-year from their classes. Hufflepuff, though she didn't know his name.
"No," she replied to his checking in on her, her tone conspiratorial. "This mirror--"
She had looked back at the mirror as she began to explain, just in time to see the dark figure disappear from view. The blood coursing through her veins turned to ice.
There was curiosity, there was bravery, and then there was self-preservation. Mia opted for self-preservation and took several large steps backward, fumbling to feel for her wand in its holster. She knew spells, but she hadn't really cast any yet, and she suddenly felt very, very unprepared for the dangers of Hogwarts - it felt like every awful historical event she knew had taken place at Hogwarts came flooding to her consciousness. This was their first month here, they weren't prepared for Hogwarts-level disasters. Maybe her mum had been right to be wary of sending her here.
"There hadn't been anyone there a minute ago, not the whole time I'd been studying it." Unblinking, she took a long moment to force herself to swallow the lump in her throat, not taking her gaze off the mirror, "Do you think they saw us?" They - it - whatever had passed through in the background. Could it have even seen them?
So she wasn't okay? Brandon frowned, immediately worried. He tried his best to be closer than her to the mirror, just in case it wanted to suck one of them in. Or just in case she tried to touch it and he had to stop her. His idea was that the mirror was BAD and therefore he should be the closest. "What about the mirror?" he asked, hurting his eyes to see if the figure would come again. Was it sad? Was it angry? Was it numb? Was it... him seeing things? He didn't think so, but it wouldn't have been the first time he thought he saw something that had never been there. Come back, shadow figure! "I don't think it could see from there. I think we're the only people who can see in." Maybe it was like one of those mirror-prisons, but more comfortable. Maybe it was a spying mirror. Maybe it spied into the past- Brandon had never heard of a mirror that did that. So probably not. "What do you think this mirror is for?"
Mia noticed that the boy seemed to want to be between her and the mirror, and she wondered if he knew something about it or if he was just trying to keep her safe. If it was the latter, that was awfully nice of him, but she didn't know for sure. Either way, she was deciding that she was glad he came along. Whether he was right or not about only them being able to see in - and that anything inside the mirror couldn't see them - it made her feel better to hear him say so.
"Maybe," she nodded, some of the tension leaving her body. She still kept her hand over her wand still in its holster, just in case something happened. "I dunno," she admitted, but she could guess. "They probably put it here to spook impressionable first years, but I don't think it would be the first time something was put in this school that wasn't what it seemed." She couldn't name anything off the top of her head, but she was sure of it.
She looked at him then. "I'm Mia." In case he wanted to know, before the mirror unleashed some spooky magic and swallowed them whole.
Mia noticed that the boy seemed to want to be between her and the mirror, and she wondered if he knew something about it or if he was just trying to keep her safe. If it was the latter, that was awfully nice of him, but she didn't know for sure. Either way, she was deciding that she was glad he came along. Whether he was right or not about only them being able to see in - and that anything inside the mirror couldn't see them - it made her feel better to hear him say so.
"Maybe," she nodded, some of the tension leaving her body. She still kept her hand over her wand still in its holster, just in case something happened. "I dunno," she admitted, but she could guess. "They probably put it here to spook impressionable first years, but I don't think it would be the first time something was put in this school that wasn't what it seemed." She couldn't name anything off the top of her head, but she was sure of it.
She looked at him then. "I'm Mia." In case he wanted to know, before the mirror unleashed some spooky magic and swallowed them whole.
Truthfully, Brandon wasn't sure if the figure could see them, but he was more likely to believe that it couldn't based on the tiny pieces of mirror-knowledge he had. Besides, the idea that the figure could see them worried him, and he wanted to soothe both of them. It seemed to work a little... "It probably has secrets. And it's possible that nobody knows them. But if it were really a bad mirror, it would have shown its true nature by now. And the professors would have gotten rid of it," he decided confidently. "They always fix things that go wrong in the castle." Maybe not immediately, but they wouldn't have let something dangerous sit in the hallway for a hundred years.
"Lots of things aren't what they seem. Like the whomping willow. And... the room of... uh... requirement! Those are both not what they seem, but they aren't bad." This supported his point that even thought there were strange things in the school, they were still relatively safe. And the mirror hadn't hurt them yet, so they didn't need to be afraid of it. He felt better.
"Brandon Fox. Pleasure to meet you, Mia," Brandon said, reaching out for a handshake. He always formally introduced himself. It was a habit that had been hammered into him.
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