Echoes of Emotion (Sebastian Sallow x OC)

Chapter 35 - Ravenclaw's Diadem

The next thing I knew, we were surrounded by trees, the claustrophobic feeling from the cupboard now replaced by the overwhelming realisation of what we had to do next.
We had to find a relic somewhere in all of this.

"I hope Helen is okay..." Poppy sighed, looking down guiltily.
I placed my hand on her shoulder, giving her a comforting smile.
"Don't worry, she seems to know what she's doing. She's an ex-Auror after all." I could hear the uncertainty in my voice, my own worry taking over as I thought back to those last moments.

"Well, the sooner we find this relic the sooner we can find out." Skye said, her hands on her hips as she gave us a look, urging us to start.
And with those words, we all silently began to look around, without the slightest clue as where to begin.
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"Can you sense anything, Emerald?" Ominis asked, but I could only shake my head.
I'd had the same idea a while ago, hoping the relic would call to me like the Hufflepuff cup, but it didn't seem to work.
Wherever this relic was, it wanted to stay hidden.

"You're a Ravenclaw, Skye. If you were to hide a relic, where would you put it?" Sebastian asked, getting her to prove her worth, acting on her comment earlier.
She looked bewildered for a moment, staring at Sebastian as though it were a stupid question.
Yet, not long after, her eyes seemed to widen, and she began to run further into the forest.
We all exchanged a curious look, none of us knowing what could have possibly crossed her mind, before quickly following her.

As we followed we noticed that she seemed to be looking at each individual tree, as though looking for something in particular.
"What are you doing?" Natty asked her, but Skye didn't answer, too caught up as she examined each tree.
Finally, she seemed to stop, eyeing up one tree in particular.
She wasted no time in running up to the tree, before dropping to her knees, reaching into a hole near the base of the trunk, so far down and small I would have missed it if she hadn't spotted it.

"I'd hide it somewhere obvious," she began, answering Sebastian's question from earlier as she reached further into the hole.
"Not so much so that it was clear as day, but so as to lead others astray, because what wizard wouldn't hide it with a spell..." she trailed off, concentrating on what she was doing.
"Really? Wouln't it be hidden by something more advanced? It was hidden by Ravenclaw's daughter after all." Sebastian asked, not convinced by her reasoning.
But Skye just turned to look at him quickly, rolling her eyes to show her annoyance.
"Being clever isn't just about complicated things, Sebastian. it's about being two steps ahead, knowing exactly what makes others predictable. At least that's what it means to me." she finally got up, turning to face us, something now in her hand.
She quickly tossed whatever it was to Sebastian, him catching with ease.
We all gathered around to see what it was, and sure enough, it was a Diadem.
It was the relic.

We all looked up at Skye, surprise covering our faces, while she now held a grin on her face, proud of her work.
"Sometimes the answer is right in front of you, you just have to be smart enough to look." she winked, walking over to us.
"Nicely done." Ominis commented as she approached, causing a soft blush to appear on her cheeks.

As I looked at the relic, I noticed the ancient magic begin to swirl around it, indicating it was ready to transport us to the trial.
I looked at the others, wondering if they were ready for what was to come.
This would be our third trial, but after last time, I was unsure whether their confidence would faulter.
However, I was met with determined faces.
They were ready.
And so was I.
We could handle whatever Rowena Ravenclaw had for us.
And with that, we all grabbed onto the Diadem.
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It seemed that the Diadem had brought us to a different place than the other relics.
While they transported us to actual locations, we were now in a strange room, one that reminded me of the ones in the castle, like when I helped Sophronia with Herodiana's conundrum.
The patterns on the walls looked similar, and the door in front of us did too.
Maybe this was a puzzle within the castle?