Chapter 25
The Second Diary of Rowena Ravenclaw
The next morning Harry and Ron made their way down to breakfast, Ron half-heartedly muttering an apology to Dean as they left (it had taken nearly all night to reverse the hex he had put on him). The after effects of the Halloween Ball could be seen on almost the entire school, as most of the students trudged groggily to their house tables looking like they could have used a few more hours of sleep.
Hermione was already sitting down and had started on breakfast when they arrived. Harry took the seat across from her. Ron was about to sit down next to Harry when he paused, looked at the open seat next to Hermione, then back at the seat next to Harry, hesitated as if caught up in some sort of inward struggle, then took the seat next to Hermione.
“Good morning Harry. Hi Ron,” she greeted them. Harry caught the small, self-conscious smile that passed between the two.
“Morning.”
“Hi,” said Ron. “Er…did you sleep all right?”
“Yes. Yes, I did. How about you?”
“Fine. Yeah, no problems at all.”
Feeling embarrassed for them, Harry looked down the table to see who else was around. Seamus and Lavender were sitting close by, chatting with Neville. Next to them Parvati Patil sat talking with her twin sister Padma (who Harry was pretty sure he and Ginny had bowled over in their haste to get out of the Ravenclaw common room the previous night.) Further down the table Ginny sat chatting with some of her fifth-year friends. She looked up suddenly and they made eye contact, then excused herself from her friends and slid into the empty seat next to Harry.
“So?” she said in an eager whisper. “What’s in it?”
She meant the diary. He hadn’t had time to read it yet”after Ron’s assault at Dean had been sorted out he had gone straight to bed. Luckily it was the weekend and he had most of today free.
“Dunno. I haven’t had a chance to read it yet. Thought I’d do it today, as soon as breakfast is over.”
Harry paused for a moment. He had been thinking -- It seemed kind of selfish that he alone would get to read the diary, hadn’t Ginny done just as much as he had to find it? Wasn’t it fair that she read it too? He took a quick glance at Ron and Hermione. Seeing that they were still occupied with their inane conversation, he leaned towards Ginny and whispered.
“Do you want to read it too?”
Ginny furrowed her brow as if surprised. “What?” she whispered back.
“Well you helped me find it, didn’t you? It only seems fair that you should read it too.”
She cast her eyes downward and shook her head, a strand of scarlet hair falling over her freckled face. Harry thought her countenance darkened slightly. “No, I’ve had enough of magical diaries. You can just tell me what’s in it once you’ve read it.” At first Harry was confused by the comment, but then he understood. Tom Riddle’s diary. Ginny had had quite an adventure with it her first year. He’d probably feel the same way if it were him.
Ginny looked back up, forcing a smile. “Don’t let Hermione hear you offering to let people read it though. She’d do her nut if she thought there was a chance she could read that book.”
Harry cast a sideways glance at Ron and Hermione. “Well, actually…”
“You haven’t told them about it yet?”
Hermione looked up.
“Told us about what?” she asked. Ron looked curiously at them.
Harry looked around to make sure no one was eavesdropping. The Great Hall wasn’t the best place to have a confidential conversation.
“I”well, we” he said, nodding at Ginny, “found Rowena Ravenclaw’s second diary last night.”
Hermione gasped. Ron looked amazed.
“Really, where was it? Was it in that blue room you were talking about? What did it say?” Hermione rattled off, all in the same amount of time it took Ron to say a prolonged, “Bli”mey.”
“But where was it?”
Harry was about to tell them all about their adventure in Ravenclaw common room, then hesitated. Breaking into another house’s common room was a pretty serious offense. Sure, Hermione had broken plenty of rules with them before, but it wasn’t always easy to judge when she would rule breaking acceptable or not. While trying to decide if this was one of those times, Ginny suddenly chimed in.
“In the library. There’s a hidden room off past the restricted section. We had to take the invisibility cloak to get there,” she answered without skipping a beat. Hermione and Ron bought it instantly.
“Incredible,” Hermione said in awe. “It was right there, under our noses the whole time.”
Harry cast a sideways glance at Ginny, impressed by how quickly and convincingly she could lie when she needed to. Ginny gave a sly, half-smile back.
