That's right. Inside the mirror, right at the feet of Harry's "family," a brown mouse had suddenly appeared.
Looking at a stunned Tom outside the glass, it flashed a wide grin and held up a little whiteboard: [Surprise~ Long time no see, old friend.]
Tom curled his lip in disdain. Strangely, seeing the mouse actually calmed him down a bit. He had no idea why this stupid rodent was in the mirror, but judging by its behavior, it probably wasn't the exact Jerry he knew.
But before Tom could fully relax, the mirror-Jerry seemed to read his mind and decided to push his buttons. It pulled out a familiar, half-eaten wedge of golden cheese from behind its back. The teeth marks were clear as day.
[Meow!] (That's my cheese!)
Seeing his precious cheese—and watching the stupid mouse wave it tauntingly before breaking off a piece and popping it into its mouth—made Tom's fur stand on end! Right then and there, he only had one thought: teach this arrogant rodent a brutal lesson!
As for why the Mirror of Erised—an artifact meant to show your deepest desires—was displaying this? Tom didn't know. But wherever Jerry went, weirdness followed. It was par for the course, even if this Jerry was just a fake.
Besides... it's just an illusion! It's not like you can summon your whole mouse family into my heart's desire!
Without giving Harry or Dumbledore a second to react, Tom's ghostly body shot forward like a bullet, hurtling straight toward the glass.
"Wait, Tom, don't!" Harry cried out. This mirror was the only thing that let him see his family!
Dumbledore reflexively raised his hand. The Mirror of Erised was crucial to his future plans; he couldn't let Tom shatter it.
But a second later, both of them froze. Tom didn't pass through the mirror, nor did he smash it. The moment he made contact, the glass rippled like the surface of a pond. And just like that, Tom slipped right inside without any resistance, vanishing from the dusty classroom and leaving only fading ripples on the glass.
"Tom?!" Startled, Harry instinctively reached out to touch the mirror. Dumbledore nearly stepped in to stop him, but fortunately, Harry's hand only met cold, hard glass.
"Don't worry, he'll be fine." Seeing Harry's mix of anxiety and disappointment, Dumbledore dropped his concealment and stepped up beside the boy, pointing at the glass. "I have no idea how he managed it, but it appears... he has actually entered the mirror."
Just like he entered the world inside the paintings, the headmaster added silently.
"P-Professor! I—"
"We will discuss your situation later," Dumbledore interrupted gently. "For now, let's see what Mr. Lovegood is up to."
Dumbledore himself was planning to hide the Sorcerer's Stone inside the mirror, but that was just a clever bit of charm work. Physically diving into the mirror's dimension like Tom just did? That was completely unheard of.
With Tom inside, the figures in the mirror suddenly felt different. It was as if they had... come alive!
Before, their eyes had been fixed entirely on Harry. Even when the background changed, even when a mouse appeared at their feet, they had just kept smiling at the boy outside the glass. But now, their attention shifted. They looked away from Harry, glancing down at the mouse and up at the floating cat.
The biggest change was Tom's own reflection—or rather, the fact that the real Tom had basically logged into his mirror avatar. He stretched his limbs, looked around, and then lunged fiercely at the mouse on the floor!
The brown mouse had been casually nibbling its cheese, but the moment Tom dive-bombed, its ears twitched. Sensing danger, Jerry let out a squeak, dropped the cheese, and bolted like lightning.
"W-what is going on?!" Harry was utterly bewildered. How did Tom get in there? Why was there a mouse? And why had it suddenly turned into a cartoon cat-and-mouse chase? His brain simply couldn't process it all.
"When some things defy understanding, it's best not to force it. Just treat it as an entertaining play," Dumbledore said cheerfully, watching the scene with deep interest.
Even he couldn't explain how the Mirror of Erised had turned into this. But after spending enough time around Tom, Dumbledore had learned one universal truth: whenever that cat was involved, common sense was ground into dust. So, he simply gave up trying to figure it out and happily settled in to watch the show.
---
### Inside the Mirror World
Tom missed his pounce. Even though this Jerry was just an illusion, its reflexes were identical to the real deal, allowing it to dodge Tom's attack effortlessly.
Tom didn't care. He shot Jerry a wicked grin and waved his prize—the half-eaten block of cheese. Then, ignoring the mouse's look of absolute despair, Tom swallowed it whole in one gulp.
Mmm. 99% authentic. A rare delicacy~
Honestly, Hogwarts had cheese, but the flavor just couldn't compare to the stuff from the Tom and Jerry world. Getting a taste of home made this whole trip worth it.
(You play dirty!) The fake Jerry was clearly shocked. Weren't they supposed to be fighting? Why was he stealing snacks?!
Seeing this reaction confirmed Tom's theory: this definitely wasn't his Jerry. The real stupid rodent wouldn't be surprised by this at all. Tom had learned his lesson from the cartoons; he never used wind-up animations or pre-fight taunts anymore. It was why the real Jerry kept losing to him lately.
[Meow~] (Delicious cheese. Thanks for the meal~) Tom licked his lips theatrically, savoring the flavor.
Hearing that and watching his smug face made the fake Jerry see red. It pointed furiously at the big cat, squeaking out a stream of rodent profanity. Tom completely ignored it, pulling a toothpick from out of nowhere and casually picking his teeth.
