That stopped him, at least. Snape stared at Harry for a moment. Then he shrugged and glanced once more towards Hermione. "Discretion prevents me from saying much more."
Discretion, Harry almost scoffed. Sure.
Draco actually made a noise that sounded a bit like he was strangling.
Hermione looked like she wanted to chuckle, but she knew it wouldn't be very polite. "Why don't you just tell me about this mirror?"
Harry still thought her tone sounded a little too jolly, but he ignored that. The mirror was what really mattered. He started explaining everything they'd learned so far. That certainly didn't take long.
"What was the inscription, exactly?" Hermione asked, frowning. "I mean, in the original?"
She, of course, could follow it pretty well in Latin, which really showed how clever she was. Unlike Draco, she hadn't had lessons in the language from a young age. Draco looked like he realised that, and it irritated him. When he saw Harry looking at him though, his expression went as smooth as a mask. Creepy, actually.
He rattled off the wording of the inscription in a bored tone.
Hermione looked like she was counting on her fingers as she listened, but it turned out she was just working out her own translation. "Hmm, it sounds like your English version of it is spot on, at any rate."
Draco looked down his nose at her. "I don't mistranslate."
"Of course you do," said Snape without looking up, that time. "Occasionally."
"Severus confirmed that it was the Mirror of All Souls," continued Draco in slightly less haughty tone. "So inscription or no, there's no question that it contacts the dearly departed."
Ron hadn't said much through all that, but now he started shaking his head, his eyes wide with alarm. "If it's used to get in touch with the dead, then it's a dark artefact," he said in a wavering voice. "And in that case, none of you lot should have anything to do with it, especially... er . . ."
Draco bristled. "Especially me, I suppose you mean?"
"Well, you are probably a little, you know, too familiar already with that sort of thing." Ron sounded sheepish, at least, like he knew Draco wasn't pure evil any longer. That was something, at least.
Draco didn't seem to think so. He raised his voice. "And you're too familiar with making ends meet, aren't you?"
"That's enough," snapped Harry. "You said you wouldn't be rude to my friends."
"It would help if he wouldn't be so daft. Dark artefacts . . ." Draco made a scoffing noise. "Are ghosts dark, then? All of them?"
"Well, no, but--"
"It's an oversimplification to claim that any connection to the realm of the dead must be dark by nature," announced Draco in a pompous tone.
Ron looked like he'd just been called a blithering idiot. Which maybe he had, but Harry didn't want his friends fighting. "Listen," he rushed to say. "The mirror has a safeguard built in, right? You can only call those who are in your heart. "
"That's not much of a safeguard," said Hermione slowly. "Whom do you suppose someone like Grindelwald would be able to call?"
Good point. But still... "Maybe your love has to be pure or something. That would keep somebody truly awful from using the mirror, I suppose. And it ought to keep something horrible from coming through."
Draco reached for another biscuit. "I don't think that coming through is the right way to think about what the mirror does, Harry. There's nothing in the inscription to imply any sort of resurrection or flesh-and-blood presence. Whomever you call will speak to you from the mirror. So what would it matter if a nasty sort showed up? The image couldn't actually do anything to anybody."
No? thought Harry, thinking of Lucius' portrait in Grimmauld Place. A children's rhyme came to mind. Sticks and stones can break your bones, but words can never hurt you... But that wasn't true. It wasn't true at all. Words could hurt you; Harry knew that.
Even knowing that, though, couldn't discourage him. He wanted to talk to his parents. And Sirius. He wanted that more than anything. And they would never hurt him, so everything would be just fine. Harry cleared his throat. "Hermione... I really want to get the mirror working again. I didn't tell you about it so we could all have a debate. I thought you might be able to help me. You know, you could research it and figure something out for us."
The girl blushed a rosy pink, as she began twirling a strand of hair around her finger. "Oh. Well, that's flattering, Harry, but if your father already looked into the matter and came up empty, I really can't believe that I'd--"
"Please? You never know."
"How could I research something magical, anyway? The library near my parents' house doesn't cover this sort of thing."
Harry ignored her dry tone. "Dad, didn't you mention a wizarding library in Edinburgh? Would it have a larger collection than Hogwarts?"
"Considerably. And the London Repository of Arcane Knowledge is even more extensive."
"Can you get the headmaster to set something up for Hermione, then? Some kind of owl access, or--"
"I can, but I've already inquired into their collections myself, Harry. To no avail."
"Yeah, but once Hermione starts reading, she might notice something you missed. I mean, she's brilliant. No offence."
"Oh, none taken."
Harry smiled at the sarcasm. "You're both brilliant, all right? I'm just thinking of that new perspective you mentioned, that's all."
Brilliant was an understatement, as it turned out. Hermione had a better idea of her own. As usual. "I'd love access to those libraries," she said, her eyes gleaming. "I'd appreciate anything you could help to arrange, Professor. But it just struck me that the books we need might be at Durmstrang."
Ron turned to stare at her, but Hermione seemed oblivious. Clearly lost in thought, she nodded slightly to herself. "That's right... Victor mentioned doing an entire course on manipulating mirrors. It's something of a specialty, there. If I can borrow an owl I'll ask him if he can pop over to the library there and see if it has anything about a Mirror of All Souls."
Draco beamed a smile at her, though he slanted a glance at Ron as he did it. "What a simply marvellous idea."
Uh-oh.
"It is not!" erupted Ron, his voice just a little squeaky. "Durmstrang, Hermione? Well, that's proof for you right there, isn't it? Dark, I told you, this whole thing is dark--"
Draco's smile grew even wider. "Are you sure you aren't merely upset about the prospect of her exchanging owl-post with the legendary Victor Krum, Ron? A genuine Quidditch hero, something you'll certainly never be?"
"Shut up, Ferret--"
"I'd rather be a ferret than a weasel!"
Harry felt a sudden burst of sympathy for his father. Watching people you loved squabble really wasn't very pleasant. "Stop it, both of you!"
Ron pressed his lips together for a moment, then said, "I really do think that mirror is bad news, Harry."
Draco rose gracefully to his feet, shrugging slightly when Ron jumped up to face him. "I thought so too, actually. But not because it's dark, for Merlin's sake. Harry wants to talk to his parents. Didn't think of that, did you?"
"Oh. Parents." The words came out kind of like a croak.
Draco twisted his lips. "Yes, exactly. Now, are you going to object if I say that your girlfriend can use our letter box?" He didn't wait for an answer. "Hermione? The letters will actually be owled from Hogwarts, but I would imagine that Krum's reply to you will go straight to your house."
"Thank you, Draco," said Hermione, a bit primly. She seated herself opposite Snape, smiling a little when he wordlessly passed her parchment and a spare quill.
Draco leaned against the wall, his eyes hooded as he stared at Hermione. And then he started whistling slightly through his teeth, just as though he thought there was more going on than an inquiry about mirrors.