That Quidditch match ultimately ended with Harry Potter catching the Golden Snitch.
Though it was hard for Harry and Ron to believe, the truth was that Quirrell had genuinely tried to kill him. Christmas arrived before long.
Hermione packed her bags and went home, while Ron and Harry stayed at Hogwarts.
Vespera wrote yet another complaint letter to Dumbledore, reporting that Quirrell lacked professional ethics and his teaching quality was appalling, and conveniently sent a copy to Fudge at the Ministry of Magic.
Perrin was very busy over Christmas, occupied with helping her deliver gifts. He sent them to the professors at Hogwarts, the classmates she knew, and her friends and family back at the orphanage.
This was quite a hefty expense.
Vespera was not returning to the orphanage for Christmas. She had Professor Flitwick issue her a restricted section permit, setting her mind on finishing every book in there before the holiday ended.
So, for the past few days, she brought sandwiches from the kitchen and immersed herself in the Restricted Section day and night.
On the second night of Christmas, Vespera packed her sandwiches, preparing to spend yet another night in the Restricted Section, when she caught sight of half an arm holding a lamp.
Yes, just half an arm.
Uh, was it haunted?
"Vespera."
Oh, it was Harry.
"What are you doing? Impersonating a ghost, or making a Halloween comeback?" Anyway, it didn't look very smart.
Harry poked his head out and gave a shy smile. "Oh, this is a Christmas present I received, an Invisibility Cloak."
It was clear that he loved the gift very much.
"I'm heading to the library, what about you?"
Vespera took a bite of her sandwich and spoke as she walked: "Spending the night in the Restricted Section."
"Oh, huh?" Where did she say she was spending the night? Surely he hadn't heard wrong?
However, Vespera had already walked away, leaving him no chance to ask her again.
There were no lights in the Restricted Section; it was pitch black, and the "restricted" atmosphere was intensely heavy.
Vespera hadn't brought a lamp, which would have been very inconvenient, so she drew her wand and whispered, "Lumos."
Controlling the brightness and range, she fashioned a handy flashlight.
Those books on the Dark Arts were not well-behaved items; if you opened the cover, they would shriek. She usually punched them the moment she opened them.
After doing this a few times, none of the books dared to scream when opened.
However, the newcomer Harry and the others were certainly not afraid, so an ugly, wretched howl echoed through the empty library.
The novice was evidently startled as well and knocked over an oil lamp. "Meow—"
"My dear Mrs. Norris, you heard it too, didn't you? There are disobedient mice in the Restricted Section," came Filch's hoarse voice. Harry scrambled to hide himself beneath the Invisibility Cloak.
Vespera extinguished her wand and slipped out of the Restricted Section, avoiding Filch. Although she had permission to read restricted books, she did not have permission to wander the halls at night.
"Good evening, Mrs. Norris." The cat was squatting in the corridor near the library exit. "Meow."
She pulled out a prepared dried fish and bribed the feline law enforcement officer. "With this dried fish, you can't catch me anymore."
"Meow." OK.
Vespera was walking casually when she was suddenly pulled into a classroom.
No one was in sight; it must have been Harry wearing the Invisibility Cloak. "Harry?" His head popped into view, sporting a pair of prominent front teeth. "It's me."
"Filch is in the corridor, and I ran into Snape and Professor Quirrell earlier. I was afraid you'd be discovered by them."
Vespera nodded to show she understood, and the two of them began to look around the empty classroom.
It was completely bare, and a mirror in the center stood like a baited fishhook.
Ever since coming to the wizarding world, there were more and more things Vespera refused to do. One of them was looking in a mirror past midnight.
Bad luck.
Harry didn't think so, however. He was quickly captivated by the mirror, staring fixedly at it until he became completely entranced.
"What are you looking at?" Vespera frowned. She had told him not to look in mirrors at night.
"Vespera, come and look. My parents are inside, and they're smiling at me."
Had he been cursed?
"What nonsense are you talking about?" As she walked closer, she saw writing inscribed across the top of the mirror: "Erised stra ruoy oyt ubecaf ruoy no woh si."
It needed to be read backward: "I show not your face, but your heart's desire." Vespera pondered the phrase—a magical mirror.
"You know this is fake. It's just what your heart desires."
Harry looked a bit sad. "Yes, I know. They passed away a long time ago."
"Then what do you see, Vespera?"
"A secret."
"Anyway, what were you doing in the Restricted Section?" Vespera changed the subject. "Hermione said the Restricted Section might have books about Nicholas Flamel."
"Nicholas Flamel? Didn't I tell you guys where those books were last time? There are none of those in the Restricted Section."
"We didn't find them in the books, but there were still some old ones we haven't finished yet." Harry scratched his head sheepishly.
"Or maybe they were borrowed by other students. Let's go, back to the dormitory, don't linger here."
Harry cast one last reluctant look backward, but ultimately followed her away.
A two-week holiday was long enough for the relationship between two first-year children to deepen. At least on Harry's side, that was fine too.
Every night, Vespera went to the Restricted Section to study by lamplight, and every time she would run into Harry's half an arm.
Clearly, he was enchanted by the world inside the mirror, sinking deep into his own emotions.
"Vespera, wouldn't it be wonderful if they were still alive? That way the three of us could live happily together, and I wouldn't have to live in the cupboard under the stairs at my Aunt Dursley's."
Vespera leaned quietly against an ornate stone pillar, her eyes fixed on the moon outside the window.
The bright, pristine light spilled softly into the classroom, draping Harry and the mirror in a hazy melancholy.
"You live in a cupboard? How miserable." Worse than everyone at the orphanage. "Still, your parents have been dead for twelve years."
When Dumbledore appeared, he happened to hear Vespera's remark, which was calm enough to be called cruel.
"Harry. The Mirror of Erised can show us the happiness we desire." Hearing the headmaster's voice, Harry looked somewhat flustered, his green eyes darting back and forth behind his glasses.
The old man walked over to Harry and gently stroked the boy's hair. "This mirror can give you nothing whatsoever, neither knowledge nor truth."
"My boy, one cannot live in dreams and forget to live. You know that you have broken school rules many times."
"Sorry, Headmaster."
"This mirror is going to be moved away, and I hope you will no longer try to find it."
"Yes, Headmaster, I will." Harry left, looking dejected and sorrowful. Suddenly, as if remembering something, he turned back and asked, "What did you see in it, Headmaster?"
Dumbledore stood before the Mirror of Erised, gazing into its depths. "Me? I see myself holding a pair of thick woolen socks."
Harry didn't understand the implication and left, once again drowning in his own emotions. Evidently, he had completely forgotten about Vespera, whom he had dragged along with him.
"Miss Quinlan, I think you should return to your dormitory as well."
Vespera withdrew her gaze from the distant moon and looked meaningfully at the old man in front of the mirror. Woolen socks?
"And what did you see in it, Miss Quinlan? What is it that you desire?"
"Nothing."