Young Rowena
A Ravenclaw Fanfiction by Chloe Blumer
Chapter 1—Laughingstock
School had just gotten out that day, and all the Ravenclaws were relieved. Nothing had been as earth-shaking as that day; we were jeered every minute of that day, if not by the Slytherins then by the ubiquity of that awful Rita Skeeter's latest libel in the Daily Prophet. The headlines screamed, taunting us in capital letters, "ROWENA RAVENCLAW EXPOSED AS A FRAUD," handing the worst of Hogwarts fodder for their jeers.
It was cold that day. Normally, I would love this weather. I would take the frigid winds and cool air over the heat of my home Arizona any day—there's just something about living in the dry desert that makes one miss the refreshing feeling of cold breezes. Today, though, the cold winds decided to betray me, whipping up my blue-and-gold scarf for all the nearby Slytherins to see.
I was jeered, but I didn't quite hear what was said—I do think I heard "Rowena the Mudblood-Lover," which I anticipated soon seeing on a pin passed around to all of the Slytherins. Because, sure, we were no Gryffindors, but Slytherins were always ready to bully Ravenclaws as well.
Running with my books to Hogsmeade would, hopefully, help me deal with the revelation of the day. Granted, was it a revelation? If it isn't true, then it's hardly a revelation. I don't think any reasonable person would believe Rita Skeeter of all people, but at the moment I feared I was just mocking her credibility so I could deny the truth of her words.
There was a new café in Hogsmeade. Opened this week, too. Hogwarts had to keep up with the changing, caffeine-addicted tastes of Zoomer witches and wizards, so it was only a matter of time before one popped up. I walked inside, hoping that the classic Mocha Chocolate-Frog latte would soothe my nerves.
I ordered the latte, which was served to me quick. Good thing, too, because there was quite a line and if the workers operated at Muggle speed, there would undeniably be trouble. Come to think of it, I wasn't the only Ravenclaw in line. You'd expect to see a lot of students at a new café, and there were. But it seemed every Ravenclaw had the idea that a caffeine boost would put them in a better mood.
Even after I set the latte down on the table for two minutes, the liquid inside the mug gurgled from the Chocolate Frog at the bottom. I was seated on a couch nearby. The aura of the café was so laid-back—so American! That alone soothed me just a little bit, but I felt sad for the British and Scottish Ravenclaws who weren't focused on the aura of the café.
The barista served the next costumer in line: a bleached-blonde woman with turquoise-blue highlights in her hair. She wore glasses and her straight hair fell down to her shoulder blades, and the way her stuffy-looking glasses and short haircut counteracted the quirky look of her bleached-and-highlighted hair was almost comical. The Hogwarts students were rudely trying to push her out of the way, as if that would make the service any faster than it was.
Once the woman had gotten her Butterbeer cappuccino, she looked back at the pile of students trying to knock each other down.
"Rude," she said, in the tone of one who intended to use a less wholesome word. She spoke with a slight Irish accent and she didn't seem to give herself time in between sips to say, "Treating your new professor that way. How disrespectful!"
"Oh, are you the new professor?" I asked. "I heard today Ravenclaw was getting a new professor. Are you her?"
"Why, yes. I'm a magical anthropologist, and I teach History of Magic," answered this woman. "Are you taking that this year? If so, perhaps we'll see each other again."
"I'm enrolled in that class," I answered. "It's wonderful to meet you. My name is Elmyra Moon."
"Nice to meet you, Miss Moon," she answered formally. "I'm Professor Zelie Pendle. This will be my first year teaching full-time, so don't be afraid to give me any feedback."
"I'm looking forward to it," I answered, taking a sip of my coffee.
I waved good-bye to Professor Pendle just before the Chocolate Frog leapt again and splashed me in the face with hot coffee—much to the delight of nearby Slytherins. Seriously—it's chocolate. Why do those things not melt?
Chapter 2—Professor Zelie Pendle
The second day after that cruel Daily Prophet piece wasn't much better. Slytherins still took any opportunity they could to mock us for being in Ravenclaw. But I was looking forward to getting to see Professor Pendle in History of Magic that day. I hoped that she was a good teacher because—ugh, Hogwarts has some bad ones. It wasn't like the school was in any hurry to remove bad teachers, either.
