Finding the Lost Diadem - 9

Harry repeated the phrase three times. He knew from the gasps of the others that the door had appeared. Opening his eyes and wrenching it open, he led the way inside.

"Bloody hell," Ron said, pulling up short as the sight of the massive city-sized room full of hidden stuff. "Look! There's tons of Fred and George's stuff here."

Harry turned to see a pile of Weasleys' Wizard Wheezes products haphazardly thrown in a corner, as if the owner had been in an extreme hurry and simply dumped the stuff inside. Harry could picture someone being chased by Filch and trying to get rid of the evidence.

"Harry, how do you possibly expect to find it in here?" Ginny asked incredulously. "This is massive."

"I know," Harry replied, lurching down the center alley. "I used some landmarks."

He could hear Hermione in full prefect-mode tut-tutting about all the forbidden objects.

"Some of these things are dangerous," she said, appalled.

Harry turned right at the stuffed troll but came to a sudden stop when he reached the Vanishing Cabinet that Draco Malfoy had used to lead the Death Eaters inside Hogwarts on the night Professor Dumbledore was killed Its door hung open obscenely, and it was moved slightly into the aisle, evidence that it had been used in the not-so-distant past. Professor McGonagall had said she'd had Professor Flitwick cast a Charm to seal it so that it could never be used again.

Harry clenched his jaw and continued moving, the others right on his heels. The silence amongst them hung heavy in the air. They'd all recognized the significance of that cabinet. He didn't stop until he'd reached the cupboard with the bust of an ugly old warlock perched on top. A wig and a tarnished tiara crowned the bust.

Before taking the bust down, he opened the cupboard and reached behind a cage with some unidentifiable remains left inside.

"Eww. What is that?" Ginny asked, wrinkling her nose in distaste.

"Dunno," Harry replied, pulling his beat-up old Potions book from inside and flipping through the pages.

"What do you want with that?" Hermione asked, raising her nose in the air and scowling her disapproval.

Harry shrugged, stuffing the book in his pocket. "It might be useful. Now that we know it was Snape's," Harry said, spitting the word like a swear, "it might give us a clue how to find him."

"That's highly unlikely, Harry. Even if it did have an address somewhere, it would be his childhood home, not his current address," Hermione said.

Ignoring her, Harry reached up and took the bust off the top of the cupboard, placing it on a rickety old table with uneven legs. He started to lift the tiara off its head, but Ginny grabbed his arm, stopping him.

"Don't touch it!" she cried.

He shrugged. "I touched it to put it on there and nothing happened."

"Even so…it can't be you who touches it now. Just in case something goes wrong," she said, wincing slightly.

"She's right, mate. You have to be the one go on," Ron said.

Harry balked. "Don't be ridiculous. We have to look at it," he snapped.

"Let me do it," Ron said.

"No!" Harry said, reaching out and grabbing the tiara in his hands. Nothing happened, the metal was cool and extremely dirty.

"Har-ry," Hermione said, stamping her foot. "What have I said about trusting us to do our part and not acting impulsively? Have you been listening to me?"

Harry scowled, knowing she was right yet unable to stop himself. It would only make them angry to know he had no intention of letting any of them get hurt in his place. Closing his eyes, he let his magic flow, feeling the weight of the heavy metal in his hands. His ears were ringing and chills ran up his spine.