This has bothered me since I stumbled across it a few months ago. When Harry and Ron are in front of the mirror, Harry sees his parents and Ron sees himself becoming Prefect and winning and holding the Quidditch Cup for Gryffindor. When Harry asks Dumbledore what the mirror is, he simply states that is shows a person their deepest desires but that people can be 'lost' if they dwell on their dreams.

However, as the books progress, we learn that DD's word isn't sacrosanct and, well, everything that those boys saw in the mirror is coming true. Harry saw his parents in GoF and Ron got prefected in OotP and he was holding the Quidditch Cup that Gryffindor won in was it OotP or HBP? I can't remember which. I think it's right to say that Ron pretty much forgot all about what he saw in that mirror (especially since it isn't broached at any of those moments in the fiture) as soon as he walked away from it but, of course, Harry wouldn't forget about his parents. It also put the Philospher's Stone into Harry's pocket when faced with Voldemort for the first time. Desire can't materialize something into your pocket but what put it there?

What I'm trying to get as is--does the Mirror of Erised foretell the future? Did Harry's encounter with his parents at the Priori Incantatem satiate that vision or did what he see in that mirror in his first year show him his death and subsequent reunion with his family in the afterlife?

I should say I'm a firm believer in DD's fallibility, especially as the books continue on. In HBP he state repeatedly that he's just a man and makes mistakes. While there's no doubt he's wise, I don't believe he knows everything. I do think the mirror shows a person what they want but I also think, as well, that it shows the future. It would be another reason why a person could be lost in front of it, constantly wanting to know what their future held hence constantly referencing it to know.

Thoughts?

No I don't think the mirror can tell the future.

I think once you know what you're heart's desire is and what you want is obtainable, then you can work hard and get it. Like with Ron and Qudditch.

But if you want something that is impossible (like Harry wanting to be with his deceased parents - know their love and belong to a real family) that just can not come true. The only way Harry can be with his real family is if dies. However, he can choose to remember is family, be apart of the Weasley family and work on having a family of his own one day.

The thing is, within the context of the book, the mirror is never brought back up again. He did work a bit at Quidditch but he got discouraged quickly and gave up many times. What are the chances that Ron thought back on what he saw when he was 11 (by all means something that could have doubled as a dream by the time he was 16) and said, 'I'm going to achieve that?' So is it a mere coincidence that he held up the Quidditch Cup, that his deepest desire came true? And what of the Philospher's Stone? How did it get into Harry's pocket?

Dumbledore hid the stone in the mirror, that was his part in protecting it from harm. he put a spell/charm on the stone, so that only someone who wanted the stone but not for their own gain could see it in the mirror and obtain it.

Harry wanted the stone so Quriell/Voldemort couldn't have it and become immortal, he wanted the stone to be safe. That is why it appeared in his pocket. Harry passed the requirments of the spell/charm that Dumbledore put on the mirror.

Ron never stopped wanting to be a Quiddicth start or Prefect/Head Boy. He did give up and get discouraged but it was beacuse of nerves. He worries that he will not be as good as his brother. Ron wants more than anything to be as good as his brothers are at school, Quidditch, life and to recongize for his accomplishments. That is what motivates Ron even when he doesn't realize it. That is also why he wanted to pass his appration test on his first try because all of his brother's did. Ron's nevers and self-doubt are his own worse eniemes. He is actually very smart and a good quiddicth player.

Harry still wants to be with his parents. He wants to be with Sirius and now Dumbledore. He deals with it better as he gets older. But that desire is still there. He has never had a family of his own (Ron's family is a close 2nd but they are not his blood relatives) and that is what he wants more than anything. Harry wants to be with his blood family, feel their love and have wonderful times with them. This will never happen. That is why Dumbeldore moved the mirror in the 1st place. So Harry wouldn't waste his life wishing for what could have been and not living the life that is waiting for him.

Well it could coz it had harry lily and james together and in the gof it had them three again but in a different situation

Well I guess Dumbledore already answered that so i stick with him...I don't think it does show the future...afterall Harry can not possibly meet his family...

i dont think the mirror can tell the future at all, DD knows all about the mirror, he is at the time the most powerful wizard is he not, we aught to believe what he says... love DD's girl through and through... its like questioning his authority

I think it shows that you can acheive your desires if you work hard enough at it.

I think this is a very interesting theory, and it has opened up a new idea for me. i agree that it is prophetic.

