"Are you interested in that raven statue?" Penelope asked with a faint smile when she noticed Ryze staring at it.
"Well, that's not surprising. A raven statue that large isn't something you see every day."
She stepped closer to him and folded her arms thoughtfully as she continued.
"Many people before you have been curious about it. Some of them spent quite a bit of time trying to research it as well. They tried all sorts of spells and methods, hoping to uncover something special. But in the end, they could only confirm one thing."
She gestured toward the statue.
"It's nothing more than a decorative ornament that has been sitting in the Room of Requirement for a very long time. There's no magic attached to it whatsoever."
After saying that, Penelope noticed that Ryze was still studying the statue with an unusually focused expression.
Seeing his continued interest, she decided not to interrupt him further.
Instead, she walked to the side of the room and pulled over a small wooden stool that was covered in a thin layer of dust. After wiping it clean with a casual flick of her wand, she placed it in front of the statue.
"Here," she said. "Step on this if you want a closer look."
Ryze nodded his thanks and climbed onto the stool.
Penelope stood beside him quietly, observing.
Truthfully, she was a little curious herself about what Ryze might discover.
Professor Babblin had mentioned something to her earlier.
The more the professor studied Ailey's nature, the more mysterious the magical familiar seemed to become.
On the surface, Ailey behaved like a perfectly obedient magical creature—gentle, well-mannered, and remarkably intelligent. But beneath that calm exterior was something far more complex.
Ancient Magic.
Most forms of Ancient Magic that scholars knew about could be traced through history. Their origins and development could often be reconstructed by studying ancient texts and magical artifacts.
But Ailey was different.
The Ancient Magic connected to Ailey didn't match any known historical patterns.
According to Professor Babblin, it might even represent an entirely different magical system—one that had never been recorded in wizarding history.
Because of that, Professor Babblin believed Ryze himself was extraordinary.
After all, forming a magical contract with a creature connected to such unique Ancient Magic was not something an ordinary wizard could accomplish.
At the very least, Ryze's unusual Divination talent seemed to support that theory.
For that reason, Professor Babblin had suggested that Penelope bring Ryze to the Room of Requirement.
Perhaps the environment there might stimulate his abilities and allow him to trigger a true prophecy.
Penelope had even considered giving Ryze a key to the room later if he became interested in studying its contents regularly.
However, she hadn't expected him to choose a research target so quickly.
And of all the objects in the room, he had picked the one that countless people had already studied and confirmed to be ordinary.
As Ryze stepped onto the stool and carefully reached toward the raven statue, Penelope felt a small spark of anticipation.
Perhaps something unexpected would happen after all.
The moment Ryze's fingers touched the raven's claw, a message suddenly appeared in his mind.
[Special Raven Task Activated]
Task Requirement: Investigate the traces of Ancient Magic left by Ravenclaw.
Task Completion Reward:
Permanent +3 Raven Collection Progress
One Random Silver Rune
Task Deadline: None
Ryze's eyes flickered slightly.
This task was completely different from the other Raven Tasks he had encountered before.
Normally, when a Raven Task appeared, the raven involved would glow faintly with a red light until the task was completed.
But this time was different.
The moment the task was triggered, the faint red glow surrounding the statue vanished instantly, as if it had never existed at all.
Ryze frowned slightly.
This was… strange.
Still, the reward was quite generous.
Receiving a Silver Rune ahead of time was extremely valuable.
As for the permanent +3 Raven Progress, Ryze guessed that it probably meant three additional ravens would be added to his quarterly settlement count.
That alone made the task worthwhile.
The only problem was the task requirement.
Investigate the traces of Ancient Magic left by Ravenclaw.
What exactly did that mean?
Did he simply need to locate evidence that Ravenclaw had left Ancient Magic here?
Or did he need to fully uncover and understand the magic itself?
The difference between those two possibilities could be enormous.
Ryze was still thinking when Anthony's voice called from below.
"So, Ryze," Anthony asked curiously, "did you find anything?"
Ryze shook his head slowly.
"Before touching it, I just had a strange feeling about the statue. Now that I've touched it, that feeling has become even stronger."
He paused.
"But I still can't figure out what exactly is wrong."
Then he turned toward Penelope.
"Prefect Penelope, could we take the statue down for a closer look?"
Penelope nodded immediately.
"Of course. I'll help you."
She walked over to the statue and inspected it briefly.
"It isn't solid bronze," she added, "but it still weighs several dozen pounds."
Anthony and the others quickly gathered around to help.
With Penelope guiding them, the group carefully lifted the statue from its place and slowly carried it out of the Room of Requirement.
Once they were outside the doorway, they gently lowered it onto the floor.
Anthony crouched beside it and tapped the metal surface lightly with his finger.
