Finding the Lost Diadem - 6

And how could Harry have been so stupid to have never seen it? Did other people see through the eyes of people who'd Cursed them? Did they feel their attackers' emotions? How could he have missed it? Dumbledore had practically laid it out for him in his second year when he said that the reason Harry could speak Parseltongue was because Voldemort had transferred some of his own powers to Harry when he'd tried to kill him as a baby — he'd transferred some of himself.

Damn!

Picking up Marvolo Gaunt's ring from out of his backpack, he rolled it in his hands, studying the lightning-bolt crack in the stone. The crack looked remarkably similar to Harry's scar.

He lightly traced it with his finger.

He'd assumed the stone had become cracked when Dumbledore had destroyed the Horcrux within the ring, but what if that wasn't the case at all? What if the scar had been there from the moment Tom Riddle had placed a piece of his soul inside it? What if the shape marked the item as a Horcrux?

Harry scrounged through his trunk, not caring how much noise he made in the silent room. Finally locating Helga Hufflepuff's cup, he pulled it out and examined it. It was blackened and scorched, so he used one of his socks to try and clean it up. After some time, his diligence paid off. It was difficult to see, but there, on the inside rim was the same lightning-bolt mark.

If he still had the locket, he'd bet he'd find it there too.

So…the item he was seeking was inside the castle, had most likely once belonged to Rowena Ravenclaw, and bore a lightning-shaped mark.

It certainly helped, although the task was still mind-boggling. Hogwarts was a big place, and there were rooms that even the Map didn't know about — like the Room of Requirement.

They'd spent the past several weeks searching and had barely made a dent in the vast number of rooms within the castle. Hell, there was no guarantee it was even in a room. It could be one of the hundreds of things in the hallways for all he knew. After six-and-a-half years living here, he was still finding corridors he hadn't known existed.

They'd started in the most likely place — the Ravenclaw common room, but they'd finally conceded there was nothing there. They searched the Slytherin common room next, both Harry and Ron feeling an odd familiarity upon entering the dungeon dormitory.

Harry had watched and re-watched the memory of Tom Riddle returning to Hogwarts to apply for a teaching position and being turned away. He was convinced that Riddle had used that trip to hide his Horcrux inside the castle. He'd known Dumbledore would never give him the job — there had to have been another reason for his visit. Harry had even made an unsuccessful return visit to Dumbledore's portrait to ask his former Headmaster if he remembered anything else.

February had progressed into March, and all of them were feeling discouraged. They'd come so far…but this last hurdle was wearing them all down worse than the rest of the hunt.

They'd taken time out to celebrate Ron's birthday by having a feast in the Great Hall reminiscent of the feasts they'd grown accustomed to during the school year. According to Ron, he couldn't have had a better birthday if he'd picked it himself.

The Aurors staying at the castle joined in the celebration, as did the Slytherins, although the latter group sat at a table secluded from the others.

Perhaps the highlight of the night was the arrival of a small group of Aurors bringing a thin and haggard-looking Kingsley Shacklebolt. Madam Pomfrey had ushered him off to the hospital wing before he'd even managed to say hello. Still, it was a small victory for the Light side.