Mirror

In the wizarding world, a mirror is not always a simple object for reflection. While ordinary mirrors exist, many are enchanted to possess potent magical properties. These magical mirrors can serve various functions, including communication, security, concealment of powerful objects, or revealing the deepest, unspoken desires of the beholder. They range from handheld communication devices to large, ornate artifacts of immense power and mystery. The most significant examples in the series are the Mirror of Erised, the two-way mirror, and the Foe-Glass.

The Mirror of Erised is an ancient, mysterious, and powerful magical artifact. Its primary function is to show the onlooker nothing more or less than the deepest, most desperate desire of their heart.

• Description and Appearance: The mirror is magnificent and imposing, standing as tall as a classroom ceiling. It has an ornate gold frame and stands on two clawed feet. An inscription is carved around the top: “Erised stra ehru oyt ube cafru oyt on wohsi.” When read backwards, this translates to “I show not your face but your heart's desire.”
• Magical Properties and Usage: The mirror does not show the truth or impart knowledge, but rather a reflection of the viewer's soul's greatest yearning. This can be dangerously alluring; Albus Dumbledore noted that men have wasted away before it, captivated by what they see.
  • When Harry Potter looks into it, he sees his parents and a crowd of loving relatives, reflecting his deep longing for the family he never knew.
  • Ron Weasley, feeling overshadowed by his brothers and his famous best friend, sees himself as Head Boy and Quidditch Captain, holding the House Cup.
  • Albus Dumbledore later used the mirror's unique properties to create the ultimate protection for the Philosopher's Stone. He enchanted it so that only a person who wanted to find the Stone, but not use it for personal gain, could retrieve it from the mirror's concealment.
• History and Role in the Story: Albus Dumbledore discovered the mirror and brought it to Hogwarts, placing it in an unused classroom during Harry's first year. After Harry's discovery of it, Dumbledore moved it to the final chamber guarding the Philosopher's Stone. It was here that Harry Potter faced Quirinus Quirrell and Lord Voldemort, successfully retrieving the Stone because his desire was to protect it, not use it. After these events, Dumbledore arranged for the mirror to be moved to a “new home,” and its location is no longer known.

A two-way mirror is a magical communication device that allows two people, each holding one of a matched pair, to see and speak to one another.

• Description and Appearance: The mirror owned by Sirius Black and Harry Potter was a small, square piece of glass, small enough to fit in a pocket. It would appear blank until the correct owner's name was spoken into its twin.
• Magical Properties and Usage: To operate the mirror, the user holds their piece and clearly says the name of the person holding the other. That person's face will then appear in the mirror, and a two-way conversation can be held.
• History and Role in the Story: The set of mirrors was originally used by James Potter and Sirius Black to talk to each other when they were in separate detentions at Hogwarts. In Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, Sirius gives Harry one of the mirrors so Harry can contact him directly. However, Harry forgets about the gift until after Sirius's death. In his grief, Harry smashes his mirror. The other half was stolen from 12 Grimmauld Place by Mundungus Fletcher, who later sold it to Aberforth Dumbledore. In Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Harry carries a shard of his broken mirror with him. Through this shard, Aberforth is able to keep an eye on Harry. This connection proves vital when he sees Harry in distress at Malfoy Manor and sends Dobby the house-elf to rescue him and his friends.

The Foe-Glass is a type of Dark Detector that reflects the enemies of its owner.

• Description and Appearance: It is a large mirror in which the enemies of the owner appear as shadowy, indistinct figures.
• Magical Properties and Usage: The figures in the Foe-Glass become clearer and more defined as the enemies themselves draw physically closer to the mirror's location. As Barty Crouch Jr. (disguised as Alastor Moody) explained, “you can see the whites of their eyes” when they are right outside the door.
• Known Locations: One Foe-Glass was a key part of the collection of Dark Detectors in the office of the Defence Against the Dark Arts professor during Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire. It warned Barty Crouch Jr. of the approach of Albus Dumbledore, Minerva McGonagall, and Severus Snape. Another Foe-Glass was seen by Harry Potter in the Room of Requirement when it was serving as the headquarters for Dumbledore's Army.

• Talking Mirror: A garrulous mirror located in Room 11 of the Leaky Cauldron spoke to Harry Potter during his stay there before his third year. It was prone to giving flattering, and sometimes cheeky, commentary.
• Mirror in Moaning Myrtle's Bathroom: While not described as being enchanted, the large, cracked mirror in the second-floor girls' lavatory is historically significant. It was in this mirror that Moaning Myrtle saw the fatal gaze of the Basilisk emerging from the entrance to the Chamber of Secrets.

• J.K. Rowling revealed in an interview that what Albus Dumbledore truly saw in the Mirror of Erised was his family, alive, whole, and happy—with his sister Ariana Dumbledore returned to health and reconciled with his brother, Aberforth Dumbledore (J.K. Rowling interview).
• In the film adaptation of Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, the scene where Sirius gives Harry the two-way mirror was cut. To reconcile this for the plot of the final films, a scene was added to Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 1 where Aberforth Dumbledore explains he bought the mirror from Mundungus Fletcher and that Harry is carrying a shard he found after Sirius's death (film).