The Room of Requirements Ⅲ

The torches burned bright and steady when Rowan began, "That which has been bound by the light of the sun on this night, I ask to speak to me, oh spirit, on this night where the spirits may speak and wander the earth once more," as the torches in the chamber flickered as though by an unseen wind.

Feeling an old, lifelike presence once again like at Yule, Rowan licks her lips to continue. "Oh, spirit, that lays asleep before me by the rules of the ancients, I have bound you and ask that you speak to me. Awaken, the spirit of he who once was known in this life as Tom Marvolo Riddle!"

Like many times before something dark and foul burst from the diadem as all of the torches in the room went out. The only light remaining is provided by the glowing pumpkin lanterns and sticks of burning incense. From the murky smoke a figure formed to reveal a dark and handsome Tom Marvolo Riddle in his early twenties. The young man smiles quite charmingly and innocently asks, "Why hello there? Can you tell me, where I am?"

Rowan is silent for a moment as she feels him easily looking past her shields and into her mind. Pressing her lips tightly together she carefully responds, "You should know exactly where you are, Tom."

"Ah, yes, it's the room of requirements," Riddle said with a faint smile as he took a step away from the diadem. "But may I ask, how did you know I was here? Not many of its existence including the Headmaster of Hogwarts."

"I know many things, Tom," Rowan steadily retorted. "The more pertinent question should be whether you will answer my question?"

"And what is that?" Riddle purposefully said, taking another step towards the Plague Doctor, before frowning. Eyeing the circle, he tentatively tries to take a step out of the circle and finds he cannot. It is as though a great wall stands before him preventing him from stepping out of bounds.

"How very clever," Riddle whispered as if amused as he turned back to face the circle. "You've actually bound me to this rune circle by a spiritual ritual on all Hallows Eve. Do your grandparents know that you're diving into necromancy?"

Rowan forces herself not to flinch as she had felt him peek into her mind and knew that it would happen. It had occurred every single time with every single individual that had ever come across a Horcrux. From the Weasleys to Dumbledore were no exceptions, and neither was she.

Rowan doesn't reply as a trickle of dread creeps into the pit of her stomach. She remains rather still as she watches the pacing Riddle as though viewing a hungry beast trying to get out of its cage and at her. "I will ask again, Tom, will you answer my question?"

"Only one?" Riddle purred. "Tsk, tsk, I know many things. Oh, yes, I could teach you the secrets of immortality. Or the secret to an infinite power for that is that you seek is it not, Rowan Prince?"

Not seeing a visible reaction, Riddle continues, "Rowan Prince, that is quite the interesting surname." Riddle paced to the side of the circle as if staring into the past. "I knew an Eileen Prince once; she was two years younger than me."

Riddle intently stares at the masked plague doctor and purses his lips not failing to see a reaction. "Yes, a rather sullen girl with dark hair and dark eyes. Not very pretty nor very intelligent, I'm afraid."

For the third and last time, Rowan says, "For the last and third time, Spirit, I will ask Tom Marvolo Riddle will you answer the question?"

Riddle shivers with displeasure at the name as he finds that he is being forced or rather compelled to answer the question that was being sought. Sharp cuts begin to appear on his face and body as dark, black blood begins to sweep from his wounds. "Stop!" Riddle shrieked in rage and pain. "I cannot answer I am bound!"

Instantly the pain stops as Rowan says, "Then if you cannot tell me the truth of what I seek, then what can you speak of?"

With dark, blood dripping from his nose. Riddle sniffs as he proceeds to wipe the blood from his face with his sleeve. "He is most powerful," Riddle hummed as he took a step toward the edge of the circle.

"Cunning, wise, someone to aspire to." Riddle paused as he carefully rubbed the blood between his fingertips as though in deep thought. "And someone who you can never hope to defeat." With a flicker of his finger, a single drop falls onto the edge of the circle to only wobble at the rim of the stone altar before gravity did its work. The drop suddenly surges down and falls onto one of the oak leaves below.

Instantly like a wild beast, Riddle surges forward breaking past the first and the second circle to only slam into the third circle as an unseen force prevents him from escaping. "You will never defeat me!" Riddle howled as the masked figure's hand slightly trembled for a second as they kept their wand steadily trained on him.

"Perhaps, we got started on the wrong foot," Riddle suddenly changed tones taking a step back as he wandered to the edge of the circle. The wand of the masked plague doctor remained steadily trained on him as he leisurely returned back to the inner circle.

Rowan calms her beating heart as she does not react nor show how much his actions had truly startled her. Ignoring the trickle of fear in the corner of her mind, Rowan finally says, "Spirit, you have lied, for thrice I have asked and thrice you have failed to answer. I ask that magics of old, witness the breach of the contract!"

