There were still a few days left before the magical disciplinary hearing, so with nothing else to do, Harry kept visiting the Broken Axe Inn to check on the progress of its construction, offering suggestions along the way—after all, he was most familiar with Muggle hotels.
Watching the hotel rapidly take shape—with the comfort and elegance of Muggle design infused with the unique atmosphere of the wizarding world—Harry felt quite a sense of accomplishment.
Hagrid would occasionally drop by as well. He wasn't comfortable leaving a child like Harry unsupervised.
The two made quite a comical pair, sitting side by side with such a drastic difference in size.
While chatting about the Ministry's recent petty troublemaking, Harry casually remarked that if Dumbledore were the Minister of Magic, there wouldn't be so much nonsense.
Hagrid, the big oaf, went silent for a moment and stared at Harry.
Harry was speechless and nudged him. "Hagrid, we're having a conversation—how could you fall asleep?"
Hagrid: "…I didn't fall asleep."
"Your eyes were shut and you say you weren't asleep?"
"My eyebrows are just too long."
Harry: "…"
Then Hagrid hesitated before finally saying, "Maybe there are some things you can know… but you must never let Dumbledore know I told you."
Ooh, gossip.
Still uneasy, Hagrid looked around warily before lowering his voice. "When Professor Dumbledore was young, he was very ambitious. He had grand visions—he thought the Ministry had many flaws and wanted sweeping reforms. He was determined to become Minister of Magic and fulfill all his ideals. At that time, he was also deeply interested in powerful dark magic. He was practically…"
Harry smacked his lips. What could have made Dumbledore change and start pursuing love and justice? It must've been a tragic story.
Hagrid stopped mid-sentence and continued, "Then, because of an accident, Dumbledore's beloved younger sister died. The Professor blamed himself deeply, believed he bore inescapable responsibility—that it was his ambition that led to the tragedy…"
"So now you understand why Professor Dumbledore refuses to take the post of Minister. Because if he did, every day he served would be a painful reminder of how his ambition caused his sister's death."
That day, after waking up in the Muggle hotel, several owls flew in. Only after reading the letters did Harry realize—it was his birthday.
Who would've thought that this boy, just turning twelve today, had only been eleven a year ago?
There were a few ordinary birthday letters from classmates, and some cautious, delicately worded greetings from girls in other houses. If Harry didn't notice their intentions, that would've been stranger. Girls he barely knew were writing him letters and even sending handmade gifts—if that wasn't obvious enough, what was?
But Harry could only sigh. He truly didn't have any feelings for them. Just thinking about having to coldly brush off a few innocent little girls made him feel like a real scumbag.
Hermione and Cho's letters, on the other hand, were perfectly in character. Just seeing the handwriting, Harry could picture them standing before him, speaking those exact words.
One with a slightly annoyed expression, nose scrunched, speaking while tilting her head upward, venting her feelings at Harry with a hint of petulance. The other calm and composed, with a steady tone.
Even Dumbledore had sent a gift—a small chest.
The attached note was simple: "Hope you like your birthday present."
When Harry opened the chest, something large suddenly sprang out.
It was a massive mirror.
Harry was no stranger to this mirror.
It was the Mirror of Erised, the very one Dumbledore had used to hide the Philosopher's Stone.
Harry hadn't expected Dumbledore to actually give it to him.
Never mind its magical power—its value alone was no small matter.
It seemed Dumbledore's estate was even more impressive than Harry had imagined...
But what to do with the mirror?
Though many would certainly love to collect it, Harry wasn't one of them.
To him, it was just a mirror.
He stood before the towering glass.
It faithfully reflected everything.
Hmm. I look even more handsome now.
The legend surrounding the mirror that circulated in the wizarding world clearly didn't work on Harry.
Shrinking the mirror down and returning it to the chest, Harry already knew what he wanted to do with it.
Wasn't there someone who needed it? A pitiful man.
At Hogwarts.
In the Headmaster's office.
The Mirror of Erised had once stood here.
Dumbledore had served as headmaster of the school for decades.
Over the years, many gifted young witches and wizards had come into that office and gazed into the magical mirror.
It reflected their dreams, ambitions, desires.
Dumbledore would then assume the guise of a wise man, explaining how many became lost in the mirror's illusions, unable to free themselves.
He'd warn them that as they grew, they'd encounter more and more illusions like these—and that they must hold fast to their will.
Many students were truly moved by this experience and stayed on the right path because of it, avoiding darker roads.
And yet—who would've guessed that this so-called wise man was the most addicted to the illusion himself? He had gazed into that mirror countless times.
Whenever he was tired, confused, weary, or lost, he would glance back at the Mirror of Erised—and there she was, always smiling, waving at him.
