Piper entered the great hall one morning in December, and it was practically empty. The corridors were crowded with students heading home for the Christmas break, so Piper had no problem finding a seat at the Gryffindor table with Harry and Ron, who looked like they were playing chess.
"What are you doing?" Piper asked, sitting down next to Harry.
"Shh. Need to focus." Ron said. Piper slightly rolled her eyes and watched.
"What we doing?" Rory asked, sitting across from Piper.
"Ron doesn't want anyone to speak." Piper whispered. She turned her head to see Leo run in, looking like he was going to speak and Piper shook her head. Leo looked confused and came over to see what was going on.
"Knight to E-5." Harry ordered, and on of the black pieces on Harry's side of the board moved forward three squares and towards Piper two squares. Piper sat back in awe. She's been a wizards world for half a year, and is still surprised by what she sees. Ron stared at the board, thinking hard.
"Um, can we speak now?" Leo asked.
"Queen to E-5." Ron ordered, and one of his pieces moved to where Harry's last piece ended, stood up from a chair, and hit Harry's piece, breaking it in two.
"That's totally barbaric!" Hermione budded in from behind Harry, pulling along her trunk.
"That's wizards chess." Ron stated, "I have never lost a game, except to my brother Bill."
"Why aren't you packed Ronald?" Hermione asked.
"There was a change in plans. My parents decided to go to Romania to visit my brother Charlie. So, me and my brothers are all staying here."
"Good. You can help Harry and Piper then." Hermione started sounding like a drill sergeant, "They'll be looking in the library for information on Nicholas Flamel."
"Hermione, we've looked in every history book in their. There's nothing to find." Leo stated.
"Have you looked in the restricted section?" Hermione hinted.
"Ok, we're obviously a bad influence on you." Piper said with a giggle, "So, looks like me, and your siblings are the only Ravenclaw's staying around." Piper gestured at Rory and Leo.
"And me, my brothers and Harry are the only Gryffindors." Ron stated.
"Hey, why don't we do Christmas together?" Leo suggested.
"What do you mean?" Rory asked.
"Well, the only Ravenclaw's and Gryffindor's sticking around, are all friends, why don't we all stay in one common room for Christmas?" Leo suggested. Piper smiled at the thought.
"That sounds fun." Piper said.
"Yeah. My sister might not go for it, but sure." Rory said.
"Are you all serious?" Hermione budded in.
"What now?" Ron asked.
"We aren't allowed to go into other houses common rooms. You'll get into trouble, take both your houses out of the running for the house cup."
"Ok, maybe we're not so much of an influence on you." Ron laughed.
"You know what, fine. Do what you want, but I, have nothing to do with this." Hermione made her way out of the great hall and amidst the crowd of students leaving.
"Rory, let's go find our siblings. We'll do it in the Gryffindor common room." Leo said.
"Sure. Let's go." Rory and Leo got up and walked around to the Ravenclaw table. Piper smiled as she continued to watch the chess match.
The Ravenclaw common room was very quiet. People were filing out with there bags, trying to catch the train home for the holidays. Piper took the opportunity to get ahead with her homework. She had to finish an essay for Professor Snape, a four hundred word paper for Sprout and other smaller project for her other classes, by the time classes resumed.
"Homework now Piper?" Lauren asked
"Got nothing else to do, and it has to get done at some point." Piper argued.
"Ok then, but remember to have fun too. You can't bury your entire life in school." Bethany said before running off with her friend. Piper giggled and rolled her eyes before sinking back into her textbooks. She jerked forward when she heard a loud screeching noise. Piper turned around and saw Willa pecking at the window. Piper got up and saw the barn owl flapping about trying to tell her something. After a few moments of screeching, Willa flew off down the hill towards the hut at the bottom, still screeching.
"Stupid bird." Piper huffed. She put on her winter wear, stored her wand in her boot and made her way across the snow covered grounds. She followed the sounds of the crazy owl to find Rory waiting in the field beside Hagrid's house.
"You put the bird up to this eh?" Piper asked.
"I only asked if she knew where you were." Rory laughed and drew her wand.
"Why do we have to practice in the snow?"
"We have to keep our skills sharp, and we can set fires without getting in trouble." The girls laughed and aimed their wand at the snow.
"Incendio." Piper said. Red sparks flew from her wand, and a fire was set where they landed, melting the nearby snow.
"Nice one Piper!" Rory praised. She raised her wand, and swished her wrist, "Wingardium Leviosa!"
Piper's wand was lifted from her hand, and floated above her head, "Sneaky." Piper smiled as Rory giggled. Piper jumped for the wand as someone came stomping out of the hut. Piper turned around to see Hagrid trekking up the hill, and Rory dropped the wand on her head.
"Hey!" Piper giggled at Rory, "Where you off to Hagrid?"
