Item from harry-potter-philosophers-stone by
A magnificent ornate mirror that shows the viewer their deepest desire — Harry sees his family, Dumbledore claims to see socks, and the Stone hidden inside will only appear to someone who wants to find it but not use it.
Harry finds the Mirror of Erised while hiding from Filch under the Invisibility Cloak. He looks into it and sees, for the first time in his life, his family — his mother and father, his grandparents, and relatives he never knew, all smiling and waving at him. He goes back night after night, sitting on the stone floor in an empty classroom, staring at the only family portrait he has ever had. Dumbledore finds him there and gently explains: the mirror shows the deepest desire of the heart, nothing more. It gives neither knowledge nor truth. Men have wasted away before it. Dumbledore tells Harry the mirror will be moved, and asks him not to go looking for it. When Harry asks what Dumbledore sees, the old man says he sees himself holding a pair of thick, woolen socks. Harry suspects, even at eleven, that this is not the truth. The Mirror's final role is as the last line of defense for the Philosopher's Stone — Dumbledore hid the Stone inside the Mirror, enchanted so that only someone who wanted to find the Stone but not use it could retrieve it. This is what saves the Stone from Quirrell and Voldemort.
An enormous, ornate mirror reaching to the ceiling, set in a gold frame standing on two clawed feet. The inscription carved around the top reads 'Erised stra ehru oyt ube cafru oyt on wohsi' — 'I show not your face but your heart's desire' reversed. The surface shows not a reflection but a vision: whatever the viewer wants most in the world.
Also known as: the Mirror of Erised, Mirror of Erised, the mirror