The Diadem of Ravenclaw

After some walking Oz found himself looking at a familiar wall. Unlike his previous visits here however what he wanted wasn't a room to practice or learn in. This time he sought out one thing and one thing only. Responding to his will, a door appeared on the wall and opened up to welcome him in. Looking up and down the hall, Oz noted that at this point night-time was approaching with the lack of students. Staying cloaked Oz entered the Room quietly.

As he entered into the Room of Requirement he was welcomed by a complete mess of objects and items piled up high. The room to Oz seemed to have no end at all as he looked onwards. Using his eyes he tried to see if he could pick up on the horcrux however the size of this room was truly to big and there was no sign at all to where the horcrux was.

'If the Baron has lied to me then Ill stuff him in a jar and throw him into the black lake...'.

On Oz's hip was a new pouch he had bought during his spending spree at diagon alley before the new school year. To anyone it would seem that this pouch probably only stored a couple coins or some herbs however in reality this was Oz's full storage all kept on his hip. With the extension charm placed on the bag, everything he had gathered and made up to this point was stored in it. Along with an extension charm Oz had also placed many other wards and charms so that no other people besides him could gain access to it.

Taking one last look around the area and looking behind to confirm that the door to the room had closed, Oz pointed his wand into the little pouch and uttered a spell.

"Accio Compass".

As the spell was casted a compass jumped out of the pouch which Oz caught in his hands. This compass was something he had bought in the summer just before coming to Hogwarts for this year.

'I only initially bought this little thing as it had a fun enchantment on it I wanted to study... however I think finding a horcrux is a little more important than a compass that finds missing quills...'.

Pointing his wand at the little compass Oz pressed his wands tip against it and with a slight jolt of magical power he broke the previous enchantment that was on it. The compasses slight 'magical glow' seemingly faded leaving it a blank slate, perfect for the enchantment told to him by the Baron.

"Well here goes nothing...".

"Quaerite et invenietis eum diadema et hoc est meum~".

After Oz finished the incantation the compass let out a blue glow reminiscent of the Ravenclaw houses colour. The previous compass that lost its lustre of magic regained a more powerful lustre with the tip of the compass pointer shining a dull blue. As the compass was enchanted, the pointer within the compass seemed to spin around rapidly before stopping abruptly in a slightly north eastern direction.

'Good, it seems to be working'.

Looking happily at the compass that was working, Oz started to follow its directions leading him through the cluttered room.

'Back when the Baron sought out Helena for Rowena he was only able to use sticks as a means of finding out which direction she was in... Surely there was a smarter way of going about it even for back then'.

Passing through the troves of magical items Oz found his eyes wonder looking at all the different pieces of equipment. With his own knowledge of enchanted items however he could tell that the majority of these items were defunct and dead at this point. Some only needed a magical recharge while others were completely destroyed.

Midway through the journey Oz started to pick up the items he thought he could fix up. Even though he didn't necessarily need them right now, he could always sell them on when fixed or they could even come in handy. He stored these items within his pouch, such a handy item made Oz truly appreciate the magic in this world.

After what felt like a couple hours of walking through mountains of items, Oz started to sense the presence of a horcrux. Looking down it his compass he could see that it was now spinning occasionally basically telling him that he was close to it now. Seeing as though his eyes were starting to pick up the aura of the horcrux, Oz decided to place the compass back in his pouch as he headed towards the direction of this aura. Finally Oz found himself looking at a pile of items and chairs in amongst which the dark aura was emanating out.

'It's here'.

Climbing up the items slowly, Oz got himself into a good position as he looked in-between the mountain of items. Right in the middle was a black box. Reaching into the mountain of items, Oz plucked this black box out and pulled it towards himself. After retrieving it he jumped back down to the floor.

'Let's be cautious Oz... The Horcruxes in the canon always seemed to affect the holders emotions. Although I'm confident in my strength of mind a little discretion would never hurt...'.

Sitting himself down in the comfiest place possible Oz opened up the box revealing the item he had been seeking.

The Diadem looked back at Oz's with a shine glinting from its central gem. The craftsmanship of such an item was so exquisite that even Oz felt himself get lost in its design. From the central jewel though Oz could feel the horcrux raging within, the gem was the epicentre of where Voldemort's soul was kept. Carefully, Oz moved his hand towards the horcrux before grabbing it in his hand. The second he grabbed the item he felt a dark aura penetrate his body however the aura seemingly disappeared just as it entered. The dark magic emanating from the horcrux seemed to have been dispersed by Oz's core the moment it entered him.

'I guess balancing out my core so early on was a smarter move than I thought... With this situation I wont have to deal with keeping my emotions in check when hunting these things'.