Professor Pendle was in class when I got there. I was at least twenty minutes early; I tend to like being one of the first ones to any class. The school gave her a good classroom: it was beautiful and well-lit, unlike Potions lab. Natural light filtered in through the windows and there was a good view of the school outside. I pulled the class textbook and folder out of my bag, along with some ink, quills, and parchment.
The professor looked up. "I always love to see a self-starter! It can get annoying having to always tell students to get a parchment ready."
I gave her a loose smile. "If I waited until the lecture to take notes, then all that would do is slow me down. Then I'd miss the lecture."
She gave me a proud smile. "This is what I love about teaching Ravenclaw students. They're just so motivated and they care about their work."
"Thank you," I said, flattered.
"And I know because I was a Ravenclaw, too," she continued. "Nothing maddens me quite so much as sloppy work. I'm pleased to see that this generation of Ravenclaws goes the extra mile just as mine did."
"Well, I'll give it nothing but my best work," I answered.
"That's the spirit!" Professor Pendle said cheerily.
I looked over the first chapter until the rest of the students filtered into the classroom. Professor Pendle began went through her list of names and said, "Well, it looks like everyone who's signed up is here. Wonderful! We can start early. Go ahead and get your parchment and quills out if you haven't already.
"My name is Professor Zelie Pendle, and welcome to History of Magic. I suggested you have the first chapter read before class, but if you haven't it's not the end of the world. We'll be over it in detail today, but—consider yourselves lucky, because I won't be this nice for the rest of the year. Now, let's start with an introduction to the chapter."
"Um, Professor Pendle," came the professor's first interruption of the year from behind me, "will we be going into Hogwarts history?"
Professor Pendle's face fell, as if she could tell where this was going. She answered gently, "Naturally, yes. It is History of Magic, and seeing as Hogwarts was as innovative as it was for Wizardkind, it's inevitable that will come up."
"Okay. I was wondering because the textbook doesn't say very much about Rowena Ravenclaw," answered the student.
The rest of the class laughed darkly, though it didn't seem to be at the poor student. Rather, each and every classmate seemed to be laughing at him- or herself.
Professor Pendle took a deep breath before saying, "She seems to the topic of the latest controversy. But, don't worry. There will be supplemental information in class, along with handouts. So, I cannot stress it enough: you must not miss class. I'll help you if you must be absent, but don't skip class just because you felt like taking the day off."
Another student decided to speak up. "Professor, I know I'm holding up the lecture, but I was wondering if—well, what the Daily Prophet said about Rowena Ravenclaw was true."
Professor Pendle sighed again. "Well, give me an example of what was said in the Daily Prophet, and I'll tell you if I know the answer."
"Okay," said the student. "Well, did Rowena Ravenclaw really use an Unforgivable Curse on Salazar Slytherin?"
"Fortunately," answered Professor Pendle, "those are nothing but mere rumors. It's speculated that such claims have arisen in recent decades from within the Slytherin House, apparently because Slytherins would like to believe that so-called 'Purebloods' possess the highest intelligence and for another House to be defined for just that, it must be rather threatening to them."
"So, what Rita Skeeter said," added another hopeful student, "about Rowena Ravenclaw using the Imperius Curse on Salazar Slytherin to open the Chamber of Secrets and frame him was a lie?"
"I assure you, there is no reason to believe that such a thing is true," answered Professor Pendle.
I thought this was no time to be asking these questions, although I understood that these were pressing concerns to the other Ravenclaws. And, frankly, these claims concerned me as well. Perhaps they wanted to verify whether the information in the Prophet was true, and if it wasn't, they could formulate witty responses to the Slytherins' harassment. Or, at the very least, they wouldn't have to live with the belief that Rowena Ravenclaw was a fraud faking her success and her intelligence
"And what about what she said about the Sorcerer's Stone?" asked a third student. "The Daily Prophet said that Rowena Ravenclaw was an egomaniac and that she wanted to live forever, so she tried to find the Sorcerer's Stone and rule Hogwarts. It says we have Rowena's Pensieve memories to prove this."