It can be a fine line sometimes because people work towards what they desire. Ron desired having the Quidditch Cup and being Prefect and so he worked towards it and earned it. I would say no, it doesnt show the future, but what it states in the book because as i said, people try to get what they want, so it can be a fine line between the future, and what they truly want.

But, I think the question is, would Ron have won the Quidditch Cup for the team or become prefect if he hadn't seen it in the mirror to begin with? While it wasn't mentioned again, even after these things happens, it's highly likely that it was filed away in his subconscious and while he himself inhis conscious state wasn't actively persuing it, he subconsciously made it happen, a self-fulfilling prophecy. And I do think Harry will see his parents again because I do believe he's going to die in the last book. He will be able to see them once he departs from this life and goes into the next.

Interesting, I think you are partly right. Maybe when Ron saw himself in the mirror with all that glory he felt noticed, appriciatied*or however you spell that word*and he kind of kept in the back of his mind. Basically what you said. I wonder if JK is aware of the things she's made us think so much about. If she did it on purpose or if were just to smart for her? To many gaps.
I'm almost positive that Harry will see his parents again. If Harry's to die in book 7 then surely he will see at least the figure of his parents.

I also don't think that the mirror tells the future. Actually it's quite obvious it doesn't because Harry doesn't see all of his family. He just sees his parents at the Prior Incantatem and not his whole family like he'd seen in the mirror.
As for Ron, well, I would agree with Darlinga etc., that he just worked hard for it and finally made his heart's desire come true.

It cant do becasue Harrys parents are dead.

Although he does see them in "Prior Incantatum" and in "The Forest Again" but there not happy and alive.

Ron doesnt become quiditch captain because hes rubbish at quiditch and he doesnt become head boy because they dont go back for their final year.

I think it is a fine line that could be crossed either way. I believe wholly that it is not prophetic. But maybe it puts an idea and some sort of can do attitude that makes people strive to acheive what they desire- maybe seeing themselves in that light makes them really believe that it can happen and that they can acheive that goal. I know if I saw myself the way Ron saw himself it would make me work harder to get it since I basically tasted it!

I don't think the Mirror of Erised can tell the future. Dumbledore's word may not be sacrosanct, and he may be wrong sometimes, but I think he has his head screwed on pretty straight here.

Harry saw his parents, yes, but what he saw in the Mirror was a much different situation than what he saw in the graveyard in GOF. The Mirror was showing him what he wished would happen--that his parents were alive and happy and taking care of him as they would have all along if they hadn't been killed. In short, Harry's deepest desire is to have his parents alive and well again. And, of course, you can't bring the dead back to life. You can talk to their ghosts, as he did in GOF, and again in DH, but it's not the same.

As for Ron's desires, he wanted them very badly and strived to make them come true. So he got the Prefect's badge in OOTP, because Dumbledore thought he'd make the third best prefect in Gryffindor. Remember, Harry was slated to be prefect, but Dumbledore thought it would put too much strain on him, especially if he was going after Horcruxes as well. So he gave it to Ron, anyway. Ron earned that Prefect's badge. And his Quidditch skills are very good, as well. Harry knows this, and his skills (plus a bit of sly work from Hermione) are what got him onto the team.

I don't think so.

Ron saw himself as headboy, and quiddich captain, but he never became either.
Harry saw himself reunited with his family - he never truly was reunited. He only glimpsed at the past through Priori Incantatem, photos and memories.

Dumbledore really did put this right. It isn't prophetic, it's "the deepest and most desperate desires of our hearts". The question you're asking is the same question the people who wasted away in front of it were asking. It's a shame though ...

Yes ^^, Ron saw himself as a captain, but he never became. And Harry saw his whole family, but he was together with only his mum&dad.

No, it just shows a persons deepest desire but just cause a person desires something does not mean their desire will ever be reality.

No, the mirror isn't prophetic as such. But like you've said, if you want something, you will work for it, so it can become true. And that was somewhat true for both Harry and Ron. Ron maybe didn't become Head Boy or Quidditch captain, but he eventually became Prefect and Quidditch player, which is almost as good, because he worked for it (at least for the Quidditch thing). Harry wanted to know his parents, and while he couldn't bring them back from the dead, he found out more and more about them over the years, and he even got to talk to them twice, even if they weren't more than ghosts. And a lot of that happened because he wanted to find out more about them, and because he used the Resurrection stone that once.