THC
Hufflepuff
DADA Professor
Round 4, Year 8
Drabble
Words: 936
Prompt: (Character) Helena Ravenclaw
A/N Thank you so much to my wonderful teammates, without whom I wouldn't have been able to write this story.
Helena Ravenclaw was quite aware of the fact that she was living in her mother's shadow. She used to hate it, but she had learned to use it to her advantage. Truth be told, the young girl was a master of taking advantage of everything and everyone.
In public, Helena would play her role of being the Ravenclaw heiress perfectly. Behind closed doors, however, she was anything but what was expected of her. Only a select few had ever seen her true colors. Her dear, perfect mother was not one such person. However, her best friend, Jenna, was.
Like Helena, Jenna was a member of Ravenclaw house, but they both possessed many Slytherin traits. They were both cunning, resourceful, and ambitious. The two of them would get up to so much mischief, and no one was ever quite able to prove it was them.
That evening, the two girls were up to their usual antics. What was different, however, was that their plan was on a much grander scale. Before, they never did anything more than stupid little pranks, but they had been planning to steal Helena's mother's diadem for months, and they were finally ready to see their plan through.
The two girls met in the Room of Requirement, where they usually went to hide from the general population of the school. The room that day was very plain, with only an oak table and two chairs. Their parchments with the plans on them were atop the table, and the two girls were occupying the chairs.
"Are you sure you want to do this, Hel?" Jenna asked.
Jenna had come up with the nickname years ago after they had played a particularly nasty prank on the kitchen house-elves that had ultimately led Professor Hufflepuff to institute a strict policy of no students allowed in the kitchens. Helena had said they were going to hell for what they had done, and Jenna had jokingly called her Hel. The nickname had just kind of stuck from then on.
Helena gave a clipped nod. "Yeah. If I want to be as smart as my mother, I need that diadem. It's the only way."
"You are already as smart as her. You don't need that diadem."
Helena glared at her friend. "Are you with me or against me, Jenna? There is no in-between, so decide right now."
"I'm with you," Jenna answered immediately.
Helena gave a twisted smile. "Good."
Ravenclaw Tower was completely dark and silent as the two young girls crept up to the topmost room, which belonged to Rowena Ravenclaw herself. The woman was away in London to lend her counsel for a meeting of international magistrates debating the value of schools for witchcraft and wizardry.
Helena had a copy of the magical key to the room since she was Rowena's daughter. She pulled it out and inserted it into the lock, and the door opened immediately. The two girls entered with no hesitation.
Helena cast a spell that lit all of the lanterns, and the room became flooded with light. She looked to where the diadem usually sat, but it wasn't there. She searched the room, but it was nowhere to be found. Frustrated, she threw her wand across the room.
"Come on, let's go, Helena," Jenna urged.
"I need that diadem!" Helena shouted.
"The diadem is not yours to take, daughter," Rowena Ravenclaw said from the doorway.
The two girls turned to look at her. Helena was furious to see her mother before her, the diadem held nonchalantly in her hand. Jenna was panicking at being caught in Rowena's room.
"I'm so sorry, Professor Ravenclaw," Jenna gushed, close to tears.
"Leave us, Jenna. My daughter and I need to have a conversation," Rowena said, her eyes not leaving Helena, who was glaring at her.
Jenna didn't wait to be told twice before she sprinted out of the room.
Rowena waited until she could no longer hear Jenna's hurried footsteps down the stairs before she closed the door. She didn't dare put the diadem down. "Why am I not surprised to see you here, daughter?"
"Because you do not trust me," Helena stated plainly.
"For good reason. You have an obsession with my diadem."
"Obsession is a strong word," Helena said.
Rowena frowned. "Yet one that perfectly ascribes your actions in apprehending it. Why do you want my diadem?"
"Because I want to try it on."
Rowena took a step closer to her daughter. "I think it's because you're jealous of me and my knowledge."
Helena scoffed. "Please. I'm not jealous of you, and I'm smarter than you are."
"Then you wouldn't be after my diadem. If you were as smart as I am, you would know that with great knowledge comes great responsibility. We need to use our knowledge for the greater good, not for the good of ourselves."
"Using knowledge for the good of ourselves is using it for the greater good."
Rowena could not believe her daughter's incompetence. "No, it isn't, my dear. I hoped you would change your ways, but your actions tonight have shown me otherwise. You will no longer inherit this diadem."
Helena's jaw dropped. "You can't do that!"
Rowena smiled sadly. "But I can. Now out of my room, Helena. You do not want to be tired for your classes tomorrow."
Helena clenched her fists and left the room, but not before promising herself that she would one day own her mother's diadem, and when she did, she would put a curse on it so that no one would ever be able to ascertain its properties besides herself.