Ron-Weasly book 1. V2

"And what is it?"

Harry picked up a shiny silver cloth from the floor. It felt very strange to the touch, as if it was partially made up of water.

"It's an invisibility cloak," I whispered in awe. "I have no doubt that this is her, try it yourself. Put it on."

Harry draped the cloak over his shoulders.

"It's her!" I yelled. "Look down!"

Harry followed my advice and did not see his own feet. He darted like lightning to the mirror. His face was still there, of course, but it was floating in the air because his body was completely missing. Harry pulled his robes over his head, and his reflection disappeared completely.

"Look, there's a note!" I called out to him. "A note fell out of it!"

Harry took off his robes and picked up a piece of paper from the floor. The writing on it was done in a very small handwriting with curlicues, something I had never seen before.

Harry was studying a strange note written by someone unknown, and I was still admiring the robes.

"Yes, I'd give a lot for one," I confessed. "Hey, what's wrong with you?"

"Nothing," Harry shook his head.

Before he could say anything, the bedroom door burst open and Fred and George burst in. Harry quickly hid his robes under the covers.

"Merry Christmas!" Fred shouted from the doorway.

"Hey, look!" George exclaimed, turning to his brother. "Harry also got a Weasley branded sweater!"

Fred and George were wearing brand-new blue sweaters, one with a large yellow letter "F" embroidered on it, the other with a letter "J" of the same color and size.

"By the way, Harry's sweater looks better than ours." Fred admitted, turning the gift Harry had received from our mom over in his hands. "He's not a family member, so she knitted him much harder."

"Why aren't you wearing your sweater, Ron?" George protested "Come on, they're not only beautiful, they're also very warm."

"I hate burgundy," I moaned, pulling on my sweater. "I'm like a tomato in it."

"Come on, cherry. Look, George, he's got a sword and a shield, like some kind of knight."

"And there are no letters on it," George chuckled, looking at me. "I guess she thinks you won't forget your name. And we're not stupid either-we know very well that our names are Dread and Forge."

The twins burst out laughing, pleased with the joke.

"What's all that noise?"

Another red head poked through the door, Percy's, and he didn't look too happy. Apparently, he had already managed to open his gifts, at least partially, because he was holding a rough-knit sweater in his hands, which Fred immediately snatched from him.

"Yeah. The letter "P" is here, that is, the prefect. Come on, Percy, put it on — we've all already put ours on, and so has Harry."

"I... don't... I want to," I heard Percy's hoarse voice, as the twins had already pulled a sweater over his head, knocking off his glasses.

"And remember, you won't be sitting with the elders at breakfast today, but with us." Instructive, George added. "Christmas is a family holiday."

The twins pulled a sweater over him, so that his arms did not get into the sleeves, but were pressed against his body. And, grabbing my older brother by the scruff of the neck, we pushed him out of our bedroom.

Chapter 10.3 The Mirror of Desire.

On the table were hundreds of fat turkeys fried with Scottish herbs, haggis, roast beef with magic sauce, mountains of fried and boiled potatoes, dozens of bowls of fried green peas and saucepans full of meat and cranberry gravy. I pulled a bowl of chicken soup with leeks and prunes towards me, and Harry had a thick soup in a haddock pot. There were towers of magic firecrackers all around. The firecracker that Harry and Fred tried out didn't just pop, but exploded with a cannon roar and, enveloping them in thick blue smoke, spat out a rear admiral's cap and several live white mice. By the way, Mrs. Norris immediately rushed to catch them.

It was fun at the teacher's table too. Dumbledore had exchanged his pointed wizard's cap for a flowered hat and was laughing merrily at Professor Flitwick's jokes.

The turkey was followed by candlelit Christmas puddings. The puddings were a surprise — Percy almost broke his tooth on a silver sickle, taking a bite of the pudding. Hagrid kept pouring himself more wine and getting redder and redder, and finally he kissed Professor McGonagall on the cheek. And she blushed in embarrassment and giggled, not noticing that her top hat had slipped to one side. In general, it was fun. But I'd like to see my older brother and my parents. It's a pity that children are not allowed in the dragon Reserve. They left Jeanie with Grandma Lucrezia.

