For those of us who have read the Harry Potter series, we all know of the Mirror of Erised from the first book.
The Mirror of Erised is a mirror which according to Albus Dumbledore, shows the “deepest, most desperate desire of our hearts.”
In fact, “Erised” is “desire” spelled backwards, like it would be if it was reflected in a mirror.
On the mirror itself, there is engraved writing in a supposedly dead language, but if you look closely, it says, “Erised stra ehry oy tube cafru oyt on wohsi.”
In fact, if you write those words out backwards with different spacing, it says, “I show not your face but your heart’s desire.”
When explaining the dangers of the mirror to Harry, Dumbledore says, “Men have wasted away before it, not knowing if what they have seen is real, or even possible.”
When Harry looked into the mirror, he saw his parents. Ron Weasley saw himself as the Quidditch Captain and Head Boy. Albus Dumbledore saw a pair of thick white wool socks.
All of the Harry Potter lovers have seen the post that circles around on Facebook, Tumblr and Pinterest at one time or another that reassures all of the Harry Potter lovers. The post reads, “Friendly reminder that anyone born between 1985-1998 didn’t get their Hogwarts letter because Voldemort’s ministry wiped out the record of muggleborns.”
This poses the question of if the Wizarding World is real, how many muggle-born wizards are walking around the world today? If I had gotten my letter, I would be at Hogwarts right now, taking (and passing) my O.W.L.S. If I stumbled upon the mirror of Erised, I wonder what I would see.
I consider myself a genuinely happy person because so far my life has been pretty good. I had good experiences in high school and I am having even better ones in my freshman year of college.
If I stumbled upon the mirror, I believe that I would be surrounded by my family, everyone would be healthy and have no worries. In my hands, would be a best-selling book, written by me. A New York Times employee ID card would be around my neck.
What would you see? Would you see a bunch of money? A family member that had passed away? Would you see huge success? Would you see yourself holding the cure for cancer? Would you see yourself with a husband or wife and three beautiful children?
I asked a couple of my friends that read the series and these are their responses. The responses ranged from, “Selena Gomez” to “warmer weather”.
“I have no idea, maybe surrounded by books and food.” –SH
“I’d see me after college, with a good job, apartment and no debt. Mainly the no debt thing and the good paying job.” –JB
“Me winning a gold medal at the Olympics.” –AG
“I would see me graduating college, walking across the stage.” –GB
“I would see myself with the actors from Harry Potter and JK Rowling.” -AB
What would you see?
