Dumbledore's Mirror of Erised Vision Is Surprisingly Predictable
The Mirror of Erised is an ancient and powerful artifact that reveals the most desperate desires of a person looking into it.
Its first and only appearance happens in The Sorcerer's Stone where it plays a key role in the finale apart from showing us what kind of people young Harry and Ron are and then disappears for good.
But Harry and Ron were not the only people who used the Mirror of Erised: Albus Dumbledore, the all-powerful Headmaster of Hogwarts, did it too.
When Harry started coming to the Mirror every night to see his parents, Dumbledore decided to come along to explain to Harry how the artifact works and stop his addiction to it.
Obviously, after little Harry learned what the Mirror does, his curiosity got the better of him and he asked the Headmaster what was the Mirror showing him.
Albus Dumbledore was very evasive in his answer — he was lying, in fact. All he told the boy was that he saw himself wearing "a pair of thick, white woolen socks."
This was not true, of course. Even eleven-year-old Harry did not buy it. But have you ever wondered what was the Headmaster's biggest and most desperate desire?
It was confirmed that Dumbledore's real vision was very similar to Harry's: in the Mirror of Erised, he saw his family. But while Harry simply wanted to get to know his relatives, Dumbledore's desire was deeper as it was rooted in sorrow.
In his vision, the entire family was back together as if nothing happened. His brother Aberforth was reconciled to him, his sister Ariana was alive and able to properly use magic, and their parents Percival and Kendra Dumbledores were back with them.
Admittedly, Gellert Grindelwald was also there — he never turned to the dark side and was happy to be with Albus. The terrible fight between them never happened, and neither of them bore the weight of possibly having killed Ariana.
For Albus Dumbledore, the greatest magician of his time, the Mirror showed him the perfect world where the mistakes of the past didn't happen.
The Headmaster was full of pain and regret, and the Mirror sensed it, giving him a glance at how happy he could've been…
If not for his age and wisdom, Dumbledore would've likely become heavily addicted to the Mirror's visions just like little Harry.