The next day, Harry and I had a lot of fun, having a furious snowball fight outside. And then, soaked, cold, and barely able to catch our breath, we returned to the fireplace in the living room. Harry tried out his new chess pieces there and was spectacularly defeated by me. Perhaps if he had played by himself, without listening to Percy's valuable advice, the defeat would not have been so quick and shameful. Unlike Harry, my brother doesn't understand chess at all. My friend has already learned to play well by himself. But he's constantly distracted from the game.

After tea with turkey sandwiches, muffins, biscuits and Christmas pie, Harry and I felt so full and sleepy that we simply had neither the energy nor the desire to do anything before going to bed. So we just sat and watched as Percy chased the twins around the room, who had taken away his prefect badge.

I was full of turkey and sweet pie, so I didn't care about anything mysterious or mystical. And as soon as my head touched the pillow, I immediately fell asleep.

* * *

I got up earlier than my friend in the morning, although he usually gets up earlier than everyone else. Strange.

"You could have woken me up." I said resentfully. We were sitting in the Great Hall having breakfast — or rather, I was having breakfast, and Harry had just finished his story about his nocturnal adventures. No, to think of him wandering around the school alone. What if Snape had caught him? He doesn't like him anyway, to put it mildly, but here's a late-night wake-up call. Or wasn't he on duty yesterday? No, Harry said he heard Filch complaining to Snape about the intruder.

"You can come with me tonight. I'd like to show you this mirror."

Well, don't let him go alone.

"I'd love to meet your parents." I blurted out happily. At least I'll look at this obviously magical mirror.

"And I'd like to see your whole family, all the Weasleys. You'll show me your older brothers and all the other relatives."

"You can see them at any time, well, except for my uncles Fabian and Gideon, they're already dead," I shrugged. "Come and stay with us this summer, and that's it. By the way, maybe this mirror only shows those who have already died? Well, then you'll see Fabian and Gideon, and my grandfather Bilius, and others. It's also a pity that you didn't find anything about Flamel. Have a salad with bacon and croutons, why don't you eat anything?"

But Harry continued to sit hungry. I don't like it.

"Are you okay?" I asked worriedly. "You look so strange..."

"It's all right."

Ignoring decency again, I took a couple of fried sausages off the platter and asked Tilly for broth with crackers, forcing Harry to eat it. Yeah, it certainly looked like it... All the Slytherins are laughing at me now. Babysitter for the hero damn.

* * *

Harry was very absent-minded all day, and I was enjoying it less and less. What kind of mirror is this? Or maybe it's because he saw his family, Harry said he didn't have any family photos. They say his aunt Petunia said that his mother took all the photos and documents after the death of his parents.

There were two of us under the cloak today, so we moved much slower than Harry did yesterday. We tried to repeat the path that Harry had taken after running out of the library, and for about an hour we wandered through the dark corridors.

"I'm just dying of the cold," I complained. It's very cold in the castle in winter, the frosts just started yesterday. "Let's forget about it and go back to the bedroom."

"No way," Harry hissed indignantly, "I know the room is nearby. I remember these paintings."

We passed by the ghost of a tall woman floating in the opposite direction, and fortunately, we didn't meet anyone else. And just when I started moaning again that my legs were frozen and I couldn't feel them anymore, Harry noticed the familiar armor.

"It's here... Definitely here... yes!" Well, we've finally arrived.

Harry opened the door and, throwing off his robes, rushed to the mirror.

"See?" Harry whispered, turning to me.

A mirror is like a mirror. The usual reflection.

"I can't see anything but you."

"Look at that! Look, there they are — the parents, and others..."

"I only see you," I replied.

"Take a closer look," Harry persisted. "Come closer, stand here, next to me."

Harry moved a little bit, and now I was in front of the mirror.

Awesome! Is this really true? No, I don't think so. What a strange mirror.

I froze in front of the mirror, staring at it in fascination.

"Just look at me!" I exclaimed.

"Do you see your parents and brothers around you?" Harry asked.

"No, I'm alone. But I'm different... grown up... and... and I'm the first student of the school!"

I looked more closely.

"I... I have a badge on my chest, the same one Bill had when he became the best student at Hogwarts. And I have in my hands the Cup of the winner of the inter-house competition and the school Quidditch Cup. I'm also the captain of the national team, can you imagine!"

I tore my eyes away from the painting that had so fascinated me and looked excitedly at Harry.

"Do you think the mirror shows the future?" I asked hopefully, then with difficulty moving my legs, I moved away from the mirror.

