At some point after her graduation from Hogwarts School, Helena stole her mother's diadem, which was said to enhance the wisdom of the wearer. Helena was jealous of her mother's famous intellect and took the diadem with her to Albania, far away from her mother's reach, in hopes of surpassing her. Ashamed of her daughter's betrayal, Rowena Ravenclaw opted to keep her daughter's treachery a secret from others, and denied it even from her fellow founders.

Then, Rowena fell fatally ill. Disregarding her treason, she asked the Baron, who was in love with Helena, to go and find her daughter, merely wishing to see her one last time. He eventually tracked her to a forest in Albania, but when she refused to return with him, the Baron flew into a fit of rage, furious at her refusal and envious of her freedom, and stabbed her. Immediately overcome with guilt, he then took his own life. The two would later become, respectively, Ravenclaw and Slytherin house ghosts. Thus, Rowena did not get the chance to reconcile with her daughter before their untimely deaths (unless her daughter's ghost returned to the castle before Rowena's death).

Legend had it that a "broken heart" added to her early demise. This story may have had origin in her estrangement with her daughter