Swords (Edmund X Reader)

The Diadem

I also just wanted to put it out there that this book won't end with the battle, I'll have a chapter after that explaining things about life after Hogwarts...

Neville's long hair strung around his gashed face. He had a swollen eye, and his clothes were ripped and torn.

"Neville, you look..." I started.

"Like hell? I reckon. This is nothing. Seamus is worse. You'll see. I missed you lot!" Neville embraced all of us. "Well? Ready?" He pointed towards the tunnel passage, leading us down it.

"I don't remember this being on the Marauder's Map." Harry said.

"That's because it never existed till now. The seven secret passages were sealed off before the start of the year. This is the only way in or out now. The grounds are crawling with Death Eaters and Dementors." Neville explained.

"How bad is it, Neville? With Snape as Headmaster." Newt asked.

"Hardly ever see him. It's the Carrows you have to watch out for. Brother and sister. They're in charge of discipline. Like punishment." Neville pointed to a gash on his face.

"They did that to you? But why?" Edmund asked.

"Today's Dark Arts lesson had us practicing the Cruciatus Curse. On First Years. I refused." Neville said. We all walked in silence. "Hogwarts has changed." I said quietly. The others looked shocked. Neville grinned.

"Aw, c'mon. Don't be grim. We're all used to it by now. And the thing is, it helps when people stand up, gives everyone hope. I used to notice that when you did it, Harry. C'mon, we're almost there." We kept walking. Neville led us up a short flight of stone steps to a door, then paused, looking back at us. "Let's have a bit of fun, shall we?" He whispered, pushing open the door.

"Hey! Listen up, you lot! I've brought you a surprise!" Neville called out.

"Not more of Aberforth's cooking, I hope. Be a surprise if we could digest it." Seamus's voice rang out. Neville looked back at us, jerking his head towards the open door. We stepped forward, ducking through and... emerge into a large room that looks like a sumptuous tree house. This could only be the Room of Requirement.

Faces turned and blinked at us. There was utter silence. "Blimey." Seamus stated. Then suddenly voices exploded. Madness ensued as we were swallowed up in a scrum of backslaps and handshakes. Many familiar faces were present. Luna. Dean Thomas. Cho Chang. Lavender Brown. I kept looking, perhaps hoping to find a certain brown-haired boy. But Tewkesbury was nowhere to be seen.

"Okay, okay! Stand down! Let's not kill them before You-Know-Who gets the chance!" Neville shouted as the students all settled. "Right then. What's the plan, Harry?" Harry gazed out over the expectant faces in the room. I noted the hollow eyes and broken bodies and the desperate, almost palpable desire for hope.

"Okay. There's something we need to find, something hidden here in the castle. It could help us defeat You-Know-Who." Harry said.

"What is it?" Neville asked.

"We don't know."

"Where is it?" Dean spoke up.

"Don't know that either." A confused murmur filled the room. "I realize it's not much to go on."

"That's nothing to go on." Seamus snapped. Harry faltered. My gaze then struck upon the Ravenclaw Banner hanging in the room. I remembered what Harry had said.

"I think it might have something to do with Ravenclaw. It would be small, easy to conceal, valuable. Any ideas?" I asked.

"Well, there's Rowena Ravenclaw's lost diadem." Luna spoke up. No one said anything. "The lost diadem of Ravenclaw? Hasn't anyone ever heard of it? It's quite famous."

"Yes, but Luna, it's lost. For centuries now. There's not a person alive today who's seen it." Cho said. "It's a kind of crown. You know, like a tiara." We all think back wondering if we've seen it before. "Ravenclaw's was rumored to have magical properties, to enhance the wisdom of the wearer." Cho continued to explain.

Just then quick footsteps are heard as a girl appeared atop the far staircase. It was Ginny. "Snape knows. He knows that Harry was spotted in Hogsmeade."

---

Every student was called upon in the Great Hall because of this news. Our group had no choice but to blend in with the students and go along. Everybody stood in a crowd in the Great Hall, neat rows of students.

"Many of you are surely wondering why I have summoned you here at this hour. It has come to my attention that earlier this evening, Harry Potter was sighted in Hogsmeade." Snape addressed the students. A murmured thrill filled the Hall. Snape raised his voice, briefly, to quell the noise in the Hall.

I mention this in the hopes that truth will not be supplanted by rumor. For myself, and a few select members of the staff this comes as little surprise. We have, for some time, considered Mr. Potter and his friends return to Hogwarts to be not only possible but inevitable. I will also have it known that Mr. Potter has a sister." The murmurs filled the hall louder than ever before. "Her name is Y/N, she went to school here as a Gryffindor." I did not want to tell everyone like this but now the secret was out. There was nothing I could do. 

"Consequently, in the past several months and under my specific direction, exhaustive defensive strategies have been employed to defeat any attempt Mr. Potter and his sister might make to breach these walls. But know this. Should anyone student or staff attempt to aid Mr. Potter or his sister, that person will be punished in a manner consistent with the severity of their transgression. Rest assured: So long as I am Headmaster at Hogwarts, Harry and Y/N Potter will never again step foot in this castle...Now then. If anyone here has knowledge of Mr. Potter or Miss Potter's movements this evening... I invite them to step forward now." Snape's eyes raked the Hall.

Dead silence.

There was a nervous shift of glances. Harry was standing beside me when he suddenly moved towards the center of the Hall. "I think I can help you out with that." Harry said, boldly standing in the middle. I took the chance to add my dramatic flair into it. I walked and joined him.

"It would seem that, despite your exhaustive defensive strategies, you have a bit of a security problem, Headmaster." I said. Snape stared in stunned disbelief, then his gaze shifted as one by one, others emerge: Ron. Hermione. Lupin. Newt. Edmund. Arthur. Molly. Fred. George. Percy. Luna. Dean Thomas. Bill. Fleur. Kingsley Shacklebolt. "And I'm afraid it's rather extensive." I smirked.