As I walked down the steps, my pulse increased as the excitement continued to build within me. Once I reached the doorway at the bottom, I paused when I saw the giant Bronze Eagle Statue waiting motionlessly in the center of the circular room.

Unlike last year, there was nothing in the room except the Eagle. I couldn't help but wonder what the Eagle usually did to keep busy. Did it go dormant? I gave a mental shrug. Who knows, maybe it wasn't even capable of being bored.

An impatient voice cut in, jolting me from my thoughts, "Are you going to stand there all day with that idiotic look on your face?"

My face burned red in embarrassment. I had forgotten how sharp the Eagle's tongue could be when it was impatient.

I shot the Eagle my best scowl and rebuked, "I'll enter when I'm good and ready." I waited a few more seconds just to prove a point, "Now I'm ready."

"You're probably just afraid you're going to fail like so many others before you." The Eagle gloated.

My left eye started twitching in annoyance, and I felt the urge to draw my wand and curse the Statue. I squashed the feeling because I didn't want to chance the Eagle messing with me during the trial.

Standing before the bronze eagle, I said in a formal tone, "I'm ready for the trial."

The Bronze Statue lowered its head, peered down at me and grunted, "Well, at least you put it off to the last moment. I've seen many proud Ravenclaws fail because they are overconfident and try months before they run out of time."

The eagle lifted its wing for a moment, and a pedestal rose from the ground. On top was a small pitch-black stone that looked like it drained any light touching it away.

I glanced at the stone for a moment before turning back to the bronze statue and warily questioned, "What is that?"

The Eagle explained, "It's a mind stone. It's a rare curious piece of magic that occurs in nature."

"What do I do with it?"

Smirking at me, the Statue replied, "That's easy. All you have to do is pick it up."

"For how long?" I asked.

The eagle refused to say another word, and I got the sense that not knowing how long the trial would last was part of the test. Not knowing how long something would last could really mess with your head. But, I wasn't too worried about anything getting through my shield, not after a certain potions master spent countless hours battering on them.

After making sure my Occlumency shield was firmly in place, I walked over to the pedestal, after a moment of hesitation, I grabbed the mind stone and sat down in a comfortable pose.

Instantly, I felt a faint buzzing in my mind, and I could feel a slight pressure on my shield. I smirked. If that was the best it could do, then this test was in the bag.

Almost like it heard me, the pressure slightly increased. I frowned at the increase. While the increased demand was well within my capabilities, if it kept going and didn't have a limit to how much it could increase. This trial could be a lot harder than I thought.

As time went on, the pressure increased. But, my shield held firm. I gave a mental thanks to Professor Snape for his constant mental intrusions. Thanks to him, I have experience weathering long drawn out incursions against my shields.

Eventually, the pressure rose to where it felt like a physical weight on my mind. It reminded me of the times I dealt with Professor Snape's intrusions.

As time went on, the pressure increased tenfold, and soon sweat was pouring off me as it took every ounce of my will to maintain my shield. I lost all track of time, and not knowing when the trial would end made the test more difficult. Small voices in the back of my mind whispered that it was ok to give up, that not even Dad was able to complete the trial.

I gritted my teeth in frustration. There was no way I was giving in. I didn't come this far to lose to a stupid rock. One way or another, I was beating this trial.

But, as each minute rolled by, the pressure increased without fail. When was this stupid trial going to end? It had to have been almost three hours by now. I was starting to feel completely drained, it was one thing to keep your shields up all day and another to weather a constant attack. Not to mention the pressure the mind stone was currently emitting made Professor Snape's attempt seem childish. I didn't know how much more I had in me.

I cracked my eyes open and found the eagle staring at me in fascination. I wearily grunted, "How much longer?"

"Oh, you were done ages ago, you only needed to keep it up for an hour. I was just curious how long you could keep going." The Bronze Eagle brought its wings together in a suspiciously sarcastic clapping motion, "Good job, three hours is impressive. I didn't think you had it in you."