That woman seemed to remind him constantly not to stray from his path.
Perhaps Dumbledore became the leader and role model of the wizarding world thanks, in large part, to the presence of that woman in the mirror.
And today, Dumbledore had decided to give the mirror away.
Looking back now, all he saw was a wall covered in photographs. That figure was gone.
His eyes held both sorrow and release—as if something inside him had finally been freed.
He should've done this long ago. All those things he'd said to others who stood before the mirror—hadn't they really been for himself? He just never had the courage to let go.
But now, he had.
He had freed himself from the heavy shackles of guilt.
Harry, of course, didn't know any of these details.
After learning Professor Snape's address, Harry used "Magic Express Delivery" to have the mirror sent straight to him. (It's like a magical version of a delivery service.)
As for how he got the address, that was thanks to Hermione.
Apparently, when she'd first enrolled, her Muggle parents didn't fully understand how wizarding schools worked.
Thinking it was like Muggle schools, they asked their daughter to find out the teachers' home addresses for future visits.
And she had. Though Harry suspected they'd never actually visited—most professors lived in magical settlements, and you wouldn't find their street names on Google Maps.
Snape was a rare exception. He lived in a Muggle town, on a street called Spinner's End.
Spinner's End
In a corner of the street stood a cramped, dingy little house.
This shabby building didn't match its surroundings at all, as though sunlight stopped short of reaching it, casting it permanently into shadow.
Anyone with a good memory would recall what had happened here twenty years ago.
A woman who cried all day. A man who drank himself into a rage and beat her. A boy in tattered clothes who always stared out the window at children his age.
No one wanted anything to do with them.
Those now in their thirties who had grown up here would still remember that only one girl had ever played with that boy everyone else hated.
But eventually, she moved away too.
Later, the man and woman in that little house died, leaving only the boy behind.
And then the boy vanished.
Everyone thought he'd never come back—but he did.
He returned as an adult, disappearing for long stretches every year, only appearing during school holidays.
People speculated about his work. The theories ranged from drifter, thief, conman, to fugitive hiding from the law.
His greasy hair hadn't seen a comb in who knew how long. If he had a beard, he'd be indistinguishable from a tramp.
Though he wore a strange, luxurious-looking robe, it dragged on the ground and didn't fit. It was clear he only had the one. Probably stolen.
His odd temperament and gloomy expression…
No wonder the neighborhood kids whispered that he was creepy… and avoided him entirely. (Humorous tone.)
Snape couldn't care less how these Muggles looked at him.
Hmph. Mere Muggles.
If he let such things bother him, he might as well spend his time figuring out how to get Harry Potter expelled from Hogwarts.
Though he knew that was near impossible. That shining, righteous, always-right Dumbledore would never let such a thing happen.
Now, he was just staring at a box.
Who would send him something?
Cautiously, he stood at a distance and used magic to open it.
A massive mirror sprang out—facing him directly.
Snape's eyes locked onto it instantly. He couldn't look away.
Even his ever-present wand dropped from his hand without notice.
At this moment, Snape was at his most defenseless.
What did he see in the mirror?
It was a scene from more than twenty years ago. Blue skies, white clouds, two children lying on a lush green lawn beside a big willow tree, chatting happily…
It had been the happiest day of that boy's life. He had learned that they would attend the same school.
Harry Potter was wondering…
What would Snape see in the mirror?
It had to be Lily, right? It must be Lily.
-
-
-
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
⚡🦉 THE REBIRTH OF HARRY POTTER 🦉⚡
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
📢 MAGIC REBORN! 📢
The Rebirth of Harry Potter has 100+ chapters ahead available on Patreon! ⚡📚
The wizarding world is changing.
Old destinies twist, familiar names return under new shadows, and magic itself may follow a different path this time.
🪄 A second chance.
🌙 A different fate.
⚡ A wizarding world reborn.
Discover the new path before public readers catch up.
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
🛑 ALSO AVAILABLE ON PATREON:
🌃 Cyberpunk: Dogtown Legend
🔥 Cyberpunk: The Relentless
👩👦 Cyberpunk: Lucy Adopted Me and I Got a System
🧠 My Cyberpunk 2077 Simulator
🤖 My Girlfriend's a Cyberpsycho—Who Knew?
🛡️ Star Wars: The Rise of Mandalore
🌌 Star Wars: Relics of the Past
🏰 Game of Thrones: Secrets Beneath the Dreadfort
🌹 R18: Reincarnated in Her World
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
🔗 Patreon: www.patreon.com/c/MrMagnus
👤 Patreon Name: SrMagnus
🐦 X / Twitter: https://x.com/SrMagnusBook
⚠️ Vote with Power Stones for faster updates!
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━