"Please, Mr. Clegg, you needn't worry about that. Can any of us reasonably agree that we shouldn't listen to a word Rita Skeeters says?" asked Professor Pendle. She seemed to be getting emotional at this point as she answered her own question: "No, we shouldn't listen to a word she says. We'll get into the facts on Rowena's life later into this class, so be patient. Right now, let's get to work. Luckily, we started early, so we won't be off schedule."
With her lip quivering, Professor Pendle started the lecture. As an American surrounded by tight-lipped British wizards, I felt a pang of compassion for Professor Pendle, thinking that she handles her emotions a lot better than I can.
Chapter 3
Pensieve
Professor Pendle's reaction to the student's questions left us feeling disheartened. It was obvious that the discussion of Rowena Ravenclaw was triggering for her. Was it because she knew Rowena Ravenclaw was a fraud? Or was she in denial like us?
The weeks passed quickly, and I submitted the first essay on schedule. Professor Pendle invited me to her office, which made me feel self-conscious. That first essay wasn't what I considered my best work. I liked Professor Pendle, and if it turned out that I didn't do a good job on the essay, I would feel ashamed. But I thought that it would be best if I went ahead and spoke with her if it turned out she didn't like my work. At least I would have the chance to improve my future essays.
I went in her office, which was behind her classroom. It was rather empty of any decoration, save for a single clear vase on her desk. Nervously, I shuffled around the room, only to realize that the vase was about to fall off the desk.
Fortunately, my reflexes are quick, so I was able to catch it.
Unfortunately, my thumb got stuck inside the top of the vase.
Silently, I cursed my fat thumbs and feared that Professor Pendle would walk in. On par with my overactive imagination, she might think I was trying to sabotage the vase!
The thing is, I thought all of this in the split-second before I was sucked into the vase.
I landed on soft, soil ground. Somehow, landing in dirt didn't get me dirty. I got to my feet and saw two women standing near one another, conversing. One of them, a blonde, was holding up a parchment while the other, who had crow-black hair, pointed at different parts of the paper.
"Excuse me!" I called out.
Neither of them reacted to my call; they didn't even twitch or look away from what they were doing. I called out again, "Hey!"
Again, no response. So, I just listened to what they were saying.
I heard the black-haired woman speak, but I was surprised to hear that it was in Old English. The closest modern translation I can give is: "So, this is where the moving staircase will be."
The blonde asked the other, "Are you sure this will really work, Rowena?"
I gasped as I heard Rowena answer, "Of course, Helga. I double-checked. I even built wooden models. There should be nothing to worry about."
Rowena? Helga? Like, Rowena Ravenclaw and Helga Hufflepuff?
What's going on here?
I felt a hand close around my wrist. Next thing I knew, I was pulled out of the vase.
Professor Pendle looked at me with disapproval, though her face betrayed a look of concern. She asked, "Are you all right? What were you doing in there?"
"It was an accident," I pleaded. "It was about to fall to the floor and when I caught it, my thumb went inside and I couldn't get out."
She sighed. "I appreciate your concern, but that vase can't break. I bewitched it so that it would never hit the ground. In any case, I take it you saw Rowena Ravenclaw and Helga Hufflepuff?"
"How'd you know?" I responded.
"It's a Pensieve," answered Professor Pendle. "It belonged to Rowena Ravenclaw. She invented it to record her private thoughts."
"That is a Pensieve?" I reacted, pointing at the vase.
Professor Pendle nodded.
"I thought Pensieves were…" I began.
"Basins?" answered Pendle. "Traditionally, yes. But Rowena apparently wanted something more discreet."
"And that memory," I began, "who did it belong to?"
"Rowena herself," answered Professor Pendle. "I'm inclined to believe that one in particular is genuine. Not a tampered memory."
"But how did you get these?" I asked. "And also—what? Why would that be a tampered memory?"
"First of all: those memories, along with the Pensieve, were all lost until recently. Another historian discovered these and I asked to analyze them," said Professor Pendle. "Second, there are a lot of memories here that depict the same scene with different elements and endings. Obviously, not all of them can be true. And while the average person isn't creative enough to create so many different endings for the same memory—in which case, I would be able to pick out common patterns within memories—Rowena didn't have a mind like most people. She was incredibly intelligent and creative, as we all know."
"So, she really wasn't a fraud?" I responded.
