Hogwarts: From Selling White Peppers to Becoming a God

Chapter 241 I Saw Freedom

Harry was very fortunate that his father's invisibility cloak seemed large enough to fit three young wizards without any problem.

After a while, they returned to the abandoned classroom. Ron lifted his invisibility cloak and pointed to the huge mirror in the middle, saying, "That's it. Look, it's a magic mirror."

"A magic mirror?" Tom looked at the ornate mirror, somewhat puzzled. "What can it be used for?"

"Uh, I don't know, but I saw my parents inside," Harry said. "You know, they both died when I was very young."

Tom understood in an instant.

Does Harry want me to meet my parents here?

He knew I had never seen what they looked like either.

"But all I see is becoming student council president and winning the Quidditch Cup. I think this mirror might let people see the future," Ron said.

"Go try it, Tom, and see what you can see."

Tom approached the mirror, expecting to see his parents, whom he had never met, just like Harry had.

But he only saw a boy in the mirror.

He was chained and stood facing him, almost as tall as him, even their movements were exactly the same, but the face was not his own.

In an instant, he recognized the other person.

Tom Riddle.

"You... how did you get here?" he asked in shock.

The boy opened his mouth, but no sound came out, yet Tom inexplicably understood what he meant.

This is a mirror, Tom. People always see themselves in a mirror.

Tom shook his head. "No, that's impossible. You were already... the timing is wrong... and the way you look..."

Appearances can be altered, time can be reversed, and even death may not be the end... Don't you know all this?

"No, impossible, that notebook..."

It's a fraud.

How do I know you won't lie to me?

Ask your heart. Tom.

What are you afraid of?

"If I am you, then what am I? Who am I?"

Only you know the answer, Tom.

Give me freedom, and then I'll give you freedom.

Tom saw the boy in the mirror suddenly tear off his chains and transform into a plume of black smoke that shot into the sky.

"Tom, what did you see?" Harry asked curiously. "Did you see your mom and dad?"

"No." Tom's furrowed brows gradually relaxed. "I see freedom."

……

"Nico Flamel was a good friend of Dumbledore, a master alchemist, whose greatest achievement was the Philosopher's Stone."

The next day, at breakfast, Tom told Harry and Ron, "I've found him in the Register of Alchemy."

"You found him?!" Harry exclaimed in delight. "We should write to Hermione; she'll be ecstatic."

"The Philosopher's Stone? What's that?" Ron asked. "It sounds pretty ordinary?"

Magic Stone, it seems to be similar to Gaubu Stone.

"On the contrary, it's extremely precious," Tom said, casually picking at the mashed potatoes in front of him with his fork, still not having much of an appetite.

"The Philosopher's Stone, also known as the Philosopher's Stone, is an alchemical artifact."

"Legend has it that it can turn stones into gold and can also make elixirs of immortality. Nicolas Flamel lived for over six hundred years using an elixir of immortality made from it."

"It can make gold! It can grant immortality! My God…" Ron exclaimed, "Everyone will go crazy for it."

"Moreover, its preciousness lies in the fact that, due to the extreme difficulty in its crafting, only one Philosopher's Stone remains in the world today."

"And I think it should be right now..."

"At school!" Harry's eyes lit up. "Behind the trapdoor! So that explains why Snape wanted this treasure..."

But seeing Tom's expression, he sensed something was off. "Tom, what's wrong? Is your situation related to this?"

Tom frowned and hesitated for a long time.

Suddenly, he thought, "This seems like an opportunity."

"Do you want to stop Snape?" he asked.

"What? Of course."

"So how do you plan to stop him?" Tom asked. "We know about the Philosopher's Stone, but you also heard what Hagrid said: nobody will believe us, they won't listen to us."

Harry thought for a long time. "That's because we don't have any evidence. If we could find evidence that Snape was after the Philosopher's Stone, the professors would definitely listen."

"Okay," Tom nodded, "How do we find the evidence?"

"...I don't know." Harry lowered his head in frustration. "Snape would never tell anyone about this."

Tom looked at him for a long while, then said, "There is a way that can definitely stop him."

"What method?"

"Get the Philosopher's Stone before Snape."

Tom's crazy suggestion was temporarily rejected. After all, sneaking into a place that was bound to be very dangerous to steal something extremely valuable was not a good idea at all.

"We might get thrown into Azkaban," Ron said, his face pale.

Harry didn't want to do that either; turning himself into a thief just to stop one... that would be too bizarre.

"Alright." Tom didn't immediately convince them, and besides, [the Philosopher's Stone alone isn't enough; I also need the formula for the elixir of immortality.]

……

That evening, Harry went to the abandoned classroom again, hoping to see his parents in the mirror one last time, only to encounter Dumbledore, who had been waiting for him.

Dumbledore revealed the truth about the Mirror of Erised to Harry: "It allows us to see the deepest, most urgent desires within us."

"You've never met your family, so you see them standing around you. Ron Weasley always looked inferior to his older brothers, so he saw himself standing alone, the best of them all."

"As for Lucas..." Dumbledore's blue eyes showed a thoughtful expression, "but he saw freedom..."

"In any case, Harry, this mirror can neither teach us knowledge nor tell us the truth."

"The mirror is moving to a new place tomorrow, Harry, so please don't go looking for it anymore. If you happen to see it someday, be prepared. It's no good to be lost in fantasies and forget about real life, remember that."

……

School starts, and Hermione is back at school. She is overjoyed to hear that they have found Nicolas Flamel. Then she hears about the Magic Mirror, and finally, she is stunned when Tom suggests that they should get the Philosopher's Stone before Snape.

She then realized that this guy, who usually didn't talk much, was the one who disregarded the rules the most.

"Good heavens, this is outrageous! We might end up in jail!"

"No," Tom said. "As long as we take the Philosopher's Stone out and hand it over to a trustworthy professor, won't it be fine?"

"Who will we hand it over to? They'll fire us!"

"There's one professor who wouldn't."

Hermione immediately realized, "You mean... Professor Murphy?"

(End of this chapter)