Chapter 21: Another Use of the Magic Mirror

Harry flipped through the book absent-mindedly on the bed. He was just hoping Neville would come back quickly, which meant the mirror could be given up to him.

"My dad, mom, these are the people who love me most, so they are at the front in the mirror, and their faces are so clear," Harry thought. "And besides this mirror, I can never see them again."

Extreme pain surged to his heart, but as soon as Harry thought he could see the magic mirror again, these pains subsided a little.

"And Sir Tang Nade, but he is in Downton, I can go back to see him after the holiday," Harry recalled the scene in the mirror. "Professor Snape also likes me very much, perhaps because he values my talent for Potions. He reminded me to find Professor Binsi, which was a big help."

He tried his best not to think about Aunt Petunia.

"Why hasn't Neville come back yet?" Luo En muttered with dissatisfaction.

"Maybe I should take a nap first, and then sneak over to see the mirror in the middle of the night," Harry thought of a good idea. "I have the Invisibility Cloak, no need to worry about Filch staring there."

Harry closed his eyes and forced himself to sleep for a while. He dreamed that he was in a forest, gently turning the Resurrection Stone, and his parents appeared, and even came up to give him a hug. He could even feel that hug, although it was slightly cold.

When Harry opened his eyes, it was pitch black all around. He knew this was the perfect time, so he draped the Invisibility Cloak over himself, got out of bed lightly, and walked out of the dormitory on tiptoe.

On the road, Harry couldn't stop recalling that dream. Perhaps, he was crazy about pursuing the Deathly Hallows because he valued the role of the Resurrection Stone. But now there was a mirror, as long as he could meet his parents, he wouldn't be picky about how it was done.

Harry didn't wear shoes when he came out, and his footsteps were very light. Filch was not far from him, but didn't notice at all. When he quietly came to the door of that classroom, he was disappointed to find that there was still someone inside.

Zhang Qiu was facing the mirror, waving a sword, and chanting something. Harry noticed that this seemed to be a real sword, and it was different from the swords he had seen; this sword was in the Chinese style.

But what surprised him was that with the waving of the sword, a layer of cold moonlight began to attach to the sword, and bursts of cold air rose in the classroom. Then, every move she made began to shoot out faint white frost.

Harry stepped back subconsciously; it was winter now, and he didn't want to be blown by the cold wind.

Zhang Qiu suddenly gave a clear shout, then jumped high, frost gathered on the tip of her sword, and she rushed out horizontally for a long distance, until the sword pierced the pile of old desks, before she turned over and landed lightly.

After landing, she seemed a bit unsatisfied, jumped up and landed again.

Harry couldn't help but call out to her when she walked toward the magic mirror.

"Zhang Qiu, what are you doing here?"

Zhang Qiu was clearly startled. She quickly hid the sword behind her back, but when she noticed it was Harry, she didn't cover it up anymore.

"I'm practicing sword technique, to be precise, this is video practice."

"What did you say?"

"My master divined that there would be a magic mirror here that makes wishes come true," she explained. "As long as I keep telling myself that the thing I hope for most is to practice sword technique well, then I can see myself with great sword technique in the mirror."

"And then you can..." Harry was a bit surprised. He had never realized that this magic mirror actually had more possibilities. "You were just practicing following the mirror?"

"That's right," she admitted generously. "With the help of the mirror, if the movement is wrong, it can be adjusted at any time, which will be very effective."

"Then if, I tell myself, the thing I want to do most is to get the Resurrection Stone," Harry said. "Will the mirror also tell me where the Resurrection Stone is?"

"No," Zhang Qiu said. "The mirror will only generate images based on the knowledge you already have. Sometimes it will find images in the depths of your memory, your subconscious, but that ultimately is also something you have seen, not something that appears out of thin air."

"In other words, I saw the appearance of my parents and grandparents when I was very young, so their figures appeared in the mirror," Harry thought thoughtfully. "And I haven't seen my maternal grandparents, so they are not in the mirror."

"That's right. I have seen the complete 'Hundred Phoenixes Return to the Nest' in the sword manual, so the mirror can manifest what I look like after practicing it."

"Is it okay to see it in a book?" Harry was a bit moved. He was going to refine weed-killing potion in Potions class this Friday. Even if he refined it himself, he didn't have full confidence, not to mention he had to bring Luo En along.

However, Harry thought to himself, there were no materials at hand right now. Even if he watched the refining process once, it wouldn't serve the purpose of practice.

"By the way, why do you have to practice sword technique here?" Harry asked.

"In China, we divide magic into two parts, which are sword cultivation and dharma cultivation. The former mainly fights with the help of magic swords, while the latter helps life and production with the help of incantations," she explained. "Last time facing the troll, I realized that I was not good enough in fighting. It just so happens that there is an opportunity here, so I'll practice."