"To be clear: I don't know the answer to that yet," Pendle admitted. "She clearly didn't fake her intelligence like Rita Skeeter implied. However, there seem to be events in her life that make her appear less noble than we once thought. The memory cited in the Daily Prophet was one of those incriminating memories, but what Skeeter conveniently didn't mention is that there were multiple versions of the memory she stole. And yes, I do mean stole."
"Rita Skeeter stole the memory she cited for the Daily Prophet?" I reiterated. "Then…is anything in that article really true?"
"There were elements to that article that have parallels in these memories," answered Pendle. "But it's too early to assume anything. I'm still sifting through those memories, figuring out which ones are real and which are forgeries, so I can find the full story. Once I've pieced it together, I will call Skeeter out for it. She created yet another ahistorical, libelous piece that affects what people believe to be true; I don't want any more students coming to me with doubts about the Ravenclaw founder."
Trying to offer a response, I answered, "That is a very noble thing to do." Then I added, "Can you tell me more about what you've been able to piece together?"
"Perhaps sometime in the future," Pendle said. "Right now, you better get to your next class. We have wasted enough time here already."
"Oh, no!" I said under my breath. I pulled out my pocket watch: three minutes to get to Potions.
I left, negotiating the school's rules on running, and only turned around when Professor Pendle told me, "Oh, and Elmyra—I just wanted to say your essay was excellent. I was going to recommend you to the school newspaper, in case you were interested."
Chapter 4
What We Know So Far
A month passed, and I was overjoyed to see that my essays were gaining traction in the Hogwarts school paper. Even though my homework kept me constantly busy, I still wanted to work on a major project for the newspaper.
That, as you might have guessed, was an article on Rowena Ravenclaw.
Rowena's reputation had taken a hit over the past few days due to the libel presented in Rita Skeeter's article. It astounded me that so many people took Skeeter seriously, but more than that, it dismayed me. It didn't seem fair to me that someone who was long dead and gone was suffering over the sensationalist stories of one of the most notorious tabloid writers—and that said tabloid writer never seemed to lose any of her credibility for how little she cared about truth or accuracy.
Of course, they seemed little I could do to combat the image of Rowena Ravenclaw as depicted in the Daily Prophet. A junior journalist working for the Hogwarts school paper, esteemed as the school is, still lacks the influence that one of the country's most-read wizard publications has. That wasn't my intention with this project. I wanted to, instead, reinforce Ravenclaw students' faith in their founder. Additionally, I wanted to show students from the other houses just how malicious these lies about people's character can be.
I felt a need to do this in order to help my fellow Ravenclaw students. After the Daily Prophet article, the school staff noticed that Ravenclaws—convinced that their founder was a fraud—also believe that what their House stands for is a mistake. Most are unconsciously giving up, feeling that if Rowena was a fraud, then there was no meaning to why they were sorted into Ravenclaw. As a result, many Ravenclaw students weren't taking their studies—or their success—as seriously as they once did. Ravenclaws were losing House Points left and right—at this rate, we would have the lowest score we had ever had.
I repeatedly asked Professor Pendle about her progress in finding the truth about Rowena Ravenclaw. It took a while before Professor Pendle had any cohesive answers. One day, when she had finally found the time to talk to me about her findings.
Quickly, I took out my parchment and quill, ready to take notes. Professor Pendle began, "I'm so glad you care so much about this. To be frank, I would hate for my findings to go in vain."
"I understand that," I answered.
"As you know already, the memory cited in the Daily Prophet was not the only one of its kind," stated Professor Pendle. "That said, with the section on Hogwarts history coming up in my History of Magic class, I am worried about misinformation entering the discussion. Ravenclaws now seem repulsed to hear about Rowena Ravenclaw, which saddens me considering how much misinformation was in that article."
My first question of the interview was, "Would you tell me more about Rowena Ravenclaw's life?"
Professor Pendle nodded. "Not much is known about Rowena Ravenclaw's life, and perhaps that is why she was so easy to attack in the Daily Prophet. The basics of what we know for sure: we know that she was born sometime in the late 10th Century and that she was most likely born to wizard parents. She has made major contributions to the culture of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, such as—well, for example, its name. She designed the Changing Staircases, and she is credited with many other inventions, although we have not been able to verify whether she is responsible for all of them.
