Weekends at Hogwarts were always delightful, but not everyone thought so.
At 7:50, Mikel, who had been lingering in the Auditorium for half an hour, had to put down his cutlery and reluctantly head towards the dungeons.
It seemed like he was seeking help from his roommates, wanting them to accompany him or perhaps cast a jinx on him.
As long as he could escape detention this time, even if it meant spending two days in the Hospital Wing, it wouldn't be a problem.
But Kael and Ryan never lifted their heads to look at him.
"I'm planning to head to the Quidditch Pitch later," Ryan seemed completely unaware that someone was missing beside him. He naturally turned his head to the other side and said, "Isn't this year the time they're recruiting two people? I'm thinking of trying my luck, maybe I'll get chosen."
"That sounds great, which position are you going for?" Kael turned his head accordingly, avoiding the pitiful gaze at the door.
"Chaser, just like you."
Ryan poured himself a glass of juice, "Or Keeper, which is also good. I heard that the competition for this position isn't that fierce."
"I wouldn't know about that," Kael thought for a moment and said, "But I think you should try both positions and see which one suits you better."
"That's what I thought too." Ryan took another piece of toast, "Are you going later? We could go together."
"I'm not going," Kael shook his head, "Cedric's there, so it's fine. I have other matters to attend to."
After Harris graduated, Cedric became the new team captain. Whether it was recruiting new members or setting training plans, it all fell to him.
The two chatted for a while more, and it was exactly eight o'clock.
The doorway no longer had Mikel's pitiful figure.
Kael and Ryan stood up simultaneously.
Ryan went straight to the Quidditch Pitch, while Kael followed the stairs all the way to the eighth floor, walking back and forth three times in a corridor.
"I need a room that can hide things," Kael chanted in his mind.
Finally stopping in the middle, facing a wall opposite a tapestry.
The door to the Room of Requirement appeared quickly, as if it had always been there on the wall.
Kael entered and closed the door with his hand.
Silence enveloped him as he stood in a room the size of an Auditorium, with items hidden by generations of Hogwarts students piling into towering walls.
Below, there were stacks of teetering, broken furniture and thousands of books.
However, these books were mostly worthless, and some forbidden ones had certain dangers. If opened, one might suffer some kind of jinx, falling into the category of Dark Arts Items.
Of course, there must be useful books, but Kael neither had the time nor the inclination to identify them one by one. The library had enough for him to read, making it unnecessary to waste time here.
Further ahead were Wing Slingshots and Wolf Fang Flying Discs, some still weakly spinning... and broken bottles holding solidified Magic Potions... and clothes, hats... opal... eggshells... rusted iron swords...
Kael walked through these alleys made of trash... or perhaps treasures, and quickly found a troll specimen.
The troll, standing over a dozen feet tall, was quite conspicuous even amidst these treasure piles.
"It should be around here," Kael looked around and followed a path in front of the troll, eventually stopping before a pile of hideous statues.
These statues were all of the same style, each uglier than the other. Compared to them, Old Tom from the Leaky Cauldron could be considered handsome.
Among the statues resembling House-elves, one stood out. Though it wasn't the ugliest, it had a color-rusted diadem hanging askew on its head.
Ravenclaw's Diadem.
Kael took a deep breath.
He had been here once in his first year, but back then, he merely glanced from afar and left without approaching.
In Kael's original plan, he thought as long as he found an excuse to hand it over to Dumbledore when he started looking for Voldemort's Horcruxes, it would be fine.
It wasn't until June that he suddenly changed his mind.
It was mainly due to Rowena Ravenclaw.
In the Chamber of Secret, this founder was the most reticent among the four. Generally, the other three would speak while she just watched from the side.
One exception was when she advised him to practice Occlumency more and finally mentioned the diadem.
If Kael remembered correctly, her exact words were, he wouldn't truly master Occlumency until he wore the diadem without being affected.
The words didn't seem odd at the time.
After all, strictly speaking, enhancing wisdom also counts as a form of magical incursion, naturally falling under Occlumency's domain.
But a few days ago, upon seeing the Sorting Hat in the Headmaster's Office, Kael suddenly felt something was off.
A sword was so well protected; then if it were an intelligence-enhancing diadem...
Setting aside all other factors, even if the diadem hadn't been stolen by Helena, nor turned into a Horcrux, but remained in the school... such an important item, is it something a student could just decide to use?
Moreover, if, as Ravenclaw said, the diadem was needed to practice Occlumency, it wouldn't just be used once or twice; it would require frequent use.
This simply wasn't possible.
Handing over Ravenclaw's Diadem for a student to practice Occlumency?
Unless Rowena Ravenclaw herself came in person, likely no headmaster would agree to such an outrageous request.
Dumbledore might, but only him...
No way Ravenclaw foresaw the character of the Hogwarts Headmaster a thousand years later, right?
Additionally, there are many methods to practice and test Occlumency: Legilimency... Confundus Charm... even finding a Veela would do, so why insist on a diadem; is this standard not too high?
It's like someone asking you to practice boxing, yet pointing directly to a ten-centimeter steel plate, saying when you punch through it, you'll succeed...
There's no problem with that, but is it truly necessary?
With Rowena Ravenclaw's wisdom, she would surely have considered all this, yet she still said it.
Could there be a different meaning...
After hesitating for a few days, Kael decided to come over regardless of whether he overthought it, at least to first take the diadem.
With his current Occlumency, he should withstand the influence of the Horcrux.
Perhaps...
Kael put on the Anti-Curse Gloves and carefully picked up the diadem.
There was no curse, no trace of any spiritual magic; its transformation into a Horcrux had dulled its former luster, leaving it rusted and dim.
If placed in a second-hand shop in Diagon Alley, likely it wouldn't sell for a single Sickle.
But on closer inspection, Kael could barely make out the tiny engraved words: "Wit beyond measure is man's greatest treasure."
Kael removed the Anti-Curse Gloves and held it directly in his hand, still with no reaction.
It seemed that though both were Horcruxes, the diadem and the diary had some differences, at least it wasn't as active.
Kael took out a pre-prepared box and placed the diadem inside.
This box was a gift from Nicolas Flamel. Last year it held the diary, this year the diadem, a fitting transition.
...