Chapter 336: Hunt for Diadem

With the information from Helena about the Ravenclaw diadem, Alaric could now openly use the intel from the original book.

The diadem was hidden in the Room of Requirement.

Alaric had been researching the Room of Requirement since he first started at Hogwarts.

Among the many rooms in the Room of Requirement, the largest one was a vast junkyard.

This was where everything that had been vanished by the Hogwarts staff and students ended up, and Voldemort had hidden the diadem among the piles.

Their remaining task was to find the diadem.

However, even though they had this information, finding the diadem was not going to be easy.

After all, the room was enormous, and locating a small diadem in such a massive junkyard was no simple feat.

Fortunately, unlike the trio of saviors from the original story, they had ample time to search for the diadem.

The day after Alaric's meeting with Helena, he did not immediately return to the Ravenclaw common room after dinner.

Instead, he brought Hermione and Cho Chang to the eighth floor.

Luna joined them as well, as Alaric felt her keen intuition might prove useful in finding the diadem.

They stopped in front of the tapestry depicting the giant troll hitting the stupid Barnabas the Barmy.

Alaric closed his eyes and began to pace.

—I need a place to hide something... I need a place to hide something... I need a place to hide something...

He walked back and forth in front of the blank wall three times, and when he opened his eyes, he finally saw the door to the Room of Requirement.

Alaric opened the door, and the four of them entered together.

The sight inside the room made everyone gasp.

Despite being preoccupied with thoughts of the diadem, Alaric couldn't help but be amazed by the scene before him.

They were standing in a room as large as a cathedral, with beams of light from high windows illuminating a city of towering walls, constructed from the items hidden by generations of Hogwarts inhabitants.

Streets and alleys were lined with precariously stacked broken furniture, possibly stuffed here to hide evidence of magical mishaps or to be concealed by the house-elves maintaining the castle's appearance.

There were thousands of books, undoubtedly banned, defaced, or stolen; slingshots with wings and flying discs, some still weakly hovering over the mounds of forbidden objects.

Broken bottles with solidified potions; hats, jewelry, cloaks, items resembling dragon egg shells; bottles with evil light still flashing; and several rusty swords and a bloodstained battle axe.

"This is the best place in Hogwarts to hide things," Alaric said to the three girls.

"I believe the Dark Lord is most likely to have hidden the diadem here."

"This... is indeed a great place to hide things," Hermione remarked, covering her forehead.

"It's like a dump here. It looks like finding the diadem is going to be quite a challenge."

"And we might end up wasting a lot of time and effort," Cho Chang added.

"Is this Hogwarts' secret maze?" Luna tilted her head as she observed the surroundings and said seriously.

"I guess there must be some big secret hidden here. Let's find it."

She then gave Alaric a faint smile.

"Thank you for bringing me here. I think I might find a Crumple-Horned Snorkack here."

With that, she stepped forward and headed towards the piles of junk.

"The diadem is silver with green gems," Alaric reminded.

"If you encounter any danger or make any discoveries, use your wand to cast red sparks."

"Got it." Luna waved her hand and quickly disappeared into the piles.

"She's quite enthusiastic," Hermione said, watching the girl's back, and then drew her wand.

"Diadem, come to me."

She shouted, but nothing flew towards them.

The room seemed to be as unyielding as Gringotts' vaults, reluctant to reveal its contents.

"I should have guessed," she said with dissatisfaction.

"Well then, let's split up and search," Alaric said to the two girls, and the three of them began to explore the piles from different directions.

Alaric chose a narrow alley among the piles, turned right, saw a troll specimen, and then continued a short distance before turning left at a broken vanishing cabinet...

He remembered that in the original story, Harry had first discovered the diadem because he had gone to the Room of Requirement to hide his Potions textbook.

In the Room of Requirement, he found a cabinet with a cage containing a five-legged monster skeleton, where he had hidden his Potions notes.

Next to the cabinet was a crate with an ugly old wizard's head, and the diadem was placed on this head.

