The Lost Diadem

"Where are we?" Chris asked.

"Room of Requirement, of course!" said Neville. "Surpassed itself, hasn't it? The Carrows were chasing me, and I knew I had just one chance for a hideout: I managed to get through the door and this is what I found! Well, it wasn't exactly like this when I arrived, it was a load smaller, there was only one hammock and just Gryffindor hangings. But it's expanded as more and more of the D.A. have arrived."

"And the Carrows can't get in?" asked Harry, looking around for the door.

"No," said Seamus Finnigan, whom Chris had not recognized until he spoke: Seamus's face was bruised and puffy. "It's a proper hideout, as long as one of us stays in here, they can't get at us, and the door won't open. It's all down to Neville. He really gets this room. You've got to ask for exactly what you need – like, "I don't want any Carrow supporters to be able to get in' – and it'll do it for you! You've just got to make sure you close the loopholes. Neville's the man!"

"It's quite straightforward, really," said Neville modestly. "I'd been in here about a day and a half, and getting really hungry, and wishing I could get something to eat, and that's when the passage to Hog's Head opened up. I went through it and met Aberforth. He's been providing us with food because, for some reason, that's the one thing the room doesn't really do."

"Yeah, well, food's one of the five exceptions to Gamp's Law of Elemental Transfiguration," informed Hermione to general astonishment.

"So we've been hiding out here for nearly two weeks," said Seamus, "and it just makes more hammocks every time we need room, and it even sprouted a pretty good bathroom once girls started turning up – "

"—and thought they'd quite like to wash, yes," supplied Irena, whom Chris had not noticed until that point.

Irena gave a small smile as Chris met her eyes, beside her Malvin gave a small nod at her. Now that she looked around properly, she recognized many familiar faces. Along with Irena Kyle, Malvin Catterick, Ernie Macmillan from Hufflepuff, Padma Patil, Harry's ex-girlfriend, and her twin sister were there, as were Jane Chambers, Nora Adler, Michael Corner, and two of Michael's friends from Ravenclaw, and Alex Bonnevile, Elijah Fernsby, Colin's roommates in Hogwarts and Danielle Jones, one of Chris and Ginny's roommate. Apart from Neville and Seamus from Harry's year, there was also Lavender Brown, Ron's ex-girlfriend.

"Tell us what you've been up to, though," said Ernie turning to Harry. "There've been so many rumors, we've been trying to keep up with you on Potterwatch." He pointed at the wireless. "You didn't break into Gringotts?"

"They did!" said Neville. "And the dragon's true too!"

There was a smattering of applause and a few whoops.

"Now, what are we going to do, Harry?" asked Seamus. "What's the plan?"

"Plan?" repeated Harry and glanced at Chris. "Well, there's something we – Chris, Ron, Ginny, Hermione, Luna, Colin, and I – need to do, and then we'll get out of here."

Nobody was laughing or whooping anymore. Neville looked confused.

"What d'you mean, 'get out of here'?"

"We haven't come back to stay," said Harry, suddenly swaying, his head in his hands. He struggled to keep an even voice. "There's something important we need to do – "

"Harry?" Chris was on his side within moments. She held him upright as Ron gripped his arm to steady him.

"He -" Harry whispered.

"Do you need to sit down, Harry" Neville said quickly looking for a chair.

"No," Harry opened his eyes rubbing his scar, trying to soothe the pain. He looked at Chris and whispered. "He knows we are collecting Horcruxes."

"Then we need to move fast," Chris whispered. "I think it's time you start destroying them too. If he knows, no point waiting now."

"But first we need to find this one," Ron muttered.

"Yes," Harry turned to the crowd. 

"What is it, Harry?" Neville immediately looked ready to help. He sure had changed.

"I – I can't tell you," Harry said.

There was a ripple of muttering at this: Neville's brows contracted.

"Why can't you tell us? It's something to do with fighting You-Know-Who, right?"

"Well, yeah – "

"Then we'll help you."

The other members of Dumbledore's Army were nodding, some enthusiastically, others solemnly. A couple of them rose from their chairs to demonstrate their willingness for immediate action.

"Look," Harry began, but at that moment, the tunnel door had just opened behind him.

"We got your message," said Cho Chang walking in with Lee Jordan and the Weasley Twins.

"Aberforth's getting a bit annoyed," said Fred, raising his hand in answer to several cries of greeting. "He wants a kip, and his bar's turned into a railway station."

"Fred? What's going on?" Hermione looked torn between feeling happy, worried, and surprised.

"We are fighting, aren't we? I even informed Cedric and Sirius," said Fred.

"We - what? You - what?" Harry almost yelled. Chris could still see the pain from the scar on his face. He turned to Draco, "Ginny talked to you, Malfoy, what did you tell them?"

