Mirror of Erised Room

[Administrator]

...At least it was until the Mirror was moved to a "safer home," you might say. Now it's just a large, empty room.

[Judy Kelley]

It was late. It was very late, far past the time students were supposed to be in their common rooms or, rather, in bed. Judy was in neither of those places. Instead, she was sprinting down the corridor. She could hear Filch’s footsteps behind her. He hadn’t seen her face as of yet, so she didn’t dare look back to see how close he was, afraid of giving away her identity. Judy had nearly walked straight into his path while on the second floor and he’d followed after her up two more floors. He was persistent if nothing else.

Judy ducked around a corner and, hearing Filch closing in on one end of the hall and Mrs. Norris mewing on the other, she tugged on the handle of a large, wooden door in the middle of the corridor. It was locked. Judy pulled out her wand and, after muttering, “Shit,” pointed it at the door and gave it a quick wave, whispering, “Alohamora!” If she was lucky, Filch wouldn’t catch her—waltzing around the castle at this hour was bad enough, but the caretaker would have her head if he caught her doing magic in the corridors as well.

Because Hogwarts only had the illusion of security, the door swung open and Judy hurried inside, quickly pushing it closed behind her. Wherever she was, it was pitch black. Judy desperately hoped nothing was waiting in the dark to kill her.

“Lumos!” With a flick of her wand, a small light appeared and Judy hastily moved it around the room. As far as she could tell, the chamber was empty. There were a few windows, but, due to the clouds lurking just in front of the moon, it didn’t do much to help the lack of adequate lighting. Hogwarts was dark that night.

“Found anyone, my sweet?”

Judy nearly jumped ten feet in the air at the sound of Filch’s voice. She covered the tip of her wand with her hand and pressed her ear against the door. If her guess was correct, he was right outside of it. Mrs. Norris meowed and Filch said, “Come on, I know they’re ‘round ‘ere somewhere.”

Five minutes must have passed, during which Judy stood silently, listening at the door. Finally, she slowly pulled it open a crack and peeked out, half-thinking Filch was going to pop out of nowhere and drag her by the ear to see Professor Snape, who would be most displeased with her, even if she did have a good reason for out of bed (though Judy suspected Snape wouldn't exactly agree with her on that).

Luckily, Filch and Mrs. Norris were nowhere in sight. Letting out a sigh of relief, Judy whispered, “Nox,” pulled the door open all the way, and leaned against the door frame, breathing heavily. It was an awful lot of work to get back a Rita Skeeter photograph.

[Charlie Constantine]

Charlie wished Martha hadn't gotten it into her furry head to befriend Filch's mangy cat. Sure, he appreciated the sentiment, and it was nice of Martha to give the foul-tempered feline a chance, but her generosity meant that Charlie had to get up in the middle of the night to make sure that Martha didn't get herself clawed to bits by Mrs. Norris. She had already come back with patches of fur torn out two days running, and Charlie knew it wouldn't be long before Mrs. Norris took off an ear.

"Martha!" Charlie whispered from his hiding place in a patch of dark shadows. "Martha, get back here!"

Martha looked over her shoulder at him. Meow, she replied emphatically.

"I know you mean well, Martha, but you're going to get us both hung up from Filch's ceiling if you keep this up."

Meow, Martha replied, sounding wounded by Charlie's lack of compassion.

Charlie knew that something had to be done. Rolling up the arms of his Chinese Fireball patterned pajamas, he darted forward, grabbed a startled Martha by the scruff of the neck and ducked into the first room he saw, getting the door closed just as he heard the soft pad of unfamiliar paws turn the corner.

Martha gave a low yowl and made sure to give Charlie a pointed scratch on his arm as she jumped down.

"I think that was highly uncalled for," Charlie said, wincing. "I only have your best interests at heart, you know." Then he realized he and Martha weren't alone in the room. "Oh, hello. So you're here too, are you? Lovely night for it."

[Judy Kelley]

Judy leapt from the doorframe as a boy in ridiculous bed-wear charged into the room and shut the door. Judy’s grip tightened around her wand and she retreated further into the darkness of the room. Not that someone who wore clothing covered in dragons was particularly threatening – Judy had to make sure he wasn’t going to snitch on her first. If he was...she’d simply have to tattle on him first.

Mrrooow!

Was that a cat? It couldn’t be Mrs. Norris, could it? Had someone kidnapped Filch’s cat? Judy stepped closer to examine the cat and immediately recognized her. Judy shook her head as she walked toward its owner. “Charlie,” she muttered. Aside from Filch, he was the only person she knew who shared an inseparable friendship with a feline.

"Oh, hello. So you're here too, are you?"

Judy folded her arms over her chest. The only greeting she offered was a blank stare. She felt Charlie was behaving rather foolishly. ”So you’re here too...” Well, obviously she was there. He was making small talk. And Judy hated small talk.

"Lovely night for it."

Judy arched her right eyebrow. It was an act she was quite proud of; her face remained absolutely still and, in one rapid movement, her eyebrow arched and she fixed her victim with the most judgmental look she could muster up. It took her years to perfect it.

