82 The Grey Lady

A/N - This chapter is a big BIG boy so be warned.

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"Helena would be my preferred choice of address... However you still haven't answered me boy. Why are you, a Slytherin, here in Ravenclaw tower!".

Oz turned himself fully to take a look at the ghost in front of him. He showed a light smile as he continued.

"I'm here to meet you Helena... there's something I would like to ask you".

Helena's face twisted as she listened to Oz.

"The last Slytherin boy I gave the time of day to decided to betray me... Do you really think I'd hear you out?!".

Oz knew exactly who Helena was talking about when she mentioned a previous Slytherin boy. Tom Riddle after all tricked Helena into revealing the whereabouts of her mother's precious diadem. The dark lord's silver tongue was not to be underestimated as he coaxed the location out of here and ended up turning the diadem into another horcrux.

"There's no harm in me talking first and you deciding whether or not you want to answer later is there? I only need a moment of your time after all".

Helena looked down on the Slytherin boy in front of him. She didn't know why she was still giving this boy the time of day. Usually she would just run away from most conversations and in the event of an unknown trespasser, she would report them to the head of house. However there was something about the boy in front of her that seemed familiar.

"Well let me start off by introducing myself to you Helena. My name is Oz Ambrosius, a third year student here at Hogwarts".

Helena's face changed the second she heard Oz's introduction from a look of cautiousness and coldness to a look of shock.

"W-wait a minute... You're Merlin's descendant!? The one I've heard about that joined a few years ago!?".

Oz nodded his head slowly as he continued.

"One in the same... As I understand Helena you would have been alive around the time my Ancestor Merlin was. You see, I'm trying to gather as much information on him as possible as... well he's the only connection in this world that I've got at the moment".

Helena looked at Oz sympathetically as her ghostly eyes filled with melancholy. Oz noticed all these mood changes and realised that Merlin to Helena must have been an important figure.

"I-I'm sorry I didn't recognise you sooner... I rarely talk to the other ghosts and the last thing I heard was about that you were here in this school and nothing about what you looked like".

'Well that explains why Myrtle recognised me and she didn't... She's more of a recluse than Myrtle after all'.

"It's fine Helena... Could you please tell me if you have any information on my ancestor? From what I've found, Merlin was a very secretive guy. Everything about him is masked in mystery to me and any solid information would help me in the long run to understand better who I am".

Helena nodded as she floated down towards Oz. She looked out at the view from the balcony, seeing the sun set now and dusk approaching rapidly.

"He truly was a man masked in mystery... Even my mother couldn't fathom his wisdom and the other founders were always led in circles by him".

Helena turned to Oz and showed a weak yet calming smile.

"Would you listen to my story? Maybe that will help you understand what sort of man your ancestor was".

Oz smiled back at Helena nodding slowly.

"Hearing a story from a legend like yourself would be my pleasure. Please go on ahead".

Helena nodded back at Oz with respect laced in her eyes. Looking out at the view in front of her she casted her mind back to her youth.

"My story is a tragic one to say the least... Jealousy poisoned me leading me astray from what I could have truly become. My mother was an outstanding witch. She had the knowledge and power to blow me away time and time again. As I was her daughter she had high expectations of me, she wanted me to be the perfect successor. No matter how much I learned though it was never enough to meet her requirements. Eventually I started to well up with jealousy towards my mother who seemed so unreachable. It started off as a small poison pricked into my heart but eventually it grew into a demon that lead me to do unthinkable things...".

Oz nodded his head along listening to Helena's past. To this point he knew what Helena's past was like. She was jealous of her mothers talents which led her to steal her mothers diadem.

"One day however I met a certain man who flipped everything I knew on its head. He was a couple years above me in school at the time and he was in Slytherin. Back then Slytherins weren't looked on as poorly as they were today yet my mother still warned me to be careful of the bunch as she herself was wary of Salazar and his hidden machinations. However with my jealousy growing towards her I started to not heed her advice as I tried to learn as much as I could from anyone and everyone".

Helena's eyes became slightly weaker as she started to reminisce.

"He was an enigma to me yet fascinating. He hardly talked to anyone yet he managed to ace every class effortlessly. Salazar eventually took him underneath his wing seeing his talent yet he absorbed all of Salazar's knowledge in a matter of months which wounded that mans pride immensely. I gathered the guts to approach him and he allowed me to sit with him when he would study. Any question I asked him he would know the answer to instantly. Such a talent made me as jealous as it did with my mother..."

