HP: It's a snake, not a badger.

Chapter 146 Finding the Crown

Where did the rest of the Horcruxes go?

The question suddenly popped into Emeric's head. He put down his quill and pondered it blankly. Galian, standing beside him, was unfazed; it happened every review week.

"Harry, stop daydreaming!" Draco poked Harry hard, urging him to hurry up and memorize his notes; there was still a lot of material to review.

"I know." Harry nuzzled Draco's face, snapping back to reality and opening the book. Barty wasn't in the library, but Emerick was there, so the two of them could finally get up close.

"Hey, Erik, don't get distracted!" After checking on Harry, Draco nudged Erik. It was too much for the two of them to be daydreaming together.

"I'm wondering where the rest of the Horcruxes will be kept?" Emeric was genuinely curious; he just wanted Tom to go back to where he belonged.

Lyra thought for a moment, "We found the Hufflepuff Cup, the Slytherin Ornament Box, the Gauntlet Ring, and the senior's notebook. We know that the Gryffindor sword is not a Horcrux, so based on our deductions, only the Ravenclaw tiara is missing."

"If we remove the diadem, then there are still two Horcruxes left to find," Garian listed what they had found on the paper. "The condition for making a Horcrux is that someone has to die on the spot, but we don't know if Senior actually killed someone at home. If we consider his history of killing outside, then only the day Harry was born remains."

"I'll go check Godric's Hollow, but I might not find it," Harry noted. "But when were the other Horcruxes found? Didn't we just destroy the notebook?"

"Albus found it, so I'm just curious and asking a few more questions." Emeric was very perfunctory, pushing all the blame onto Dumbledore, since Harry was unlikely to question Dumbledore about why he had risked his life without him.

"The problem now is, we don't know where the senior will put the crown?"

"Perhaps we can ask the ghost?" Hermione turned a page in her book, taking a moment to answer Garian's question. "I know a ghost who claims to be Ravenclaw's daughter. She should be able to find her."

"Okay then, Lyra, you and Hermione go find that ghost lady, and Garian and I will look through the books to see if we can find any clues. Ron, you, Harry, and Draco study together. If you fail your final exams, you won't get your scholarship to buy things, okay?"

"I won't fail!" Ron hurriedly checked his notes. He wanted to buy Hermione a gift this year, but he was short of money. His two twin brothers had both improved their grades because of scholarships.

Emeric said goodbye to them after studying until noon. He was going back to the cellar to have lunch with Severus. It was rare that Voldemort didn't summon him, so they could finally have a quiet meal.

"Severus, I'm back."

As soon as he opened the door, a medicinal smell wafted out. Emeric put down his things and headed towards the studio. He was going to call people out for dinner; potions could be brewed anytime, but food was essential.

"Severus, how much longer?"

"I'll be done soon, in about ten minutes."

"it is good."

Emeric closed the studio door. Ten minutes was just enough time for him to plate the food; he hadn't had time during the recent exam week, so Fufu had cooked. Today's lunch was curry fish stew. He picked out a few large pieces of fish, removed the small bones, and arranged the meat into the shape of a small fish. He liked making these fancy things; they made it look even more delicious.

On the other side

Hermione took Lyra to find Helena Ravenclaw, whom she had seen in a corner on the sixth floor earlier, and didn't know if she was still there.

When the two reached the corner, they couldn't find her. Hermione, with her sharp eyes, spotted the fat monk not far away and quickly called out to him, "Hey! Fat monk, have you seen Lady Helena Ravenclaw? We need to talk to her."

The fat monk floated over and stood in front of them, his eyes glancing repeatedly at the corner of the wall. "She's usually here. If you don't see her, I can't help you."

"Alright, thank you! If you see her, please let us know. We really need to speak with her; it has something to do with her mother's crown." Lyra stopped Hermione. The woman was probably hiding behind the wall, listening to their conversation; the fat monk's eyes said it all.

"The Ravenclaw tiara? What do you want with that?" The fat monk asked curiously. It had been years since this had been mentioned. "You're not going to use this for an exam, are you? That's not the mark of a good student."

"No, we don't think so. We suspect that Senior Tom did something bad to the crown, and we need to find it and remove those things." Leila deliberately emphasized the word "bad."

The clever little witch realized this too, and she continued, "Yes, this could be the key to our fight against Tom Riddle. We really need the Ravenclaw tiara." Now they could only gamble that Lady Helena Ravenclaw was on their side.

The fat monk was quite satisfied with their performance. "I'll keep an eye on them. Be careful and don't get caught by the Death Eaters." With that, he slowly floated away.

"It seems the fat monk doesn't know either. Hermione, let's take a walk around the castle. If the diadem really is a Horcrux, then we can destroy the fifth one. The sooner the better, so no more people get hurt." Lyra sighed, pulling Hermione along as they prepared to leave. They'd already gone this far; if it still didn't appear, they'd just have to try again tomorrow.

"Are you telling the truth?" Helena emerged from the wall, staring intently at the two little girls in front of her, trying to discern whether their words were true or false.

"Hello, I am Lyra Solamia. We really want to destroy the Horcruxes. We have a personal grudge against Tom Riddle." Lyra bowed to Helena and continued, "This senior has blocked our path to wealth. Because of him, many of our businesses have been forced to close down."

"Hello, I'm Hermione Granger, and my friend is Harry Potter. Riddle killed my friend's parents because of a prophecy, and we're here for revenge," Hermione said, following Lyra.

"How can you prove everything you've said?"

This really stumped the two of them. Hermione could manage by just calling Harry over, but Lyra couldn't very well tell her about all her assets.

"I can call my friend over," Hermione said quickly, afraid that Helena would become suspicious if she remained silent any longer.

"I can only tell you which shops have closed down; the rest is confidential, I'm sorry I can't tell you."

"No need, just go and call Harry Potter over." Helena had no interest in other people's property.