"Interestingly, it appears from the earliest memories that Rowena's friendship with Helga Hufflepuff went back further than we previously knew. I don't know to what extent the two influenced each other's personal growth, but no doubt their friendship influenced how we commonly see Hufflepuff-Ravenclaw friendships today.
"Although I believe I am on the right track in piecing together these mysterious memories, I would like to remind everyone that just because these memories belonged to Rowena Ravenclaw does not mean that anything they seem to tell us is true. We hear of fabricated memories all the time and it is absolutely certain that most of these memories have been tampered with. That was Rita Skeeter's main error in taking these memories as automatic truth."
"Why did Rowena collect so many memories for her Pensieve?" I asked.
"Because Rowena valued intelligence so much, I am inclined to think she preferred to Pensieve as the Pensieve will show a much more vivid, more complete story than what she could've recorded on paper. Therefore, she could absorb more knowledge from viewing the experience again, and she wouldn't have been likely to miss details."
"Could you go into more detail on why these memories look so real?" I asked.
"Sure. Although the memories Rowena left behind look very vivid, the fact is that most of the forged memories in this series also look real. I believe Rita Skeeter operated under the assumption that if the memories do not seem implausible, they must be true. And with most people, it would be perfectly reasonable to use this as a gauge for how likely it is that something is true. Most people are not creative enough to come up with believable lies, and certainly they aren't creative enough to come up with as many believable lies as Rowena could. The common theme with many forged memories is that they feature random endings that have little to do with what actually happened, and they might be overly complex if whomever possesses the memory in question is using elaborate arguments to rationalize false beliefs. However, Rowena was not only perfectly rational, but very creative and actually quite mischievous; after all, the Ravenclaw common room requires students to answer a riddle, not a password, to enter. Like the common room riddle, these memories are, to put it in Muggle terms, 'a wild goose chase'—they most often lead you around in circles and by the end of the day, you might not have learned anything at all."
"Why do you believe Rowena Ravenclaw used this method to preserve her memories?" I asked.
"I don't know the exact answer to that, but I have some ideas. Those require some knowledge on the Hogwarts lore, naturally. The world's most famous Pensieve is the Hogwarts Pensieve, which, according to legends, was found buried beneath where Hogwarts now stands. Bear in mind, I advise not to take legends overly seriously. There is no mention of the Pensieve in memories about the building of Hogwarts, but that does not mean that the legend isn't true. It simply means we don't have the evidence for it.
"That said, it's common knowledge that the Hogwarts Pensieve was used by the Hogwarts Founders and that it has been used by every Hogwarts Headmaster or Headmistress throughout the generations. The four Hogwarts founders would have collectively used the Pensieve to store and relive memories, and that they all used the same Pensieve would indicate that all four Founders had some idea about what they were all thinking through each other's memories. Having the other Founders view her memories might make sense in theory, since they possessed the bond that they did, but in practice the Founders were also forced to share a lot of their feelings through this Pensieve. Understandably, Rowena might've wanted some privacy. So, she fashioned a Pensieve of her own in the shape of a vase, which would have been easier to hide from the others.
"Still, that might not have been enough for Rowena. True to her mischievous nature, she created multiple versions of the same memory, with different endings and different plots. Determining which is real is, truly, a riddle, since they all appear to depict some likely outcomes. Still, some inconsistencies come up. Even Rowena didn't know everything, so there are some errors that don't match up with historical truth. It is safe to conclude that these memories are forged and that they should be ruled out as fact."
"Are there ever memories that are most likely always true?" I asked.
"Yes. I'll use this as an example: sometimes, there is only one known version of a memory, which it might indicate that Rowena saw no reason for her to try to hide it. However, this can be a dubious assumption since it's always possible that other memories in the same series to have been lost to time. On the other hand, the reverse can also be true: sometimes all known memories about the same topic will be forgeries based on what we can tell from them. In this case, it's simply most likely that the only real, untampered memory on the subject has been lost, which I find tragic indeed."
"So, on to the Daily Prophet article," I continued. "I think you have sufficiently answered this question, but do you think that Skeeter made some sloppy assumptions based on these memories, and do you think the Daily Prophet should have known better than to publish without checking their facts?"