"I'm uh, off to get a tree for the great hall. Can't have a Christmas feast without the tree eh? Oh and uh, you've got visitors." Hagrid explained. Piper and Rory looked past Hagrid and saw Leo and his siblings running down the hill.
"Hey guys. Why are you out here in this weather?" Leo asked.
"She convinced an owl to screech at me." Piper joked.
"Come on. Two weeks of no classes, we've got to make sure we don't get rusty with our magic." Rory justified.
"Uh-huh," Laura started, "Well, we got the password to the Gryffindor commonroom."
"Sweet!" Piper said.
"Yeah. The girls'll take Hermione's room and the boys will fill up Harry and the Weasley's rooms." Leo explained.
"It's only safe to do Christmas Eve night and Christmas night. We should leave the morning after Christmas." Lynden added.
"No problem, so tomorrow night." Rory concluded, everyone nodded.
"So what is the password?" Piper asked.
Piper climbed the stairwell after the feast, following Rory, Leo and his siblings towards the Gryffindor common room. Piper kept looking back, making sure teacher's weren't near. She didn't know why this was a rule, but it was. No one was following. Most of the staff, and remaining students for that matter, were still in the hall. The Ravenclaw's made their way to a painting of a singing fat lady, who crossed her hands and said, very calmly and sternly, "Password?" Lynden took a step towards the painting, looking around to make sure no one was watching, and spoke the password.
"Caput, Draconis." The fat lady smiled and the portrait swung backwards slowly, revealing a door. The Ravenclaw's giggled and crept in, to see Harry and the Weasley's waiting for them in the main room.
"Merry Christmas guys!" One of Ron's older brothers, Fred or George (hard to tell them apart), said, pulling in Leo's siblings for bro hugs.
"Same." Rory expressed.
"You guys really shouldn't be here. I am a prefect. I could put all of you in detention right now." Another one of Ron's brothers, Percy, stated.
"What harm are we doing here? We're just spending the holiday's with our friends." Ron's twin brothers said. Piper smiled, but jerked as the doorway swung open again. She inhaled sharply, her first thought being that Mcgonagall was coming, but it was actually Felicia.
"So you've changed your mind sis?" Rory asked.
"Yeah. I guess I didn't want to spend Christmas alone." Felicia smiled and looked towards Percy, "Hey."
"Hi Nielsen." Percy replied, uneasy. Piper looked between them, and grinned.
"So, our owls will bring things in through the window tonight." George, or Fred, said, opening the window by the tree.
"Cool. So then, guess we should turn in then?" Piper asked.
"Probably." Leo said, "Deal with the outcome in the morning."
Piper awoke on Christmas morning to a nice stream of sunlight piercing through the window. The Gryffindor beds might actually be more comfortable than the Ravenclaw beds. She sat up and stretched out her arms, as Rory and Laura started to stir.
"Happy Christmas Piper." Rory said.
"Merry Christmas Rory." Piper responded. Just as Piper put her feet on the floor, the whole room stirred, to the sound of Ron yelling.
"Harry wake up! Come on guys wake up!" Everyone rose from their beds and raced down the stairs, Harry stopped at the balcony.
"Happy Christmas Harry." Ron said.
"Happy Christmas Ron." Harry answered, "What are you wearing?" Harry must have noticed the weird red sweater Ron had on over his pyjama's.
"Oh, that's the jumper from mom." Fred said.
"Make's us one every year. Bloody ugly." George added.
"It's the thought that counts." Percy budded in.
"But they are ugly." George stated. Piper laughed as she knelt at the tree, seeing how many gifts people got. A few for Leo, a couple for Rory, two for her, and one for Harry.
"Hey, Harry, I found one for you!" Piper shouted.
"I've...I've got presents?" He asked, slightly hopeful.
"Yeah!" Everyone said at once. Piper picked out one of hers, in a similar wrappings to Harry's, and a note from no one.
This belonged to your parents.
Now it belongs to you.
Use is wisely, and keep it close.
Piper read her note. She and Harry looked at eachother as they opened their gifts. They both got colourful cloaks, except Piper's had a string and a hood.
"Cool." Laura said.
"Nice patterns." Felicia added.
"Put em on guys!" Ron urged, stuffing his face with candy. Piper and Harry obeyed. Harry swung his around his back and Piper tied hers around her neck.
"It's comfy, and warm." She said.
"Whoa!" Everyone said, staring at Harry. Piper turned her head, and saw only his head, floating above the ground.
"What just happened?" She asked, slightly scared.
"My bodies gone!" Harry said, eager.
"I think that's an invisibility cloak Harry!" Fred said, "They're very rare."
"Wow!" Harry said.
"What about you Piper?" Rory asked.
"Put the hood on!" Leo urged. Piper smiled, and did as she was told. When she put her hood on, everyone else stared in awe. She must be invisible too. She looked at Harry, and was now able to see his body under the cloak.
