Studded along the arc were gleaming sapphires, their deep blue hues capturing the essence of the night sky. Each gemstone was meticulously cut, reflecting light in a way that hinted at the vast knowledge locked within their depths. As Harry moved closer, the sapphires seemed to wink at him, almost inviting him to explore the secrets concealed within the Diadem.
The centrepiece of the Diadem was a large, exquisitely crafted raven, its wings outstretched as if poised for flight. The raven's beady onyx eyes sparkled with a mischievous intelligence, capturing Harry's gaze and drawing him deeper into the artefact's enchanting aura. The raven's feathers were carved with extraordinary precision, their feathery texture so lifelike that one could almost feel the softness beneath their fingertips.
As Harry reached out to touch the Diadem, his Arcane Hearing let out a severe warning. The Potter scion jolted back in panic. Holy shit, that Diadem was dangerous. The compulsion was so subtle, that Harry didn't even notice that it had taken hold. Hell, it didn't even seem to affect his mind but acted more like a cheering charm that's modified towards curiosity and wonder. Now, that he could feel it, he could tell what it was. Damn, Voldemort was a subtle asshole. If it hadn't been for his Arcane Hearing, he didn't know what could have happened, but it wouldn't be good for him, that's for sure.
Choosing to freak out later, Harry decided to just go through with his original plan. He wanted to go back to the common room. His friends were probably worried about him. So, he took out some chalk from his bag, sat down on the ground, and started drawing the ritual circle. He then took out a few candles and lit them at certain places around the circle.
It was a basic ritual that was more spell-like than the actual arcane magic that came with normal ritualism. Harry didn't want anything to do with that, since they tended to be unpredictable. But old diviners wanted standard ways to scry cursed objects without risking a major accident. It wasn't the most powerful or subtle method of scrying, but it worked, and it also made sure that the object itself wouldn't influence the castor in many ways.
With the chalk done, Harry levitated the Diadem towards the middle of the circle and started muttering the incantation, "Anam Draíochta, Lorg Aigne agus Turas Fógra!" over and over again.
It was a Gaelic ritual and incantation, which roughly translated to 'Magical Soul, Mind Discovery and Notice Journey'. One part of the incantation summoned the magic, the next one invoked the search of mind, and the last one changes the purpose of the incantation to be a scrying one.
The chalk around the Diadem started to glow and slowly disappeared, the candles blew themselves suddenly, and the Diadem itself started to glow. Slowly, the Room of Hidden Things disappeared and images began to form around him. Somehow, Harry could feel that the incantation could continue in two roads, one was blue and orderly, while the other was dark and sinister. Knowing that it would be Riddle's path, Harry reluctantly chose the dark path. He would have loved to see the founder herself with his own eyes, but he had a mission to fulfil.
The moment made his choice, he saw flashes of an older Tom Riddle, his face twisted with malice with ominous glowing red eyes. There were many ways to proceed, and Harry pushed the word Diary to the front of his mind. The ritual seemed to understand and focused on the Diary. He saw the younger version of the Dark Lord with anguish on his face pick the first thing he had on hand to use Myrtle's accidental death as a sacrifice for his first Horcrux. There was this desperation and fear that were being shown.
But as fascinating as this might be, Harry didn't want to see the past, only the present and the ritual seemed to understand. He saw Lucius Malfoy put the diary in the cauldron that Ginny Weasley was holding, but the cauldron didn't actually belong to her. She was holding it for her friend who came shopping with them and went to get all her books. By the time it was finished, Ginny handed back her cauldron to her friend and took her own from her mother.
Lucius Malfoy had planned on everything, but he made a mistake. It was obviously a ploy to take out his political rival, but it backfired and now his heir was in danger, not that the man knew it.
Harry couldn't see who Ginny's friend was, so, he focused more on her. He kept going until he could see her properly. And it didn't take long for Harry to see a familiar girl with dirty blonde hair and silver eyes that was writing in her Diary. A lonely girl that just wanted a friend so desperately that she gave her heart out to the first person who accepted her. Luna Lovegood.
Too bad it happened to be an evil diary that wanted to possess her. Honestly, Harry had forgotten about the young girl, preoccupied with his search for the Diary. She was one of his suspects, sure, but he had dismissed that list entirely since Riddle seemed to be one step ahead of him all this time.
But that's it, Harry had found the Diary. However, before he could do anything else, a ghostly version of Riddle came out from the diary that Luna was writing in, his eyes wide and screaming, "BEGONE!"
Whatever Riddle had done, it absolutely destabilized the ritual which turned off. There was also some kind of mental attack that came with it. This was all Harry could think of before he realized that he was actually physically pushed into the air, and he crashed into a few broken tables. It didn't take long for him to black out after that.
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