That'd be helpful.

One thing is looking into the authors - sadly sometimes difficult, biographical research isn't very centralized, but you can sometimes at least get possible motives or political alignments out of that...

Nod nod.

"You two are doing very well."

"Thanks."

Heee.

She smiles and turns back to her breakfast.

A successful Christmas morning.

Definitely!

They still have a few days before the other students return and a bit after that before classes start back up - does Ellie want to test out her new cloak at all?

Test it how?

They could explore more! While hiding. Even after hours, maybe... Getting into the restricted sections in the library might be a bit harder, but that's also an option...

Will it cover the both of them?

It looks pretty big... Only way to know for sure is to test, though.

All right, then.

Turns out it covers both of them well enough they actually need to lift up some of the fabric so it doesn't drag on the floor... It makes the world look a bit weird, sort of washed out, but they can see just fine through it.

Testing with one of them under it and the other outside also reveals it is, indeed, an invisibility cloak.

Cool.

Well then. An expedition may be in order.

Definitely!

There's a lot of parts of the castle they haven't explored yet, too...

Fertile ground.

Onward, then!

There is, indeed, a lot of castle, and on the second night of wandering (Anathema seems to find breaking curfew disproportionately hilarious), they find a room with windows overlooking the lake, containing nothing but a single tall mirror standing in the middle. It looks old, with complicated scroll work decorating its golden frame. And... There's an inscription, etched deep into the top arch - Erised stra ehru oyt ube cafru oyt on wohsi.

"Weird," Anathema whispers, sounding delighted.

"Looks important."

"It's probably magic. We should look in it."

"I'd prefer if we knew what it did..."

"Guess we could look it up in the library or something? But magic mirrors just show stuff. Sometimes they talk to you? But they can't, like, hurt you I don't think?"

"Well... All right." Because it's after hours that's got her feeling adventurous.

Heee.

She ducks out from under the invisibility cloak.

Pause.

"Might be smart to go one at a time? In case it is a secret evil mirror."