CW: school anxiety, conflict
:FIFTY-THREE:
And he did wear it always, even though Ron made fun of him for it. As February faded into March, the rainy weather continued. Harry found himself surrounded by activities as classes became more difficult and his quidditch practices amped up as they came closer to the quidditch final. His biggest worry was actually for Hermione, who was looking more and more exhausted by the day.
She had distanced herself from both Ron and Harry, literally putting up walls of books around herself. The only being she let near her was her cat Crookshanks - and even he got pushed away if he messed with her quills or parchment. Ron was nonplussed by this development, but had begun pushing food towards her in the common room at intervals so she at least ate something.
It all came to a head when she returned fuming to the common room when she was supposed to be in divination. Harry and Ron were slowly but surely making their way through star charts for Astronomy, but looking up in astonishment as Hermione plopped down next to them.
"...Hermione?" Ron asked slowly. "Aren't you supposed to be in class?"
Hermione let out a sound that was a cross between a growl and a shriek, slamming her bag down onto the floor next to her and taking out the divination textbook.
"I quit!" She said crossly, taking out her wand as she told them all about her disastrous class doing crystal ball gazing.
"Wow," Harry said once she'd finished. "I'm glad I didn't take that class - it sounds awful."
"What're you doing - Hermione!" Ron yelled.
Hermione had taken her wand and glued the pages together so it would only open in the middle, and Ron watched in horror as she used a cutting charm to make a square hole in the center of both halves.
"I am making this stupid book useful!" Hermione said vengefully.
She ripped all the cuttings out of the book, leaving them out for Crookshanks to play with.
"I'm going to get paint, I'll be right back." Hermione got back up and stormed up to her dormitory.
Ron looked positively alarmed now. "I think she's lost it, Harry."
Harry nodded back, turning his eyes back to his star chart as Hermione stormed back into the room. He'd never known art could be done vengefully, but now that he was seeing it in person, he wasn't sure he cared for it much. Hermione used a hardening charm on the paper and then began painting the cover and the pages a dark shade of maroon.
"What exactly are you making, Hermione?" Harry asked hesitantly.
"I was thinking maybe a jewelry box." Hermione said stiffly. "For when you find the diadem."
Harry and Ron didn't dare say anything else, so they just worked on their homework and observed Hermione as she worked. Whenever she remembered something, she'd huff and throw one of the ripped pages into the fire. By the time the book had been completely painted, all of the extra pages were crackling in the fire and Hermione seemed safe to talk to again.
"At least you'll have more free time, Hermione." Ron said, attempting to cheer her up. "You've been really stressed lately."
"Yeah." She sighed. "It will be nice not wasting my time in that rubbish excuse for a class."
She rolled her shoulders back and seemed to shake off the day. "How are your star charts coming?"
"Nearly done." Ron said hopefully. "Would you mind maybe looking them over?"
Hermione smirked, but held out her hand to take them. She corrected their star charts, waiting for the paint to dry and looking much more relaxed. She handed them back, then took out a detailed brush and golden paint to add a border around the front and back. It still looked like a book when she was finished, but it looked nothing like the original text.
"I'll paint the inside tomorrow." She yawned, leaving it out to dry.
Hermione went to bed shortly after that, which both Harry and Ron thought was very good for her. She had been staying up late most nights and waking up earlier than them both for months - she deserved some rest.
Ron left soon after her, claiming he couldn't possibly do potions homework that night too. Which left Harry and Crookshanks in the common room, where he valiantly attempted to finish his Potions essay for Snape. He could just see Snape's reaction already, but that didn't stop him from doing his best. Sirius had made Potions a little more bearable after his 'chat' with Snape, but the professor still loathed Harry. He just didn't do it outright in classes anymore.
Harry was just starting to drift off over his Potions homework when he heard a loud crack that startled him awake.
"Oh!" He shook himself and adjusted his glasses. "Hullo, Dobby."
"Hullo, Harry Potter, sir!" Dobby cheered, beaming at him in front of the fireplace.
"Did you just stop by to say hello?" Harry put a hand over his mouth to block a yawn. "Because I was just about to head to bed actually."
"Oh," Dobby frowned. "I apologize, Harry Potter, sir. I just wanted to tell you - I is finding the room, sir!"
Harry's tiredness immediately evaporated away. He sat bolt upright, excitement coursing through him like lightning.
"That's great, Dobby!" Harry said excitedly. "Hold on just a moment and you can show me."
He quickly scrambled all his stuff into his arms and ran up to the dormitory. All his books and homework were unceremoniously dropped onto his bed, and then he reached for his Invisibility cloak and ran back down the stairs.