“So how’d’you get it? What happened?” Ron asked interestedly.
Leaning forward so no one else could hear, Harry gave Ron and Hermione an abbreviated version of everything that had happened that night, substituting the Ravenclaw common room for the library.
“So I haven’t had a chance to read it yet, it’s in my trunk. I reckon I’ll get to it later today.”
Hermione’s expression immediately changed from awe to indignation. “You mean you took it out of the library?” she hissed. “Harry, that book is 1000 years old! Do you know how valuable it is? And you just threw it in your trunk like it was some muggle comic book?”
Harry was startled. He hadn’t expected this reaction. To tell the truth, he hadn’t even considered whether it was right to take the diary or not. Suddenly he began to feel worried. This time it was Ron who jumped to the rescue.
“Hermione, relax. No one else even knows that the book exists. It’s not like Madame Pince is going to miss it.”
“Yeah, settle down. It’s not like Harry’s going to keep it. Right Harry?” added Ginny, looking at him.
Harry looked back at her. Actually, he was kind of hoping he could keep the book. After all, he had found it, hadn’t he? Like Ron said, it wasn’t like anyone else was going to miss it. It would make a nice little souvenir…
“Er…of course not.”
Hermione still didn’t look entirely convinced. Suddenly Ginny broke in.
“Look Hermione, how was Harry supposed to read it without taking it? This is important. If we find out what happened to Wulfric Gryffindor we will be able to defeat Voldemort. Besides, we wanted you to look at it too.”
Hermione brightened instantly.
“Well, I, er, suppose it would be ok. I mean, we need to be able to study it at leisure don’t we? But not just because I want to read it!” she interjected harshly. “But because I think it’s important for the war that we understand it thoroughly.”
Ginny rolled her eyes and shook her head. Ron looked at her in amusement.
“You’re a horrible liar Hermione,” he said with a grin.
The rest of breakfast passed uneventfully, with the exception of Professor Grendelhall putting a Ravenclaw seventh year in detention for “improper horsing around”. Normally they wouldn’t have given it much thought except that the “horsing around” consisted of the boy doing no more than dropping his fork as Professor Grendelhall walked past.
“That one’s detention happy, she is,” Ron said as they exited the Great Hall. “She put three different Slytherins in detention just last week. Got that Hufflepuff bloke Kearney in the halls yesterday for ‘disrespecting school property’. All he did was hang his bag off of Wahilda the Warty’s arm while he did up his trainers.”
Now that Ron mentioned it, Professor Grendelhall did seem rather prone to handing out detentions. The Slytherins in their Defense Against the Dark Arts class had each been sent to detention at least once. Nott had been twice. Strangely enough she seemed to give it to Slytherins the most. Occasionally a Ravenclaw or Hufflepuff would get one, but never a Gryffindor.
“D’you guys reckon Professor Grendelhall was a Gryffindor?” Harry asked as they made their way up the staircase.
“Possibly. Why?” Hermione asked.
“Well, she seems to favor us, doesn’t she? I mean, I don’t think I’ve ever seen her give a Gryffindor a detention. Seems to have it in for the Slytherins though.”
Hermione was about to answer when Ron interrupted.
“About time, I say. All those years of putting up with Snape’s favoritism and not getting a bit of our own from McGonagall. Finally someone’s looking out for us.”
“It’s not funny Ron,” Hermione quipped. “Teachers should be objective and not play favorites for anyone.”
Ron opened his mouth to argue, paused suddenly, then closed his mouth and said nothing.
***
After breakfast Harry rushed up to the dormitory, fished through his trunk, found the diary, slipped it into his robes and went to the Gryffindor common room where Hermione, Ron, and Ginny were waiting. Now that he thought about it, it really was a good idea to have Hermione read the diary too”she did have a knack for finding clues and details. She also knew more about Hogwarts history than the rest of them combined.
They decided to go to a small hidden room on the second floor that Harry had seen on the Marauder’s Map for the reading. The Room of Requirement was no longer safe, as so many of the students knew about it by now. The plan was to have Ginny and Ron stand guard while Harry and Hermione read the book. Harry wasn’t sure if two people could read it at once, but thought it was worth a try.