"As much as I don't like standing up for Rita Skeeter, in her defense she might not have realized anything was off about those memories. I think without a lot of prior knowledge on the subject, it would be easy to assume any one of these memories was legitimate. At the same time, we all know Rita Skeeter is drawn to sensationalism. That she didn't care about the repercussions—and, more importantly, that the Daily Prophet didn't care about these repercussions—frankly bothers me."
"I'd now like to ask about whether there was any truth in those claims about Rowena Ravenclaw," I continued.
"Right. Can you give me a specific example?"
"Well, mainly, there were two false claims made by Skeeter," I said. "The rest of the article was mostly exaggerations about just how bad her actions were. So, the first claim she made was that Rowena was intentionally trying to undermine the other Hogwarts Founders in order to ensure that her house would have a reputation for being more intelligent than the others."
"Oh, yes," Professor Pendle responded. "Well, there was a memory that looked a bit strange. Skeeter even went so far as to suggest that Rowena had used the Imperius Curse to force Salazar Slytherin to build the Chamber of Secrets. Now, naturally I emphasize that these memories shouldn't necessarily be taken as fact, since these types of records are easily tampered with. However, I see no reason to believe that the memory she was referring to was tampered with. It's just that Skeeter reported what was happening wrong. In the memory, Rowena and Salazar are, indeed, in the Chamber of Secrets, and Rowena does use the Imperius Curse against Salazar. But upon closer inspection it becomes clear that Salazar had threatened to release the Basilisk from the Chamber to kill the 'impure' students. Rowena used the Curse to keep Salazar from doing so; to make him put the Basilisk back to sleep and to leave Hogwarts forever."
I found this information shocking. A new question came to mind: "Professor Pendle, I spoke to Helena Ravenclaw before I decided to interview you, and it seemed to me that there was a personal reason Rowena might have done that, but she didn't quite say what. What do you think about that?"
"About Helena Ravenclaw?" reiterated Pendle. "Well, this is just my speculation, but I think that Helena might have had a Muggle-born father. Some of the memories suggest that much, and since Helena was of age to have attended Hogwarts at the time, it's likely Rowena was thinking about her daughter's life when Salazar summoned the Basilisk."
She paused before speaking again. "If I might add another insight to this discussion—and you might have noticed this, too—the story about Rowena Ravenclaw using the Imperius Curse to expel Salazar Slytherin from the Chamber of Secrets conflicts with what has been said about Salazar leaving Hogwarts voluntarily. Historians have tend to agree that Salazar left Hogwarts after an argument with the other Founders—specifically about blood status. Although that sounds likely, it's interesting to think this might have been a myth made up by the Hogwarts Founders to protect this story from being used against Rowena. Even though the Imperius Curse wasn't classified as 'Unforgivable' until 1717—long after Rowena's time—these Curses were still rightly considered immoral. What makes this turn of events so interesting is that it might suggest that Rowena recorded the memory because doing so was better than hiding the truth, and yet it was Hogwarts that tried to keep the story from being known."
"So Rowena did, indeed, use the Imperius Curse," I reacted. "Do you think she was justified for doing that?"
"It's worth questioning," Professor Pendle admitted. "On the one hand, that Curse is never excusable. Because of how Unforgivable Curses work, Rowena must have really felt a desire to use the Imperius Curse to influence Salazar. It's uncomfortable thinking that Rowena might have felt hate for someone—and yet, if it turns out that Rowena did fall in love with a Muggle-born man, then Rowena might have considered Salazar's views on blood status despicable enough for the Curse to work. Using the Imperius Curse in this case certainly seems like the lesser of two evils considering how many innocent students would've been killed. And yet these circumstances have been used to defame Rowena, mostly to bolster Slytherins' feelings of self-righteousness. This claim is so similar to the rumor I mentioned in class; it's only purpose is to sow seeds of doubt about whether Lord Voldemort was truly the Heir of Slytherin and make us underestimate the threat he posed to wizardkind."
I nodded. "Could you tell me about the next claim as well? The next claim Skeeter made was that Rowena Ravenclaw became obsessed with alchemy and that she wanted to live forever, like a god. Where does she get this from?"