"Harry, you're not so invisible anymore!" Piper said.
"You have a different cloak Piper!" Felicia concluded, "Some only let you turn invisible, but some let you turn invisible and see others who are invisible." Piper mouthed words of awe under the cloak before she removed the hood.
"Who gave them to you?" Lynden asked.
"I don't know." Piper and Harry answered in unison. Piper thought for a moment, and couldn't think of anyone who would have this, or a means of acquiring it.
After breakfast in the Great Hall, Piper found herself wondering how to take Hermione's hint about the restricted section. How were they supposed to go in there? They need special permission from a teacher to read those books. They are on dark magic and questionable historical figures. If Flamel was found there, whatever Fluffy's guarding must be dangerous.
"Any idea how to get in the restricted section before everyone comes back and the teacher's get more strict?" Piper asked Rory and Leo.
"No. It's tricky. Madame Pince is extremely cautious about it." Leo answered. Piper sighed.
Piper lay in her bed that night, assessing the conundrum. She considered writing her own note to let herself in, but what if it got back to a teacher? She could just break down the door to the section with her magic, but that would likely get her expelled. She stared at the ceiling, trying to think of someway to let herself in, when she heard stomping on the stairs. Piper slowly got up, and saw no one their. She was about to head back to bed, when she heard more stomping, and saw the rug in the main room slide.
Harry. Piper concluded. But to be sure, she grabbed her cloak and tried to follow, but Rory was still awake.
"What are you doing?" She asked.
"I think Harry suck out. He may be trying to get in the restricted section." Piper answered.
"We should help. I'll get Ron and Leo—"
"No wait!" Piper objected, "You guys don't have a way to hide yourselves. You'll get caught for sure."
"I guess your right, but what should I do?"
"Just go back to sleep. I'll let you know If I find anything, but right now I just want to get Harry back here before he gets expelled."
"Good point." Rory concluded. Piper put her hood on so no one would see her and entered the main room, but she lost him. The portrait door was open, and Piper assumed he went to the library. Piper climbed the stairs to the library, making sure to travel as quietly as possible. If she got caught, Ravenclaw would be in so much trouble. She made it to library, and saw it dark and empty, although she was sure to keep her cloak on.
"Come on Harry, where are you?" Piper whispered. After a few minutes of looking and silence, Piper heard a loud scream. Not Harry's, but possibly from a book in the restricted section. Piper ran there as fast as she could, but found nothing. She looked around. There were many interesting books here. Mostly on dark magic, but some on history. Piper walked around, her studious brain taking over. She walked to the end, and found a book on special children of the wizarding world. Piper exhaled sharply. This may be what she was looking for. She removed her hood, and pulled out the book. It was very dusty, but after blowing the dust off, Piper read the table of contents.
Child of the moon, pg 356.
Piper flipped to that page. Not much new information was there, except that they were extremely powerful wizards, born under the light of a full moon.
I guess that's where the name comes from. Piper thought. It also said they were powerful. Piper didn't think herself above anyone else in terms of power. Ability maybe, but not capability. Piper wanted to keep reading, but she instantly remembered, she had to find Harry. She put the book down and ran around the corner, to find Harry, with his cloak off. Piper looked around to make sure no one was near, before revealing herself to Harry.
"Harry, what are you doing here?" Piper whispered.
"Looking for information on Flamel. Is that not what you're doing here?" Harry whispered back.
"No. I'm here to bring you back before we get into trouble."
"Who's there?" A man shouted. Piper gasped. They were about to get caught. She put her hood back on, Harry his cloak, and they slowly and quietly made their way out, as Filch made his way in.
Piper tried her hardest not to breath heavily in her panic. She followed Harry out of the Library and down the corridor.
"Harry, where we going?" Piper asked, "We need to head back—" Piper cut herself off as they turned the corner, to find Professor Snape pushing Professor Quirrell against a wall. Piper tried not to gasp in fear, as she and Harry listened in on their conversation.
"Snape, I...I..." Quirrell stuttered.
"You don't want me as your enemy Quirrell." Snape replied.
"I...d...don't know what you mean."
"You know perfectly well what I mean." Snape stopped himself mid-threat, as he turned around. He must hear their breathing. Piper covered her mouth and stepped back, Harry did the same, as Snape reached out, as if to grab the cloaks. Luckily, they stepped back just far enough, and he found nothing. Dismissing it as paranoia, he turned his attention back to Quirrell.
"We'll have another little chat soon, when you've had time to decide where your loyalties lie." As Piper was about to make a run for it, Filch came around the corner.
"Ah, Professors."
"What do you want Argus?" Snape asked.
"I found signs of students, in the restricted section. There are students out of bed!" Instantly, Filch and the Professors took off in the direction of the library. Piper let out a sigh of relief, as Harry went towards a strange door at the end of the hallway.
