She pulled the silvery metal object out of the tree and gasped. There was a bronze-coloured tiara and a silver locket with a Latin inscription on it.
The inscription read
"Ut meus filia Helena, ex vestri matris, Rowena."
Hang on, Merope thought, that mean 'To my daughter Helena, from your mother Rowena.' Oh Merlin and Hogwarts founders, I found the locket that belonged to Ravenclaw's daughter. She looked at the tiara. Not a tiara, Merope thought, a diadem. Ravenclaw's diadem. "I've found Ravenclaw's diadem! Now I better sleep, for I have far to go." Merope muttered to herself. She wrapped her thick winter cloak around herself and drifted into a slumber.
Merope woke the next morning about an hour after the dawn. She yawned and stretched her arms and got up, and continued her long journey to London. She had recently inherited just over a ΒΌ of a billion galleons & 250,000,000 pounds (Muggle Money), from her aunt Mirabella Malfoy, along with the Flavius Estate, which she couldn't use until she was seventeen years of age. Her father and brother did not inherit a thing. She knew her aunt favoured her. She had the key to the Gringotts vault where all this money was kept, plus on her person were two priceless family heirlooms. She firmly promised herself that she wouldn't hand them over to the Department of Historical Artefacts belonging to Witches & Wizards, but she might let them record them into their magical archives.
Three weeks later, Merope reached the Ministry of Magic; it was about noon when she got there, so she decided to go to the Department of Wizarding Minors under Legal Custody. With her cloak wrapped around her shoulders she walked to the visitor's entrance and closed the door behind her.
"Name and reason for visit" said a raspy voice.
"Merope Gaunt, I'm here to visit the Department of Wizarding Minors under Legal Custody and the Department of Historical Artefacts belonging to Witches & Wizards" Merope said firmly.
"Here is your visitor's badge, I judge you may be returning so you may keep this badge, thank you very much and have a nice day," the raspy voice said again.
Merope descended into the Ministry and pinned her badge to the thin winter cloak she was wearing. She followed the directions to the Department of Wizarding Minors under Legal Custody. Merope walked to one of the offices and knocked.
"Come in," said a gentle woman's voice.
Merope walked into the woman's office
"I suppose you want to be in our custody, don't you," the woman said politely "we don't many children in here with the Muggle Queen's new laws, but in any case, sit down, and tell me about yourself."
"My name is Merope Gaunt, I'm nine years old, born on August 15th 1890." Merope said to the polite woman, "I'm from Little Hangleton, Albania."
"You travelled here, all by yourself?" the woman asked incredulously.
"Yes," Merope stuttered, "Also I inherited a lot from my aunt Mirabella Malfoy."
The woman scribbled everything Merope said onto a piece of parchment and then gave it to Merope and said; "Sign here please," gesturing to the bottom of the parchment. Merope took a quill and signed the parchment
Merope S. Gaunt
"Thank you miss, I'll file this within the hour, the place you'll stay is in Diagon Alley, Gringotts too, it's called 'Home for Younglings', it will your home until you leave Hogwarts, I'll make sure you're on the list," said the woman.
"It is I who should be thanking you, for giving me a new home," Merope said with a huge smile on her face.
