The final weeks of term at Hogwarts were a strange, surreal anticlimax. The official story released to the public was that the Triwizard Tournament had ended with Harry Potter's win, showing his exceptional courage. The "unfortunate magical interference" during the final task was attributed to the fugitive Peter Pettigrew, and the Ministry, under intense pressure, launched a massive, high-profile manhunt for both him and Bellatrix Lestrange.
The truth of Voldemort's return was a secret held tightly within the small circle who had viewed the memory. There were rumours as the Hogwarts as usual, of Harry Potter and Dumbledore preaching of Voldemort's return, a fact that unsettled some, shile others merely scoffed at the news.
Ariana when asked by Dumbledore as to why she was not supporting them openly was of two major opinions, the first being that since Voldemort was not in the open, proving his return was not possible, especially when the public is in denial. Second was that Fudge was not going to publicly support this narrative and was going to probably go on a war against Harry and Dumbledore. Right now, Ariana's neutrality meant that she was perfectly capable of using Fudge's decision to bolster the aurors against the know fugitives, as a step towards fighting Voldemort, even when Fudge himself was not aware of it. Fudge's belief that Ariana was supporting him was simply his own misconception, not Ariana's business to concern with.
For Ariana, the outcome of the year was a significant, if partial, victory. Her primary objective— Harry's survival—had been achieved. Her secondary objective—preventing the death of a fellow champion—had also been successful. Cedric Diggory was alive and well, celebrated as a true Hogwarts champion, even though he was not a winner. The timeline had been successfully altered. Voldemort had returned, yes, but that had always been an inevitable variable. The critical difference was that he had returned without a dramatic confrontation, and without the death of a student to mark his resurrection. He was a shade that they were going to fight with in hiding. This gave them time. And time was their most valuable asset.
On the last day of term, while most students were frantically packing their trunks and saying their goodbyes, Ariana had one final piece of business to attend to. She slipped away to the seventh floor corridor.
I need the place where things are hidden, she thought, pacing three times before the wall. I need to find the lost Diadem of Ravenclaw.
The familiar, polished door appeared. She stepped inside, not into her laboratory, but into the vast, chaotic cathedral of lost things, the chamber that she herself had locked. Mountains of old furniture, towers of forgotten books, and centuries of discarded hopes and dreams filled the cavernous space, sorted and yet cluttered all the same.
She did not search aimlessly. She closed her eyes and focused her senses, searching not for an object, but for the familiar, cold, cancerous signature of a Horcrux. It was a faint, sickly whisper in the magical silence. She followed it, navigating the labyrinth of forgotten junk with a quiet, purposeful grace.
She found it perched atop a dusty, chipped bust of an ugly old warlock. It was a delicate, silver diadem, beautifully crafted, with a pale blue sapphire set in the center. It was tarnished and old, but it still radiated a faint aura of ancient wisdom, now horribly corrupted by the soul-fragment clinging to it. "Wit beyond measure is man's greatest treasure," was etched faintly upon its surface.
The procedure, by now, was familiar. She created her sterile, shielded workspace. She administered the anesthetic. She used Parseltongue to command the soul-fragment's defenses to lower. And with a clean, efficient Exsilium Animae, she pulled the screaming wisp of Tom Riddle's soul from its hiding place and sealed it within a new obsidian sphere.
She now possessed another contained piece of Lord Voldemort's soul.
She presented the fourth piece of Tom's mangled soul and the now-cleansed Diadem to Dumbledore just before leaving for the train. The Headmaster, who was becoming accustomed to his prodigy's stunning achievements, simply shook his head with a weary, awestruck smile.
"You have done in a single year what I have failed to do in a decade, Ariana," he said, accepting the contained Horcrux.
"I had better data," she replied simply. "As with the locket, Professor, I will retain the Diadem. It is safer 'lost' with me than 'found' in a Ministry vault."
Dumbledore nodded his agreement without hesitation. Her guardianship was, he knew, the most secure in the world.
The departure of the foreign students was a series of poignant farewells. Viktor Krum, sullen as ever, found Hermione and gave her a stiff, formal nod before boarding the dark Durmstrang ship, promising to write.
Fleur Delacour, however, sought out Ariana. She approached the Gryffindor-Slytherin group with a newfound grace, her previous haughtiness completely gone.
"Ariana," she said, her voice warm and sincere. "I wish you a good summer. You are a truly remarkable witch. Beautiful, and powerful." She gave Ariana a brief, continental hug. "Please, stay in contact." As she pulled away, she shot a quick, triumphant smirk over her shoulder at the slightly bristling expressions on Hermione's and Daphne's faces, a final, good-natured spark in her eyes at their possessive look.
The journey back to London on the Hogwarts Express was a relaxed, happy affair. The six of them—Harry, Ron, Neville, Hermione, Daphne, and Ariana—occupied a carriage.
"So, what are the summer plans?" Ron asked. "I'm at the Burrow, Harry's coming to stay with me after a week, and Hermione's parents are taking her to France."
"My family is summering on the continent as well," Daphne said. "Father has… diplomatic business to attend to."
All eyes turned to Ariana.
"I will be at Grimmauld Place for the first week," she announced. "Sirius and Remus require assistance in organizing the Black family library, a task I find… acceptable. After that," she paused, looking at Neville, "I plan to visit Longbottom Manor for a time."
Neville's face lit up with a brilliant, joyous smile. The prospect of having Ariana, the person who had given him back his parents, as a guest in his own home was the greatest honor he could imagine.
"And after that?" Hermione pressed, a hopeful look on her face.
"After that," Ariana said, a thoughtful, distant look in her eyes, "I will be retreating to my own residence. I have a new project I am developing."
"Oh?" Hermione asked, her curiosity immediately piqued. "What is it? A new magical theory? An alchemical problem?"
"Something more fundamental," Ariana replied, her expression serene but her mind already working on the complex variables.
It was her most audacious project yet, a plan that would take her into the deepest, most dangerous waters of magic. As the train rattled towards London, carrying them away from a year of trials and triumphs, Ariana was already looking ahead, her brilliant mind focused on the next impossible problem, ready to solve it.