Chapter One: Discovery

“That’s remarkable.” Remus Lupin looked up from the book that he was studying on his four poster bed.

“What?” James Potter asked. He also was holding a large thick looking book, but he hadn’t gotten around to cracking it open yet.

“This magical mirror on page 452 of Hogwarts: A History. It sounds really interesting.”

Sirius Black looked over from where he lay staring out of the window and lazily replied, “Since when has there been anything interesting in a book?”

James laughed. “I think you’re forgetting about the one with the spell for the Refilling Charm….”

Sirius smiled happily as he remembered that wonderful night when they had started off with just one bottle of Firewhisky and made it last for hours on end.

“That’s true. But I don’t think Moony’s idea of interesting and our idea of interesting are exactly the same. If I remember correctly, Remus didn’t seem exactly thrilled with our discovery, and he was much too cheerful the next morning when the rest of us could barely move.”

Remus ignored Sirius and started to read aloud from the book. “The Mirror of Erised is a remarkable magical device; a large mirror surrounded with an ornate gold frame as high as the ceiling; it stands on two clawed feet and reflects the heart’s deepest desire.”

“That is interesting!” Sirius sounded slightly shocked. “I wish I could see what Rebecca Harker would see if she looked into it. Merlin, that girl is gorgeous.”

“Wait, there’s more. ‘Only the person looking directly into the mirror can see what their deepest desire is.’ So you wouldn’t be able to tell if you were her deepest desire or not, Sirius.”

James looked fascinated by the mirror that Remus had mentioned. “Where is this mirror supposed to be? I mean, Hogwarts: A History is about Hogwarts. So the mirror has to be here somewhere, doesn’t it?”

Remus skimmed ahead for the information James had requested. “It says, ‘The Mirror of Erised is located wherever the present headmaster or headmistress believes is prudent.’ I wonder where Professor Dumbledore keeps it.”

Peter Pettigrew joined the conversation for the first time. “We could probably just ask him. The mirror is in Hogwarts: A History so it’s not secret. We can just say that we’re doing a report on something unique to Hogwarts and wondered if we could do it on the mirror.”

“Or we could just find it on the Marauder’s Map. We’ve used magic to find places on it before,” Sirius suggested.

“Maybe we could use my Invisibility Cloak to sneak up to Dumbledore’s office and wait for him to mention where the Mirror is,” James enthusiastically contributed.

“Or I’m sure that we could find it if we apply the knowledge we’ve acquired over our six previous years here. It would only need a little careful research to find out where he would be most likely to put it, based on what we have observed of his habits and his treatment of precious objects and investigate those places.” That was obviously Remus.

“I think that Remus’ idea is too much like homework, Peter’s idea is too obvious, and James’ idea would take too long. So the only logical course of action is mine.” Sirius looked immensely pleased with himself. “I’ll get the Map.”

Sirius got down on his knees and started rummaging in his trunk. James turned to Remus and Peter and remarked, “It’s really annoying how he always manages to make his idea sound right, isn’t it?”

“Especially since his ideas usually get us in the most trouble,” added Remus.

“I think that my idea would have worked fine,” pouted Peter.

“But my superior logic has conquered again, so let’s just get on with it,” said Sirius, as he got up holding the Map. He set it down on the table and the four Marauders gathered around it.

James turned to Remus. “Since it was you who found out about the mirror, why don’t you do the honors?

Remus placed his wand on the parchment and uttered the spell that would guide them to a specific place.

“Mostrarmi the Mirror of Erised.”

The tip of his wand seemed to leak black ink out of the tip. Under the four small dots labeled James Potter, Sirius Black, Peter Pettigrew and Remus Lupin a black puddle was formed. It quickly changed into an arrow that pointed straight out of the room.

“Well, let’s go!” Sirius was already on his way out the door. James quickly started after him.

“But it’s late and the teachers might catch us,” whined Peter. “I don’t want to get in trouble.”

Remus sighed regretfully. “Peter is probably right. We don’t know where the Mirror is, so we might as well wait until we can walk around the school in safety.”

“All right.” James was obviously not happy about this. “But tomorrow is Saturday so you’ll have no more excuses. We’re going to find that mirror.”

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The next morning James got up before Remus, which didn’t happen very often. When Remus woke up, the first thing he saw was James sitting at the desk and reading a textbook.

“Wow. I think I am still dreaming, because James Potter never reads if he doesn’t have to, and especially not on a Saturday morning.”

At the sound of his voice James turned and smiled sheepishly. “I just wanted to find out more about this Mirror of Erised that we’re going to find and I think that Hogwarts: A History is the best place to learn about it.”

Remus laughed. “James, you don’t have to explain yourself to me. I’ve been trying to get you do to your own homework for years.”

“Yeah, well, don’t count on this lasting,” James warned. “It’s about time our comrades started getting up, don’t you think?” With that he casually squirted a jet of water out of his wand at Sirius.

Sirius, who was infamous for never getting up before ten on a Saturday, groaned, threw a pillow at James, missed and hit Peter. As Peter thrashed around in the covers, Sirius sleepily dragged himself out of bed.

“I’m only getting up because I know the pair of you,” he growled, gesturing at Remus and James. “Once you get an idea in your heads you won’t let a fellow rest until he’s gone along with it. But I refuse to go on a quest early in the morning with no breakfast.”

After a hearty breakfast the four Marauders started off to follow the Map’s directions. It led them into the Entrance Hall and up five flights of stairs. When they arrived on the fifth floor, it pointed them to a corridor leading off to the right. They faithfully followed it until it ended at a locked door. The arrow was now blinking to show them that they were very close to their intended destination.

“Well I guess this is the moment of truth, isn’t it?” Remus nervously chuckled. “I mean, this is where we find out if we really want to know our deepest desires.”

The other three nodded silently. Now that the prospect of actually finding out what their soul’s deepest desire was before them, they weren’t quite sure that they wanted it.

“What if your soul’s deepest desire wasn’t really that great?” Sirius wondered uneasily. “I sure wouldn’t want to know that all my soul really desired was a sandwich or a cake or something. I mean I know that I insisted on breakfast but that doesn’t mean I only love food!”

“Calm down Sirius, we know that you love other things besides food,” James consoled him. “I’m sure that all our deepest desires are good. But there’s only one way to find out.” He took a deep breath and muttered “Alohomora”.

There was a quiet click as the lock undid itself. The boys looked around at each other as if to say ‘you go first!’ Finally Remus cautiously pushed aside the door to reveal a dim and dusty room. The four poked their heads around the corner and quickly realized that it was not particularly special except for what was tucked away in one corner. The Mirror of Erised.