"Quick question, Sean," Justin asked, pulling himself together before the statue moved. "What did Voldemort choose to turn into a Horcrux?"
"Ravenclaw's diadem," Sean replied after a brief pause.
"Ravenclaw's diadem?!" Justin blurted out.
There were countless stories about it at Hogwarts. Just like most students knew Slytherin was a Parselmouth, most of them also knew Ravenclaw left behind a magically forged diadem. People said it could boost a witch or wizard's intelligence—Fred and George Weasley had even sold fake "Ravenclaw diadems" before. If they'd at least stopped passing off glass beads as rubies, they might've gotten three silver Sickles for them.
"Yeah." Sean didn't react to Justin's shock. He leveled his wand and ordered the stone statue that nearly reached the ceiling to move—fast.
At the same time, his skill with Transfiguration ticked up by three points.
"Sean—this is Ravenclaw's diadem," Justin said, after a moment of silence, still trying to fight for a different outcome. "There has to be a way to remove whatever's on it without destroying it—"
Even though Sean was treating the diadem like it was no more important than a piece of toffee you'd see in the Great Hall, Justin knew better than anyone how much Sean valued knowledge and wisdom. And now that he understood Voldemort could come back, he wanted even less to destroy something that powerful and potentially useful.
"Maybe," Sean said. "Or maybe it's just a legend."
Sean's eyes flickered.
The statue paused for only an instant, then stomped forward—thud, thud, thud—until it stood right in front of the diadem.
"Kid—brave kid! Stay away from it!"
A familiar voice echoed through the Room of Requirement.
It was Mr. Owl, and his gold-rimmed glasses had fallen onto the floor.
The statue, Sean, and Justin all turned at the exact same time and stared.
"What are you staring at? Idiot kid! Reckless kid! Always hanging around junk rooms—plus there's that—"
Mr. Owl kept flapping, still worked up. Even though he'd "lost his glasses," his talons never loosened their grip on the roll of parchment.
"Mr. Owl!" Justin said, genuinely excited. This was the first time he'd seen the owl portrait outside the little "Hope Chamber."
"Loyal, dim-witted kid!" Mr. Owl snapped.
"As a wise scholar who's been around for centuries," Justin said carefully, not even bothering to argue, "you must know about Ravenclaw's diadem. When you said 'plus there's that—' what did you mean?"
"That's a secret!"
Flattery clearly did nothing for Mr. Owl.
"Okay," Justin said, deflating. "Then you probably don't know how Ravenclaw's diadem was turned into a Horcrux either—"
"Head stuck in the dirt, kid—what do you mean I don't know?" Mr. Owl fired back. "Go find Grey—go find Helena—always trying to be clever, kid…"
Then, as if he'd realized he'd said too much, his voice dropped. "Tragedy can teach a wizard a lot."
Justin's eyes lit up. Before he could even say thank you, Mr. Owl disappeared.
At the same moment, a white owl by the window suddenly took off and flew away.
"Grey—Grey—he means the Grey Lady," Justin said quickly. "Sean, if we can figure out how Voldemort made Horcruxes, maybe we can find a way to lift the curse instead of destroying the diadem. There's still a chance."
Sean glanced at the diadem, raised his wand, and the stone guardian instantly flowed into the wooden cabinet, transforming into a solid stone box that sealed the diadem inside.
Only after that did he seem a little more at ease.
"If we can't solve it today," Sean said, "then we—"
"Destroy the diadem immediately," Justin finished in a low voice.
When they left the Room of Requirement, they ran into Hermione at the door—she looked panicked.
So as they headed toward Ravenclaw Tower, Justin kept his voice low and patiently explained what a Horcrux was.
"So… he can come back to life?" Hermione asked, her face going pale.
"Nothing to panic about, Hermione," Justin said firmly. "He wants to kill all Muggle-borns, but what he doesn't realize is that Muggle-born witches and wizards are the best this era has to offer. We'll stick together, we'll follow the best witch or wizard among us, and we'll fight him to the end."
Hermione didn't answer right away. She hadn't fully processed something that terrifying.
In the corridor, a low rumble of noise rose up—like distant thunder—announcing that people had returned from Hogsmeade.
From both ends of the hallway came the sound of feet climbing stairs and the loud, happy chatter of people who'd eaten well. Students poured in from both sides, shoving and squeezing into the passage.
Sean and the others stood in the shadows, dusk stretching their silhouettes long across the stone.
"You're right," Hermione said suddenly, her voice shaking. "We have to fight him to the end."
"You know, Hermione," Justin said, staring out at the noisy crowd, "if my mom were here, she'd say—"
He looked into the distance. Hagrid was coming back from the Quidditch pitch, and between the tall goalposts, players cut through the air at high speed.
"'Dear Granger, I want you to see what real courage looks like. Courage isn't a person holding a gun in their hand. Courage is when you know you're beaten before you even start, but you do it anyway—and you stick with it no matter what.'"
His eyes burned with conviction—nothing like the calm green eyes beside him.
There was a storm in his pupils.
Outside the castle, snow was falling.
Heavy snow, drifting like feathers, settled onto the spires.
Inside, by the torchlight, three young witches and wizards hurried past like they owned the hallway.
On the way, they passed plenty of ghosts:
The ghost near Gryffindor Tower. A ghost weighed down with worries. Nearly Headless Nick stared gloomily out the window, muttering under his breath, "—didn't meet their standards—just half an inch—if only that—"
And a Hufflepuff ghost—the plump little Friar—tried to comfort him: "Really, they ought to give you another chance."
Finally, right when the three of them were silently hoping for it, Ravenclaw's ghost appeared.
She was a tall young woman with long, flowing hair.
She was translucent, silvery-white—beautiful, but with a hint of pride and a deep, aching sadness.
"That's her—the Grey Lady," Hermione whispered.
"Grey… probably isn't her real name," Justin said under his breath, then looked at Sean.
Sean gave a small nod.
For a long time, most Hogwarts students thought it was her last name. But it was probably just a nickname that stuck—she was simply called the Grey Lady.
…
Note: In the Harry Potter setting, a Horcrux is a dark magical object used to anchor part of a person's soul to evade death.[1]