Professor Dumbledore arrived fashionably late.
Tom recounted the whole incident. The three adults fell into thoughtful silence—Dumbledore lost in whatever was going on in his head, while Hagrid and Mr. Filch were worried about the safety of the students at Hogwarts.
"You all did great today," Dumbledore finally said after a long pause. "Kids, you can head back to rest now. Tom, remember what I told you."
Hermione nodded. On the way back with the others, she pulled Tom aside privately.
"What did Professor Dumbledore say to you?" Tom asked.
"Just tonight… right before we switched back, Professor Dumbledore and Professor Snape came to the dorm looking for me. Um… they took me to see a mirror."
A mirror?
The Mirror of Erised popped into Tom's mind right away.
"Oh? Was it super fancy-looking, with a gold frame? What did you see in it?"
Hermione gasped when she realized Tom wasn't surprised at all—and he'd even described the Mirror of Erised perfectly. "You know about that mirror? Professor Dumbledore said it shows your heart's deepest desire… and then he told me to bring you to see it tomorrow."
Tom nodded. "Yeah. So what did you see?"
"Nothing much. Just future me—and future me was awesome… way more awesome than you! I was gonna be an amazing Auror!"
Hermione was lying.
Tom's lips curved up a little, his eyes seeming to see right through her. "Really?"
"Why would I lie to you?!"
"It's just kinda boring, that's all." Tom shrugged. "I thought maybe you saw yourself stepping on me, or turning me into a rat with one of Professor McGonagall's spells, then letting Mirrora chase me around."
Hermione: "Oh, congrats—you guessed it! Yep, I turned you into a rat and locked you in Mirrora's cage. I wasn't gonna let you out unless you begged!
Anyway, bye! I'll take you to the mirror tomorrow!"
This time, Tom genuinely had no clue why Hermione was mad.
He'd spent enough time with Misha to recognize the signs—Hermione's angry reaction was exactly the same as Misha's when she got upset.
Back in the dorm, Hermione flopped onto her bed and wrapped herself up in the blankets like a burrito, only her head poking out.
Jerk!
She'd seen Tom safe and sound in the mirror—and that idiot had the nerve to say stuff like that.
I'm not that petty!
As for why the Mirror of Erised showed her that scene… well, it reveals a person's deepest, most desperate desire.
Hermione wasn't about to dwell on that.
Hmph!
…
"Master, please forgive me. I never should've let you get hurt… I'll go take care of that Mudblood."
Quirrell was in a secret chamber, kowtowing frantically to empty air, his face twisted in absolute terror.
He unwrapped the turban from his head. If anyone else were there, they'd be horrified—there was another face on the back of Quirrell's skull!
The face was an unhealthy greenish color—like the mint matcha Professor Sprout drank that afternoon.
It was ugly, sunken, and noseless. The mouth opened, snarling at Quirrell.
"Mudblood? Idiot! You fool! That kid's just like me—the one called Hermione Granger has another soul inside her!
Go find out who's behind her. You have to!"
Quirrell gasped. "Could it be Dumbledore?"
"If Dumbledore had been there, do you think you'd have made it out alive?"
Voldemort sounded exhausted, his voice slowly fading away.
…
The next day.
When Tom climbed out of bed, Hermione was already waiting outside.
"Let's go."
"Okay."
Hermione knew the way and soon led Tom to the Mirror of Erised.
Before Tom could step up to it, she reached out and stopped him. "What do you think you'll see?"
"You really wanna know what's going on in my head, huh?" Tom's lips quirked up. "Miss Hermione, you're kinda crossing a line."
"I am curious what you're thinking. And please call me Mr. Tom Riddle. So, are you gonna tell me your deepest desires in advance?" Hermione delivered the whole line with zero emotion.
Tom realized he wasn't gonna get a rise out of her, so he gave up and stepped in front of the mirror.
He clasped his hands in front of him, closed his eyes, and muttered under his breath.
"Mirror, mirror, tell me true—who's the fairest of them all?"
"You're gonna get us both in trouble!" Hermione groaned at his ridiculous act and lightly punched his arm. "Can you not do shameless stuff in my body? It's embarrassing just watching!"
It was weird—Tom was always so serious around everyone else, but with her… it was like he dropped the mask completely.
Then suddenly, Tom froze.
"What do you see?"
"Paper—and a quill!" Tom whipped around. "Quick!"
