Chapter 54. Room of Requirement. Part 2. Diadem
Grabbing the first book within reach, Severus quickly flipped through it and, after a few seconds, put it back. Then, scanning the nearest shelves, he gave a grim nod.
"Ah. First impressions can be deceiving."
"Severus. Do not abandon me," Nagini intoned tragically, pressing her tail to her forehead, but she was a terrible actress, so instead of applause and ovations, she earned a flick on the head.
"Stop fooling around." He walked a little deeper, nodding to himself again. "Still, there are some quite interesting specimens here, but about sixty percent, judging by the first ten shelves, are just copies of things that are already available. Even so, there are far too many books here. And though I meant to put off making this thing until later, it looks like I will have to deal with it this weekend."
"What thing?"
"A grimoire."
"What is that?"
Severus looked at her with genuine surprise. Then, remembering the curse, he gave a crooked smile and shook his head.
"A grimoire is a book where wizards store all their spells and knowledge. There are two categories: ordinary and magical." Heading toward the exit, he studied the room with interest. "I definitely won't be able to create a magical one, though. Not in this world, at least. But an ordinary one isn't such a big problem. It has only one property: storing knowledge."
"And a magical one? What properties does it have?" Nagini asked curiously.
"You can store magical formulas in it and use it as a wand, but most interestingly, spells cast through it are twice as strong and require no incantation, not even mentally. That's in addition to the basic storage function of the ordinary one."
"I see. So you're going to create a magical one in the future?"
Severus couldn't help but feel a surge of tenderness at his companion's naivety.
"It's impossible. The materials required have long since vanished from this world. Right now, I can only create an ordinary one, and even then I'll have to spend a pretty penny. It won't cost thousands, but tens of thousands of galleons, and the materials themselves will be hard to find, though we've already obtained one for the cover." But a grimoire is no simple thing. To make it work, I'll need a small piece of soul, and I don't want to tear a piece from myself.
Leaving the room, Severus watched with interest as it disappeared. Then he thought about books again without any particular subject in mind, and walked past the blank wall three times. The door appeared again.
Inside, the room hadn't changed, except that the shelves were three floors higher and the room had tripled in size.
But he didn't stop there. Leaving again, he repeated the same maneuvers, only this time thinking about artifacts. As soon as he opened the door, he was greeted by a completely different sight.
It was a colossal room with hills of assorted junk. Among the trash, one could make out artifacts, kitchen utensils, furniture, toys, clothes, and even silver and gold trinkets. It looked more like some kind of dump where all the junk accumulated since the school's founding had been collected.
Still, after a quick look, Severus noted several interesting artifacts, and some of the furniture looked brand new, as if it could be put up for sale immediately. But after a moment's thought, he rejected the idea of taking everything from this room right now. Closer to the end of the term, though, that could easily be arranged. After all, he had no doubt that digging around here would turn up many interesting things, but he decided to leave it for Monday, since tomorrow he had to return to Diagon Alley. Besides searching for items needed for the grimoire, he also needed to pick out a costume for Sunday.
"All right, it's getting late. Tomorrow morning we still need to return to Diagon Alley." Yawning wearily, Severus headed toward the exit, already dispelling the perception-enhancing spell, but at the last moment, he froze, hearing a strange hiss. Mildly surprised, he stared at one of the piles of junk. Interesting. It was as if it were calling to me. "Nagini, do you feel this?"
"What exactly?"
"As if someone is calling you." Turning, he walked forward, weakening his mental protections slightly to better sense where the voice was coming from. The closer he approached, the clearer it became.
A minute later, after passing a gilded statue pointing the opposite way, Severus finally stopped.
"I hear hissing," Nagini whispered, a flicker of alarm rising in her. "And words. 'Come. Come to me.'" Looking toward the table where, beside a globe-like object, lay a box topped with a dirty rope, she pointed at it with her tail. "From there."
"I think so too."
Approaching the table, Severus removed the rope and examined the box with interest.
"Maybe we shouldn't open it? I feel uneasy."
"Scared?" He gave her a wink and a smile, then poked her forehead, and the strange muttering instantly ceased. "Better?" She nodded in relief.
