It not was for the fact that Cho was heading upstairs; she thought that she was underwater. The walls in the room above were paved with a dark, shimmering material that gave the appearance of an underwater chamber that casted a greenish glow over everything. Cho climbed out of the hole and walked over to one of these strange walls. One finger stroked the smooth silvery blue-green material. It was like touching cold metal. Just as her fingers brushed the surface of the wall, it began to produce tears of silver in front of her eyes. The molten silver spilled onto the floor from the wall and formed a puddle at her feet. Panic struck a chord in Cho’s heart.
‘Oh, snap. How am I going to explain this to the Ministry when they find out that I destroyed something I wasn’t supposed to know about,” Cho asked herself frantically.
She held her breath as she saw the silver puddle began to rise up into the air. It towered over her like a tsunami about to crash into a tiny island village. But instead of crashing onto the girl, it began to shape itself into a long rectangle. Ribbons of gold sprung up from the ground and began to twist into an ornate gold frame that surrounded the silver rectangle. Cho gazed in wonder as she saw the mirror formulating in front of her. When it was over, she took a step forward and cautiously looked into its silvery depths.
The mirror bore her exact resemblance, but with some major changes. She was older, and dressed in a set of purple robes of the Wizengamot instead of the sweaty light blue shirt and khaki pencil skirt that she had on. A shiny gold wedding ring circled her left ring finger. Cho raised her left hand in front of her face. She saw no ring, but there was a reflection of that hand in the mirror. When she looked at her reflection again, she saw herself surrounded by a small group of people. More were walking out of the walls and were coming to the mirror. In the reflection, Cho could see a heavy set Chinese man with thinning hair helping a younger woman dressed in a silk dress out of the wall. Many of these people looked like Cho. They bore similar Oriental features to her. One of the middle aged women assembled near her had her eyes. Cho peered closer into the mirror.
Yes, they were the same. Large, almond shaped brown eyes. An elderly man who stood behind the middle aged lady with Cho’s eyes was around Cho’s height. A teenage boy in a pair of torn jeans and features like hers waved from the back. A young woman who could have easily passed as her identical twin sister grinned broadly. Then, she saw someone she thought she could never see again. A plump girl with brown hair streaked with blonde strands and a very bemused smile on her face.
“Tina,” Cho asked the mirror. It was impossible. Tina Somerhalder died during the Final Battle three years ago. She saw Tina die!
“Cedric is coming really soon,” Tina said, “he told me that he saw you earlier. By the way, you never told me about your cousin Derek. He is hot!”
‘Who is Derek,” Cho asked her friend.
“Duh, he is the guy in the ripped pants,” Tina exclaimed.
“I don’t remember any cousin Derek,” Cho muttered. She turned around to see even more people pouring out of the walls. Many of them looked like her while others bore strong resemblances to people that she had once known.
“Cho, is that my little niece,” shouted a tall woman with extremely short black hair. She ran up to Cho and hugged her very tightly. “Dear gods, the last time I saw you, you were just a toddler!”
“Auntie An-Mei,” Cho gasped. Auntie An-Mei was her mother’s sister who had died of cancer when Cho was only three.
Peering over Auntie An-Mei, Cho looked over the sea of faces. Some of them she instantly recognized as the faces of relatives and friends who had died.
“What is this room,” Cho asked her aunt.
“This is the room where the Mirror of Erised is kept,” explained An-Mei. “The Ministry keeps it here in this room.”
‘There is a charm that allows the relatives of those who have passed on to come back in spirit form to see the person looking into the mirror. Oh, Cho. I missed you so much.”
“Cho, is that you,” a male voice called out. It sounded so familiar to Cho’s ears.
“Excuse me, Auntie,” Cho said. She broke away from her aunt’s embrace and walked into the crowd. Standing right next to a heavily mustached man was Cedric.
“Oh, Cedric, I thought I would never see you again with my own eyes.”
Cho ran to him and threw her arms around his chest.
“So, where did that room lead to,” Cedric asked softly.
“It went into this field that induced out-of-body experiences,” Cho explained. “But that’s not important. I’m here with all of my friends and family. Oh, it is so good to see you again.”
They started to kiss on the lips. Many cheered while a small boy groaned very loudly. When they broke apart after, they continued to gaze into each other’s eyes for a very long time.
If you want to stay here, you are very welcome to,” Tina said.
“That would be a very wonderful idea,” Cho said. There was nothing more that she wanted to do than to stay here, in this room, surrounded by her loved ones, forever. She didn’t want to go home to a life with a dull desk job and a life void of any friends. But, something inside of her told her that she needed to go home.
“Please stay,” the tiny boy who had groaned very loudly while Cho and Cedric were kissing begged.
“Please do,” one of Cho’s aunts urged.
Cho looked around the sea of faces, taking mental pictures of each relative and each friend that she saw. Oh, how she longed to stay with these kind people, but her time was not up. She had to go back to the world of the living. It was not time yet to join these people. She just had to go back.
“I am so sorry, but I have to go home, back to where I came from,” Cho said apologetically. She shook her head in sorrow as she tried her best to avoid contact with these disappointed people.
“To go home, let me show you way there,” Cho’s grandfather said. He took his granddaughter by the hand and led her to the mirror. “This mirror is door to home. You walk into mirror and keep on walking. Then, you are home.”
He let go of her hand and stood back. Cho had one foot on the frame before turning around. She gazed at their faces for a very long time.
“I want to thank you very much for coming to see me. You can’t believe how much I missed you all,” Cho said. “But, I have to go home. I hope you understand. Again, I want to thank you so much. I really enjoyed seeing you again. Till we meet again, adieu.” Cho turned around and didn’t look back. She didn’t want to them to see her tears. Slowly, she walked into the mirror and continued to walk on.
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I really want to thank those who left reviews. I really appreciated them so much. Chapter 6 is coming up ASAP.
Through the Looking Glass by stareyed_in_LA
Chapter Notes: Cho meets several people she thought she might never see again.