Black Truth [READ DESCRIPTION]

chapter twenty

Chapter Twenty: Through the Looking Glass

When one was being entirely truthful, there were only a few things in life one could really count on, and Draco became ever firmer in his resolve of this statement as he passed by gift after gift that he could have bought for Harry but… didn't. It was rather sad really, all the glitter of commercialism everywhere, but just not the right glitter. Not that Draco hadn't seriously considered most of the gifts (all inside the correct price range of course… a range that would have made most people flinch); there were some really good candidates… but they just weren't right and there was no getting around it.

No amount of rationalizing worked, and Draco had been rationalizing for hours. If the gift wasn't perfect then Draco wasn't going to buy it. That was what Christmas was all about after all, spending oodles of money on gifts that were, in a word, perfect. If they weren't perfect then there was no point in giving them in the first place. And perfect wasn't just "perfect for this moment only" or "perfect for now but would soon be cast aside", no, perfect was perfect. Something that was meaningful on Christmas Day when it was opened, meaningful on New Years Eve a few days later, and meaningful for at least twenty years down the line when all the glitter and sparkle of it being new wore off.

Not that Draco really followed this ideal when he normally got presents for people. No, this was an ideal saved only for family because family was important where groupies were not. And, as much as Draco sometimes hated (and sometimes didn't mind so much), Harry Potter was family now. Ergo, the 'perfection problem' as Draco was now terming it.

Draco had parted ways with Blaise as soon as they both knew that the coast was clear and that less wanted people wouldn't latch on to either of them, and now he sat drinking a butterbeer and thinking about this problem at hand.

His father always solved this by quantity. For as long as Draco could remember, Christmas (and his birthday, but that wasn't until June anyway) was the time to be literally showered with gifts. When he was a child his father had even done the idea of twelve days of Christmas with the gifts growing in number each day. But he'd grown out of that (albeit mournfully as that really had been a nice tradition) and had been happy with the multitude of presents on Christmas morn. It made some sense too: give as many gifts as you can come up with and one of them will be perfect. Easy and simple… when dealing with Draco that is. Draco thought back to the necklace he'd received last year, gold and engraved with the Malfoy family crest, that he'd opted to leave at home when he returned to school and remembered how much he'd regretted that decision.

But Draco didn't have the time or patience (note that he did have the resources) to find every little thing that Harry could have ever wanted in his life to wrap and give to him. So Draco had to go for quality instead. But what was the one thing that Harry Potter would want most of all? That was the question of the day.

Paying for his drink, Draco again stepped into the cold December air and continued moving. Now… if he were Harry Potter what would he want? Well, parents. That much was simple. If there was one thing that would be the most meaningful thing ever, it would be Harry's parents. But Draco couldn't do necromancy and couldn't really pay anyone else to. In fact, the only person he knew who had accomplished the whole "brought back to life" feat was Lord Voldemort. And Voldemort would probably opt to… well, something disgusting, rather than bring back the Potters. So, actually giving Harry his family for Christmas was out of the question.

Pictures… another out of the question. All he would be able to find would be the school photos and Harry probably already had those. No, what Draco needed was something that would provide a different aspect than just looking at a picture. Something that would allow Harry to really see them and… well, why just Harry's parents. What about something that would allow Harry to really know all the people who cared for him like family, to really see them…

Draco's eyes fell upon a mirror that was propped up on a stand inside a window display. It was a simple oval mirror, made of white gold, with a handle. It looked rather like the kind of mirror Narcissa used to enjoy using. But this mirror was a bit different from that. It was rather plain really, with a simple border around the edge of the mirror that was elegant but not extravagant to the point of excess. Draco peered into the mirror and saw his own reflection looking back at him. And in that instant where his own eyes locked on his reflection's, Draco realized what he would give Harry for Christmas. And it would be absolutely perfect.

Draco arrived back at Hogwarts just as the sun was beginning its downward motion against the sky and headed straight for the library. If he was right, then he knew where a certain spell he was looking for could be found. He turned into the section of books set aside for scrying, the art of magic where one searched for something. He'd looked this magic up in the summer of his Second Year at the Manor, but Hogwarts had a larger amount of books than Malfoy Manor did. Of course, scrying was completely "light" magic and a more commonly known form of abstract magic, so that was almost expected.

Normally, scrying was done with a mirror or the surface of a pond or lake as long as the water was still. There was normally no incantation as the magic was abstract, formed more from thoughts than words. One touched the tip of the wand to the surface and thought of who or what you were trying to find, and if the magic worked you could see who or what it was you were looking for.

But Draco remembered that there was a spell that he'd found and remembered vaguely, as if it was interesting but not something that he had cared a whole lot about so hadn't bothered to memorize it or work with it. Even though scrying was abstract, there was an incantation or two that used elements of scrying in them. The spell that he wanted to use to complete Harry's present was one of these.

Pulling out a large tome from the shelf, he flipped through the index. Nope, not this one. Move on to the next one.

Fifteen books later, Draco found the spell he was looking for. He checked the book out of the library and made his way down to his rooms, greeting Medusa with the password and an inquiry about her continued good health.

Harry was nowhere to be found. Good. He could do the spell now and wrap the present before Harry got back, and be done with it. Carefully, Draco removed the mirror from its casing and placed it on the table near the fireplace. He then turned to the book and read through the passage about the spell a few times to make sure he understood the information correctly. Then he began.

His wand curved up in an arch and down to touch the middle of the mirror's reflective surface as he spoke:

"Homo Dignitatis Animatus Vivae Picturatus Morti Videre."

Latin Translation:

Homo – person, human (in the nominative case)

Dignitatis – importance (in the genitive case)

Animatus –animated (participle)

Vivae – life (in the dative case)

Picturatus – pictured (participle)

Morti – death (in the dative case)

Videre – to see (verb infinitive)

Put that together and you get "To see a person of importance animated in life pictured in death". I did this to the best of my abilities as a Latin student, but if any scholars out there want to refute this, be my guest to do so.