Sitting side by side with Hermione at an old desk they had found in the room, Harry pulled open the cover. Hermione’s face was aglow with excitement as he slowly turned the pages, coming to a stop at the beginning.
The spidery, black writing was the same as the first diary. “It’s kind of tough to read, but if you just wait it will start to read on its own,” Harry advised Hermione.
“I’m fine,” she replied impatiently, “I’ve read texts like this before.” Her eyes were flitting from side to side in a matter of seconds. Surprised, Harry looked back at the book and waited for the words to start moving like they had the last time. He waited. Nothing seemed to be happening. He looked over at Hermione and was surprised to see her eyes had stopped moving but had a faraway look in them. Her mouth was slightly open. He looked back at the book. Nothing seemed to be happening. Maybe he had to start reading it for the magic to kick in.
Taking a deep breath, he went to the beginning of the entry and began the laborious reading.
“1014. Ho…Hogwart’s School…of…Witch…craft…and…Wizardry. Ow…our..s..school has fl..flour..flourished and…we…find ow..ourselves…en, encumbered…with the task of…management.”
The words began to move on their own accord. Soon Harry was hearing the strange voice in his head, reading them out loud.
“Having had more experience in charms than the other founders, I had been assigned to teach the advanced charms class…”
Slowly the room around him began to fade. The table the diary was resting on disappeared and a stone floor appeared. Ron and Ginny, who had been talking by the doorway, were replaced by a bookcase. Soon the entire room disappeared altogether, and Harry found himself in a large, rectangular classroom filled with students. For a split second he thought he was in a DA meeting: a long classroom, students divided into pairs, wands out, all looking up at him. Except these students seemed to be frightened, as if something alarming had just happened.
“Abernathy, I will not ask you again. Your constant interruptions have become quite tedious. If it does not stop I will ask you to remove yourself from my classroom,” said a cool, even voice that Harry recognized immediately as Rowena Ravenclaw’s. There was a definite edge to it that he hadn’t heard before. Looking out at the assembled students Harry noted a short, stocky boy towards the back who blushed and hung his head in shame. The rest of the students watched him anxiously.
“Sorry Mistress,” the boy named Abernathy said.
“Do not let it happen again,” replied the cool, steely voice. “Now, let us resume our practicing. Be advised that the precise intonation and wand movement are necessary in order for it to work properly. You may begin.”
Ravenclaw then walked around the classroom inspecting the students’ wandwork, giving Harry the opportunity to get a closer look at them. It was a vastly different group than you would find in a modern day Hogwarts class. All different age groups combined; some of the students were younger than first years, a few of them were much older, possibly even Tonks’s or Bill Weasley’s age. Apparently there were no official school uniforms yet -- some students wore fancy robes of varying color and style, others nothing more than common farming garments.
After circling the room twice Ravenclaw called for an end to the practicing. The class put their wands down and listened attentively. She gave a few more pieces of instruction then dismissed the class. Harry watched the students file out, noticing Abernathy bragging noisily to a pair of fellow students, all previous embarrassment forgotten. Ravenclaw followed the students out of the classroom and into the hallway, giving Harry his first view of what the halls of Hogwarts looked like 1000 years before.
At first it was barely recognizable. The stones that made up the walls and floor were newer and less worn. The walls had only a few paintings and tapestries hanging on them, another huge contrast with the modern day Hogwarts whose walls were covered with them. At first he couldn’t recognize where they were, until they passed a large open room that Harry recognized as the Great Hall. Apparently they hadn’t enchanted the ceiling to match the outside weather yet. The castle also seemed a bit smaller than Harry was used to.
Ravenclaw glided through the corridors, nodding to an occasional student but for the most part looking straight ahead as though she were lost in thought. The corridors were filled with students, though there weren’t nearly as many as he was used to. Harry saw that the range of ages in the school followed that in Ravenclaw’s classroom, as several older students who looked like they were nearly adults passed by him. Most of the students halted in their happy conversations when they saw Ravenclaw walk by and gave slight bows or curtseys.
