Fair, but Busy over the Summer.

You aren't quite sure what you expected over your Summer Break, but it wasn't this.

After you had gotten all your stuff moved to a new room, apparently everyone staying over the summer was moved to a central room on the first floor, it used to be a dueling hall back in the day. There a handful of cots had been laid out for students to sleep on.

Apart from the cots and a privacy curtain their wasn't much in the way of personal space or even room for decoration. You would have to use the first floor bathrooms and prefect washroom for the rest of the summer.

You didn't really get a chance to know the scattered handful of other students who were staying over their summer break before Hagrid, the game-warden, came in and recruited you. He had you out on the yard tending to the hedges and clearing fallen trees. You had a small sandwich for lunch, and apart from Hagrid checking in on you from time to time you had little in the way of company.

So the first few weeks passed. You cleared fallen trees, or repaired creaky Quidditch Stands during the day and you ate in the Great Hall at night. You weren't sure what the other students were up to, but for the first couple of weeks between terms it seemed everyone was too tired to be very sociable.

Most of the other students on break were students who also had family troubles, there was a 3rd year Hufflepuff - James Tuckett, whose muggle parents refused to take him back after he decided to attend Hogwarts. Another child, a slytherin, said that their parents were "always travel ling" and so they rid out the time between semesters at the school.

All told there were about ten of you, but everyone seemed to keep to themselves. Apart from a few pleasant conversations the days seem relatively blissful and serene.

Until the third week began. On the third Monday after exams, a few weeks before your birthday, Hagrid has you helping him move some furniture and other large objects out of the Great Hall. Mostly is seems to be school equipment and broken furniture. The school equipment is being moved to the docks, where they are loaded onto a barge, and the broken furniture is being moved to the a burn pit in the Quidditch yard.

It was a cloudy morning, cool and breezy. The light filters gently into the open campus grounds. The other students are also helping Hagrid move the packages through the courtyard. In addition to the students bustling around, it seems that this is the day that Professors start their in-between-term break.

As you bring a particularly heavy package out from the Great Hall you almost run into a Professor you've never seen before. A thin-rakish woman with loose disheveled hair and large glasses. Her long green robes are frayed and ragged. Unfortunately, her glasses make her eyes seem giant. The strange woman reels, and over-corrects. The professor sprawls over to the ground.

You set down the package to help her up, and she looks at you- her eyes wide. She opens her mouth in a silent scream. You see her eyes scanning your face and your eyes. She sputters and scrambles away.

"N-n-o!" she cries, "Stay Back! You're him! The son of the Grim!"

Unsure of what to say you watch in silence as she clambers down the field away across the field. You stand there in shock for a few moments until Hagrid approaches.

"Ah, I see ya met Professor Trelawney." Hagrid says cheerfully. "Don't mind 'er." He says handing you back your package. He manages to do it with one large hand. "She gets tha' way. She's right excitable."

You continue to shift packages, but can't quite shake the feeling that Professor Trelawney is still watching you.

Amidst the packages being moved to the docks there was one that Hagrid seemed to be particularly interested in. It was a long, thin rectangle. It was wrapped in brown package paper, and secured with rope. Any time you get close to the package Hagrid bustles over and tries to find you something else to do.

So you spend most of the morning running packages from the Great Hall across campus and down the stone steps towards the docks. It's slow going. The well worn stone stairs are worn down by the passing of many feet. The soft dew-fall of the previous night still lingers on the smooth stone. The nearby trees cast long shadows in the July heat. The shady stairway is deceptively slick, and you have to catch yourself a few times.

Just before eleven you come up from the stairs, the sweat beading on your forehead. There had to be a better way of moving these objects from the Great Hall to the docks, but Hagrid seems content lugging everything manually. Speaking of Hagrid the large Game Warden was making his way across the campus with the large package. He smiles to you as he passes.

"A'right Master Gaunt, you did good work." He says with a grin. "Hop back to tha' Great Hall and have yerself a rest. I'll be along shortly."

Then he begins down the stone steps. You turn towards the castle when you hear a thud, and a clatter. Rushing to the stairs you see Hagrid holding himself by a tree limb over the stairs. The shady elm leaning and creaking as it tries to support his weight.

"Its nothin' lad, jes' lost my balance." Says Hagrid irritatedly.

You look to the base of the stairs and see the package had fallen to the bottom. You scurry down the steps to make sure that the item hadn't been hurt by the fall as Hagrid regains his balance.

The brown wrapper had pulled loose revealing a golden frame. Inside the framework was a silver mirror. This was the Mirror Harry and Voldemort looked into. Harry had said it was called the Mirror of Erised. The reflective surface seemed clear and unmarred, thankfully the fall hadn't damaged it too much. wandering closer to the mirror you see something reflected in the mirror, its strange...