After moments of silence, Judy looked the Hufflepuff up and down. His nightwear was covered in pictures of little dragons. Of course, it was. Finally, Judy, figuring she couldn’t remain silent forever, said, “Nice jimjams.”

[Eensy weensy post is eensy weensy. ]

[Charlie Constantine]

Charlie finally got a good look at the girl sharing his hideout. It was Judy Kelley. Slytherin, if he wasn't mistaken. Seventh year, and... something to do with a scooter - no, Skeeter. That's right, Judy adored Rita Skeeter. Charlie had to admit that Skeeter's style wasn't exactly to his taste, but he admired Judy's devotion to her idol.

To show his support, he smiled at her, but she only stared at him, eyebrow twitching sharply upwards.

Charlie tilted his head to one side. "My mum's eyebrow used to twitch like that whenever I did something thickheaded. After ten years or so, though, it just got stuck like that. You should be careful of that. Unless you prefer it that way, of course," he added hurriedly, never one to judge another person's eyebrow positioning preference.

“Nice jimjams.”

"Oh!" Charlie looked down at himself. "Thanks! Martha picked them out, didn't you, Martha?"

Martha, intent on hunting a spider in the corner, did not deign to reply.

"She's got an eye for fashion," Charlie whispered to Judy with a grin.

[Judy Kelley]

Judy was quite sure she felt her eye twitch as Charlie described the dangers of eyebrow arching. She clenched her teeth together, fighting back the urge to curse the Hufflepuff all the way back to the ground floor. She was already out past curfew, though, she couldn’t get caught using magic in the halls too. Judy always felt that was a stupid rule, no magic in the halls. There were plenty of instances where using magic in the halls would be quite beneficial. If there was too much traffic in the corridors, all it took was a quick flick of the wand to blast those loiterers out of the way.

"Thanks! Martha picked them out, didn't you, Martha? She's got an eye for fashion."

Judy looked like she’d just smelled something foul. She raised her eyebrows and said dryly, “She certainly does.” Judy would never understand Charlie. She was quite convinced he was completely mad. He spoke to his cat like he was Filch. Well, maybe it wasn’t quite that discomforting. Speaking of Filch...

“Shh!” Judy clapped her hand over Charlie’s mouth, even though he hadn’t said anything. It was silent for a moment. Judy’s voice was just barely a whisper as she said, “I think someone’s in the corridor.” Lowering her voice even more (which was a great feat), she hissed, “Don’t. Make. A sound.”

The Slytherin crept to the door and pressed her ear against it. She was sure she heard something. Being as nosey as she was, Judy was well-versed in eavesdropping and picking up on small noises was something her ears were quite good at doing. Pulling herself away from the door, she turned to Charlie. “Did you hear that?” Judy whispered. “It sounded like something was moving out there. Did you hear something moving?”

And then she heard it again. She pressed her ear against the door once more. She scowled when she heard nothing. She wasn’t losing her touch, was she? Judy turned back to Charlie and mouthed, “Can you hear anything out there?”

Glancing down at the floor, Judy frowned, but, feeling it necessary to find out for sure if something – or someone – was waiting outside the door, she slowly got onto her knees and tilted her head down to peer out the crack between the door and the floor. She saw nothing but darkness, which should have been expected; it was quite late. She put her wand up to the crack and whispered, “Lumos!”

Almost immediately, Judy shrieked and, with a swift shove, launched herself away from the door. Fumbling with her wand, she pointed it at the door. “Colloportus!” Filch wouldn’t be able to undo the spell unless he woke up a wizard to do it. It probably depended a great deal on how intent he was on punishing students that night.

“Mrs. Norris is out there,” Judy whispered to Charlie. “She was staring right at me, through the crack.” She shuddered, thinking of those narrow, yellow eyes looking back at her. “We have to find a way out.” Judy retreated further back into the room, running her hands over the walls. “Is there a door in here we could go through? Where are we anyway? What’s this room for? Charlie! Help me!”

[Charlie Constantine]

“Don’t. Make. A sound.”

Charlie wasn’t entirely sure how to respond when Judy suddenly pressed her hand over his mouth, so he decided to heed her whispered command. After all, it wasn’t as if he could say anything of value with a hand squashing his lips and making a mrrphhg sound out of spite seemed childish. When Judy finally released him, he elected to maintain his silence. Judy seemed like a nice girl, but he didn’t let even his closest friends put their hands on his face twice in one day.

“Did you hear that?” Judy whispered. “It sounded like something was moving out there. Did you hear something moving?”

Charlie wasn’t sure if he was allowed to make a sound at this point, or if Judy’s earlier command was still in effect. Just in case, he settled for a shrug.

“Lumos!” “Colloportus!”

Charlie watched Judy cast the quick succession of spells with bemusement. She managed it with a quick efficiency, though she looked a bit nonplussed. “Are you practicing?” he asked. “You’re very good.” Then he remembered he wasn’t supposed to be talking and pressed his own hand to his mouth.

“Mrs. Norris is out there,” Judy whispered to Charlie. “She was staring right at me, through the crack.” She shuddered, thinking of those narrow, yellow eyes looking back at her. “We have to find a way out.” Judy retreated further back into the room, running her hands over the walls. “Is there a door in here we could go through? Where are we anyway? What’s this room for? Charlie! Help me!”