Oz suspected that this scenario would go this way from the beginning however he decided to still be as cautious as possible. He felt a slight relief when he realised that his assumption was right on the mark.

'Strange... besides holding a part of Voldemort within it this diadem seemed to have some auxiliary purpose before hand. Judging by what I can tell at this point... It was used to clear ones mind completely allowing their focus to improve drastically. Considering that this was made by Rowena Ravenclaw im not surprised that the purpose of the item was something related to helping one study...'.

As Oz studied the diadem he felt a bit disappointed now that he had to destroy it. The diadem's auxiliary effects while simple were tempting to someone like Oz who studied and practiced magic daily.

'Maybe after I destroy it I can restore some of its effects...'.

Making his final decision, Oz closed the box with the horcrux in and stuffed it into his pouch. A smile crept onto his face as he realised that one of his main tasks for the year had now been completed.

'Okay... All thats left is to get into that chamber. With this diadem on me right now I should be able to get passed the main ward locking the chamber up, as for the parseltongue entry... I'll see if that can be circumvented or something'.

Wanting to get the main threat gone from the castle now, Oz immediately headed out of the RoR towards the direction of the second floor bathrooms.

.

As Oz entered into the halls of Hogwarts he cloaked himself. His blood started the churn as it expected a fight soon. The excitement started to become apparent even in Oz's own eyes.

Just as Oz was approaching where the bathroom was though, he heard voices ahead of him.

"Albus… How could such a thing happen again at our school?! We may have to send all the students home immediately tomorrow!".

Oz's was just around the corner from the professors who seemed to be filling the hall. Mcgonagall was the first voice he noticed speaking out the Dumbledore.

"I'm afraid I don't know how Minerva... I'm glad you notified me immediately when you found this Madam Pomfrey, If a student saw it they could have been scarred for life".

A slight whimper seemed to come out of a teacher Oz couldn't identify just by voice. Curious at what had happened he turned the corner and looked at the crowd of teachers gathered in front of a wall.

On the wall, a message in blood was written.

"The Chamber of Secrets has been opened... Enemies of the heir beware".

Seeing this message Oz felt his heart drop. If the holder of the diary opened it just a day later Oz might have been able to stop the basilisk from ever being let free. By what he could tell from the teachers talking it seemed that this basilisk had already claimed a victim.

"Minerva, wasn't this boy in your house? He looks old enough to be in his third year it seems... to have this happen to him I truly feel awful".

To the right of Mcgonagall who was nodding at Dumbledore's queries was Gilderoy Lockhart. Even he seemed to be a bit shaken by the situation as he stuttered out a response.

"I-If only I was there to help... I-I'll certainly look for whoever d-did this!".

Hearing the talking go on Oz started to feel his usually calm demeanour crack. His instincts were screaming at him that something bad had happened. The body of the boy who was attacked still wasn't in his sight as it was blocked by the crowd of teachers surrounding it. As his emotions started to become chaotic and his curiosity grew to the max, he presented himself to the teachers by undoing his cloak.

The first to see him was Snape.

"Students have been told to stay away from this-! It's you!".

Snape looked at Oz with scorn and also worry. With Snape calling out to Oz the rest of the teachers turned around and looked at him as well.

"Oz, why are you here at this hour?".

Dumbledore was the first to break the awkward silence as Oz started to walk towards them. The teachers seemed to make a wall around the body of the boy who was attacked.

"Albus, let me see who was attacked. I overheard your conversation already".

The other teachers looked at Oz in shock as he showed Dumbledore no respect. Biting his lip a bit Dumbledore decided to move to the side showing the body that was place on a hook on the wall. Oz couldn't sense any life from the boy and as he started to look up the boys body he eventually arrived on the boys face.

At the moment he saw the boys face, his mind went blank.

.

Helena looked out into the night sky reminiscing her past as she always would. The painful memories seemed to be more frequent after her meeting with Oz. Thinking back on the meeting in question she found herself thinking about the riddle her mother gave her when she asked her about Merlin.

"Why do I feel like im missing something... Was there someone else who mentioned a dragon to me?".

As she was using all her brain-power to remember she finally arrived at the answer she was looking for.

"That's right... After I heard that riddle from mother I asked Salazar about Merlin, completely forgoing my mothers words of avoiding the man. He immediately snapped at me calling me all sorts of nasty words when I mentioned that man... but what was it he said at the end?".

As she recalled the memory more and more clearly she felt as if she could see Salazar in front of her. After cursing her out the man turned around and sighed.

"Never mention that man in front of me again do you understand?! I can't believe im saying this but for your sake I hope you never find him, he's an incredibly dangerous individual. If you were to upset him or provoke him in anyway... well let's just say this...".

"A Dragon's fury is a terrifying thing".