Item from Harry Potter by J.K. Rowling
A magnificent ornate mirror that shows the viewer their deepest, most desperate desire — inscribed backwards with 'I show not your face but your heart's desire' — used by Dumbledore to hide the Philosopher's Stone.
The Mirror of Erised is a masterpiece of enchantment and a perfect trap. Men have wasted away sitting before it, lost in visions of things they can never have. Dumbledore found Harry visiting it night after night in his first year and gently redirected him, telling Harry that the happiest person in the world would look in the mirror and see only themselves. When Harry asked what Dumbledore saw, Dumbledore said he saw himself holding a pair of thick, woolen socks — a lie Harry didn't see through until years later. Dumbledore almost certainly saw his family whole and alive: Ariana, Kendra, Percival, and Aberforth, together and unbroken. The mirror's final use was as the last defense for the Philosopher's Stone — only someone who wanted to find the Stone but not use it could retrieve it from the mirror. Dumbledore's understanding of desire was precise enough to build a security system out of it.
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. For Harry, it showed his family — his parents, grandparents, and relatives he never knew, all smiling and waving at him.
Also known as: the Mirror of Erised, Mirror of Erised, the mirror