"Hey, Lily, look!" To the absolute shock of Harry and Dumbledore outside, the messy-haired James Potter inside the mirror suddenly spoke. "What a funny pair of little guys."
Dumbledore was especially baffled. Wasn't the mirror only supposed to reflect desire? Why was the mirror-James speaking? And how could they hear him from outside?! Even knowing Tom's miraculous nature, Dumbledore couldn't wrap his head around this blatant violation of magical laws.
James had no idea what was happening outside. Or perhaps, the moment Tom and Jerry arrived, the mirror realm ceased being purely Harry's fantasy. James wasn't mad about the intruders; instead, he leaned down with an amused smile and tried to poke Tom's forehead.
However, entering the mirror hadn't changed the fact that Tom was currently in his ghost form. James's hand passed right through the cat's head.
Lily leaned in curiously too, smiling as she pulled James's hand back. "Oh, James, don't scare them!"
"I won't," James grinned. "Seeing him just reminds me of our old, rowdy friends."
Saying that, he reached out, scooped up the angrily gesturing Jerry, and placed the mouse in the palm of his hand. Startled at first by being picked up, Jerry immediately relaxed when he saw James's warm smile. The mouse even turned back to shoot Tom a smug, show-off grimace—basically saying that Tom wasn't even as loved as a rat!
!!! Unacceptable! Tom couldn't stomach that kind of provocation. The next second, the cat floated up and launched himself directly at the mouse in James's hands.
Seeing his nemesis take flight, the fake Jerry shrieked, dove out of James's hand, and scrambled furiously toward the edge of the mirror. Tom was hot on his heels. The cat and mouse turned into a pair of blurry streaks, zipping out of the frame.
Even after the two "main characters" ran off-screen, the mirror didn't reset. Instead, the background seemed to chase after them with a mind of its own, constantly shifting from the room into a long corridor.
As for Harry's relatives? Maybe because they weren't part of Tom's fantasy, or maybe they just existed on a different layered plane, they didn't vanish when the scenery changed. They remained exactly where they were.
"Whoa!" James Potter whistled, looking thrilled as he turned to Lily. "This is way more exciting than when we used to get chased by the caretaker!"
Lily shook her head with a helpless laugh, lightly slapping his arm. "James! Watch your image. Don't be a bad influence on the kids."
Hearing that, James immediately straightened up and tried to put on a stern, serious father-face. He lasted about three seconds before breaking. "Yeah, I'm definitely not cut out for this."
Outside the mirror, Dumbledore chuckled at the display. A sudden, intrusive thought crossed his mind: If I brought Snape down here to see this, what kind of face would he make? Fortunately, Dumbledore wasn't an actual demon, so he quickly dismissed the idea. If Snape really saw this, Harry's life would become exponentially more miserable.
Looking at the shell-shocked boy beside him, Dumbledore produced a bag of Lemon Sherbets from thin air. "Care for a drop, Harry?"
Harry blankly took the candy and put it in his mouth. He was utterly lost. What even was this mirror? Why could Tom go inside? Why were his parents talking now? Why—
A storm of emotions swirled in Harry's chest. He wanted to say something, but as he watched Tom and the mouse sprinting laps around his family, he just... didn't know what words to use.
---
### The Chase Escalates
Back in the mirror world, the chase was escalating. Jerry used his tiny size to his advantage, darting between everyone's legs and using their bodies to block Tom's line of sight.
But Tom wasn't playing by mortal rules. Thanks to his ghost form, he completely ignored physical obstacles, charging in a straight line right through the "people" to get to Jerry. Jerry only managed to lose him a few times by exploiting blind spots; otherwise, Tom would have caught the little pest already.
Still, thanks to some inexplicable, mystical "bond" between them, Tom always managed to lock back onto Jerry's trail.
Definitely a fake, Tom thought to himself as he closed the distance. It has the same reflexes as the real stupid rodent, but it's still way too noobish. However—
This guy is so annoying! Can't he just get out of the way?! Yep. For whatever reason, James kept casually shifting his position to act as a roadblock, actively running interference for Jerry. Even though Tom could phase through him, James's constant line-of-sight blocking was making Tom see red. Like, literal, physical red. His head flushed crimson, his ears shot straight up, and twin jets of white steam blasted out of them.
This guy was the worst! Tom had almost caught the rat a dozen times, only for this guy to step in and give Jerry a chance to breathe.
"Ah, what a shame," James sighed, shaking his head. As if that wasn't enough, he added, "It would be so much better if the cat had a physical body. Then I could really help our little mouse friend out and make the game more fun for him."
Hearing that almost made Tom explode. This was the very first time someone actively chose to help the smelly rodent over him—an adorable, perfect cat!
Lily reached over and pinched his waist. "Alright James, stop causing trouble. There's a limit to pranks! Look how mad you've made the poor kitty!"
She bent down, trying to soothe the "poor" Tom, but just like before, her hand passed right through his head. She gave him a slightly awkward, apologetic smile.
"I know, I know, dear," James said. But despite his words, he still "accidentally" stepped in Tom's way again, letting Jerry slip out of his grasp once more.
Seeing Jerry hiding behind James and pulling a face sent Tom over the edge.
Damn you, Potter! Just you wait! When I track down your actual soul, I'm going to make you regret this! For the record, Tom never holds a grudge. Really!
---