Michael Brown

Dumbledore's opening speech was fine, if a bit underwhelming given the circumstances.

If I were to be completely honest, I expected to see a bit more anger on Dumbledore's part, especially given the fact that he had just been publicly humiliated by being forced to host Ministry shock troops on his premises. Then again, I supposed that an old and experienced politician like Dumbledore would know how to hide his feelings from the public.

Well, it wasn't like I cared one way or the other. I was just happy that there was a conflict among the upper echelons of the Ministry, as any destabilization of the government was beneficial to Tom and me.

Also, while thinking about Dumbledore's failures was certainly fun enough, I had more important things to do.

Things like recovering the Ravenclaw's diadem from the dreaded Room of Requirement.

It was actually one of my main goals for this year of my education at Hogwarts. I had already discussed it with Tom and we agreed that I should be the one to retrieve the Horcrux. Although infiltrating Hogwarts was possible, it was not without risk, so Tom could not safely do it alone. It would have been easy to do if we had access to the vanishing cabinets, but one of them was already in the Room of Requirement, and creating another pair would have caused some logistical problems, so...

So yes, unfortunately it would be me who would have to retrieve the diadem.

For this very reason, I was currently walking through one of the empty corridors, trying to reach the seventh floor without anyone noticing. Surprisingly, it wasn't even that difficult, since most of the students were currently blindly following the house prefects to their dormitories, led like cattle to the slaughterhouse.

Though I initially did the same thing, not really having any other option, I separated from the group at the first opportunity, taking advantage of the chaos caused by the unexpected appearance of Peeves.

I had originally planned to just go to my hideout in the Undercroft to simply rest for a day, already tired from dealing with those infernal beasts known as thestrals, but then I realized that almost everyone in the castle, whether students or teachers, was currently busy for one reason or another, making this the perfect time to get the diadem.

It would be a real shame not to take advantage of the opportunity.

It took me a while to reach the seventh floor, as not only did I have to climb several staircases, moving ones at that, in order to reach the place, but I also had to bypass several Gryffindor stragglers trying to reach their dormitory along the way. I eventually arrived at my destination though, even if I was a bit tired from the journey.

As I looked at the corridor, the target of my little trip, I felt an uneasiness rise in me. It was not surprising, as I was about to do something incredibly risky. After all, the Room of Requirement was probably the most shilled thing in the Harry Potter series, with books 5-7 going above and beyond to convince me that it was an amazing place, full of wonder and potential. That was certainly enough to put me on guard, as this constant praise was probably meant to instill a false sense of security in me.

In truth, the Room of Requirement was definitely some sort of malevolent sentient room, the favourite child of the monster known as Hogwarts Castle, whose goal was to manipulate students into entering it and letting it feed off their energy.

The worst thing about the whole situation was that I didn't really have any countermeasure for that. Sure, I could have somehow acquired a hazmat suit that would potentially protect me from the dangerous energies inside the room, but it wouldn't really help me with the mental side of Room's power. That's why normally I wouldn't even try to approach the room, fearing the potential consequences. I was only there because Tom encouraged me to do so.

For some reason, Tom was under the impression that nothing would happen to me upon entering the room, even if the room was a vicious mental predator. When I asked him why he was so sure, however, he suddenly became silent, for some reason, avoiding my eye contact. I wasn't quite sure why he reacted that way, but I trusted him, so in the end I agreed to be the one to retrieve the diadem, despite my quiet reservations about the idea.

After a few minutes of just staring at the corridor, intentionally postponing my task, I finally decided that there was no point in delaying the inevitable. I took a deep breath and started slowly walking down the corridor of the seventh floor, a wish already in my mind.

I wish to find Ravenclaw's diadem.

I wish to find Ravenclaw's diadem.

I wish to find Ravenclaw's diadem.

The moment I passed the corridor for the third time, something happened. I heard a long, metallic screech coming from the wall, as if someone was dragging a saw through a pipe. Opening my eyes, I saw a door slowly appearing in the wall, eventually forming the entrance to the Room of Requirement.

It looked exactly as I remembered it.

Well, maybe not exactly. For some reason, the door looked a bit warped, with its proportions and shape slightly wrong. It was not warped enough for me not to recognize it as a door, but it was still noticeable. The door was also slightly melted, as if it had been exposed to high temperatures or strong acid.

Well, either I messed up my wish quite a bit, or something went wrong.

Not really knowing how to react to this development, but not really willing to ignore it, I slowly approached the door with my Kenny ready, prepared for anything. After gently touching the doorknob to see if it was hot, I carefully opened the door to the Room of Requirement and stepped inside.

