The story with the Philosopher's Stone couldn't wait. With each passing day, the danger grew closer. Quirrell could take the stone at any moment.
The first thing Barry did after returning to Hogwarts was to visit the forbidden section of the school library. Fortunately, he now had a cloak to hide in.
But before Barry could reach it, he heard Filch's footsteps. Yes, it was quite dangerous to walk around at night if you didn't want to get caught by the omnipresent caretaker.
And apparently, he heard the footsteps too, so the boy had to act very quickly — he rushed into the first room he came across. There he waited for the footsteps to fade away, but when he turned around, he saw a huge mirror standing in the middle of the room.
"Oh, my God," Allen remembered what that mirror was.
He approached it and began to look closely at his reflection. Or rather, not quite his own, for before him stood a small boy of about eleven, with dark, tousled hair and glasses. But suddenly the reflection began to change.
And now Barry was standing in front of himself.
Not an alternate version of himself from this world, but himself. A grown man of thirty. During the almost year that had passed, Barry had missed his home world, his friends and loved ones very much.
And then she stood next to Barry... His girlfriend, sister, wife... Iris took Barry by the hand, looking at him. Of course, in reality, he was standing alone and no one was holding his hand.
Then another member of the West-Allen family appeared. Burrow looked at him with a sincere smile, and Barry himself had to remember the hardest moments of his life. His daughter from the future dissolved right before his eyes. He didn't even get to see her being born in the present. Iris was pregnant before the Crisis, and Barry fought hardest to return to his wife and his future daughter. Even if she was born a completely different person with a different history, the person standing in Einal's mirror was the same Burrow West Allen who had travelled back in time to help him with Cicada. How much joy and pain her reflection alone brought him.
And then they appeared. His real parents, the very ones. They stood behind Barry and smiled modestly at him. A new wave of pain struck his heart. First, the Reverse Flash killed his mother, and then Zoom pierced his father's heart right in front of Barry.
Finally, Joe appeared, followed by Cisco and Caitlin. They all smiled at him, but Barry didn't feel like smiling at all.
"I miss you," Barry whispered softly. "I miss you."
Barry's mother took him by the shoulder, smiling sadly and sympathetically at him. After that, he couldn't hold back. He fell to his knees, then sat down, hugging himself, and began to sob quietly...
***
"Guys! Guys!" Harry ran into the room to his friends.
Barry and Ron woke up, rubbing their eyes sleepily.
"What's wrong?" asked Weasley.
"Come with me, I've got something to show you.
The boys didn't ask any more questions and got up to follow their friend. Harry led them into a room with a mirror, where he first stood Ron in front of it.
"What? What do you see?" Potter asked him.
The boy stood there with a puzzled look on his face, then looked very surprised.
"Myself," replied Weasley. "But I'm older... I'm the head boy! I have a Quidditch cup. Wow!
"What?" asked the double, then stood in front of the mirror himself. "Wow, I can see myself too. Oh, I'm older too... There's a woman next to me. We're married!"
"What is this, Harry?" asked Ron. "Does this mirror show the future?"
"I don't know," shrugged "Harry." "But I saw my parents. I'm unlikely to meet them in the future..."
"Maybe this mirror shows our desires," suggested Barry. "That's very interesting..."
"Does that mean you want to get married or something?" Ron grinned.
"Well, yes, I have rather mundane desires, so what?!" Barry crossed his arms over his chest. "I'm not judging you for wanting to be head boy!
"I wasn't judging you," the boy frowned.
Meanwhile, Harry glanced sideways at the mirror. He really did see his parents there, but not the ones his friends would have thought of. Ron put his hand on his shoulder, trying to cheer him up.
***
Barry had been spending a lot of time in front of this mirror lately, talking to his loved ones from his previous life. Like now, for example.
"Hello, Barry.
The boy was startled. The voice did not belong to anyone in the mirror. He stood up and turned around, noticing the owner of the voice. Albus Dumbledore himself. Damn...
"How did you..." Allen wanted to ask, but the headmaster interrupted him.
"Your desires gave you away," he shrugged. "But don't be afraid, I'm not going to hurt you.
"I wasn't afraid,"
"That's good," the headmaster said, coming closer to the mirror and examining it. "This mirror is a wonderful thing, but it is also very dangerous. A happy person who approaches this mirror will see only himself. Everyone else will see the most secret desires of their hearts. The longer you look into it, the more likely you are to lose touch with reality. We should get rid of it altogether, so there's no more temptation...
They stood there silently for several minutes until the director continued.
"I wonder how you came to occupy Harry Potter's body?" The man tilted his head slightly to one side.
"Honestly, I don't know, sir," Barry replied. "I was supposed to come this way, but something went wrong and I ended up in a different body... The real Harry Potter is bedridden with some serious illness, which is why my soul took over his body.
"Are you from the future?"
"You could say that...
"And who sent you?
"You probably don't know him... He calls himself Mar Novu.
"Monitor," Dumbledore nodded. "Yes, I've heard of him. A legendary figure... He has an evil brother..."
"The Anti-Monitor," Barry interrupted. "I fought him in my time."
"Apparently, things will be so bad in the future that they sent you here...
"If Harry Potter doesn't defeat Voldemort in the future, it could lead to extremely unfortunate consequences.
"Of course. That's why you're here, isn't it? To do what the real Harry was supposed to do?
"Yes.
Dumbledore smiled mysteriously, which made Barry a little wary. This man knew his deepest secret, and Allen was afraid that he might use it against him.
"Well, do what you must," Albus nodded in agreement. "After all, we're on the same side."
Barry nodded gratefully and quickly ran back to his room. In any case, the wizard's behaviour did not inspire any joy and only made him feel tense.
***
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