Michael Brown
"This place is simply amazing, Michael." Luna declared in wonder, looking around the room with wide, sparkling eyes. Though she didn't sound much different than usual, there was a distinct note of excitement in her voice, similar to the one she would have when describing a new kind of cryptid she had almost found. "Where exactly are we? I don't think I've ever heard of this place."
Luna and I were currently standing at the entrance to the Undercroft, the secret room that served as my base of operations during my assignment at Hogwarts, or, if one wanted to describe it in a more mundane way, my current residence. It was certainly quite a useful place, though contrary to Luna's words, it wasn't all that impressive, as aside from being hidden, there wasn't much to admire in it.
In fact, it was an ordinary storage room, filled with junk and broken furniture that had been placed there centuries ago and long forgotten. Aside from Morganach's mirror (which was worthless to me, as I couldn't use ancient magic), the only valuable things in the room were things brought by me: my bed, my chest (containing the Ravenclaw diadem) and a vanishing cabinet (repair in progress).
That's why, even though it was a pretty nice place to live, both inconspicuous and close to most destinations, it wasn't really worth getting excited about.
At least for me. Luna seemed to find the room quite intriguing.
"It's called Undercroft. I've been living here since last year's 'prank war' fiasco, using it as my room. If you want to know the original purpose of this room though, I must disappoint you. I have no idea." I replied, a little embarrassed by my lack of knowledge. Even though I had already lived there for several months, I was unable to learn anything about the Undercroft, with all my knowledge coming from false memories inserted into my brain. Then again, the entire Gaunt family (except Tom) was dead, as was (probably) Sebastian Sallow, so I couldn't exactly ask anyone about it (not that I would even if I could, of course. Too risky.).
"Really? That's quite a shame." Luna said, her voice full of disappointment. Hmm, I suppose I could tell her some secret about the Undercroft that would cheer her up.
"Well, I don't know if it's related, but there's a mirror that connects this room to the laboratory of Isidora Morganach, a 15th century dark witch obsessed with removing pain from people's souls." I replied cheerfully, pointing my finger at the mirror in question, which was currently hanging on one of the walls. My words seemed to improve Luna's mood, as her face immediately lit up, looking at the mirror with sparkling eyes. She was already about to approach it, clearly excited about a new mystery to investigate, but I stopped her by placing my hand in front of her. "Hold on, I still have to deactivate my traps."
After saying that, I began to move around the Undercroft, carefully deactivating the various traps installed near the entrance to the room. It was a rather lengthy process, mostly because it consisted of pulling several levers, tapping the right combinations of sounds on a few boxes and lighting some lamps, all in the right order.
While it was a rather tedious ordeal, it was actually a necessary task, as it would have been a disaster for Luna's first visit to the Undercroft to end with her being shot by one of the enchanted crossbows, set on fire by some loose chemicals or pulverized by the chained bludgers.
It might have sounded like a serious overkill for simple room security, but given the fact that I was using the room not only to sleep, but also to hide a Ravenclaw diadem and a vanishing cabinet, the current security measures were actually a bit too lax in my opinion.
Then again, I didn't yet have the means to improve the security. Not only had I not learned enough necromancy to put undead guards in the room, but the fact that the Undercroft had no windows also meant that there was no natural light for the plants to survive, making it impossible for me to use mandragoras or shooting spikes. Well, devil's snares would probably survive in the Undercroft, but... I didn't really feel comfortable planting them so close to where I slept.
It just sounded like a recipe for disaster.
After a few minutes of fairly intense work and a few close calls, my room was finally safe enough to receive guests. It still couldn't exactly be called presentable, as it was a storage room full of trash, but Luna didn't seem to care much about that, so it wasn't really a problem. Speaking of Luna, as soon as I finished my work, she immediately moved to Morganach's mirror, eager to explore a potential gateway to a new adventure.
Unfortunately, her efforts were doomed to failure, given her lack of ancient magic, so after several failed attempts to activate the mirror, Luna finally gave up and turned to me with a questioning look.
"Ancient magic." I shrugged my shoulders and said simply. The answer seemed to be enough, because Luna simply nodded, acting like that made perfect sense. Which... kind of did, I supposed.
After a few seconds of silence, Luna spoke, her eyes expectant.
"Michael, why did you invite me here? I am, of course, glad that you trust me enough to reveal your room to me, because I know how important safety is to you, but you wouldn't do it without a reason." Luna said reasonably, guessing that I had some business to discuss. Which was certainly the case.
Well, I supposed there was no reason to delay it any further.
Without answering Luna's question, I quickly turned around and walked over to the chest next to my bed. I didn't open it, however, instead I started knocking on it to the rhythm of the 'imperial march'. After the last knock, a small part of the wall began to move, revealing a small hole. Picking up one of the small wooden planks lying nearby, I inserted it into the hole and used it to push a small lever hidden inside.
After removing the board, now almost completely melted due to the strong acid, I closed the hole and moved to another part of the wall, where a second hole appeared. This time I put my hand inside and pulled out an object from there.
It was a silver diadem, full of intricate engravings, with a blue sapphire in the shape of an oval in the middle. It was...
...a decoy. I immediately threw it behind me and reached into the opening again, this time pushing my hand further, allowing me to reach the secret compartment. After grabbing the item inside, I pulled it out.
It was the Ravenclaw Diadem.
Once I put it on my head ("AAAAHHHH! No, please! Not again! Please stop!" - Tom screamed, unheard by anyone), I turned around and returned to Luna with a big smile on my face. At the sight of the diadem, Luna's eyes widened, confusion clearly visible on her face.
"Is... is this what I think it is?" Luna asked hesitantly, her voice filled with quiet disbelief.
"Hmm? Oh, yes. It's one and only Ravenclaw diadem, but that's not important." I replied, relieved that I wouldn't have to waste time explaining the true nature of the diadem to Luna. I continued, my voice cheerful. "What is important is the spirit of the old hero trapped inside it, unable to escape... Luna, are you listening to me?"
Luna did not seem to hear me, instead staring at the diadem on my head in complete silence, her eyes blinking rapidly.
...Well, I supposed seeing Ravena Ravenclaw's long-lost artifact on her friend's head might be a bit surprising.
"Take your time, Luna." I said calmly, quietly pulling out a necromancy book and starting to read it, all the while ignoring Luna's constant stare.
I mean, since I had to wait for Luna to calm down anyway, I could at least spend the time productively, right?