"Woah, some things never change, does it? Anything happens and the first finger Potter points are on me. Surprising, really," Draco said trying to look annoyed but the voice came more as worried.

Ron opened angrily to argue and so did Ginny, before it could turn into a fight Chris jumped in.

"Nobody is pointing fingers, Draco. We just want to know what happened."

Hearing the argument, Neville quickly hurried close to them and tried to speak, but Draco spoke first,

"Look, I informed them as Ginny told me to, nothing else, nothing more. Do you think I'm happy with rebellious plans like this? This place is crawling with security, they know even if the first years sleep in the wrong bed," Draco gestured around Cho, Fred, and George, looking genuinely concerned. "This will cause a problem."

"But we have to do something," Neville encouraged. "This is the perfect time and -"

"Just a moment, Neville. We need to talk about it a bit first," Chris sighed and Neville gave a small nod after hesitating for a moment. Chris looked around and muttered under her breath, "So much for convincing Sirius," 

"But if Sirius and Cedric know," Ginny slide close to them. "So will the Order. Harry, I hate to say this but there is no backing down now. Whether you like it or not, it's happening."

"What do you mean it's happening? We can't fight directly like this. There are young students -" Harry looked at Chris bewildered and she clasped his hand. 

"Harry, listen, we look for the Horcrux first and then deal with this, ok?" Chris said reassuringly.

"But -" Ginny tried to protest but Chris looked at her firmly.

"You know after what we heard, I want to fight too, Ginny. But we have to come up with something before marching to fight them. So for now, stay hidden here. Do not do anything until we have a clear plan, please."

"I'm with Chris, this one, Ginny," Colin said exchanging a look with Chris. They were thinking the same thing, how could they endanger so many people including all the young students in the school?

"Ok, but what about the Horcrux, how do you find it?" Ginny said catching back their attention.

"We can take help from the Ravenclaws," Ron suggested. "It's something from Ravenclaw, right?"

"Yes," Harry nodded. "But we can't tell them -"

"We don't have to," Chris supplied. "We can be just vague about it."

"Good idea," Ron grinned.

Chris looked at Harry questioningly and he nodded.

"Okay," he called to the room at large, and all noise ceased: Fred and George, who had been cracking jokes for the benefit of those nearest, fell silent, and all of the looked alert, excited.

"There's something we need to find," Harry said. "Something – something that'll help us overthrow You-Know-Who. It's here at Hogwarts, but we don't know where. It might have belonged to Ravenclaw. Has anyone heard of an object like that? Has anyone come across something with her eagle on it, for instance?"

He looked hopefully toward the little group of Ravenclaws, to Padma, Michael, Terry, and Cho, but it was Luna who answered.

"Well, there's her lost diadem. I told you about it, remember, Harry? The lost diadem of Ravenclaw?"

"Yeah, but the lost diadem," said Michael Corner, rolling his eyes, "is lost, Luna. That's sort of the point."

"Yes, Luna is aware of that," said Colin glaring at Michael. "But she suggested it because it's a significant Ravenclaw item as Harry asked."

Michael slightly turned red and looked away. Luna smiled at Colin.

"But it was lost centuries ago, they say," said Cho Chang. "Professor Flitwick says the diadem vanished with Ravenclaw herself. People have looked, but," she appealed to her fellow Ravenclaws. "Nobody's ever found a trace of it, have they?"

They all shook their heads.

"Wait, the diadem? The Crown of Rowena Ravenclaw, right?" Chris asked Luna and she nodded.

"Sorry, but what is a diadem?" asked Ron.

"It's a kind of crown," said Padma Patil. "Ravenclaw's was supposed to have magical properties, enhance the wisdom of the wearer."

"But I know someone who knows what happened to the Diadem," Chris turned to Harry remembering. 

"Who?" Harry looked hopeful.

"The daughter of Rowena Ravenclaw, the house ghost of Ravenclaws, the Grey Lady," Chris answered. "I know she can help."

"But she doesn't talk to other house students, so someone from Ravenclaw should go with you. I can go with you if you like," Padma said standing up.

That very moment, Harry's hand flew over his scar again, he looked in excruciating pain again.

"I will go with him," Chris said automatically holding Harry's hand again.

"You can, but as I said, she doesn't like other house students," Padma argued. "The Grey Lady won't talk to you."

"Helena will talk just fine," Chris said rather fiercely than she intended.

"Fine, then," Padma sat down looking a bit upset.

Ginny glanced at Chris and gave a small smile. Through her talisman, Chris heard Ginny say, "Who knew Christina Norton would get all jealous and possessive over ex-girlfriends."

"I'm not jealous or possessive!" Chris hissed back giving a stern look to Ginny. "I'm just concerned about Harry. I can't just leave him with Padma when he is struggling with his scar and Riddle's mind."

Ginny just smirked at the reply and turned back to Draco.

[To be continued]