"Harry," Piper whispered, following him, "What are you doing?" Harry didn't listen. He opened the door and ran inside. Piper followed, unsure of why, but she followed her friend. They both removed their cloaks.
"We need to get back to the common room Harry." Piper said.
"Why? We haven't found anything on Nicholas Flamel."
"This is not the way to—" Piper turned her head, and saw a strange mirror at the end of the corridor, "What is that?" Piper got a strange feeling from it, like it was, calling her. She and Harry slowly walked towards it. Piper saw her reflection in it, and nothing happened.
"Must just be a simple old mirror." Piper said. She was about to leave, when, in the mirror, she saw the moon mark on her wrist glow. Her eyes widened in awe. She looked down at her wrist, and saw everything was normal, but when she looked back at the mirror, it was still glowing.
"Harry, are you seeing this?" Piper asked.
"I think so." He said.
"Thank you, cause this is freaking me..."
"It's my parents!" He said.
"What?" Piper looked at Harry confused. He wore a big smile on his face, and place his hand on his shoulder.
"It's my parents. I see them in there!"
Piper looked again at the mirror. Her wrist was still glowing.
"What is this thing?" Piper asked softly.
"We have to show the others!" Harry said excitedly. Piper wasn't sure about that, but maybe Rory and Leo would have answers as to the glowing wrist. Piper put her hood back on and ran, as quietly as she could, back to the common room, and found Rory still awake.
"You find anything?" She asked.
"Yes actually. Not about Flamel, but something else." Piper explained, "Harry's getting Ron and Leo, we have to show you something!" Piper opened her cloak, seeing if Rory could fit under it with her, and once they got it on, they set off, bumping into Harry and the guys on their way out.
"Watch it!" Ron said.
"Sorry guys." Piper whispered. When they made it back to the mirror undetected, the cloaks were removed, and Piper and Harry ran right up to it. Piper still saw the mark on her wrist glowing, and Harry was still smiling, so she assumed he still somehow saw his family, instead of the bright blue light on her wrist.
"You guys see that right?" Piper asked.
"See what?" Leo asked confused.
"My wrist is glowing!"
"No, my parents are standing behind me!" Harry said with excitement.
"Guys, it's just you in the mirror. Your normal reflections." Rory observed.
"Come closer guys." Piper urged. The three students came closer and looked hard into the mirror, "What do you see?"
"I see..." Leo started.
"Wicked! I'm head boy!" Ron said loudly, "And, and Quidditch captain? Just like my older brothers!"
"I'm an auror, and my sister's boss!" Rory said, smiling cheekily, "Ha, I get to boss her around once in a while!" Piper giggled.
"I see...me, as a Hogwarts professor, with my siblings, and I'm the head of Ravenclaw house!" Leo finally stated.
"Wow! Do you think this mirror shows the future?" Ron asked.
"How can it? I see my parents, and they're dead." Harry's face dropped. Piper looked confused. What would a glowing wrist have to do with her future?
"I'm sorry Harry." Rory put a hand on his shoulder, "but we should really get back to the common room before we're caught.
"You go ahead. I'll catch up." Piper said, staring into the mirror.
"Me too." Harry budded in.
"Ok. Be careful." Leo stated. Ron, Rory and Leo made their way out of the mirror room, and headed back to the common room.
"What is this thing?" Piper asked aloud, "Why do we see different things? What does it mean?"
"Ah, so you have found it!" A calm voice said. Piper and Harry jerked around, and saw Professor Dumbledore standing by the door where they entered.
Oh no. Piper thought. They've been caught.
"Relax. I'm not going to get you in trouble."
"Why not Professor?" Piper asked.
"Because I believe, whatever we do, we do for a purpose, and usually a good one." Piper sighed. Harry didn't look worried at all, "But it seems, that you two, like so many before you have discovered the joys, of the mirror of erised!" Piper looked at the mirror, "I suppose then, you know what it does?"
"No sir." Harry responded.
"Ah, well then my boy, let me give you a clue. The happiest man on earth, could look in there, and see nothing, but himself, holding onto all that he has."
"So, it shows us, what we want?" Harry asked.
"Yes...and no...It shows us, nothing more then the deepest and most precious desires of our hearts. You Harry, see your parents standing next to you yes?" Harry nodded and smiled, "And you, Miss Kingsley, you see your moon mark glowing?" Piper nodded, "You both want different things. You Harry, wish to know your family, and you Piper, wish to know who you are." Piper looked down in embarrassment, "But I must warn you both. Many good wizards have wasted aways, years of looking into the mirror's gaze, even gone mad. That is why tomorrow, it will be moved to a new safer place, and I must ask you, not to go looking for it." Harry and Piper reluctantly nodded, "It does not do, to dwell on dreams, and forget to live in the present. Now, return to your common room, and be quiet."