Magical Objects - Mirrors

The Mirror of Erised

The Mirror of Erised is a mystical mirror discovered by Harry in a back corridor of Hogwarts in Philosopher's Stone. On it is inscribed, erised stra ehru oyt ube cafru oyt on wohsi — which, when reversed and correctly spaced, reads I show not your face but your heart's desire. Harry, upon encountering the Mirror, can see his parents, as well as what appears to be a crowd of relatives; Ron sees himself as Head Boy and Quidditch Captain holding the Quidditch Cup (thus revealing his wish to be acknowledged out of the shadow of his highly successful older brothers, as well as his more popular friend, Harry).

According to Dumbledore, the Mirror "shows us nothing more or less than the deepest, most desperate desire of our hearts"; which is why Harry sees his family, while Ron sees himself achieving more than his older brothers — but cautions Harry that the mirror gives neither knowledge nor truth and that men have wasted away before it, entranced by what they see.

Dumbledore, one of the only other characters to face the Mirror in the novel, claims to see himself holding a pair of socks, telling Harry that "one can never have enough socks", and lamenting that he did not receive any for Christmas, since people will insist on giving him books. However, this is a lie. It is said in Deathly Hallows that what he really sees is his entire family alive and well and happy together again. [15]

The Mirror of Erised was the final protection given to the Philosopher's Stone in the first book. Dumbledore hid the Mirror and hid the Stone inside it, knowing that only a person who wanted to find the Stone, but not to use it, would be able to obtain the stone. Anyone else would see himself making an Elixir of Life or turning things to gold, rather than actually finding the Stone. Dumbledore tells Harry, "It was one of my more brilliant ideas, and between you and me, that's saying something."

The mirror has not been seen since Philosopher's Stone.

Two-way mirrors

In Order of the Phoenix, Sirius gives Harry a mirror he originally used to communicate with James in detention. That mirror is a part of a set of Two-way Mirrors that are activated by holding one of them and saying the name of the other possessor, causing his or her face to appear on the caller's mirror and vice versa. Harry receives this mirror from Sirius in a package after spending his Christmas holiday at Grimmauld Place. Harry, at first, chooses not to open the package, although he does discover the mirror after Sirius's death, by which point it is no longer functional. It makes its second appearance in Half-Blood Prince when Mundungus Fletcher loots Grimmauld Place and sells it to Aberforth Dumbledore, who uses it to watch out for Harry in Deathly Hallows. When Harry desperately cries for help at a shard of the magical mirror, a brilliant blue eye (which Harry mistakes for Albus' eye) that happens to be Aberforth's eye, appears, sends Dobby who arrives to help Harry escape from the Malfoy Manor to Bill Weasley and Fleur Delacour's Shell Cottage.