"Well, in part, fact," answered Professor Pendle. "Rowena developed a fascination with finding the Sorcerer's Stone when she was rather young. But there's no reason to think her obsession was caused by a desire to 'become a god'."
Once again, she paused. "We should both know Ravenclaw's philosophy, right?"
"'Wit beyond measure is man's greatest treasure'," I recited.
"Correct," said Professor Pendle, with a proud 'I-taught-you-so-well' smile. "That said, it makes sense that Rowena, who valued intelligence as much as she did, would seek to preserve what she considered 'man's greatest treasure'. I think at some point, she sought to avoid losing her knowledge, which she studied for so long to gain, to death. Now, as we know, Nicolas Flamel is the only person to have ever created the Sorcerer's Stone, so we know that Rowena's best efforts at creating the Stone herself got her nowhere. Perhaps if she and Flamel were contemporaries, Rowena would have uncovered Flamel's secret to eternal life. Immortality is a foolish thing to seek, but it's important to remember that these memories don't really tell us anything about what Rowena was really thinking. All we do when we see these memories is watch illusions play out a past long gone. So, perhaps, Rowena had good intentions when she dabbled in alchemy. Perhaps she desired to live long enough to impart her knowledge onto her pupils. But all of these memories indicate that Rowena stopped trying to achieve immortality upon the expulsion of Salazar from Hogwarts. I think she realized that the Sorcerer's Stone in the hands of wizards like Salazar made the quest dangerous—and that fear has played out with Voldemort's attempts to get the Sorcerer's Stone. In other words, I don't think that this lapse in judgement changes the fact that Rowena was one of the brightest and wisest people of her time."
"Were there any other errors you saw in the article, Professor?" I asked.
"I don't remember anything else," she said. "But, if I might add, there was actually a memory which went missing from those in my office, which I'm surprised Skeeter didn't use against Rowena. Granted, I don't know if Skeeter has the memory, but it went missing along with those cited in the article. The memory in question sheds some doubt on what exactly happened the night of Rowena's death."
"What did the memory show?" I asked.
"Well, Helena Ravenclaw has admitted to having stolen Rowena's Diadem, which led Rowena to die of heartbreak," answered Pendle. "But the memory that I'm talking about is a peculiar example. It wouldn't have belonged to Rowena, since she's absent from the scene, so at first glance, it appears to have belonged to Helena. Still, that doesn't seem to be the case.
"The memory shows Helena stealing the Diadem and her mother's Pensieve and memories," continued Pendle. "So it might appear that, considering Helena's rebelliousness, Rowena might have feared having these personal records found. She might have worried that Helena would tell the world about her mother's flaws. And perhaps this made Rowena send the Red Barron after Helena, but the Barron's betrayal—him killing Helena—left Rowena dying with such a feeling of responsibility for her daughter's death."
"So we have no clue as to whose memory this account came from?" I asked.
Pendle shook her head. "And in this case, it's unlikely a random stranger would fabricate this story the way that Rowena often tampered with her own memories. It's much more likely that this memory from this stranger who wasn't seen, was telling the truth about Helena following the theft of the Diadem. Perhaps we owe the survival of these accounts to this stranger."
She shook her head again. "And yet, we might never know this person to thank for it."
Chapter 5
Man's Greatest Treasure
I didn't expect my article to be the success that it was. There was even a response from established magazines in the wizarding world. I was praised for having the bravery to write about my House's founder sensitively, without excessive criticism. Still, the only thing I cared about when I submitted it was restoring my peer's respect for Rowena.
And yet, in hindsight, I have learned not to unwaveringly idolize people the way I once idolized Rowena. While I once respected her without criticism, I respect her now as a fallible human. After all, it we put blind faith in people, they will always eventually fail us.
Still, I want to give us all the courage to learn from the past, the mistakes of our idols. Though Rowena herself might not have wanted her memories discussed and revealed for anyone to hear, I fear that if we refuse to talk about the errors of the past, we will always repeat them. We will never move forward any other way.
'Wit beyond measure is man's greatest treasure.'
Indeed it is. But it's not simply wit that we should treasure. We must be brave enough to choose knowledge over ignorance. We must use this, and this alone, as the guiding light for the future.