"Alright, let's go." Harry said.
Dobby looked very pleased, practically skipping down the corridors with an invisible Harry at his heels. They walked down from the tower and then made their way to the seventh floor. When Dobby stopped at a seemingly empty corridor, Harry got a little nervous, but Luna had taught him to believe in things until proven otherwise.
"It opens, Harry Potter, sir," Dobby whispered. "When you walk past three times while imagining what you want the room to be."
"So," Harry asked quietly. "I just imagine I want and walk up and down this hall?"
Dobby nodded, his ears flapping with the motion. "Three times, sir."
Harry walked back and forth, thinking about how he wanted to find the diadem. He kept his eyes closed, only opening them when he heard Dobby made a happy squeak. And there was the door, a door that hadn't been there before he started walking.
Taking a deep breath, Harry walked up to the door and opened it. And then his jaw dropped to the floor. There were things literally everywhere in the room he'd entered. Centuries of junk and lost things all in one jumbled mess. How on earth was he supposed to find the diadem in all of this?
He took off the cloak, then turned to see Dobby waiting out in the hallway.
"I think I'm just going to do a quick look around." Harry said.
"Alright, Harry Potter, sir!" Dobby smiled. "I need to go back to my chores, sir."
"Okay. Thank you again, Dobby."
And then the door was closed, leaving Harry in the room alone. He slowly meandered down the aisles of random belongings, stuffing his cloak in his robes as he walked. A lot of these things seemed to be broken, like chairs with only three legs stack atop each other. It made Harry smile looking at all of this - Luna would have a field day in here.
He was just turning a corner when he felt it. A strange pulling sensation brought him towards a broken bust...which had a diadem on top of it.
In shock, Harry approached the bust and delicately took the diadem off of it. Luna would be disappointed with how it looked - she'd shown him their family's rendition of how Ravenclaw's diadem looked once and this was decidedly less unique. The sapphires and silver, even though they'd been left in the dust and dark for so long, still glimmered and shone.
Very carefully, Harry tucked the diadem safely in his pocket and left. He donned the invisibility cloak in the hallway and made his way back to the common room in a daze. That had been...so easy. All that was left was to write Remus in the morning.
Hermione and Ron were both intrigued and annoyed with him for going out in the castle at night the next morning. Hermione's 'box' now held the diadem, which was tucked inside Harry's trunk. But besides writing the letter to Remus, Harry didn't spend much time thinking about it the rest of the week. That essay for Snape came back with a lower grade than he'd hoped for, which was clearly unfair because he saw how much shorter Draco's 'outstanding' essay was.
He only remembered to mention it when Luna met with him that Sunday. Luna looked conflicted for a moment, trying to decide between seeing the diadem and visiting the strange new room. Eventually they decided on the diadem first though, so Harry left her to go retrieve it from his trunk.
Luna was slightly disappointed as he expected, but Harry wasn't ready for the reaction she had when she went to touch it.
"Harry," Her brow furrowed. "This thing is absolutely full of wrackspurts."
He looked from the diadem to Luna. "Like the ones in my head?"
Luna nodded, backing away slightly from the diadem. "We should put that back in your trunk, Harry."
Sensing how uncomfortable Luna was, Harry listened to her and put the diadem away. But the rest of the afternoon, Harry felt a strange nagging in the back of his mind while Luna browsed the many treasures in the Room of Requirement. She loved it - taking out several items in her book bag to use for crafts.
When they left the room, Luna was struck by a sudden idea. She smiled at Harry, then walked past the hall again three times. Another door appeared - different from the one they'd just left. Before Harry could question her, Luna pulled them both back inside what turned out to be a perfect hodge-podge of them both.
"See?" Luna beamed. "Now we don't have to hang out in that old classroom when the weather is bad outside."
She let go of him and sat down at the low coffee table by the fire, taking out her crafting supplies and humming. Harry smiled at her, then walked around to explore the room for himself. There were several quidditch-related memorabilia on a bookshelf, which Harry browsed until he saw a book he thought he might enjoy.
Plopping down besides Luna, Harry got lost in the quidditch book for the rest of the afternoon while she worked. They only left when they got hungry a few hours later, and by then Harry had shoved thoughts of the diadem in the back of his mind. Remus would write back and explain everything.
Notes:
AHH our Harry is too smart for his own good! Also on an unrelated note - who caught the Last Great American Dynasty reference in the last chapter? :3 I was pretty proud of that. But anyways, we're going back to my boys Remus and Sirius now because they're gonna freak out.
Happy Reading!