Everyone assumes that because I'm Rowena Ravenclaw's daughter, I belong in the Ravenclaw house. That is not true. My mother had a feeling that I wouldn't be sorted into her house so she threatened the Sorting Hat.
"You and I both know that she doesn't belong in Ravenclaw but think of how it will throw off the power balance within the school! What a dishonor it would be if she wasn't in my house!"
The Sorting Hat was reluctant at first, "I have seen into her mind and her future. She is very powerful. If she is put in Ravenclaw, she will betray you. She belongs in Slytherin."
"No! I will not have that happen! I will tear you to pieces myself before I let MY daughter, MY heir being sent to that despicable house! Salazar would corrupt her and turn her evil. No. She will be put in Ravenclaw or you will spend all of eternity looking for all of your pieces!" And that is how I was sorted into Ravenclaw. Everyone knew I didn't belong there. The other students teased me constantly about how I would always be a disappointment to everyone, including my mother. My mother did love me. She loved me a lot but she was disappointed in me. She constantly reminded me of all the sacrifices that she had to make for me. At the end of each term, she rewarded the best student in Ravenclaw by letting them wear her magic diadem for a whole week. Her diadem was enchanted to make the wearer brilliant and it gave them power. I was never picked to wear the diadem. Maybe it was because I wasn't smart enough or maybe it was because my mother feared that I had too much power already. Whatever the reason, it didn't stop me from getting angry about it. Why should my mother favor other students but not me? Why did they get to wear the crown of Ravenclaw when I was the rightful heir? After all, I was her daughter! That crown was a family heirloom. Why did other people get to wear a crown that was meant for me? I started to avoid anyone that was a Ravenclaw. I quickly found that I liked hanging around the Slytherins the most. They accepted me for who I was and they never criticized me for who I wasn't. They treated me like my mother wasn't one of the original founders of Hogwarts. It felt really good to be with people who didn't judge me. I became really good friends with a boy named Spencer Baron. He would always comfort me whenever another term passed and I was not picked to wear the diadem. He understood the pressures that I was under and he helped me whenever he could. I always felt safe when I was with him. When he asked me out during our 6th year, I said yes immediately. For a while it was really nice. It was also pretty much unheard of for houses to mix and be friends let alone date. When my mother found out she was furious. She ordered me to break up with him immediately. I was distraught. But because I wanted to make her proud of me for one, I did it. One of my other friends in Slytherin also knew what I was going through. "If it were me, I wouldn't let her control my life… I wouldn't give her the option to favor others over me….. I would just take what was rightfully mine…" She was right! Why didn't I just take it? It would be mine anyway someday so why not just take it now? The current wearer of the diadem was a 7th year named Marlena. That night, I told her that my mother wanted to speak to her in the common room at midnight. When she showed up, I disarmed her and took the diadem right off her head. Then I used a memory charm to make sure that she didn't remember what happened. Then I fled to the forests of Albania. Soon after, Spencer found me. At first I was thrilled to see him. I figured we could start a new life together where no one could tell us what to do. For a few months, we were happy. Unfortunately, it did not last. Spencer grew jealous of my new found power that came from the diadem. More than once, he tried to take the crown right off of my head. One day I got angry and ran away again. I hoped that he would not find me but of course, a few months later, he found me once again. This time was different. He had a note from my mother with him. The note said that she needed me to return to the school immediately. She was very sick and she would probably die within a couple of days, it said that she knew I was the one who took the diadem but she was not mad at me and that she had never told anyone else that it was missing. I realized that I had made a terrible mistake and immediately tried to go back to her but Spencer stopped me. "Why would you even want to go back there? You hated it there!"
"Why are you here?" I asked. I knew he wasn't only here to bring me back to the castle and I was right. He explained how angry he was when I left him the second time. He said that after I left, he thought of a way that could help him find me again so he went back to the castle and poisoned my mother. After she wrote the note, he told her that he would bring me back to see her before she died. Then he demanded that I give him the diadem and when I refused, he began to hit me. When I raised my want to defend myself, he pulled out a knife and stabbed me. There was so much blood and I couldn't do anything. I couldn't move anymore. I couldn't breathe anymore. I felt my heart slow down until it finally stopped. The last thing I felt was my soul leaving my body. It took me a few minutes to realize what I had become. I was looking down at my own mangled body. It was strange to see myself like that. I looked down and say the pain and fear in my lifeless eyes and I got angry. I saw Spencer reaching over to take the diadem off my head and I got even angrier. He had no remorse! How dare he kill me! I flew towards him and was surprised when I didn't go right through him. I was inside of his mind! Before I even knew what I was doing, I forced him to kill himself. I was horrified at what I had done but I knew that he deserved it. I quickly flew to Hogwarts hoping to get to my mother before it was too late. Surprisingly, I got there in 5 minutes. When my mother saw me she screamed. "Helena! What happened to you!" I told her I was sorry for taking the diadem and I told her what happened. Then I asked her why I became a ghost. "Everyone dies, few become ghosts. There are many reasons why. The most common answer is that they have an unfinished life. Sometimes it is because they were killed in a terrible way. In your case, it's probably both."
"Will I ever move on?"
"Probably not."
"I don't want to feel this way forever!"
"I know you don't, sweetheart. I don't think you have a choice."
And that is how I became the ghost of Ravenclaw Tower.