Even though the effects of the spell had long since ended, Hermione, Cho Chang, and Luna remained deeply absorbed in the recent spectacle and the transformation of the room, unable to forget it for a long time.
Alaric, however, was in no hurry to search for the crown. He simply stood with his arms crossed, smiling as he waited.
After a while, Hermione was the first to speak up.
"How… how did you do that?" she asked, her voice trembling slightly, clearly still in shock from the recent events.
Hermione's question snapped Cho Chang and Luna out of their reverie.
"Yeah… there must have been millions of items organized just now," Cho Chang said incredulously.
"I've never seen… such a large-scale cleaning spell before," Luna added, her tone calm but betraying her awe.
"This is the Ultimate Cleaning Spell," Alaric explained, his tone casual but with a hint of pride.
"I developed it through studying ancient magical texts and based it on the other Charms. Or rather, it's more of a restoration than a modification."
"Restoration?" Hermione asked, puzzled.
"Yes," Alaric confirmed. "In fact, I should have mentioned before that the spells we use today are simplified versions of ancient ones."
"Yes," Hermione nodded.
Although Cho Chang and Luna didn't fully grasp the details, they listened attentively.
"But there's something I haven't mentioned," Alaric continued.
"Modern spells are actually simplified even further compared to some ancient ones."
"So, they're simplified in two stages?" Hermione summarized.
"Exactly," Alaric agreed.
"Modern spells are easier to use but often less effective.
For example, the Shield Charm is much simpler and faster to cast than the Ultimate Shielding Charm like Protego horribilis, making it suitable for combat.
However, even at full strength, the Shield Charm can't block powerful dark magic."
"The Ultimate Shield Charm are of many types and they're different.
It's complex to cast, with long incantations and gestures, making it impractical in battle.
Yet, for the same amount of magical energy, some of them like Protego Horribilis can create a shield that encompasses Hogwarts Castle or even larger areas, which even the Dark Lord's killing curses can't penetrate."
"The Ultimate Cleaning Spell is similar. Although the spell is complex, with enough power, it can clean an entire room, no matter how large."
"I see…" Hermione marveled, "That's incredible. I really need to work harder. There's so much I still don't know."
Alaric nodded in satisfaction at her response, but Cho Chang couldn't help but roll her eyes.
"Listen to this," she thought, "You're already one of the best students Hogwarts has ever seen, scoring full marks in every exam.
You're the top student in Hogwarts' history, and now you're telling us you need to work harder? What does that make the rest of us?"
But for now, understanding the intricacies of the Ultimate Cleaning Spell and striving to improve were secondary to finding Ravenclaw's Diadem.
The four of them began to sift through the organized items.
With the room now neatly arranged, they no longer had to search the entire space blindly like the previous day.
The task was more akin to finding items in a supermarket or warehouse.
They only needed to identify the category of the item they were searching for to find its location.
Ravenclaw's Diadem, reputed to enhance the wearer's wisdom, was not just any headwear but a magical item.
Thus, they searched among the hat sections of clothing or the jewelry category.
Ultimately, they found that diadems fell under the category of jewelry.
Even among the jewelry, there were thousands of diadems in the large room.
From simple floral wreaths to metal bands to genuine crowns, there were all kinds.
Additionally, there were hairpins, clips, combs, and even flowers pinned to the head.
Finding a specific diadem among so many was still quite a challenge.
Fortunately, the Ultimate Cleaning Spell had organized the items more meticulously than they had imagined.
Diadems were separated from other headwear, and different types of diadems were categorized.
Colors, materials, and whether they were magical items were all taken into account.
Soon, they found the diadem they were looking for among the rows of crowns.
It was among the last few rows of magical item diadems.
There were only a few silver diadems with emeralds, and among them, only one was a women's diadem.
Clearly, this was their target—Ravenclaw's Diadem.
Since it was a Horcrux, Alaric did not immediately touch it to avoid any potential dark magic traps.
Instead, he crouched down, studying the diadem with his wand.
Suddenly, he felt an inexplicable surge of irritation.
He quickly realized and focused, pushing the agitation from his mind.
He knew this must be the influence of the diadem as a Horcrux.
After carefully checking with spells, Alaric confirmed that while Ravenclaw's Diadem was indeed a Horcrux, it did not have any dangerous dark magic traps.
It seemed its danger lay more in its psychological effects rather than direct threats.
Just as Alaric reached out to take the diadem, a hand grabbed his wrist, stopping him.
"You're not taking this treasure alone!" Cho Chang declared, rushing to the diadem and shoving past a startled Alaric.
However, she was instantly stopped.
Hermione had used her wand to shoot out a ribbon that bound Cho Chang's wrist, pulling her back.
"You… you can't touch this!" Hermione said softly, "You're acting very strangely!"
"Are you trying to stop me?" Cho Chang, who was usually gentle, was now filled with anger. "Get out of my way!"
Alaric noticed that Cho Chang's wrist was beginning to thicken and develop blue dragon scales.
She was attempting to transform into a dragon to break free of the bindings!
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