I was so drained that it took me a minute to register. I dropped the mind stone on the floor, and the instant it hit the ground, it disappeared. I pointed my arm at the Bronze Eagle and threatened, "I'm going to pluck those feathers of yours and scatter them across Hogwarts."

"Now, now, don't be so dramatic," The Eagle scoffed, "You passed the first half with flying colors. But, that was the easy part. What comes next is far more difficult and dangerous."

Now that I had passed the first round, the Eagle seemed to be a little less snarky as he explained, "As you should be aware, Occlumency has two stages of success. Most people who can gain some mastery in the art only make it as far as the shield. To prove yourself worthy of being an Heir of Ravenclaw, you must show that you have mastered Occlumency, which involves being able to create fake memories."

"How am I supposed to do that?"

The Statue pointed one of his wings to the wall, and a door appeared. "On the other side lies the nest of a griffin. Your test is to fool him into thinking you have already completed the trial and now are an Heir of Ravenclaw. A griffin has strong mental powers and will exam your memories. They have been known to extract a price if it discovers you lied to it."

"What kind of price?" I asked.

"The only kind that matters, blood." The Bronze statue explained. "It's not too late to back out. There's no shame in quitting. You've come farther than the vast majority of others by completing the first trial."

My stony silence was answer enough for the eagle. "Fine, if you can convince the Griffin, it will give you a token. Return with it, and you will have proven yourself to be a true Heir of Ravenclaw."

"What kind of token?" I asked.

The Bronze Eagle replied,'If you if can fool the Griffin, it will give you a feather. They contain interesting magical properties."

Opening the door, I quickly went through. On the other side, the door let out of a cliff high above the ground. I was so high. I could see Hogwarts off in the distance, which meant that this was somewhere in the forbidden forest.

To me, this confirmed that the trial room had the same magic at the Room of Requirement. I knew I shouldn't be too surprised, Rowena Ravenclaw was the one who laid the more complex enchantments in Hogwarts.

As I moved forward, I made sure to prop the door open. I didn't want to get stuck out here and have to make the trip back on foot. Not quite sure where to go, I decided that since this was a griffin I was looking for, up was probably the best bet, so I followed a path up the cliff.

On my way up the cliff, in my mind palace, I was throwing together half-a-dozen memories of me becoming the Heir of Ravenclaw. I wasn't exactly sure what the Griffin would be looking for, I knew from reading my book on magical creatures that only the truth may be spoken in a griffin's presence. But, with my recent experience with the mind lamprey. I should be ok.

As I approached the summit, I could feel eyes following my every move. I was tempted to draw my wand, but I knew the Griffin might view that as a provocation.

I froze when I heard a rustling coming out in front of me. A small creature about the size of a dog with the head and front legs of an eagle and the body and back legs of a lion peered out at me from behind a rock.

Not wanting to scare it, I knelt and used a gentle tone that one would use on a scared dog, "Oh, you're a lot smaller than I was expecting."

The small Griffin cocked its head to the side as if it didn't know what to make of me.

Then I heard a loud whoosh through the air. I looked towards the sky, and I saw a version of the Griffin that was ten times bigger than the small one. With each mighty beat of its wings, a gust of wind blew past me.

It let out a loud screech as it landed protectively in front of its young. Sharp eagle eyes glared at me, daring me to approach. Logically I knew as long as I didn't attack, neither would the Griffin. But, knowing and doing are two very different things.

Mustering my courage, I slowly approached the Griffin. I knew I had to be very careful because any utter falsehood would incite the Griffin to attack.

"Hey, big guy, I'm here to get a feather for a certain annoying bronze eagle statue." I cautiously said.

The Griffin's eyes narrowed when it heard my words. Wanting to get this over with, I said, "If it helps, I'm an Heir of Ravenclaw."

I felt a monstrous presence enter my mind. It was challenging to fight the urge to keep the Griffin out of my mind. But, I knew that it needed to see and be fooled if I wanted this to work.

As it callously rummaged through the memories I had crafted, I was a little unnerved by its presence. While it was obviously intelligent, I was struck by how foreign its way thinking was compared to humans. When it didn't appear satisfied with the few memories I crafted, I immediately started making more.