"But it's past one o'clock in the morning now," Harry had looked at the clock when he came out. He originally thought there shouldn't be anyone at this time.

"Don't talk about this. Do you want to use the mirror? I can let it to you," Zhang Qiu put the sword behind her back and asked with a smile.

"Forget it today, I'll go back first," Harry said embarrassedly. "I'll bring the cauldron tomorrow."

Harry, who returned to the bed, felt very ashamed. Facing the magic mirror, he indulged in the happiness of memories, Neville and Luo En were fantasizing about false achievements, and only Zhang Qiu wisely used the magic mirror to practice magic and enhance her real-world abilities.

The next day, Harry carried the cauldron and brought a bottle full of sticky notes to that abandoned classroom. He saw Neville and Luo En were also there, and Luo En even said unhappily, "You have watched for a quarter of an hour, it should be my turn."

"Ahem," Harry said. "I think you should let it to me too."

"Uh, why are you carrying a cauldron?" Luo En said. "Potions class is the day after tomorrow."

"To be precise, my biggest wish right now is to be able to successfully configure the weed-killing potion the day after tomorrow," Harry put down the cauldron in front of the mirror. "Think about it, if I fail, I will be deducted points by Snape, and deducting points will lose the House Cup, and we will become the sinners of Gryffindor!"

Harry scared himself, constantly thinking that he must successfully configure the weed-killing potion, and images gradually began to appear in the mirror.

He saw himself in the Potions classroom, with ingredient vials by his hand and a cauldron set over a low flame in front of him, while Snape paced around the room. The Harry in the mirror was extremely confident; he picked up one bottle after another with fluid, effortless movements, adding ingredients with perfect precision each time. The Harry outside the mirror could keep up with his movements at first, but soon began to fumble in a panic.

Of course, Harry didn't use real potion ingredients, the bottles were all filled with water. So even if he failed, there wouldn't be any terrible consequences.

"My god, what are you doing?" Luo En looked at him practicing potion configuration in front of the mirror, and the whole person was a bit silly. "Did your parents teach you this too?"

"Of course not," Harry explained: "As long as I keep telling myself that what I desire most now is to configure the weed-killing potion, I can see myself successfully configuring the weed-killing potion in the mirror."

"Then why don't you continue to look at your family?" Luo En asked curiously. "Yesterday you were anxious to spend more time with them."

"The me in the mirror, no matter how happy, is fake, not real, so I can't be greedy and obsessed," Harry said earnestly about the truth he figured out yesterday. "The first step to realizing a big wish is to set a small goal, make a new plan, and start changing from now on."

Neville put away the wooden stick in his hand with some embarrassment. He said: "You're right, I won't look at the mirror anymore, you practice first."

For a long time after that, Harry didn't think about anything else. In Friday's Potions class, he was added three points by Snape because of the perfect weed-killing potion, which made many Gryffindor students feel incredible, because Snape was always known for being stingy.

From that day on, he made up his mind that he must spend at least one hour practicing high-level potion configuration in front of the magic mirror every day. After the Draught of Peace, Swelling Solution, and Draught of Living Death in the textbook were all proficient, he began to try to configure the Draught of Living Death and Wit-Sharpening Potion seen in another book—of course, all replaced by clear water. Harry knew that because of the different viscosity of potion ingredients, the feel of estimation was also very different from clear water. However, for Harry who had no ingredients, it was enough to be proficient in the order of adding medicine and stirring.

Since the end of the Christmas holiday, Harry felt his life was very self-disciplined. Except for the weekend, which was relaxation time, he wouldn't waste a single minute of every other day: as soon as he finished dinner, he would go to the library to do homework with Zhang Qiu. If they finished quickly, the two would read some extracurricular books together and discuss the knowledge in the books in a low voice.

And from 8:30 to 9:30 every day, he must go to that abandoned classroom to practice profound potion configuration against himself in the mirror. After 9:30, the mirror would be let to Zhang Qiu. She seemed to practice very late every day. Harry found that the power of her sword technique was getting stronger and stronger, and several times she directly split the old tables piled against the wall.

Sometimes, Harry would watch her sword practice for a while, and sometimes he would go back to the dormitory to play chess with Luo En directly. Neville still couldn't be seen all day, especially since he would ask to borrow Harry's Invisibility Cloak from time to time. After the magic mirror incident, Harry gradually put the secret of the Deathly Hallows aside. He didn't mind lending this precious cloak to Neville, because he felt that the pure friendship between children was more precious than any legend. ===== CHAPTER 22 =====