Hermione had no idea why he was in such a rush, but she handed them over anyway.
Tom immediately crouched down and started scribbling furiously, glancing back at the mirror every few seconds.
"You're seeing textbooks?"
"Textbooks? Do you really think I'm that much of a study nerd? I'm not that boring!" Tom grumbled, but his hand didn't stop moving.
His behavior made Hermione super curious.
Maybe… just a peek?
She quietly shuffled forward until she was behind him.
[March 1, 1982, 1:23 a.m. – Age 2 – Wet the bed.]
[February 17, 1983, 5:21 p.m. – Age 3 – Cried because a rat scared me.]
[July 12, 1985, 1:21 p.m. – Age 5 – Woke up from a nap, couldn't find parents, thought I was lost, cried at home for half an hour.]
[March 3, 1986, 2:00 a.m. – Age 6 – Dreamed I was going to the bathroom, wet the bed.]
"TOOOM!" Hermione's face went bright red.
She lunged to grab the paper, but Tom reacted fast—he rolled away like a ninja and clutched it to his chest. "Watch yourself, Tom! You're a grown man—what are you trying to do to a helpless girl like me?"
"WHAT. ARE. YOU. WRITING?!"
Tom blinked.
Was his handwriting not clear enough?
"Want me to read it out loud for you?"
"You jerk!!! Throw that away—Incendio!"
Tom dodged nimbly and kept glancing at the mirror.
"No more looking! Tom, you're so annoying!"
Hermione had imagined all sorts of possibilities.
With how hard Tom studied, she figured he'd see himself as a future Minister for Magic!
Or maybe a Hogwarts professor—after all, he was so kind and genuinely loved magic.
At the very least, maybe going back to the Muggle world, living happily at the orphanage…
Or finding his parents or something…
But!
Out of everything, Hermione never once thought Tom would see her embarrassing childhood moments in the Mirror of Erised!
Those memories—she'd buried them long ago. Even her parents weren't allowed to bring them up!
"You're still looking!" Hermione fumed, shouting and raising her fist.
"Wait!" Tom held up a hand to stop her. "Do you really think I'm that shallow?"
He tore up the paper—he'd already memorized most of it after a couple glances, thanks to his memory.
"Listen, these aren't what I wanted to know. And they're not what the Mirror of Erised is really trying to show me. You're just getting fooled by the surface!
My deepest desire… is actually to understand you.
You're my best friend. I want to know what you've been through—stuff you've never told me. I want to know about your elementary school days, the fights you had with friends.
Hermione, you're amazing in my eyes. We're friends, right?"
"…Yeah."
Right?
Hermione suddenly felt a little unsure.
"Trust me. I only wrote down these bits, but there's way more in the mirror. If you could see it all, you'd get it."
Hermione huffed, turning her head away. "Fine, I'll believe you for now. But you're not allowed to look at this mirror again—ever. And you're banned from coming back here!"
"No problem. We can head out—Professor Dumbledore's waiting for our report, yeah?"
Hermione nodded. "Yeah, but… how are we supposed to tell him what we saw?"
…
Headmaster's Office.
Dumbledore finally welcomed the two troublemakers who never gave him a moment's peace.
"Hermione, Tom—I assume you both saw something in the mirror. I'm the one who led you there. Care to tell me what it was?"
Hermione (played by Tom): "Professor Dumbledore, I saw myself in the future—around eighteen years old. I was the youngest Minister for Magic ever.
I'm gonna work hard from now on to make it happen."
Dumbledore's smile was huge, his white beard twitching with every chuckle. "And you, Tom?"
Tom (played by Hermione): "Professor Dumbledore, I saw a future world at peace. No annoying Dark wizards, no Azkaban, no criminals anywhere. Wizards and Muggles living together happily."
Hermione felt a little embarrassed even saying it.
"Haha—wonderful, wonderful. The Mirror of Erised only shows your heart's deepest desire. You two little ones, never forget that. Remember: your future is in your own hands. Don't get lost in the illusion."
"Then may you both achieve your dreams here at Hogwarts."
After the two left, Dumbledore leaned back in his chair, tilting his head.
Two little kids who wouldn't tell the truth…
But that was fine. He'd already gotten what he needed.
What they saw in the Mirror of Erised didn't matter. What mattered was whether that desperate longing showed in their eyes.
Clearly, for both of them—it hadn't.