"Eventually my jealously towards him turned into... something else. I couldn't stop thinking about him. I didn't know if it was love or just an obsession towards his knowledge at some points. Suddenly one day he seemingly vanished from the school. I asked my mother about him yet she refused to talk about him. Even Salazar showed a difficult expression alongside Helena and Godric when I mentioned him... that Merlin. I started to ask around about him yet everyone at the school had no clue where he went either".

"Losing someone who I cared about most... I found myself spiralling. My jealousy towards my mother grew and my heart yearned to see him again. Eventually I listened to the devil on my shoulder and stole my mother's precious diadem, running off into the world. During my time on the run I asked everywhere about him and eventually heard that someone with his profiling was spotted in Albania. Immediately I headed there and found myself searching far and wide yet... I couldn't even find a trace of him".

"Angered by my inability to find him I decided to channel that anger into hiding the diadem and causing any issues I could towards my mother. I located a forest in Albania and went about hiding the diadem there under many restrictions. Just as I was about to leave the forest... The Bloody Baron found me".

Oz listened intently to Helena's story as she went into full detail. From what he was aware of, The Bloody Baron was the reason Helena died. However, what he didn't know was how much of an impact Merlin had on Helena's life.

"The Bloody Baron told me he was ordered by my mother to retrieve me. I scoffed at the man and refused to return. Out of nowhere afterwards the man started to profess his love for me. Hearing him spout words of admiration and love all I could think of was Merlin who I still couldn't find putting me in an even worse mood. I immediately cut the Baron's confession off telling him that I already had someone I loved and that he wouldn't ever have a chance... The Baron flew into a rage hearing my refusal towards his love and charged at me wielding a knife in hand. Stabbing me deep in my heart, I felt my eyes dim and my regrets well up in my body. All I could think of in my final moments was the wrongs I did towards my mother... and the face of a man who wanted nothing to do with me".

As Helena's story came to a close Oz was spending his time mulling over all the information presented to him.

'Merlin... You were truly a sinful ancestor to make this woman fall so deeply just to vanish as you did...'.

Putting together everything he knew up to this point, Oz gathered that Merlin had a reason for disappearing. Factoring in how he was gaining knowledge from anywhere and everywhere, how he made hideouts and left inheritances. It seemed the man had some sort of mission, a plan for the future.

Helena looked out at the night sky that had now fallen during her story. Ghostly tears welled up in her eyes as she was made to recall all those painful memories of her past.

"Thank you Helena for telling me this story... I know it was hard to share. As far as I'm aware, my ancestor had a mission or some sort of plan for the future. I'm unsure what he planned even to this day... However, that probably explains why he vanished like he did".

Helena nodded as she let out a slight chuckle.

"That man was truly an enigma... I see a lot of him in you".

Oz sighed as he played back in his head Helena's story over and over. While it told him more about Merlin's character, it still didn't tell him anything about what the man was up to.

"Is that all you knew about my ancestor Helena? Is there nothing else of note?".

Helena shook her head as she looked at Oz.

"As you know and as I've said, he was a man made up of secrets. All I can remember is one thing my mother once told me when I first asked where he disappeared off to".

Recalling her mothers words, Helena started to paraphrase what she had once said.

"~A Dragon's son lives a long life, in search of power and in search of knowledge. Little did we know that the young boy we let into our school was anything but, using us for his search~".

Helena showed a face of wistfulness as she recited her mothers words. To her she had no idea what her mother meant however Oz's heart dropped knowing what the words actually meant.

'Merlin... was he older than the founders at the time he was in Hogwarts? If a 'Dragon's son lives a long life' then maybe the founders noticed that Merlin had dragon's blood within him near the end of his stay... If he was able to manipulate his age then maybe Hogwarts wasn't the only place he used for his search for knowledge...'.

A myriad of different theories and thoughts welled up in Oz's mind after hearing what Rowena once told Helena. His head began to hurt as he realised his ancestor was a puzzle that was just way too difficult to solve. What was he trying to achieve? was he just a knowledge freak or, as Oz surmised, did he have some sort of mission he was taking part in?

While Oz was thinking about what Helena said, Helena herself started to voice her own thoughts on Merlin.

"That man was definitely around my mothers level maybe even at the time he was in Hogwarts... The headmaster currently in Hogwarts right now is certainly a talented man yet he still remains on the cusp of the 4th step. With him approaching the end of his life, he will probably never reach that level... There was one other that had the talent to reach that step but he...".

Helena's expression grew dark as she remembered an unsavoury figure in her head. Oz saw an opportunity to steer the conversation back on track to what he wanted to know next.