The statue gave a dull metallic sound.
"It's made quite realistically," he said thoughtfully. "Probably bronze."
Ryze nodded.
"Good thing it's hollow," he said with a relieved breath. "Otherwise moving it would have been a nightmare."
He walked around the statue once, carefully examining every angle.
But nothing seemed particularly unusual.
Finally, he knelt down and turned his attention to the statue's base.
There, engraved into the metal surface, was a small line of text.
Ryze studied it closely.
"Finding Ravenclaw's name on the base of a raven statue in Ravenclaw's Room of Requirement…"
He shrugged slightly.
"…isn't exactly surprising."
However, something about the writing caught his attention.
The spelling was slightly different from the modern version of "Ravenclaw."
For example, the letter 'a' was written using the phonetic symbol 'æ'.
The letter 'v' did not appear at all.
And the shapes of the letters themselves were slightly different from the ones used in modern wizarding writing.
Fortunately, Ryze had spent the past month studying under Professor Babblin.
During that time, he had gained a basic understanding of Ancient Runes and historical writing systems.
"These letters," Ryze said slowly, "match the writing style used between the 10th and 12th centuries."
He looked up at Penelope.
"That means this statue probably dates back to the founding era of Hogwarts."
He paused before adding another thought.
"It's even possible that Ravenclaw herself saw—or maybe even touched—this statue."
Penelope nodded calmly.
"That's correct."
She leaned against the wall as she continued.
"Precisely because of that historical connection, many researchers in the past placed great hopes on this statue."
"They believed that if Ravenclaw had ever interacted with it, she might have left behind traces of magic."
Then Penelope raised her wand.
"Let me show you something."
Now that they were a certain distance away from the Room of Requirement, the magical interference surrounding the room no longer affected spellcasting.
Penelope pointed her wand toward the statue.
"Aparecium."
Nothing happened.
"Specialis Revelio."
Still nothing.
"Flagrate."
No reaction.
"Finite Incantatem."
She continued casting several revealing charms one after another.
Each spell struck the statue and faded without revealing anything unusual.
Finally, Penelope performed a more drastic test.
With a precise motion of her wand, she cast a severing charm.
The statue split cleanly apart.
Its interior was revealed to be hollow, exactly as Ryze had suspected.
The students watched with fascination.
But Penelope wasn't finished yet.
She lifted her wand once more.
Using a more advanced form of Transfiguration, she transformed the statue into a real raven.
The black bird immediately flapped its wings and flew into the air.
It circled the group twice before landing back on its base.
Then, with another flash of magic, it reverted to its original statue form.
The young wizards watching the demonstration burst into applause.
"That," Penelope said with a small smile, "is basically every conventional method people have tried to analyze this statue."
She turned to Ryze.
"So—do you have any other ideas?"
Ryze rested his chin in his hand.
After thinking for a long moment, he sighed and shook his head.
"No."
According to the task prompt, the trace of Ancient Magic left by Ravenclaw was most likely hidden somewhere on this statue.
But that raised an obvious problem.
Over the past thousand years, countless witches and wizards had examined this object.
Many of them were far more skilled and knowledgeable than Ryze.
Yet none of them had managed to uncover any hidden secrets.
So how exactly was he supposed to succeed where they had failed?
Seeing Ryze's serious expression, Penelope offered a suggestion.
"You can keep studying it here if you want," she said. "We still need to finish cleaning the Room of Requirement."
But Ryze waved his hand quickly.
"It's fine," he said.
"I don't have any new ideas right now anyway."
He smiled sheepishly.
"And honestly, it would feel pretty embarrassing if I just rested here while everyone else was working."
"Let's finish cleaning first."
He glanced back at the statue.
"I can study it more slowly later."
Then he looked at Penelope again.
"Prefect Penelope, could you help me move it back to the common room afterward with magic?"
"If that's inconvenient, it's okay."
Penelope blinked in surprise.
Then she suddenly remembered something.
Reaching into her pocket, she pulled out a folded note.
"Actually," she said with a grin, "Professor Babblin prepared for this possibility."
She opened the note and showed it to Ryze.
"Look. This is a message she wrote for me in advance."
Ryze leaned closer to read it.
The note was short and direct.
If Ryze finds anything interesting in the Room of Requirement, he is allowed to take it with him.
If the item is not dangerous, it may be brought to the Ravenclaw common room.
If the item appears potentially dangerous, it should be moved to the Ancient Runes classroom instead.
Penelope folded the note again.
"So," she said lightly, "anything you take a fancy to can go with you."
"As long as it isn't too dangerous."
She glanced at the statue.
"And if it turns out to be dangerous…"
Her smile widened slightly.
"…then I'll help you carry it straight to Professor Babblin."
For more chapters
patreon.com/Liamlivingstone