Chapter 26: The Messy Room

Disclaimer: 

Harry Potter and all of its characters belong to J.K Rowling.

I own nothing but the original characters I make.

"Dialogue"

'Thoughts'

$Parseltongue$

Chapter 26: The Messy Room

"The Room of Lost Things", also known as the "Room of Requirement" or the "Room of Come and Go" was a place that has been used by Hogwarts house elves for almost a millennia.

Harry passed by a shelf filled with all sorts of items and placed with no obvious order whatsoever.

He could glimpse books, magazines, individual shoes, underwear, broken toys, an empty bottle of shampoo, and a very ominous potion vial with some pitch-black liquid inside.

"Apparently, the elves have been using this room to store all the garbage left behind by former students and teachers for the last nine centuries." 

Harry spat his complaints as he walked.

He had come here, not just to find Ravenclaw's diadem but to also find a few items he could sell.

After his first week of training, Harry had come to realize something. His best chance to regain his old form in a reasonable time frame was to make use of magical rituals and artifacts.

His goal was to do more than just reach his previous peak. He wanted to surpass his old level of power and reach new heights, so he could be prepared for any eventuality that his enemies could come up with.

During his previous life, by the time he had acquired much of his knowledge about rituals and magical artifacts, the world was very much in ruins.

Demons' first targets had been the magical communities like Diagon Alley, so resources became very scarce, and finding the rare ingredients necessary for these rituals was impossible.

"I won't let that happen again…" He clenched his fists.

Lucky for him, this world was still intact and filled with all the resources he could possibly need.

Resources he planned to use, but for that, he will need large sums of money.

"I can't sell any of this trash!" He looked around the shelves.

By the look of things, the elves refused to throw anything away, storing everything left behind with no exceptions. Of course, most of the things that people left or forgot ended up being trash, meant to be disposed of, but the elves do not have the same standard as humans for what constitutes trash so they stored everything.

"They are like tiny magical hoarders…but I am sure there has to be…wait, what is that?" His eyes were drawn to a broom resting against one of the busy shelves.

At first glance, it looked like an ordinary broom, but someone who was knowledgeable about flying brooms could recognize the very particular construction of the broom was consistent with a specific brand.

"That's definitely a Nimbus and a very old model at that."

He picked it up to get a closer look and read the letters engraved on the wood.

"A Nimbus 100? that's one of the first models ever produced. This is a collector's item!"

This finding gave him an idea. This place was full of old things that could be valuable as collector items nowadays, like old brooms, books, or even vintage clothes.

"Is going to take a while to sort through all this stuff, but I should be able to make enough money by selling antique items from here. And if that is not enough, I have other ideas."

For a moment, he wished to have the help of a house elf, as it would make things so much simpler. But he could not possibly use his family elf as this one would report everything to his parents.

"Alright… let's leave that for now and get on with the other reason for my visit."

He lifted his wand and focused his mind on the object he wanted.

"Accio Ravenclaw's diadem!"

He waited, hoping to hear some noises as they came towards him but nothing happened.

Harry frowned but was not ready to give up just yet.

"Accio Horrocrux!"

"Accion Voldemort Horrocrux!"

"Accio Rowena Ravenclaw belongings!"

"Accio Tom Marvolo Riddle belongings!"

Nothing…this was the worst-case scenario and another evidence that despite its many similarities, this was a very different world.

"This is very bad…maybe he stored them in different locations, maybe he didn't even create the horrocruxes in the first place, and there is no way for me to know"

There are other ways to protect one's life after all. He could only hope that Voldemort did not resort to demonology this time.

"I should still check the other places I know, just to be sure. If he has created horrocruxes, there is a good chance that one of them is in his old mansion, but with him still alive, that house will be much better protected…it would be a suicide to go right now."

Harry thought hard for a while, but the possibilities were just too many and his information was lacking. One wrong move could be the end of his journey. 

For what little he knew, deatheaters had not made any moves for years, until that attack on Diagon Alley.

'Hopefully, they will take it slow for a while…"

He could only hope for that at least. Even if he gathered all the necessary ingredients, it would not be possible to perform any rituals on himself.

At this point, his body and magic were growing and were very unstable. A ritual would do more harm than good. He is going to need to wait for at least two more years before starting. By then, he will have enough control to complete everything safely.

"But I can't just wait and do nothing. I can think of a way to start acquiring some important information." He looked around the Room of Requirements with a thoughtful expression.

"And this room may have what I need."