Chapter 252 - 252: The Mirror of Erised

Words : 1754 Updated : Oct 13th, 2025

Barty Crouch Jr.'s face darkened at once. Gripping his wand tightly, he strode toward Harry. "Very well…You really are full of surprises, Harry. Just like—" Harry could only retreat step by step. At that moment, Edward knew he could wait no longer. He immediately shouted in Ancient Hermes: "Magic is forbidden in this place." Barty's footsteps faltered—he clearly froze for a second—then, without hesitation, took a step back. A sharp dagger appeared in his hand. Yet after invoking [Prohibition], Edward felt a moment of stunned confusion: This empty room...no Voldemort, no Aberforth, no phoenix Fawkes—nothing happened besides magic being suppressed. It had only been Edward's guess that Voldemort might be hiding under an Invisibility Charm—but what about Aberforth and Fawkes? Why weren't they here either? Just then, Barty gave a wide, eerie grin. "Are you looking for Dumbledore's brother and that phoenix?" Edward didn't respond. Something was wrong—very wrong. This Barty was absolutely not right! Without hesitation, Edward drew his revolver and fired five consecutive shots. The weapon's immense power drove Barty back again and again. His head, neck, heart, and shoulder blades were all pierced by smoking bullet holes, and black-red blood gushed out. But Barty didn't die. As if he didn't feel pain, he forcefully stabbed the dagger into his own palm and lunged straight at Edward. Distortion! Edward twisted his movement mid-leap, then pulled out a few coins and hurled them: "Magnify!" The Magnified coins became far more lethal than ordinary bullets. They shattered both of Barty's legs, sending him crashing to the ground with a heavy thud. Still, Barty tilted his head back and grinned. "Do you know why I worked with goblins and brought so many Death Eaters to attack Hogwarts?" "If I acted alone in secret, wouldn't it have been much harder to detect?" Edward frowned deeply, pulling out more coins. "Sorry—I'm not interested in your evil monologue." Barty chuckled hoarsely. "Hogwarts Castle…it's not just a fortress. It's a magical construct. A seal." He gave a chilling grin. "Guess what it's sealing?" "You're not Barty Crouch Jr.!" Edward suddenly said in a low voice. Barty froze. Blood tears began to trickle from his eyes. "I am him…and yet I am not. I'm someone who died…and lived again." Then, he abruptly changed the subject and chanted a string of words that sounded like a name: "Erised stra ehru oyt ube cafru oyt on wohsi." Edward instantly recognised the phrase—it was the inscription carved onto the Mirror of Erised. But its correct reading was meant to be reversed: "I show not your face but your heart's desire." But now he realised—who said the reversed version was the true one?! Edward's heart jolted. Without hesitation, he flung the coins in his hand. Bang, bang, bang! Barty's head exploded like a watermelon—followed quickly by his entire body. Edward lifted the Prohibition, raised his wand, and cast Fiendfyre, ensuring Barty was completely erased from existence. Just then, Harry let out a shrill, agonised scream, clutching his head. "Ahhh!!!—" From his forehead, a grotesque, baby-like face seemed to be trying to tear through his skull and crawl out. Voldemort?! He had been hiding inside Harry this whole time?! No wonder—no wonder Barty had gone to such lengths to bring Harry all the way here! "AHH!!" Harry and Voldemort screamed in unison as a translucent figure began to separate from Harry's body. Pale, noseless, and utterly distorted—it looked like a monster. "Light of Holiness!" Golden, illusory flames surged forth, clinging to Voldemort's body like maggots on rotting flesh. "Magnify—Avada Kedavra!" The deep green Killing Curse struck true. Voldemort let out a final, harrowing shriek—and was annihilated. "Voldemort…is dead?" Edward couldn't help but doubt it—Voldemort had been notoriously hard to kill in the original story. Suddenly, the Mirror of Erised lit up, emitting a faint glow. The fading Voldemort seemed to be caught in an invisible force—and in an instant, he was sucked into the mirror. A second later, the mirror's surface turned pitch black, and then—like a doorway—it slowly opened inward. From within, countless pale, corpse-like arms reached out, accompanied by the wails and screams of who-knew-how-many people. "What the hell is this?!" Edward instinctively took a step back—only to see Harry, like a puppet, walking stiffly and expressionlessly toward the mirror now teeming with grasping hands. "Magnify—Distort!" Edward tried to distort Harry's path, but it was useless. Harry kept walking toward the mirror at a steady, unwavering pace. "Flavido!" With no other choice, Edward pulled out a random object from his pocket, transfigured it into a chain, and hurled it at Harry—binding him tightly and forcefully pulling him back, buying a little time. Apparition. Just as Edward was about to flash over and grab Harry to leave, he suddenly felt his spirituality tremble violently. Countless voices seemed to scream inside his mind: Don't go near! Don't go near! "Magnify—Fiendfyre!" A crimson flame burst out of thin air and surged toward the Mirror of Erised. The pale, corpse-like arms reaching out from the mirror were either reduced to ashes under the blaze