Professor Dumbledor was usually a very relaxed man. True, all his duties kept him quite busy, but that was never a problem for him. At least not when everything went according to plan, which it usually does. Occasionally he had to give someone a slight push in the right direction, but that was the most that he usually had to interfere.
Sadly, all of this changed yesterday when he found Draco Malfoy staring into the mirror Nerhegeb. After all, he expected to find Harry there, just like he arranged, but for whatever reason, young Malfoy beat him to it.
That in itself wasn’t what was concerning him, no that would be what happened afterward and the consequences it implies. It still is a mystery to him why the young Malfoy was swallowed by the mirror, but he is sure that it's a mystery that can be solved with enough research.
Until now even he believed that the mirror was only able to show someone his heart's greatest desire, but this was obviously wrong. To him it looks like there is much more about this ancient artifact and he can’t help but wonder about how much more the mirror is capable of and how much knowledge had been lost to time.
He is ripped out of his musings when he hears someone knocking at the door to his office. He allows them to enter and isn’t surprised in the slightest when Professor Mc Gonagall leads Draco’s parents into his office.
He dreaded the conversation that was about to take place now and he would have preferred if he had more time to prepare himself, but it looks like his luck had finally run out.
“Where is my son?” Lucius demanded to know from him, causing Minerva to frown in confusion, either from the man's unusual bluntness or the fact that she hadn’t been informed about last night's events.
“I think it would be better if I just show you all rather than trying to explain something even I don’t understand fully.” He replied to everyone’s surprise, walking over to his pensieve that he had been unable to store at its usual spot till now.
Professor McGonagall turns to leave the room when she is stopped by the headmaster's voice. “Minerva, I think this is something you should see as well.”
The deputy headmistress stops halfway to the door and turns around, looking as surprised as the Malfoys about that statement. “I hope you know what you are doing, Albus.” She replies on her way over to the Pensieve where everyone is already waiting for her.
“So do I.” He responds shortly before entering the Pensieve on his own, followed by the others.
Soon everyone finds themselves following a second Professor Dumbledore down, a large and empty corridor. The few windows they pass lets everyone know that it’s late at night. Even if they are surprised by this, it’s ignored for now, focusing their attention on Dumbledore unwilling to miss anything that could be important.
It doesn’t take long for him to stop in front of a door, and while the Malfoys have no idea why this particular door, Professor Mcgonagll already gets a sinking suspicion about what could have happened
When Professor Dumbledor enters the room, she is only partly surprised by what she sees. While she already knew that the mirror Nerhegeb would be there, she is as surprised as the Malfoys, when she spots Draco sitting directly in front of it with one hand laid on its surface.
When Draco is called by name, he flinches before hastily trying to get up and trips over the hem of his cloak. No one is surprised when he stumbles forward, but that changes as he falls right on the mirror only to disappear into it.
Mere moments after this, everyone gets ejected out of the memory and finds themselves back in Professor Dumbledors office. “I have watched this memory a few times after this happened yesterday in an attempt to understand what caused this.” He says quickly, not giving anyone the chance to voice their opinion first. “Sadly, without success.”
“Did you examine the mirror itself, or have you focused purely on the memory till now?” Narzsissa Malfoy asks, concerned about her son. Unlike her husband, she sees more in Draco than just a tool to achieve her goals.
“I wanted to wait until the department of mysteries sends a team to help with that.” He replies as calmly as ever, not expecting that everyone is looking at him in disbelief, once he finishes his sentence.
“Lead the way,” all three reply in unison, making him feel very uncomfortable all of a sudden. Without a second thought he walks towards his door and does as requested, unwilling to find out what would happen should he refuse to cooperate.
Disappointment, that's all this visit is till now. Yes, we got some answers, but none of them was anywhere close to what we had hoped. Truly, that old fool didn’t really expect to find any answers, except the obvious ones in that memory.
One glance in it was enough for me to get all of the possible answers out of it. Honestly, what else did he hope to learn from it, except the fact that he startled my Draco when he tried to get his attention?
The time he wasted in that memory would have been better used if he had just examined this mirror. Truly, there must be something Dumbledore could have learned from it if he would just have used his brain for once.
Something changes as we step into the room Professor Dumbledore leads us too, not physically mind you, no it’s more like a feeling. I let go of my husband's hand and walk past him and the two others, directly towards the mirror.
“Narzissa, STOP!” I hear Lucius calling out to me but it’s already too late, as I reach the mirror. Whatever this feeling is, it calls out for me to step into the glass and after a very brief moment of consideration, I give in to it.
I don’t know what I expected to happen but certainly not finding myself in the living room of my parents mansion at Grimmauld Place. It only takes me a moment to spot the woman sitting in the recliner chair, next to the burning fireplace. She gestures for me to sit down in a similar chair opposite to her. “Why am I here?”
“After Draco passed through here, I thought it best to talk with you. Do not worry, he is fine.” She answers my question and the one I wanted to voice next without hesitation. Somewhat surprised I think for a moment what to ask next, but again, the mysterious woman is faster than me. “A lot of things changed when he passed through here and I know that unlike your husband, you care deeply for that colt.”
“Will I ever see him again?” I ask the strange woman the most important question of all that comes to my mind.
“Perhaps, but I need your help to make that possible.”
“What do I have to do?” I ask without hesitation, wanting nothing more than to hold my little boy in my arms again.
Barely five minutes had passed since they arrived in the empty classroom and Mrs. Malfoy walked straight into the mirror. Everyone is wondering how that is even possible when the mirror suddenly begins to glow and much to everyone's surprise, Narzissa Malfoy walks out of it again.
Professor Dumbledore is the first to recover from the shock from her sudden reappearance. “Mrs. Malfoy, can you tell us what happened to you?” He asks curiously, never having seen anything like this before.
“No,” she replies coldly, all eyes in the room focused on her. “But I have a message for you.” The headmaster raises an eyebrow in confusion, but does nothing else, except waiting for her to continue.
“You shall continue with your plan for now. And don’t bother to study the mirror, she already closed the Portal and none of us will be able to recreate the circumstances that opened it in the first place.”
“And what about Draco?” Lucius asks her slightly worried, but everyone present knows that he isn’t worried about the child's wellbeing, instead, he is worried about the plans he had for the boy.
“He is gone.” She replies saddened, making everyone believe this to be true. She knows that this isn’t the case, but she can’t say the truth, at least not in the company of her husband.
The Malfoys have a quick discussion between themselves, but when the topic becomes too emotional, Lucius decides that this isn’t the proper place and that they instead should continue their talk at home. They quickly say their goodbyes, leaving two slightly surprised Professors behind. After all, it isn’t everyday that you witness a noble family arguing in front of you.
Quite some time passes until both of the Professors are able to comprehend what they just witnessed, before they turn their attention back to their own concerns. “You know that she lied about Draco as much as I do, right?” Professor McGonagall speaks up, wondering if Lucius saw through his wife's game.
“Yes and I can only wonder why, but that isn’t what worries me.” He replies with a frown on his face, wondering about the creature Mrs Malfoy was talking about and what her intentions are. A new player had appeared and made it very clear that it wants to interfere with his plans and he can only hope that whoever it may be doesn’t intend to work against him.
“But I fear that this is something only time will tell.” He ends his statement, before he decides to go back to his office. After all, there is much he has to think of now.