Lowering his gaze to the box, Severus already had a sense of what lay inside, and when he opened it, a faint look of surprise crossed his face.
It was a simple-looking silver diadem decorated with diamonds, but what surprised him was its resemblance to the long-lost diadem of Rowena Ravenclaw, founder of Ravenclaw House.
Taking it, he turned it slightly in his hand, gave a crooked smile, and shook his head with a sad sigh.
"Judging by the ruined runic weave, this artifact was once a remarkable piece, but after it fell into clumsy hands, it lost its power completely. If only I could find that bastard and break his arms."
"It's hard to be surprised by something like that. Was it really so special?" Nagini asked with interest, puzzled by Severus's reaction.
"Besides being a thousand years old and having once belonged to one of the founders of Hogwarts, this artifact held a rare property: it affected a wizard's mind. Of course, the diadem did not make one a genius, but it removed all limitations, helping you absorb any material much faster and keep a cool head with emotions fully under control in any situation. Such was the description in a book written by Rowena herself, and after a superficial examination, I can say for certain that she did not lie."
And even in my world, there were very few such things. Still, this Rowena rightfully earned her reputation as the smartest woman of her generation by possessing such an artifact. It was a pity that such a thing could no longer be restored. But there were advantages to that, and I'm all for messing with that noseless bastard with his crooked hands. Then he took out his watch and, right before Nagini's shocked eyes, began to burn the diadem.
"Severus! Why are you doing this?! What if it can still be restored?!"
"It's impossible. He damaged it too badly."
"Aaaaah! Stooooop!" The shadow screeched furiously, bursting from the diadem and trying to break through Severus's mental defenses, but before it was even halfway out, the watch snapped open sharply and began to pull the shadow in with tremendous force. "Nooooo!"
All this was accompanied by orange and silver light, along with an unpleasant screech, until finally, after a few seconds, the light dimmed and silence returned.
"A Dark Lord, supposedly, and he shrieks like a woman." Severus grimaced, picking at his left ear as he put the watch back in his money pouch.
"Dark Lord?"
"I didn't tell you. That imbecile tore his soul into pieces, hoping to become immortal, or so I understand. In short, he's not worth mentioning. He's just a laughingstock. He's lost his mind, and he can no longer develop his magic. But he gained pseudo-immortality for a few thousand years, until his soul slowly dissipates and he finally dies." Opening his hand, Severus blew away the ash on his palm and headed for the exit. "Peter?"
"Master, there is no one outside. The Headmaster is in his office."
"Understood. As always, thank you."
"So even if he dies, he can be resurrected using any piece of his soul?" Nagini hissed in disbelief.
Hm. Certain conditions are needed for that. One can use a resurrection ritual, employ that same Philosopher's Stone I recently told you about, as its properties are uniquely suited to this purpose, or use the simplest method: attempt to possess someone's body, which is what this soul fragment intended to do. And if my mental defenses were weak, it wouldn't be me standing before you now, but a real Dark Lord. I've just told you the best-known methods. In reality, there are far more.
It's still terrifying to think that such a wizard could be resurrected even after death.
Sensing a hint of panic from his companion, Severus couldn't suppress a crooked smirk.
"You know, I've told you many times that if I wanted to, I could easily kill him ten times over, so there's nothing to fear. You should believe in me by now," Severus said irritably, poking her forehead.
"I'm not afraid of him. I'm afraid for you."
"Afraid I'll get hurt, or something like that?" Nagini nodded sadly in response.
Sighing wearily, he left the room. After a few seconds, the door disappeared, leaving only a bare wall.
You think too much, but so be it. If I do not encounter him in the future, I will not engage in a pointless fight. Deal?
"Promise?"
"Nagini, you are like a child."
"Promise?" But seeing her serious snout right in front of his face, he almost tripped on flat ground.
"All right, I promise." Of course, he did not decide to visit him himself when he learned that his potion recipes had fallen into the Ministry's hands. But Severus decided to keep his thoughts to himself, sensing that Nagini no longer seemed anxious. "Eh. This calmness is getting to me, and that is not good, but still it is quite pleasant."
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