The alienlike presence in the room is suddenly clearly felt as Riddle's eyes widen as he feels an even worse crushing pain and begins to scream. Dark blood begins to ooze out of him as the diadem in the middle of the circle begins to shake as cracks begin to appear in the gems as if they were fragile glass. "I will speak!" Riddle screamed as the alien presence just as swiftly disappeared as Riddle weakly lay limp on his side breathing rather heavily.

"Speak Spirit of Tom Marvolo Riddle, I will not ask again," Rowan threatened for the last time.

Raising himself back up, Riddle staggers weakly to his feet as he gazes at the masked plague doctor with pure hatred. Spitting on the ground, Riddle arrogantly raises his face and sneers. "You cannot just find him for he exists in more places than one," Riddle truthfully confessed with a smirk as the old magic remained still for it was indeed the truth.

Rowan's fingers clench tightly around her wand at the revelation. Horcruxes? That would make sense since there would have to be someone else who was successful. But if so, why did Riddle refer to or imply that the individual in question was superior? Riddle would not admire someone who had achieved the same feat as him. But what could the HE, Riddle have spoken about have achieved that was that much more extraordinary and admireable?

"Spirit, the question asked for thrice has been answered, be at peace now and rest, return to the night again," Rowan said as the old magic presence vanished as before as the room became cold and silent.

From within the circle, Riddle smiled as he got up to his feet. "Oh dear, it would seem that you're all out of ideas," Riddle said with a sharp bloody smile.

"Not quite," Rowan said, before pulling out the glass vial out of her hand and flinging it directly at the diadem.

Riddle watches the vial in slow whirling motion fall directly towards the Diadem. "Nothing can harm me," Riddle arrogantly snickered as his eyes slowly widened at seeing the cork on the vial magically fly off. All the milky white substance suddenly streams out and pours directly onto the diadem.

Screaming as though as he was being burned alive, Riddle rolls on the ground as Rowena's Diadem begins to melt away under the basilisk venom as the glass vial harmlessly rolls away to a halt some feet later.

"You! You!" Riddle is only able to scream as the diadem burns though it is on fire and darkens. A black smog-like substance pours off the diadem and seemingly seems to evaporate as Riddle melts away into smog and does the same. But not one to be daunted, the black smog tries to attack the final unbroken circle only to splatter against it and be swept away as though by a strong wind.

Letting out a breath that she hadn't known she had been holding in, Rowan carefully removes the mask with shaking hands and takes a deep breath as the torches in the chamber suddenly burst back into flame. Clenching her hand several times to regain her strength she lets out a sigh in true and utter relief. It could have gone badly in some many ways, but it hadn't. She supposed it had been a good thing she hadn't tried before to touch, nor much less destroy the diadem before.

Remembering that the circle was still technically in place, Rowan hastily bows and says, "That which has been bound by the light of the sun return back to the night. For thine time is done, and all things must return as they were before."

Feeling as though it was safe now to enter the circle, Rowan carefully breaks the third circle and avoids stepping in the inky remains of Riddle. One of the few consolations to the entire situation is that Riddle never could sense when his Horcruxes were destroyed. It was the only small mercy about the awful situation.

With care, Rowan walked over to the diadem for a moment, before casting the disintegration curse on the blackened heap. And just like that one of the founder's treasures vanished from existence. Casting a strong cleaning charm on the inky black mess she manages to wipe most of the mess off the floor, before clearing away all traces of the ritual that was held.

Curious and a bit daring, Rowan tries teleporting away and finds that she can't as the room doesn't technically exist as such but is more of a magical construct. A bit fascinated by the subject, but out of time, she puts the idea out of her mind as she quickly undresses and shoves the costume into her pouch. Rushing out of the room, she slams the door shut and teleports back next to her bed.

Hearing footsteps coming up the stairs, Rowan hastily climbs into bed and shoves her pouch under her pillow. Pulling the covers her head, she pauses to only grab her wand and transfigure the pillow back. Pretending to be napping, she doesn't react to the voices as Bethanie is softly heard saying, "Don't wake her up, she's sound asleep." Silvia and Tiffany murmur their agreements as they softly chatter, before leaving again and quietly closing the door behind them.

Letting out a breath she hadn't known she had been holding, Rowan tosses off the covers and sighs, before a familiar gut-wrenching feeling begins again. Clenching her teeth this time in pain, she feels as though hundreds of needles are digging into her skin. But it made perfect sense as Riddle was much stronger than Professor Adric-.

Feeling sweat drip down her forehead, all Rowan can do is channel the magic through her core as she feels the energy pathways being forced open wider and wider to accommodate the growth. She didn't know how long she remained in pain as she couldn't hear anything. The girls could have easily returned, and she wouldn't have noticed or known. Finally, after what seemed like an eternity the wave of pain passed as she lay there limp and panting. Utterly exhausted, she fell sound asleep entirely dead to the world.