Tortured :||: Loved Series #5

10) The Place Where Everything Is Hidden

"We were thinking, actually it was Ron's idea, it's completely brilliant–"

"Hermione!" I snapped.

"Anyway, Harry destroyed Tom Riddle's diary with a Basilisk fang, right? We think we might know where we can find one and we can use to destroy the other Horcruxes."

I nodded with a grin. "Good thinking, you have the Marauders Map? Use it to find us when you get back."

"Where are you going!" Hermione shouted after us as we continued running up the stairs.

"Ravenclaw Common room, we've got to start somewhere," Harry called over his shoulder, the both of us taking two steps at a time.

We reached the switching staircases when I paused, Harry skidding to a stop as well. "Lily? What is it?"

"Cho said, 'There isn't a person alive today who's seen it.' It's obvious, isn't it? We need to talk to someone who's dead, a ghost, here in the castle."

"Okay but who?"

"I know someone." We jumped around in shock at Luna's determined voice, a tone I've never heard her use before. "Follow me."

She lead us up the stairs, to the top floor of the castle, past the common room, to deserted hallways that looked like they hadn't been used in centuries. "You'll find her in there, be careful, she doesn't really like visitors."

We both nodded to her and stepped through the door, walking down a dark corridor, the battlefield of the castle's surrounding open for viewing. The people fighting all had their wands raised, using their magic to collectively create a shield around the school to try and keep out Riddle for as long as they could.

A ghostly woman floated in the air before us as we entered a courtyard, turning to us with a cold expression. "You're the Grey Lady, the ghost of Ravenclaw Tour."

"I do not answer to that name." She disappeared for a moment, scaring me slightly before reappearing across the small courtyard.

"No, I'm sorry, I'm sorry. It's Helena, isn't it? Helena Ravenclaw, Rowena Ravenclaw's daughter."

I scoffed, rolling my eyes. "Ignore my brother, his manners seemed to have slipped his mind. We're friends of Luna's, she thought you might be able to help us."

"You seek my mother's diadem?"

I nodded carefully. "That's right."

There was a pause before she replied. "Luna is kind, but she was wrong, I cannot help you."

There she goes, disappearing again, this time reappearing in one of the arched windows looking out over the moment the Death Eaters attacked, their spells flying towards the shield. "Wait!" I called in desperation. "We want to destroy it."

She went rigid, her back facing us. "That's what you want too, isn't it, Helena?" Harry slowly walked forward.

"A strange boy with a strange name swore to destroy it many years ago, but I was naive and he was so charming."

"Tom Riddle," Harry answered. "What did he do with it?"

"He defiled it with dark magic."

"We can destroy it, once-and-for-all, only if you tell us where he hid it, Helena."

She bowed her head, looking fearfully at the floor. "It's here in the castle, in the place where everything is hidden. If you have to ask, you will never know. If you know, you need only ask."

After reciting her riddle she disappeared but this time there was no sign of her returning. I turned to Harry. "Any ideas?" He just shrugged.

Luna had disappeared but we didn't stop as we ran down corridors and staircases. "Lil, what do we do now? What did she mean–?"