"It can't be!" Harry protested hotly. "My whole family died a long time ago. What does the future have to do with it?"

My friend stood in front of the mirror again. The hairs on my head began to prickle, and I could feel the mirror beginning to entangle Harry in its mental net.

"Harry, let's get out of here, whatever! This is a very dangerous mirror!"

Harry was indignant.

"I want to see my parents!"

"Harry, stop staring at that piece of glass, do you realize that it's like a drug on you?"

He can push him out and get up himself to watch for at least a couple of minutes. Damn it! We need to get out of this office.

"I want to see Mom and Dad!"

A sudden sound coming from the hallway silenced us. We just realized that we were arguing too loudly and probably made a terrible noise.

"Come here quickly!"

I grabbed the invisibility cloak that Harry had given me. And we managed to cover ourselves with it when Mrs. Norris appeared from behind the door, her eyes twinkling. She was in Selena's company and they were talking to each other. Harry and I froze, trying not to breathe and thinking about the same thing — does the cloak apply to cats? It seemed like an eternity before Mrs. Norris turned around and walked back out into the hallway.

"It's dangerous here-maybe she went after Filch," I whispered. "I'll bet my old broom that she's heard our voices and knows we're here. We're leaving."

And I dragged the reluctant Harry out of the room. Selena watched us with her flashlights and left the office, followed by Mrs. Norris.

* * *

"Do you want to play chess? I'll show you how to transform the playing field into a forest." I asked the next morning when we returned from breakfast.

"No," said Harry shortly.

"Then why don't we go out of the castle and visit Hagrid?"

"Perhaps not..." Harry shrugged his shoulders. "If you want, you'd better go alone..."

"I know what you're thinking, Harry." There was understanding on my face. "You're thinking about that mirror. Don't go there today."

"Why?"

"I don't know, but I have a bad feeling about this. Besides, you've been on the verge of failure too many times already. Filch, Snape, and Mrs. Norris are all over the school, hoping to catch you. Yes, they can't see you, but they might run into you. But what if you bump into something or knock something down— they'll figure it out right away..."

"You sound just like Hermione," Harry snapped.

"I'm serious, Harry," I pleaded. "Don't go there. And finally eat. There's your favorite oatmeal. And a sugar bowl. Do you want some eggs? There's the bacon you like." I started pushing the plates towards him, trying to attract his attention with the delicious smell.

But, of course, he waited until evening anyway and went. But I stuffed dinner into it anyway. Harry just attacked my ham and mustard sandwich. I also brought him a meat pie. We ate it in half in the living room. Apparently, the guy realized that it's not a good idea to sit hungry. The Slytherins have already openly called me the babysitter of the hero of the wizard of Britain. And you can't even punch me in the eye for that. It's true. I got there. Nott came over today and asked what was wrong with Potter, and he was sitting hungry again. I had to explain that we found a strange mirror in one of the offices and Harry got stuck on it.

* * *

Harry returned at night upset and much earlier than I expected. Kicking his trunk in anger, he fell asleep. He didn't go to the mirror anymore. He said Dumbledore caught him and forbade him to come there. That's nice, because this mirror is generally some kind of strange, obviously a dark artifact.

Chapter 11.1 Muggle mathematics on potions.

The next day, Harry put the invisibility cloak in his suitcase.

"You see, Dumbledore was right when he said that this mirror could drive you crazy," I said when Harry told me that he had nightmares. Why are you sitting there hungry? Take your oatmeal with cherry jam and eat. I pushed a bowl of porridge and his favorite jam towards him.

Hermione, who returned from vacation the day before the start of the semester and to whom Harry and I told absolutely everything — because she was our friend — looked at things differently. She was torn between horror at the thought of Harry wandering around the school for three nights in a row ("Just think what would happen if Filch caught you!" she kept exclaiming) and disappointment that Harry hadn't been able to find out who Nicholas Flamel. She was sitting next to us now, frowning at the jam that Harry had reached for.

A friend took the toasts and spread them with jam. After that, he pulled the porridge towards him and began to eat, washing it down with cocoa.

We had almost given up hope of finding Flamel's name in one of the library books. To tell the truth, I wasn't really looking for him. That's how I read about the magical world and famous travelers. There were quite a lot of books about the same Alshan mountains and their foothills. When the semester started, we started running back to the library between classes and spent ten minutes feverishly flipping through the first books we could find. I became interested in creating potions and antidotes in the field.