Eventually, the Griffin appeared to be satisfied that I was telling the truth and left my mind. The second it left, I raised my shields. It was an uncomfortable feeling having something rummage through your mind.

The Griffin reached out and plucked one of its feathers with its beak and tossed it towards me. As I picked up the feather, I noticed it hummed with magic.

Without taking my eyes of the Griffin, I slowly backed away. Once I had gotten far enough away, I turned and rushed down the path. When I went back through the door, I noticed the Bronze Eagle staring at me in surprise. Apparently, it didn't think I had fully mastered Occlumency and was doomed to failure.

Smugly, I handed the feather towards it and asked, "What else you got?"

Without saying a word, the Eagle reached out a wing. As soon as the magical feather touched the statue's wing, it disappeared.

"You did it," The Eagle muttered in surprise. "It's been so long since we had an Heir of Ravenclaw."

A little unnerved by the intensity of the Statue's gaze, I asked, "Does that mean I passed the trial?"

"Yes, you are the seventh wizard in nearly a thousand years to pass the trial." The Bronze Eagle replied earnestly.

I smiled when I heard that I was the seventh, seven was a powerful number in magic.

Part of me realized that it was ironic that I owed some of my success to Delvin. Had I never been exposed to the mind lamprey, I wouldn't have been able to create those fake memories so quickly.

Curious about what the rewards were, I said, "So, what do I get now that I'm an heir?"

The trial room changed in an instant. The circular room was now filled with ancient tomes, scrolls, and even clay tablets. "Most of these predate Hogwarts and go back thousands of years. Rowena was a collector and spent years gathering ancient knowledge."

My eyes sparkled in joy. Ancient wizards rarely shared their knowledge. It wasn't uncommon for something to be discovered only to be lost. Before the era of schools, so much was lost. Ancient wizards had access to wondrous magic, but they jealously guarded their secrets.

But, even after seeing all of this, I couldn't help but be a little disappointed. It could take half a lifetime to translate all of these works. I had been hoping for something a little more substantial.

As if sensing my thoughts, the Eagle smirked and said, "That was just her collection of ancient works. Now we can get to the good stuff."

The room changed again, and several dozens of tomes and grimoires appeared. "These are Rowena's grimoires that contain spells she created over her lifetime."

Even though the number of books was far less than the previous amount, I knew that even this much was impressive. Most witches and wizards could go a lifetime without creating a new spell. I prayed that the lost enchantments that created the Room of Requirement were in here somewhere. One day, I would love to enchant my tower with the same spells.

"How did she create so many spells?" I asked.

"Rowena was one of the smartest and gifted witches of her time. Her intelligence outstripped the other founders by a great deal. But, when she put on the diadem, her wisdom was boosted to an unimaginable level. She was on a whole other level as she created some of the most complicated spells ever made."

.

The Eagle made another motion, and other books joined the collection. "These are the other heir's knowledge. They each went on to pioneer magic in new and exciting ways. You should recognize some of the names, like Ignatia Wildsmith, who created the floo network. Some you won't recognize because their work was so on the edge that it was banned, like Rowan Ibex, who pioneered cronomagic.

There were so many choices to choose from that I didn't know where to begin. Sensing my indecision, the Statue smirked, "Let me help you out, I know where you need to begin."

The Eagle carefully slid a massive tome across the floor, "Here, out of all the books here, this may be Rowena's most valuable book that she wrote."

Picking up the heavy tome, I asked, "What is it?"

"It's a book she wrote while wearing her diadem, about magic itself, and creating spells. This book will help you reach a deep understanding of magic itself and will allow you to push the boundaries of magic and create spells of your own making. That way, one day, you too can leave behind a legacy for the next Heir of Ravenclaw."

I held the tome carefully, this was more like it. Being able to understand magic on a deeper level was my dream, and being able to create spells was a close second.

All the effort this year I made was worth it. I could see that this library was going to help propel my magical skill to a new level. It might take a while to master everything, but I'm confident that one day I too will have an impressive legacy to show the world.