The last thing Charlie wanted was a detention. He had already had one this week by accidentally throwing his wand across the room in Charms when trying to cast a spell. Professor Flitwick had believed him when he had said it was an accident, but had added that anyone with such a poor grip on his wand needed some extra practice.

Glaring at Martha over his shoulder, Charlie went to help Judy search the walls. “This is your fault, Martha. If you hadn’t insisted appealing to Mrs. Norris’ nonexistent better nature, we wouldn’t be in this mess.”

Martha gave a disdainful flip of her tail and continued hunting shadows.

“Martha, the least you could do is –” Charlie broke off when his foot struck that hissed and struck at him like a snake. He made an undignified sound and leapt backwards. "Um, Judy? I think we may have company."

[Judy Kelley]

“Are you practicing?”

Judy whipped around to face Charlie. Her eyes were wide and her lips were pressed into a thin, tight line in her irritation. She readied herself to storm over to Charlie and clamp his mouth shut and snap that no, in fact, she was not practicing spells in the middle of the night, while rolling around on the floor of an unfamiliar area. Lucky for Charlie, he covered his mouth himself. Judy rolled her eyes. She was going to be stuck in this room with the Hufflepuff forever. She could feel it.

"Um, Judy?"

“What?” Judy hissed. The Slytherin ran her hands from the bottom of the wall to as high as she could reach, trying to feel a door handle or even a simple change in the material the wall was made of, anything that might suggest a way out.

She glanced over her shoulder and saw the faint outline of her companion in the dark. “Charlie,” she snapped. “You could at least give me a hand instead of just standing there like a—”

"I think we may have company."

Judy froze. She slowly turned toward Charlie – well, at least, where she assumed Charlie was. That was when she heard the hissing noise. Despite the fact that her House mascot was a large serpent, Judy Kelley was actually terrified of snakes. When she was in her third year, that Harry Potter had spoken Parseltongue at a dueling lesson and Judy still had nightmares about it. She avoided the boy like the plague, fearful he’d hiss at her or have some sort of a fit that caused him to start slithering on his way to class. Judy shuddered just thinking about it. She shuddered more as it slowly dawned on her that there may, in fact, be a slithering, hissing Harry Potter in the dark room with her and Charlie. And Martha. Merlin forbid Martha was left out. Did she eat snakes? Judy was suddenly hopeful.

Then Harry Potter whatever was with the trio in the dark hissed again and Judy yelped, completely forgetting that she was supposed to be quiet so Mrs. Norris wouldn’t rat them out to Filch. “Charlie! What is that?” She pointed her wand at the source of the sound and said, “Lumos!”

A light flicked on at the tip of her wand and Judy shined it across the floor. She didn’t do this particularly well, as her eyes were shielded with her right arm and she spun around wildly, pointing her wand every which way, too afraid of seeing what was in the room with them. “Charlie, what is it? Where is it? What does it look like? Don’t let me step on it!” They were pointless questions. At best, a glimpse of whatever was hissing might get caught as the light from Judy’s wand bounced all over the room.

[Charlie Constantine]

“Charlie! What is that?”

“Hush,” Charlie said firmly. “You might frighten it.” He knelt down to get a better look at whatever had made the sudden sound. “Hello, little whatever-you-are, what are you doing in here? Are you all alone?” He looked over his shoulder. “Martha, come here and say hello. It might understand you better.”

But, of course, Martha chose that moment to remain aloof and unfriendly. She hunched her back and hissed at the mysterious creature, her long black tail lashing across the floor behind her.

“Well, fine,” Charlie told her. “But with an attitude like that, I’m not surprised Mrs. Norris isn’t interested in being your friend.”

“Lumos!”

Charlie winced as the beam from Judy’s wand stabbed into his eyes before flashing away to streak along the walls. “Hey,” he said. “Be careful, you might –” He broke off with a gasp as, in response to the sudden light, whatever was sitting on the ground beside Charlie’s shoe, suddenly scrambled up his leg until it was clinging just below his knee. Tiny claws dug into his pajama pants, and he was suddenly glad that his Chinese Fireball pajamas were so thick. Otherwise, those claws might have hurt.

“Charlie, what is it? Where is it? What does it look like? Don’t let me step on it!”

“Don’t worry, you won’t. It’s stepping on me.” Reaching into his dressing gown for his own wand, Charlie murmured, “Lumos,” making sure to shine the tip of his wand upwards at first to avoid startling his tiny passenger. Then he slowly lowered his wand until he could clearly see the little creature gripping his leg. It had four legs, a long tail, scales of deep vibrant green, and thin tendrils of smoke curling up from its nostrils.

“Oh, aren’t you pretty?” Charlie tilted his head to one side as he slowly realized what it was he was seeing. “Common Welsh Green." He frowned. "But this isn’t Wales.” He looked up. “Judy, Martha, don't worry, it's just a baby dragon.” He looked back down at the little Welsh Green, thinking hard for a moment. “I think we should name her Tina.”