"Oh? Who was this other person who had the talent to reach the step the founders were in".

Helena's expression grew darker as she turned to Oz. Eventually she sighed as she started to speak.

"I usually wouldn't talk about him... but seeing as though you're the descendant of that man I'll speak".

"I mentioned at the beginning of this conversation that I once was betrayed by a Slytherin boy like yourself. That boys name was Tom Riddle... Although today he goes by Voldemort".

Helena's face turned into a snarl as she recalled the dark lord who tricked her.

"He convinced me to reveal the location of my mother's diadem. I eventually told him trusting him to bring it back to here at Hogwarts hoping that would somewhat restore the karma of what I once did... However that man... He defiled that artefact with his dark magic!".

Helena's rage rose as she thought back on what Riddle had done to the diadem. Oz listened intently before deciding to talk.

"Helena... What if I I could destroy that diadem, in turn destroying the dark magic he defiled it with? Think of it as a way to repay you for all you've told me".

Helena's head snapped around as she looked deeply at Oz.

"T-That would be great if you were able to do that... However do you even know what he did to it? What dark magic he enchanted it with?".

Oz nodded his head as he began to explain.

"He turned your mother's diadem into a horcrux... you know what that is right?".

Helena's expression dropped as rage filled her face again. However just as it seemed she was about to lose control she suddenly started to laugh.

"HAHAHAHA THAT FOOLISH BOY. HE WAS ON TRACK TO SURPASS EVEN THE FOUNDERS WITH HIS TALENT YET HE DECIDED TO USE SUCH A DISGUSTING MAGIC AND SPLIT HIS SOUL! HE'S MANAGED TO COMPLETELY STUNT HIS OWN GROWTH!".

As Helena laughed out about the fact Voldemort created Horcruxes, Oz's expression changed to that of confusion.

"Sorry Helena I don't understand, how does splitting ones soul stop them from reaching that step?".

Helena's laughing started to dim down as she looked over at Oz with a elated smile on her face.

"You see Oz, to reach that step your soul's strength as well as your magical strength is imperative. My mother once told me as such. That Riddles soul and power were well on track to step into the 4th step and maybe even surpass the founders who resided in it. Yet... in splitting his soul he has destroyed all chance he had of reaching that level".

Hearing Helena's explanation Oz started to realise the validity of it and even grasp some insights into what the 4th step was.

'I always thought it was insane how strong Voldemort was considering he had split his soul so much. His talent was actually so great! Yet... his own fear of death managed to stop him from ever reaching those heights... how ironic'.

Oz turned back to the elated Helena with a smile.

"Well I guess that is one good thing... However since he's split his soul he's harder to kill. Helena... could you please tell me where your mother's diadem was hidden and maybe a way of locating it?".

Oz of course already knew where the diadem was, he just felt that he needed to ask as a way of not drawing suspicion. The main info he wanted was in the second part of the question where he asked if there was a way of locating it.

"That man... he hid the diadem in the place where all things are hidden... however..."

Helena looked down-trodden as she showed Oz a sorry face.

"I'm sorry Oz, I have no means in which you can locate the diadem... I once theorised that my mother had placed a tracker on it and was able to find my whereabouts with it however I have no means in activating that tracker. You will just have to go there to that room and seek it out slowly".

Oz sighed as he understood now there was no easy way about this. He was hoping there would be some way to get to the diadem sooner however it seemed that he would just need to wait until his eyes were able to detect a horcruxes aura more sharply.

'She did mention though that a tracker could be placed onto the diadem... I wonder if I can use that knowledge somehow'.

"Is there nothing you can remember from your mother that would give any indication on how to track the diadem? The sooner I find this thing the better".

Helena shook her head as she sighed deeply.

"My relationship with my mother wasn't the best Oz... If only I was more attentive maybe I would have the information you seek".

Oz let out another signature sigh as he nodded towards Helena understanding her circumstances.

"Thats alright Helena, you've been a great help to me today and a pleasure to talk to".

Helena nodded towards Oz as she watched him start to slowly walk back to the stairs down into the Ravenclaw common room. As Oz took his wand out his pocket he turned back to her one more time.

"If you ever need someone to talk to Helena... If you ever think of any more stories to share. Come seek me out. I'm always open to more engaging stories".

Helena smiled at Oz as she nodded once again confirming that she would seek him out again if she wanted to talk. Seeing this Oz cloaked himself and headed down the stairs. Helena watched him disappear and leave before looking out at the night sky once more and at the moon now rising high.

"That boy even has Merlin's desire for knowledge...".