Chapter 645 In Search Of The Lost Diadem
Access to this place depended on the resonance magic generated by the singing of the Sirens, which would not last long.
Once the singing stopped, the gap between the entrance and the exit would close, and Evan would be trapped here.
He had to make good use of the time to uncover the secret of the place and get out before the gap closed.
Evan followed the flight path of the crow and swiftly walked between the rows of shelves towards the interior.
At the deepest side of the room, there was a sunken niche, in which stood a tall statue of white marble.
It was Rowena Ravenclaw!
When Evan and Luna visited the Ravenclaw Common Room, they saw her statue.
The marble statue of Ravenclaw here was larger than the one in the House's Common Room.
She seemed to be looking at Evan, with a mischievous smile on her face, beautiful yet somewhat imposing.
The crow perched on her head and turned its head, its blood-red eyes fixed on Evan.
It let out a harsh, plaintive cry that sent shivers down his spine.
"The measureless sharpness is man's greatest treasure!"
The cold and eerie voice Evan had heard before resurfaced. This time, he noticed that the voice was coming from the crow.
"If you seek Ravenclaw's reward, bring me her Diadem, and I will reveal all the secrets to you!"
"The Diadem of Ravenclaw?!" Upon hearing this, Evan's gaze shifted from the crow, and only then did he realize that the famous Diadem was not on the head of Rowena Ravenclaw's statue.
That was truly incredible! In fact, the Diadem could be clearly seen in portraits and sculptures of Rowena Ravenclaw, even in all written records. Ravenclaw almost never took off the Diadem.
It was considered a symbol of Rowena Ravenclaw and held a special significance.
For centuries, many wizards believed that Ravenclaw's Diadem had magical properties and could enhance the wisdom of its wearer.
It was a very famous legendary magical object that had been passed down from generation to generation in the Ravenclaw family.
It was unclear if Ravenclaw's Diadem had uses other than boosting wisdom, but it was undoubtedly a test of wisdom and status.
It was believed that only the world's most intelligent wizard was qualified to wear the Diadem, also known as the Diadem of Wisdom.
In the eyes of the world, Ravenclaw had always been crowned because she was recognized as the smartest witch. But after her death, this precious magical accessory vanished.
No matter how much posterity searched the castle and its relics, they found no trace of it, and the Diadem disappeared into thin air!
Since then, Ravenclaw's Lost Diadem had become a mystery, and various rumors had spread.
Some said that Rowena Ravenclaw had refused to part with the Diadem and took it to the grave.
Others believed that the Diadem had hidden itself, and only when a wizard with intelligence comparable to Rowena Ravenclaw appeared would it reappear.
But Evan knew that Ravenclaw's daughter, Helena Ravenclaw, had stolen the Diadem. She wanted to be smarter and more prestigious than her mother, so she fled with her crown and hid in a forest in Albania, hoping to monopolize this treasure that did not belong to her.
No one knew this; Ravenclaw never admitted that the Diadem was gone. She acted as if it was still with her.
She even concealed its loss and her daughter's dreadful betrayal from the other three Founders.
She did not even search for her Diadem, as if it had never existed.
Later, Ravenclaw fell ill and became very grave. She hoped to see her daughter again before she died.
She sent the Bloody Baron, a man who had once loved Helena, to find her.
But the Baron ended up killing Helena, and then stabbed himself with the same knife.
Centuries went by, and he still bore his chains as an act of penitence.
After their deaths, both returned to Hogwarts, but in the form of ghosts.
Because of all kinds of regrets and remorse, they would stay there forever, wandering in the old castle.
Helena did not see her mother in the end, and did not receive her forgiveness, although Ravenclaw probably never held a grudge against her.
The Baron blamed himself for having killed his beloved with his own hands, living in infinite pain that could not be relieved even after death.
As for the Diadem of Ravenclaw, Helena had hidden it in a hollow tree in the Albanian forest.
The story did not end there. Evan did not need to venture into a desolate Albanian forest to find an ancient tree, nor did he have to go to the Ravenclaw Library to search through ancient books and inquire about the painful love between Helena and the Bloody Baron.
Voldemort had discovered the whereabouts of the Lost Diadem, he headed to the distant forest and recovered it.
He transformed the Diadem of Wisdom into his precious Horcrux, instead of remaining in the humble tree.
Subsequently, Voldemort secretly took the Diadem back to its original place and hid it in the Room of Requirement at Hogwarts.
Upon his return, Evan had been pondering over these matters.
In this case, he should thank Voldemort for making Ravenclaw's challenge easily achievable.
Evan only needed to return to the castle, find the Diadem in the Room of Requirement, and bring it to the next Merpeople ritual. This way, he could obtain Ravenclaw's secret treasure.
The only thing he had to pay attention to throughout the whole process was not to be influenced by Voldemort's Horcrux in the Diadem.
By the way, Evan had always longed to deal with the Horcruxes, but as the matter wasn't very pressing while Harry remained one of them, he kept postponing it.
At the right moment, he would seize this opportunity to rid himself of the Horcrux and discover if there was any hidden secret in the Diadem.
Evan bid farewell to the Merfolk and surfaced with the magical materials he had exchanged.
It was around ten o'clock at night. The dark moon swayed among the thick clouds, and the cold wind blew.
Evan was surprised to see Hermione waiting for him on the shore, curled up in the grass, clutching a bottle of glass with blue magical fire.
She nervously gazed at the lake, shivering from the cold and looking quite forlorn.
"Oh, this girl... I thought she had returned straight to the castle... she's still waiting here!" Evan's heart warmed, feeling some remorse for Hermione.
He knew Hermione was uncomfortable, which is why she continued to wait by the lake.
Indeed, as soon as she saw Evan crawling out of the lake, Hermione ran towards him and embraced him tightly.