What I saw was not exactly what I expected. Sure, it was still the "Room of Hidden Things" or rather the " Garbage Room" I was trying to reach, but there were a few major differences from what I remembered of it.

For starters, the room looked like it was on the verge of collapse, with its walls and floor seemingly melting for some unknown reason. Some pieces were already missing, with pure darkness, too intense to be natural, taking their place. The room shook slightly once a while, almost as if the room itself was in pain. Maybe it was, because it certainly didn't look healthy.

Fortunately, all the random trash I expected to find was still there, though contrary to my expectations, most of it wasn't lying in random piles like in the movies. Instead, lighter items, such as various books and potions, were floating aimlessly in the air like space debris, seemingly unconcerned with the laws of physics.

This effect didn't seem to be limited to light objects only, as I myself felt slightly lighter than before, almost as if the gravity in the room was lower than outside. Curiously, this unexpected phenomenon did not feel wrong. In fact, it felt almost natural, however strange it sounded.

I didn't plan to spend too much time enjoying this new sensation, however, because I had more pressing things to do. Like...finding the diadem and escaping before the Room, clearly feral and dangerous judging by its behaviour, would try to devour me and all that.

That's why, after composing myself, I started looking around the room, hoping to find the horcrux as soon as possible. It was quite difficult to focus on my target though, as there were quite a lot of interesting things along the way: suits of armor, floating books, wild brooms, sparkling jewelry, furniture of every kind and size... I even found the vanishing cabinet among all of this. It looked rather inconspicuous, as it was standing quietly next to some random sculpture of an unknown wizard, but I was relatively sure that it was the cabinet from the movies. I even made a mental note of its location so that after retrieving the diadem, I could return there and move it to my hideout.

Still, despite the constant distractions along the way, I finally found the diadem.

It was lying quietly in some forgotten part of the Room, surrounded by various debris. The diadem was silver in color, with a blue sapphire in the shape of an oval in the middle. It actually didn't look anything special, especially compared to the other treasures I had "borrowed" along the way, but one look was enough for me to recognize it.

That was it. That was the Ravenclaw's diadem, a Horcrux of Tom Marvollo Riddle.

Not thinking much, I approached the diadem and eagerly put it on my head with a huge smile on my face.

Come on, Tom. It's time to talk!

Tom Riddle (diadem)

Waking from a deep slumber, Tom, or rather a part of his soul infused into a diadem, slowly blinked his non-existent eyes.

Why was he awake? There shouldn't be a reason for him to be awake, as he was only meant to act as an anchor, bounding the soul of Tom Riddle to the material world.

For a moment he was confused by his predicament, but then he sensed a foreign presence near his Horcrux and everything became obvious. Someone, though he still had no idea who, had managed to find him despite the efforts of the original Tom, leading to his awakening.

Realizing the opportunity, Tom grinned. While he was originally intended to act only as Tom's Horcrux, it was obvious that he was destined for greater things. Yes, he could see it already! He would devour his finder's soul, come back to life, kill the original Tom and take his rightful place as the most powerful wizard in the whole world!

He was Lord Voldemort! He was the Heir of Slytherin! He was...

"Wait, something is wrong..." That was Tom's last thought before the mysterious finder put the diadem on his head, and Tom's entire world became agony.

What's worse, it was permanent agony, as Tom was unable to turn off the connection. As it turned out, the Ravenclaw's diadem, a tool designed to passively increase the holder's intelligence, provided a direct, unbreakable connection to the holder's mind.

Tom was... not pleased with this discovery.

The agony continued.

Michael Brown

Nothing.

In spite of my quiet hopes, Diadem remained silent despite my various attempts to communicate with it. I had hoped that Diadem Tom would be somehow able to speak through some kind of telepathy, but even though I spent the last ten minutes trying to convey my thoughts to him, I received no response.

Well, it wasn't that this development was completely unexpected. Diary Tom had already told me that horcruxes required contact with their host in order to grow in strength. Given that Diadem Tom has spent the last few decades trapped in an evil room, with no people around, he was likely quite weakened and would need quite a lot of time before being able to communicate.

That's why the best option for now would be to wear the diadem as often as possible, so that Diadem Tom would be able to recover and join me and Tom in our glorious revolution!

Having finished my task and choosing my next course of action, I finally decided to leave the Room of Requirement.

As I left the room, with the Ravenclaw's diadem on my head and the vanishing cabinet under the wingardium leviosa, I heard a long sigh of relief coming from inside.

However, when I turned around, no one was there.

Weird.