The gentle April days slipped away, and subtle signs of summer began to appear across the school grounds. In the evenings, the wind whistling through the castle towers grew warm and lazy. The setting sun cast a honey-colored glow over the Black Lake, and giant squids stretched their tentacles in the shallow water, creating ripples.
At the end of April, both Snape and Pandora passed their Apparition test with flying colors. Abbott, however, was so nervous that when he tried to Apparate, he made a terrible blunder and landed right on top of the poor examiner, even pulling out a few of the examiner's scarce hairs in his panic.
Despite failing the test, Abbott held no grudge against the examiner. In fact, he felt nothing but guilt. "By Merlin's beard," Abbott kept muttering, "Oh, you should've seen his face, absolutely despairing, trembling as he held those few hairs..."
---
One afternoon after Charms class, Professor Flitwick delivered another message from Dumbledore to Snape, asking him to come to the Headmaster's office after dinner.
"Good evening, Professor," Snape said, gently pushing open the oak door. "What do you need me for this time?"
"Good evening, Severus," Dumbledore said kindly. "I have a bit of a predicament that requires your assistance. I'd like to use the Room of Requirement, and I was hoping you could help me open it?"
"Hmm..." Snape scratched his head, feeling a little embarrassed. They had occupied that magical room for quite some time, though most students didn't even know it existed. "Professor, perhaps I could offer you a couple of chamber pots instead? It's perfectly normal for an older gentleman to need them more often during the night, no need to worry yourself too much."
"Hold your tongue, boy," Dumbledore snapped, glaring at him, then rose from behind his desk. "Come with me."
The two walked down the corridor until they reached the entrance to the Room of Requirement. Under Dumbledore's determined gaze, Snape had no choice but to call out Moaning Myrtle using their secret signal. After a familiar rustle, the door appeared on the wall and slowly opened.
Dumbledore followed Snape into the Room of Requirement.
"Headmaster, what are you doing here?" Moaning Myrtle asked, surprised.
Dumbledore smiled and greeted her. Seeing Moaning Myrtle and the special opening mechanism, he couldn't help but let out a soft exclamation of wonder. "What a clever design," he said. "This way, no one can disturb you. However, now I need to use it for something else. Moaning Myrtle, if you wouldn't mind, please come out with us for a moment."
Moaning Myrtle looked to Snape, unsure. "We're going out for a bit," Snape told her, nodding gently. "Go wander around somewhere else for a while, and you can come find me later."
---
Once the Room of Requirement was empty again, Dumbledore walked back and forth along the corridor three times in silence. With his steps, the vanished door reappeared.
Pushing open the door, Snape found they were back in the vast room where Hogwarts teachers and students stored their hidden things. "Professor, are you here to hide something or to find something?" he asked.
Dumbledore didn't answer, weaving through the towering walls of assorted junk. Snape followed closely, arriving at a pile of broken desks and chairs. Dumbledore waved his wand, and a mirror stretching all the way to the ceiling appeared before them. It was a magnificent mirror, with a glittering, ornate golden frame, supported by two claw-shaped feet, and a line of inexplicable text carved into its top.
"The Mirror of Erised," Snape murmured to himself.
"Would you like to look into this mirror, Severus?" Dumbledore turned to Snape, his eyes seeming to hold a hint of expectation. "It is a magical mirror."
"All right," Snape said, curious himself about what he would see. "What harm could it do?" He stepped closer to the Mirror of Erised, standing before it, and held his breath as he gazed into the magical glass. Unexpectedly, he saw only his own calm face in the mirror. Nothing else.
"What do you see in the mirror?" Dumbledore asked.
"I see myself holding a thick pair of woolen socks," Snape replied, without a blush or a flicker in his eyes.
Dumbledore was momentarily stunned, his mouth twitching. "You know, Professor," Snape said, walking away from the mirror without a hint of reluctance, his voice flat, "one can never have enough socks."
"I get no straightforward answers from you," Dumbledore shook his head, then walked to where Snape had just stood and quietly gazed into the Mirror of Erised. There was no expression on his face, no movement in his body.
Snape quietly sat on an old desk nearby, waiting for the Headmaster without a word. The room was so silent that only their soft breathing could be heard. Dumbledore stood there for a moment.
"All right, Severus," the Headmaster suddenly spoke, turning away from the mirror. "We can go back now."
---
"Professor, may I ask you a question?" Snape said, pushing himself off the desk to stand on the floor.
"Are you not asking me a question already?" Dumbledore said gently. "However, you may ask me one more."
"I won't ask you what you saw when you looked into the mirror," Snape said, looking up and quietly reading the letters on the mirror backward. "'I show not your face but your heart's desire.'"
"Oh," Dumbledore said, a hint of surprise in his voice. "It seems you've already guessed what this mirror does."
"Yes," Snape said softly. "You haven't seen it in a long time, have you, Professor? Do you miss it?"
"A little, perhaps," Dumbledore said with a smile. "Indeed, I haven't seen it in many years."
Snape stood before the magical mirror again, took another look at himself in the glass, then turned to Dumbledore and said, "Professor, what do you think is most important to elderly people?"
"That's a third question, Severus," Dumbledore said. "But I can still answer you: I believe it is family."
"Then do you intend to seek the Resurrection Stone?" Snape asked, his eyes holding a hint of inquiry. He stared intently at Dumbledore, not wanting to miss any subtle change in his expression.
"Not now," Dumbledore said calmly.
"Perhaps you should take this mirror with you?"
"Let's go."
Dumbledore waved his wand, making the Mirror of Erised vanish, and walked towards the entrance of the Room of Requirement without looking back. In the dim light, his tall figure seemed a little lonely.