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For those who have a rusty memory of Harry Potter (or just never got into the series) the Mirror of Erised (desire spellec backwards) will show you what your heart most desires. For Harry, it was hanging out with his parents; Ron saw himself win the Quidditch Cup. And while it can be fun to imagine, beware that you’ll get caught in the fantasy and long for the impossible.

So, what do you see?


N. Alysha Lewis

Ughhh. This is difficult. Do I go with something I want but could achieve on my own or something I want and would be difficult to get? For the former, I would see Lawrence, me, and our kiddos, [Redacted] and [Redacted]. (Sorry, the names are too stellar to spoil.) For the latter, I would see me holding a stack of my published books.

Zach Straus

Me eating some tacos, but with my 24 year-old face on Billy Hafferty‘s current body, sporting Kelaine‘s eternally stellar ponytail, and Jesse Stone‘s ring on my finger.

Shalen Lowell

Woof, this is a hard one…. Though I’d 100 percent see my fiancé Shea and me with 3 doggos, a cute lil house on York River, and a lifetime supply of five cheese ziti al forno from the Olive Garden. Obviously, I’m as Italian as the Olive Garden.

Jessica Lulka

This mirror will give me a look at my future, in which I am a successful technology journalist and editor who has finally made it into publications such as WIRED and MIT Technology Review. I also have a perfect A1C, a very handsome husband, and we live in our beautiful home in either London, Chicago, or Boston. While I might not have it all, I’m pretty darn close.

Jillian Conochan

Like Ron, my heart yearns for athletic prowess. In the Mirror of Erised, I see high school me, fresh-faced and optimistic. In the mirror, I listened to my mom and never dyed my hair (even when all my prettiest peers did), but this time I also listened to my dad and wore knee pads for softball and basketball. This small change, which IRL I didn’t heed to until my third decade, raised my ceiling and earned me a D1 athletic scholarship.

Ryan Fay

I see a reflection of myself as I am now, just like a regular mirror, but with a time turner in my hand. The truth is that I have all the relationships I’ll ever need to be truly happy, and I never cared much for possessions or wealth. But I always desire more time. Time to work on projects. Time to pick up a hobby. Time to talk.

Dennis William

I see myself wearing a nice pair of socks.

Melissa Wyatt

I’d be on the stage at Radio City Music Hall as a Rockette, with legs for days and completely at home in the spotlight. I took that dance scholarship and bagged the sensible business degree. I don’t have a care in the world, and smile ear to ear with every shuffle ball change. I don’t worry about what tomorrow brings and care even less that I don’t have a “real job.” I’m too busy living completely in the moment, enjoying my 10 seconds of fame, and never looking back.

Erin Vail

It’s me, at the Bills Super Bowl Parade/Sabres Stanley Cup Parade, surrounded by my whole family, beaming. I look up to the sky and my grandparents and dogs wave, like at the end of Happy Gilmore.

Jonathan Newby

I see my family and me, watching THE Ohio State University football team hoist the national championship trophy right behind the bench… at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena, California.

A close second is watching Manchester United win the UEFA Champions League at Wembley. They beat Manchester City 3-2 after being down 2-nil. Paul Pogba scores the winner, and I’m amongst the pandemonium in the United supporter section with my baby brother and my best friends.

The Prompt Staff

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