For several days in a row, Dumbledore had hoped to see a certain first-year in front of the mirror.
But alas, just as the boy had said, the past was only a weightless ghost.
That night, Dumbledore stood beside the mirror; before it was a reluctant Harry.
"Tomorrow the mirror will be moved to a new location, Harry. Please don't go looking for it again. If you happen to see it someday, you must be prepared. To drown in dreams and forget to live—that is of no use at all. Remember that. Now, why not put on that marvelous Invisibility Cloak and go to bed?"
Harry stood up.
"Sir—Professor Dumbledore? May I ask you a question?"
"But of course— you've just done so."
Dumbledore smiled.
"However, you may ask me one more."
"What do you see when you look in the mirror?"
"Me? I see myself holding a pair of thick wool socks."
Harry's eyes widened.
"One can never have too many socks," said Dumbledore. "Christmas comes and goes; I receive a few pairs—much appreciated. But people always prefer to give me books."
Harry felt something was off, but he didn't ask. He returned to bed.
By then the Christmas holiday had already been going for five full days.
Sean found Professor Tayra, who took great interest in his Transfiguration project.
They worked through many approaches and experiments together; the results, however, were less than ideal. Yet Tayra showed not a hint of disappointment—instead, she stayed cheerfully by his side through many failures.
"You've done much work in a profound domain—like alchemists of the past. Now you know they found no way forward, so I ask you to look at it with different eyes."
When she finished, the floor of the alchemy office rippled like waves, and Sean was quickly carried out.
A floor like waves—very much like a step-less conveyor belt.
So then—another way of looking—what would that be?
Sean couldn't quite see it yet, but he wasn't in a hurry.
Runes and materials were not hard problems for Tayra; her deep store of knowledge could solve those quickly.
If, in a master's eyes, materials and runes were so easily handled, then the difficulties that came after must be stubborn ones.
These stubborn problems are exactly what have blocked deeper exploration of wizard-to-magical-creature transformation.
And if the conflict of magic cannot be resolved, there will be no Magical-Creature Biscuit.
Back in the Hope Nook.
The wind that always tugged his scarf back finally subsided. Sean's scarf was damp in places, and the snowflakes on his face slowly melted into droplets.
A large head popped out of the hearth.
It was Justin, cheerfully greeting him.
"You got my letter? Sean, you promised to write back!"
No sooner had he finished than Sean heard him gasp—another delivery must have arrived.
Handwritten letters have a distinctive feel. When you open a parcel and the parchment rasps under your fingertips, there's always a little sense of time travel.
The bookshelf on the left spat out several gilt-edged volumes. Sean swapped his snow-damp scarf for the newly arrived one, and turned back to the five books the professor had left for him.
Especially A Deep Analysis of Alchemical Rituals—he had only read it once.
So the letter was left at the corner of the desk; a gust flipped it open on a few lines:
[To Sean:
The Christmas feast was lively. My mother wants you to know—there's a seat for Green at the Finley dinner.
She says:
There are all kinds of people in this world.
It happens we became friends—
That's not fate,
It's because we were meant to be friends.
Winter is cold—so please, be warmer still.
—Yours faithfully, Justin]
The magic lanterns came on—the Nook had entered evening.
Sean vaguely sensed one thing: the Magical-Creature Biscuit seemed too difficult.
After all, even Professor Tayra had made it clear there was no solution for now.
So he tried making wizard chess.
Transformation biscuits are pure advanced Transfiguration: "living → living."
Wizard chess is also advanced Transfiguration—"object → magic." But there is more: each chessman has a mind of its own, and can communicate with the wizard.
That, undeniably, raised the difficulty on the alchemy side.
After a reasonable amount of time, Sean carried a chessboard into the alchemy office.
"What are you staring at! Heretic! I'll burn you!" a white chessman shouted. It wore robes like a church bishop.
His outburst instantly irked an upper-year who had just been scolded; he glanced back—then thought better of it.
Because Sean was already apologizing over and over.
"Damn you, evil wizard—take this!" cried a knight, hurling its sword—only to have Sean's nonverbal Levitation stop it midair.
To keep the unruly pieces from causing more trouble, Sean darted into the alchemy office.
"Oh, child, you're here. How goes the wizard chess?" Tayra asked without looking up from her writing.
"My fair lady, you must come to my castle for dinner…" purred the king in Sean's hands. He had barely finished when the "queen" snatched a sword from a knight and stabbed the "king" in a rage.
Sean could only sigh—these chessmen were perhaps too full of personality.
If first-years played with these, matches might end before they began—since their own king would fall first.
"Charming pieces, aren't they?" Tayra said, eyes full of admiration. "They're so illogical because your will is so strong, child. When you craft an alchemical construct, your magic enters into it.
"And magic is precisely the embodiment of a wizard's will. A wizard with the strong will that alchemists dream of—beware, such a one stirs up storms.
"But one step at a time, child."
She took the board; her fingers moved subtly, and with some unknown magic the pieces froze in place—unable even to speak.
Sean knew what she meant, because the panel spelled it out:
[Mrs. Norris Biscuit: Beginner (700/900)]
[Owl Biscuit: Beginner (10/900)]
[Reindeer Biscuit: Beginner (10/900)]
[Rooster Biscuit: Beginner (10/900)]
[Mid-Tier: Wizard Chess: Apprentice (10/300)]
[Three Adept mid-tier alchemical constructs and six Beginner alchemical constructs unlock the Alchemy—Adept domain title]
He couldn't make it—not because his methods were wrong, nor for lack of talent.
Simply because the Magical-Creature Biscuit was too difficult.