Along the way, right around where the entry hall would have been, Harry was joined by Godric Gryffindor. His hair had a little more grey and a few more wrinkles had stretched across his noble brow, but for the most part Gryffindor looked as energetic and healthy as ever.
“Hello Rowena,” he said with warmness though he seemed a little exhausted.
“Greetings, Godric,” she replied as Gryffindor fell into place alongside them. Ravenclaw sounded a bit exhausted herself.
“Eventful day of instruction for you?”
“Fairly. The Advanced Transfiguration class has made some definite progress, as has Elementary Intonation and Wandwork. Unfortunately, however, the same can’t be said for Beginning Charms. You?”
“Hectic day. Drivelsworth accidentally gave poor Genieve McCullough a set of fully grown tusks in Alchemy this morning. The scoundrel. Took me nearly half an hour to track Helga down so she could reverse it,” said Gryffindor with a small chuckle as they approached a sturdy wooden door. Godric pushed it open, revealing a spiral stone staircase.
“Well, let us see how our esteemed colleagues have fared. After you.”
“Thank you, Godric.”
They walked up the staircase and into a large circular room. It occurred to Harry that they had just entered Dumbledore’s office. It seemed much bigger, most likely due to the absence of all the tables with the small silver instruments on them. The walls were also bear, as there hadn’t been any portraits of past headmaster’s to hang up yet. The only furnishings in the room were a few bookcases, a chair or two, and a round, wooden table in the center of the room. Around the table were four large, sturdy chairs, one of which was occupied by Helga Hufflepuff.
“Hello Rowena, Godric. The end of another day,” she said cheerfully, raising a glass filled with some sort of liquid in their direction.
“Ah, Helga. I was just telling Rowena about the exploits of young Drivelsworth. I trust you were able to restore everything to its proper order?” said Gryffindor as he sat down next to her.
“Ms. McCullough is right as rain, Godric. Was able to remove the tusks and get her back on her feet in a matter of minutes.”
“Excellent! I suppose she was mightily embarrassed, which explains why she never returned to class afterwards. You know, I think Drivelsworth is quite taken with her. Some lads just don’t know how to show it, you know,” he chuckled as he tapped his wand on the table, causing a stein filled with amber liquid to appear on the table.
“You know, perhaps it is time you learned a bit of the healing arts yourself, Godric,” Ravenclaw said almost teasingly. “Then you wouldn’t be so dependant on Helga’s expertise.”
Gryffindor shook his head. “I’ve tried. Don’t have much of a gift for healing, I’m afraid. Not like our friend Helga here. Why, don’t you know that…”
Just then the door to the office slammed closed and a tall, lithe figure entered the room. Slytherin. He looked angry.
“Never again! I’ll never have one of those…those half-breeds in my classroom again!” he exclaimed as he swept towards them. Harry saw Godric and Helga Hufflepuff exchange a worried glance. Slytherin came to a stop at the table next to Harry and stood towering over the other founders.
“Now Salazar, calm yourself…” Gryffindor began but was interrupted.
“I took that boy as a personal favor to you two,” he nodded towards Godric and Helga Hufflepuff, “and did so against my better judgment. I was fully aware that he would not have the talent nor intellectual capacity to succeed -- none of his kind does -- but thought I would give you the courtesy of trying. No more.” He remained standing, his long, grey beard swaying not too far away from Harry.
“What happened, Salazar?” asked Ravenclaw.
His voice controlled, yet seething with contempt, he looked down at Ravenclaw and straight into Harry’s eyes. “The young brute engaged in fisticuffs with Dawlson and Snogby, two of my finest students. It is the muggle blood in him, I am sure.”
Hufflepuff gave a startled “Oh my.” Gryffindor shook his head.
Salazar Slytherin took a deep breath as if to compose himself, then looked at each of the founders.
“From this point forward I will no longer accept any student who is not of pure wizard heritage. They do not have the intellectual capacity to understand the finer points of magic, and the muggle blood in them dilutes any magical ability they might have had were they born of clean parentage.”
“Are we to punish these children for decisions made by their parents? It is not their fault they were born as they are,” said Godric quietly. His voice was calm and composed on the surface, yet Harry could sense fire not far beneath.