However, at this moment, Alaric could neither see a cabinet nor an old wizard's head.

He could only patrol through the various piles of junk and treasures, including bottles, hats, boxes, chairs, books, weapons, brooms, and bats, with most of his efforts proving futile.

After two or three hours of searching, the four of them gathered in an open space within the room, all finding a spot to sit and rest, exhausted.

Alaric dragged a large cushion from the piles and sat cross-legged on it.

Although searching for the diadem was not physically taxing, the process was incredibly dull.

He was now thinking of finding something more interesting to do, like visiting the Chamber of Secrets with Hermione or Cho Chang, or perhaps going together.

"It seems we won't be finding the diadem today," Alaric said helplessly.

"Yeah, there's far more here than we imagined," Hermione said, sitting on a wooden box in an unflattering pose.

"The four of us have spent so much time, and we've only searched a fraction.

If luck isn't on our side, it might take us a month to find the diadem."

"It would be great if the clutter could be organized," Cho Chang complained, pouting.

"At home, a cleaning charm would do the job."

"Indeed, the more organized the place, the easier it is to find things," Hermione pointed out.

"I bet if the clutter here were organized, we could probably complete the task in just a few days."

"Yes..." Alaric absently agreed with the girls' remarks when suddenly, Cho Chang's complaint sparked an idea in his mind.

Alaric's thoughts turned to Cho Chang's comment about the clutter and organization.

If they could somehow sort through the massive amounts of junk, it would make their search significantly easier.

"I've got an idea," Alaric said suddenly, catching Hermione and Cho Chang's attention.

"What if we could somehow organize this room? It would certainly make finding the diadem a lot easier."

"Organize it?" Hermione echoed, intrigued. "That's an interesting idea, but how would we even start?"

"We could use some kind of charm or spell," Alaric suggested.

"It might be a huge task, but if we can sort things into categories, it might help us locate the diadem more efficiently."

Cho Chang looked thoughtful. "If we can make a plan and use some organizational magic, it might actually work."

The four of them agreed that this was their best option.

They decided to start by grouping items into categories, such as books, clothing, magical artifacts, and furniture.

Hermione and Cho Chang began to use basic organizational spells to categorize the items, while Luna continued her search in the more chaotic sections.

As they worked, the room's vast clutter slowly started to transform into more manageable piles.

Hermione and Cho Chang used spells to levitate and stack items neatly, while Alaric directed their efforts to ensure they were covering as much ground as possible.

Hours passed, and their progress was slow but steady.

The room's chaotic appearance began to shift as the piles of junk became more organized.

They found several interesting items along the way, but none that resembled the diadem.

By the time they had organized a significant portion of the room, exhaustion began to set in.

They took a short break to rest and regroup.

"I think we're making good progress," Alaric said, looking around at the transformed room.

"We've covered a lot of ground, and it's starting to look more like an actual room rather than a junkyard."

Hermione nodded, wiping sweat from her brow. "Yes, but we still have a lot to go. We need to keep going if we want to find the diadem."

Just as they were about to resume their work, Luna, who had been working in a particularly cluttered section, called out.

"Hey, I think I've found something interesting!"

Alaric, Hermione, and Cho Chang hurried over to where Luna was working.

She had uncovered a large, ornate chest, partially buried under a pile of old clothes and broken furniture.

The chest was covered in dust and cobwebs, but it looked promising. Alaric approached and carefully opened it.

Inside, they found a variety of intriguing items: old wands, strange magical objects, and dusty tomes.

However, there was still no sign of the diadem.

"Let's keep searching," Alaric said, trying to stay optimistic.

"We're bound to find it eventually if we keep going."

The group continued their efforts, their spirits lifted by the progress they had made and the discovery of the chest.

They worked well into the night, determined to find the diadem and complete their mission.

As the night wore on, the room became more organized, and their search grew increasingly focused.

Each of them remained hopeful that their efforts would soon pay off, and the diadem would be within their grasp.

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