or hurriedly retracted in fear. Fiendfyre quickly crawled across the surface of the mirror. But even with the power of Magnify added to it, the fire that was said to destroy anything did not leave a single mark on the Mirror of Erised. Instead, a vortex inside the mirror swallowed the cursed fire completely. And then, the retreating white arms surged outward once more. Edward conjured a metallic dome and slammed it down over the Mirror of Erised. But the dome lasted less than a few seconds before it was violently corroded, fractured, and sucked into the mirror as if devoured. "What the hell is this Mirror of Erised?!" Shock flooded Edward's heart. Suddenly, the chains in his hand went taut. Before he could react, he was yanked forward—Harry had started pulling him toward the mirror. Edward looked up to find another Voldemort face emerging from Harry's scarred forehead! Two Voldemorts?! No—Edward instantly understood. The one he had killed earlier must have been the soul fragment embedded in the Horcrux! "Light of Holiness! Avada Kedavra!" He prepared to repeat his earlier tactic, aiming to kill Voldemort again. But the moment Voldemort detached from Harry's body, he didn't hesitate at all—he darted straight toward the Mirror of Erised. "Hahahaha! Success! It finally worked! Hahahahaha!!" The golden flames and green Killing Curse struck him simultaneously, turning his laugh into a shriek of agony—but it did not stop him. Voldemort plunged straight into the mirror. At the same time, Harry seemed to be dragged by some invisible force, stumbling after Voldemort and lurching toward the mirror. "Damn it!" Edward twisted space and appeared in front of Harry, seizing his arm, ready to Apparate again. But he failed. An overwhelming suction force erupted from the mirror. Dozens of ghastly white arms shot out, grabbing Edward's limbs and clothes, dragging him in bit by bit. "No teleportation allowed here." "No dragging others!" "Magnify, Distortion!" He quickly tried all sorts of abilities—none worked. "Bloody hell, I don't want to be a self-sacrificing hero!" With all his strength, Edward shoved Harry away— —and the next second, he was completely pulled into the Mirror of Erised, engulfed by those pale hands and that dreadful force. Bang! The "door" within the mirror slammed shut. The faint glow on the mirror surface vanished. The Mirror of Erised returned to its original, ordinary state— As if…nothing had happened. Minutes later, the future Edward stepped out of invisibility, his face grim. He stood silently in front of the mirror, his expression complicated. He had almost intervened just now. But his spirituality had screamed at him not to—if he had rushed in, he too would have been pulled into the mirror. He had prepared to use [Madman to the Right] to reverse the outcome—but then he remembered Dumbledore's warning before returning: Always listen to your spiritual intuition. On top of that, he recalled several recent divinations—visions of a pitch-black mirror…a black door… Wasn't that exactly what he had just seen inside the Mirror of Erised? So I was pulled into the Mirror of Erised…and that's why I lost my memory? The "me" that Audrey and the others saw in the past few days—was actually the future me who returned afterward?! —"I'm not changing the past. I'm fulfilling it."— So this is what that means… Everything suddenly clicked into place. But one question remained— Where exactly does the Mirror of Erised lead to? What happened to me inside? Why did I lose five days of memory? Then it hit him. Voldemort. The way he behaved during his second appearance made it abundantly clear—He had always been aiming for the Mirror of Erised. He and Barty Jr. had gone to such lengths not for the Philosopher's Stone, but to get into the mirror from the very beginning. Combined with previous theories from the Chamber of Secrets incident—Voldemort had always wanted to find the dwelling of the gods. He wanted to become a god. So the world inside the Mirror of Erised…could very well be the dwelling of the divine spoken of by Salazar Slytherin?! The Mirror of Erised = the gateway to the divine realm?! Just then, Harry suddenly sat up, glancing around in a panic before spotting Edward. "Huh? You're…" Edward immediately reverted to his original appearance. "It's me, Harry." "Edward! What are you doing here? That Death Eater—?" "Taken care of." "What about Voldemort?" Harry's face went pale, his eyes filled with fear. "I felt it just now…He was hiding inside me the entire time." "Voldemort…escaped." "Ah…" Edward walked over and helped him to his feet. "Alright, let's get out of here." He paused for a moment, then tucked the Mirror of Erised into his pouch. Just then, Harry suddenly blurted, "Edward—just now, to stop Voldemort from getting the Philosopher's Stone…I—I swallowed it!" Edward gave him a thumbs-up. "Nice! True Gryffindor spirit! Bold and brash!" Whether the Sailor Pathway known for its recklessness suited Harry, Edward wasn't sure. But one thing was certain— The Tarot Club would definitely suit him. Harry flushed with embarrassment. "No…I mean…my stomach really hurts. I need to go to the bathroom…" ——— [Note]: Don't forget to VOTE. It keeps me motivated.

Chapter 252 - 252: The Mirror of Erised

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