“Then it is their parents fault, and they should have known better than to defile the wizarding race,” Slytherin replied in a hiss.
The statement seemed to have hit a nerve with Godric, who slammed his hand on the table. “They are not defiled! A half-blood is just as able to perform magic as any pure blood!”
Slytherin gazed at him coolly, calculatingly. “Then I am sure you will have no problem taking the half-bloods from me, as I do not share your belief.”
Godric looked back at him. Silence. For a moment Harry thought Gryffindor was about to pull his wand out and jinx Slytherin into the ground. Instead he exhaled and lowered his head.
“I welcome them to my classroom.”
Slytherin nodded in approval. “I am sure you will Godric.” With that he turned and walked out of the office. The other three founders sat in silence for some time. It was Hufflepuff that spoke first.
“Well, we tried our best. Though I think we both knew inside that it wouldn’t work out. The man is too stubborn to change.”
Godric shook his head in disappointment. “But Donaldson. You know just as well as I do that he is one of the finest students in our school. Intelligent, affable -- I really thought he would be able to change Salazar’s mind. Then he engages in fisticuffs with other students? That’s not like him. Not like him at all.”
“More than likely he was provoked,” said Ravenclaw. The other two founders looked at her curiously.
“Consider the environment. A classroom full of superior students, all of whom are pure-blood and have been taught by Salazar to despise those who are not. Donaldson, a talented, capable half-blood is transplanted into it. The natural reaction of the class is to reject him.”
Godric and Hufflepuff looked at Harry quietly as they digested the information. Then Godric nodded his head wearily. “You are right. As usual, you are exactly right. I should have foreseen this happening. I’m afraid I put Donaldson in a very tough situation. I shall apologize to him and bring him back into my classroom immediately.”
“Don’t worry about that lad, Godric. He’ll be all right,” said Hufflepuff consolingly. “We did what we could. You mustn’t blame yourself. How else could we help Slytherin see the error of his beliefs? I’m as much to blame as you are.”
She looked up at Harry.
“What do you think, Rowena? Were we wrong to attempt this?”
Ravenclaw was silent for a moment. Harry could only guess she was thinking. At length she spoke.
“I think Salazar is a very intelligent, very capable and very wise man. He is also very proud and stubborn. I doubt he could be convinced to believe anything that isn’t in harmony with what he wants to believe. I think it best for all of us if you give up trying to convert him to your way of thinking.”
“I already have,” chuckled Hufflepuff.
Godric looked at the two of them for a while. He sighed resignedly. “You are right, of course. I do give up.”
The three were silent again, each lost in their own thoughts. This time it was Godric who spoke first.
“Well, what shall we do about Salazar’s, er…request?"
Hufflepuff shook her head wearily. “We’ll have to respect his wishes. There’s really nothing else we can do, is there? That old reptile isn’t about to change his beliefs, and it would be doing any half-blooded student a disservice to keep them in his classroom. I suppose we will have to pull them out and divide them amongst ourselves.”
“I agree,” replied Ravenclaw.
“As do I,” said Gryffindor. He ran his hand through his beard, apparently lost in thought. “You know, if I am going to gain a few of Salazar’s students, I wouldn’t mind giving him a few of my own. That young fellow Bodkins”lanky boy, good with jinxes, always has a shifty look in his eyes”he’s always spouting self-indulgent tripe about the prominence of his family. Salazar should take a liking to him immediately.”
“Tsk, tsk, tsk,” Helga Hufflepuff scolded gently.
“Same for Cratchet and Nikkelblum. Devious and underhanded little devils, wouldn’t mind having them off my hands at all. I prefer students that have a backbone to them.”
“Well perhaps I could interest you in a few of my students Godric. I cannot run a simple summoning exercise for five minutes without young Abernathy causing a stir. I had to threaten to throw him out to get any quiet in there.”
Godric looked at Harry for a second, puzzled. “You mean Dinbell Abernathy? Stout lad, strong jaw?”
“As quiet as a banshee? That’s the one. I wouldn’t mind having him off my hands.”
“Really?” Godric said incredulously. “Always had a fondness for that young fellow, can’t believe you wouldn’t want him. He does have some fire in him, I’ll give you that, but you just need to know how to handle those sort.”
