Harry looked at the statue, rifling through his memory.
Hogwarts had always been Hogwarts—but it was over a thousand years old.
The castle's main structure had never changed, but inside and out, it had been renovated countless times.
This statue of a wizard had once been a headmaster of Hogwarts—a member of the Gaunt family. He was briefly mentioned in Hogwarts: A History, and not in a favorable light. Much like the infamous member of the Black family, this headmaster had been a staunch pure-blood supremacist. He'd made life extremely difficult for Muggle-borns and even half-bloods, almost managing to dismantle Hufflepuff House altogether. The only reason he wasn't remembered as the most hated headmaster was because of how long ago he lived.
He'd lived over 700 years ago.
At the time, magical portraiture didn't exist, and he hadn't been a particularly powerful wizard—not on par with Godric Gryffindor or Dumbledore. He never left a portrait of himself, but believed he was so great that he deserved a statue at Hogwarts. So, one was placed just outside the courtyard.
It didn't last.
Just three headmasters after him—a Hufflepuff—tore the statue down almost immediately upon taking office.
When the Gaunt family later proposed restoring the statue during a castle plumbing renovation, almost no one supported it—not even other pure-blood families.
So this was where it ended up.
Harry approached cautiously and drew his wand, giving it a flick.
Nearby items flew around him, orbiting his head like planetary rings.
There was no sign of the Ravenclaw Diadem.
Suddenly, a cabinet sprang open, and a hidden enchantment was triggered.
With a hiss—
A ghostly green serpent sprang from behind Harry.
"Serpent emerges from cave!"
Its mouth unhinged, revealing rows of tiny, needle-like fangs.
A stream of green venom shot toward Harry.
But it was useless.
Harry only shifted slightly.
CLANG! The venom splashed against the protective Shield Charm. A beat later, the serpent hit the shield too—its body dissolved instantly into black mist.
Harry flicked his wand.
The cabinet was summoned toward him. Its enchantments were ancient—at least fifty or sixty years old. A relic from a time when Slytherins "pranked" other students?
Gone.
With a Vanishing Spell, Harry reduced it to nothingness.
He waved his wand again, returning everything else to its original place, then turned to inspect the statue.
In an age before hair-growth potions, this Gaunt headmaster embodied the most "British" kind of baldness. Even artistically rendered, he didn't have much hair.
Harry examined the statue closely.
There was nothing special about it, except for a minor charm—if you bowed to it, it would respond, though now worn with time, it could only twitch its head slightly.
It seemed Crouch hadn't lied to Snape.
There were indeed signs the Diadem had once been kept here. On the statue's head, a faint ring of discolored dust marked the long-term presence of an object pressing down on it.
But now…
It was gone.
Harry finished inspecting and turned back, frowning slightly.
This vast Room of Requirement still reeked only of rot and decay—no trace of Dumbledore.
So much time had passed, and he still hadn't arrived?
Or maybe…
A guess surfaced in Harry's mind.
He walked to the exit and opened the door. Outside stood Dumbledore and Snape.
"You couldn't come in?" Harry asked.
Dumbledore nodded.
Snape exhaled sharply. "Potter, this isn't funny. No one can—"
"I'm a Gryffindor, not Fred or George," Harry interrupted. "Professor, what were you thinking just now outside the door?"
Dumbledore replied, "The room Harry Potter just entered."
"A hidden chamber on the eighth floor."
"The one with the Ravenclaw Diadem," Snape added, nodding.
Harry pondered aloud, "I have a theory. I'll open the Room of Requirement again, thinking 'I need a room to practice swordsmanship.' You two try thinking different thoughts and see if the room reopens for you."
"I want to test something."
With that, he paced three times past the wall. The door reappeared.
Harry opened it and stepped in.
This time, the room looked entirely different.
It resembled a training room—linen floors, racks of swords of all kinds: single-hand, two-hand, épées...
Several wooden dummies stood by the wall.
There were signs of old use—someone had trained here before.
Harry waited inside for a few minutes.
The door opened.
Dumbledore and Snape entered.
"So this is the Room of Requirement?" Dumbledore gazed up thoughtfully at the ceiling.
Harry nodded. "It seems Crouch's accomplice really has left Hogwarts."
Snape said nothing. Dumbledore looked to him.
Harry concluded, "That little test confirmed it—if the Room of Requirement is in use, it won't open again unless someone has the same specific need."
"In other words, no one was using it before we arrived."
Dumbledore nodded, smiling. "Maybe Sybill can finally find her hidden stash of sherry."
"Now we need to test another idea," Harry said, leading them back into the hallway.
He took a deep breath, holding only the thought: I need a secret passage out of Hogwarts, and walked past the wall three times.
A door appeared again.
Harry opened it. The three of them stepped in together.
This time, the space was narrow—just wide enough for two people. A corridor stretched far beyond what they could see. Harry led the way, casting every protective charm he knew, and enveloping himself in Protego Maxima.
At least they didn't need to worry about light. Lanterns were mounted along the tunnel walls.
After about half an hour of walking, they reached the end.
Harry estimated this tunnel to be about as long as the one to Honeydukes. He reached out and pushed something aside. Dim light streamed in.
With a wave of his wand, Harry conjured a rabbit, which hopped out, sniffed around, and returned safely.
He stepped through.
Snape and Dumbledore followed close behind.
The air smelled… unpleasant.
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Powerstones?
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