The Room of Requirements Ⅱ

The stone chamber is cool and lit by torches. Large marble pillars hold up the roof in a circular fashion much like the columns of a temple. In the center of the stone floor is a smooth circular area where a ritual can easily be held. Against the four walls, there are rows upon rows of silver goblin-forged treasures. They are items to be used as an offering or to take part in a ritual.

Walking over to the shelves, Rowan nods in approval as she had requested a rather specific place in which to perform a Samhain ritual. She had requested that no one be able to leave the chamber while the ritual is taking place. She had also requested silver items to be used as an offering in the ritual.

The Room of Requirements is a tricky thing where everything has to be carefully worded much like a goblin contract. Rowan knew she could not request the Ravenclaw Diadem. Without a doubt, Riddle had placed a spell or curse preventing such action. Not that the Diadem couldn't be found in the Room of Requirements, but it required a bit of luck which she did not usually have. Instead, she would get around the issue by requesting silver goblin-forged treasurers from the Room of Requirements.

Row by row, item by item, Rowan studies and halts several times upon finding a diadem. Yet no such luck. She nears the second to last row of the third wall when she spots a glittering silver diadem with aquamarine gems that shone quite enchantingly. Her hand of its own will reached out on its own to grasp the diadem.

Rowan barely managed to stumble back as her nail almost scratched the diadem. She is visibly shaken as the sensation is eerily similar to what had transpired in the Chamber of Secrets. It had not been her, but rather something else forcing her hand to act against Professor Adric.

Trembling, Rowan breathes through her nose trying to keep her nausea at bay. She rubs her cold, clammy hands on her robes trying to make them warm again. She had not hallucinated the sensation; something had forced her hand…

Trying to calm herself, Rowan avoids looking at Rowena's Diadem. She tried to logically compare the two sensations. The sensation in the Chamber of Secrets had wholly controlled her against her will. There was something at the edge of her mind that would explain what had occurred, but it was just out of reach. A missing puzzle piece prevented her from seeing the entire picture.

Unlike that time, Rowena's Diadem did not force her will, but rather compelled Rowan. If she were to put it into words, it reminded her of the 'one ring to rule them all.' Perhaps good old Tolkien was onto something. Each Horcrux created tempted the listener, and she was no saint. She could not say she was tempted in her heart of hearts.

Feeling much more clear-headed, Rowan reached into the mokeskin pouch. She removed a pair of long silver tongs that she had specifically prepared for the occasion. Using the silver tongs, she carefully clasped the diadem. A single step at a time, she shuffled sideways until she reached the edge of the raised marble circle. She gently lowered the diadem and laid it on the stone ground.

Retreating further away, Rowan reached into her pouch and removed the prepared offerings for the altar. Without entering the circle only on the outer edges, she placed offerings belonging to nature: oak leaves, apples, nuts, sage, and pumpkin lanterns. In between each pumpkin lantern, she placed a tiny round carved turnip painted orange and black to hold frankincense and other incense. The incenses were nutmeg, mint, sage, and other such harvest scents carefully placed to form a circle that would not break. There was not a single centimeter of uncovered or unconnected offerings.

Taking the tongs again, Rowan carefully picked up Rowena's Diadem and stepped over the outer circle without touching or breaking the outer circle of nature's offerings. She halted exactly in the center and set Rowena's diadem down. The diadem glittered beguiling under the light of the torches.

Turning away from the wretched thing, Rowan walked backward inch by inch, she paused only to ensure she did not destroy the circle of offerings. She rightened herself and stepped successfully over. Once she had made it back across, she put away the pair of tongs.

Kneeling back on the ground, Rowan formed a second circle of offerings representing the veil. The veil is the boundary between the living and the dead that cannot be crossed. Using (magically preserved) freshly cut flowers, Marigolds, Chrysanthemums, Amaranthus, Celosia's, Sunflowers, Dianthus, Rudbeckia, Helenium, Witch Hazel, and Monkshood. She placed them perfectly one by one next to each other, petal to petal with no gap between them.

Afterward, Rowan made an even further circle, a final circle to represent the world of the living. No soul, spirit, or otherwise undead could cross the boundary into the living world. The boundary was made of untouched harvest foods, pumpkins, pomegranates, squashes, blackberries, squash, and other such harvest items.

Double-checking her work, Rowan only then removed a familiar dented box. With care, she opened the dusty box containing the costume of a Plague Doctor. In ancient times, wizards and muggles alike believed that the Spirits from the Great Beyond could escape into the living world when the veil was thin between the living and the dead. Costumes were worn to trick evil spirits or simply as a form of protection from enemies.

As the veil between the living and the dead grows thin, the greatest answers lie within. That is if one is willing to ask the dead. But like the living, the dead always has their own agendas.

With great care, Rowan put on the black leather coat making sure every single button was closed shut. Next, the leather gloves went on, and then the plague doctor mask. She paused to study the cruel curved beak formed from black leather with glittering glass eyeholes that made the mask seem eerily alive. With care, she carefully put on the mask and to her great relief found, she could see clearly out of the eyeholes. Last but not least, she put on the flat, wide-brimmed hat as the finishing touch.

Pulling out her wand from her pouch, Rowan pulls two more items from her pouch, a piece of chalk and a vial filled with a white milky-like substance. Putting the pouch and vial away in her coat, she pats the pocket once, before taking a deep breath. Clearing her mind, she carefully made sure everything was in place, before closing her eyes. She carefully and clearly envisions in her mind that which she seeks to know on this hollow night where the veil grows thin between the dead (or the Spirts) and the living.

Rowan's eyes snap open to reveal her midnight black, indigo eyes that seem darker than usual. Pointing her wand at the chalk, she murmurs the proper incantation, "Wingardium Leviosa." With a flick of her wand, the chalk glides over to the center of the inner circle and hovers for a moment over the diadem before darting to the side to draw the rune symbol of mystery in the center around it.

Soon after four more symbols appear, to the North, a Runespoor, to the South, an Acromantula, to the East, a Demiguise, and to the West, a Unicorn. With a flick of her wand, the chalk flies back into her hand, before being pushed deep into her coat pocket. It was now or never.