“I suppose so, though I think your temperament is better suited to such a task than mine,” Harry heard Ravenclaw say.
“Ha! And what sort of student would fit your temperament, may I ask?”
Ravenclaw thought for a moment. “I prefer the more studious sort, students like Annabelle Haskins and Clark Pederson. Students who take learning seriously and leave the competition and games for the children.”
“The insufferable bores, in other words,” Gryffindor teased slightly. Both he and Ravenclaw were talking more and more animatedly, as if they were on to something. “What about Hector Divelbliss? Medium sized lad, brown hair, can never get him to say more than a few words at a time. He would be a perfect fit, no?”
Ravenclaw was silent for a few seconds before responding. “Yes, I believe I know the boy, though I take exception to your assumption that a reclusive personality signifies academic prowess. That student is simply dull. I doubt he has the capacity to excel in intellectual pursuits. I feel he would be better off…”
“An insufferable bore? Doesn’t have the capacity to excel? Shame on you!” Hufflepuff broke in suddenly, hands on hips in an indignant stance that was oddly reminiscent of Mrs. Weasley. “That young man is a dear. He may not be the boldest boy in the school, nor the smartest, but there are other attributes than courage and intellect that make a person valuable.”
“You are right of course, Helga. My apologies,” Godric said with a gentlemanly bow.
“And mine,” added Ravenclaw. “We do not mean to sound harsh. We are merely suggesting that you, Godric, Salazar, and myself each have unique talents and capabilities that make us a natural match for certain students. Wouldn’t it be advantageous for us to, well…rearrange the students in order to achieve an optimal teaching arrangement?
“Dividing up the school, you mean?” said Hufflepuff.
“You know, the idea definitely has merit,” Gryffindor said, stroking his beard thoughtfully. “I mean, we are going to have to rearrange some of the students anyway to accommodate Salazar, why not reorganize all of them to put them with the teacher who can teach them the most effectively?”
Hufflepuff looked back at them uneasily. She was clearly uncomfortable with the idea.
“It’s just not right. It would only create division.”
“Come now Helga. You must admit there are some students who would much rather teach than others.”
Hufflepuff shook her head. “Perhaps so, Godric, but I believe everyone has the right to learn. My preference in students shouldn’t affect my teaching.”
“Yes, but couldn’t we be more effective teachers if we worked with those whose personalities matched our own?” asked Ravenclaw in her even, logical tone.
Hufflepuff looked from one to the other, her plump face frowning. She didn’t say anything.
“Look, Helga, we’re not proposing that we do this right now,” Gryffindor said with a small chuckle, “but let’s at least think it over. It may be worth looking into.”
Hufflepuff looked back at them, shrugged, and sat back down.
With that Godric and Ravenclaw resumed discussing the advantages of the sorting. Harry didn’t hear what they were saying, however, as his attention was on Helga Hufflepuff. She sat watching the other two, a sad, almost pitying look on her face.
The room began to fade away. Slowly the table he was sitting at disappeared, and a new room came into view. Again he found himself facing a wooden bookshelf, its top shelf completely empty. It was shorter than the last one had been “ maybe only half as tall. The room was small, cramped, and rectangular. The ceiling was low and had beams of wood crisscrossing along it. A low, raspy voice, the same voice Harry heard in the first diary, spoke out.
“Arcana Fateorus”
Soon the second room began to disappear, and Harry found himself back in the second floor room with Ron, Ginny and Hermione. Ron and Ginny were listening intently to Hermione, who appeared to be telling them what she had seen in the diary. Noticing he had finished reading, Hermione stopped talking and turned to him.
“The room at the end of the diary. Did you recognize it?” she asked, Ron and Ginny watching him intently.
He shook his head. Ron and Ginny’s faces sunk in disappointment. “You?”
“No,” she said, shaking her head sadly. Harry looked back down at the diary. Somehow it was on the last page, even though they hadn’t touched it. The arcane writing stopped halfway down the page.
“She was right though, wasn’t she? Hufflepuff?” said Hermione. Harry looked up at to see a sorrowful, resigned look in her eyes.
“Hogwarts is divided.”