The Untold Story of the Witches of Hogwarts

Erised

"Mama? Father? Nessa?" Elphaba could only shake her head in disbelief, tears finally starting to trickle down her face. What sort of cruel, sick trick was this? What sort of twisted, sadistic mirror was this? But as pained as Elphaba felt, staring longingly into the mirror into a world that she knew she would never be able to join, she just could not stop looking...

For hours and hours Elphaba stared at that idealistic image, trying to burn the reflections into her memory. A normal-skinned her, a happy and able Nessa, a proud and affection Frex, Melena alive once again, and the Minister himself looking honored to know Elphaba. For nearly half the night, Elphaba remained there, all thoughts of sleep vanished from her mind as she chose, instead, to dream.

But after long enough, another face entered into her mind. It belonged to the young Slytherin called Glinda, who was Elphaba's best friend, as crazy as that sounded.

"I must tell her about this!" the green witch gasped, then, with a pained look, she parted from the mirror and silently pleaded the reflections to wait up for her. She would be back faster than the blink of an eye.

15 minutes later, a groggy Glinda all but tripped her way into the same room Elphaba sprinted into.

"Look! Look! Glinda, come here! Come quick! Look!" Elphaba continued to half-carry the girl over to the mirror. Glinda muttered something in protest, but she was so tired that the words came out slurred and Elphaba couldn't understand her. But no matter! She simply propped the girl up and faced her towards the mirror.

"What am I supposed to be looking at?" Glinda asked tiredly. All she could see was a dirty, grimy... thing.

"The mirror! Look at the mirror!" Elphaba pleaded impatiently, pinching Glinda a little in attempt to wake her up.

"Ouch! Hey!" Glinda's eyes opened up a bit in indignation, but Elphaba only pointed back to the mirror. With a sigh, Glinda turned towards it.

"What am I supposed to be looking at?" she repeated, this time sounding more annoyed than tired. Although she loved Elphaba dearly, she loved her beauty sleep too, and could not fathom why in Merlin's beard Elphaba had insisted that she come look at this "magic" mirror at like 2 AM, rudely awakening her from a very deep and peaceful sleep.

"The mirror!" Elphaba repeated, but when she saw genuine disbelief in Glinda's face, she began to realize that Glinda could see nothing.

"Except you and me, just as we are now," Glinda said frustratedly, gesturing to the mirror and then back to herself and Elphaba.

"What? No! That can't be right!" Elphaba muttered, then she moved Glinda to the side and retook her position front and center. Sure enough, her entire family returned. So the mirror was working, by why couldn't Glinda see anything in it? Elphaba looked at the blond in frustration and helplessness. She saw the skepticism and exhaustion in Glinda's eyes and knew that she was losing the little blond's interest rapidly.

"I'm not making this up! I swear!" the green witch pleaded, dragging Glinda back into the spot in front of the mirror once again. Still nothing.

"I believe you, Elphie," Glinda sighed at last. "Truly I do, but maybe only you can see anything in this mirror. It wouldn't be the first time you were capable of something that the rest of us could only dream about," she said and Elphaba, though she hated to admit it, realized Glinda was right.

Although Elphaba was a Hogwarts student just as much as anyone else in the castle was, there were a few things that she was capable of doing naturally that other students could not. Such mysteriously inborn skills included having visions and being able to read in more archaic languages by instinct alone. Maybe this mirror was just like that? Maybe only she could use it, and maybe everyone else would only see it as a normal and nonmagical thing? Elphaba suddenly felt embarrassed and ashamed for having gotten so excited over something so silly. Now, she had needlessly awoken Glinda from her peaceful slumber.