Black Rose [Regulus Black]

61 - destructive potions & anxious discussions

Regulus groaned and looked up from the Hogwarts map he'd been going over. Ever since Dorcas had said that the Diadem was at Hogwarts, he'd been marking potential locations for it. He'd been doing this with the help of Remus, because the Marauders were famous for their knowledge of the vast castle (Sirius had offered his help too but he wasn't welcome just yet). "Tell me that at least you've made progress."

Evan, who had just entered the room, nodded happily. His brown eyes were glittering with joy, which Regulus saw as a promising sign. "It might actually be working. We were experimenting with the diary and the magical signature seemed to wilt when placed in the potion."

"Thank Salazar," Reg muttered. "At least something's going well."

"I take it that your mission to unearth the location of Ravenclaw's Diadem is not going well?"

"I mean, we have a few ideas." Regulus ran a hand through his hair in frustration. "But there's no way of telling unless we go there, and Dumbledore said that we are not to go to Hogwarts until summer break because of the students, so we can't find it for two months."

The young Rosier examined the list, eyebrows raised when he saw the locations. "Ravenclaw locker room... Ravenclaw common room... Ravenclaw bathrooms?"

Regulus shrugged. "We're grabbing at straws."

"Imagine if You-Know-Who hid it in a non-Ravenclaw place... like, I dunno, the Gryffindor common room?"

"Unlikely, Lupin said that he and his friends didn't stumble upon it there, and they went everywhere. Also, Voldemort hates Gryffindors. If there's anywhere he would've hidden it, it would've been in the Slytherin dorms?"

"But we haven't seen it there either and we spent seven years there."

"With that logic, wouldn't Meadowes have also seen a big glittery tiara in her Ravenclaw commons? She was a Ravenclaw too."

Regulus clapped his hand against his face, groaning again. He didn't even think of that. They were back to square one. "I have nothing else," he admitted.

There was a shriek from two rooms over and Regulus shot to his feet. Evan didn't waste a second running to the room in which he'd been working on the potion with Marlene and Dorcas. In the center of the room, which was covered in a disgusting combination of pink frills and crimson paint (it was the Blacks' parents' old room and Sirius had taken on the task of redecorating it after their death), was a cauldron.

If the contents of the cauldron weren't bubbling ominously, Regulus would've sworn that it was just water. Transparent liquid swirled within the cauldron, creating a whirlpool and Regulus watched in bewilderment as the potion began spilling over the sides of the cauldron.

"It's definitely working!" Marlene screamed.

Dorcas bravely stepped forward, Voldemort's diary in hand. Clearly, the trio had been experimenting with it a lot. Its leather had lots its sheen and its spine had cracks running across it. There was a hissing sound coming from it and Regulus realized that it wasn't Dorcas' hand that was shaking but the book itself.

Regulus watched with bated breath as she pulled her arm back and lobbed it into the cauldron. The book landed into the clear potion with a splash and there was a shrieking that had all of them covering their ears as the book slowly disintegrated. The howling that accompanied it was so cacophonous that he felt like fainting from the sound, and he noticed Alessandra screwing up her eyes and clapping her hand over her heart on the other side of the room.

There was a final hiss and the potion calmed down.

"Is it done?" Regulus found himself asking hopefully, feeling like this was too good to be true. "Is it destroyed?"