The Ravenclaw Way

It had to be said: at the very least, Hogwarts's start-of-term feast was outstanding.

Every kind of meat was cooked perfectly, not only tender and juicy, but full of flavor.

The sensible use of spices like black pepper and Rosemary brought out the rich savor of the meat itself.

The various gravies, ketchup, and dipping sauces were the same. Spread a little on a sausage or a potato, and it made a good thing even better.

Wizet took another lamb chop and poured a spoonful of gravy over it. The atmosphere of the feast grew livelier and livelier.

The older students around him laughed and chatted, discussing all kinds of interesting stories, from current news to gossip about famous magical figures, from tips on casting spells to the teachers who taught them.

Although Wizet had not yet studied magic systematically, he still gained a great deal from it.

Professor McGonagall had a good reputation. She was very responsible toward both her work and her students;

as the Head of Gryffindor, she was especially strict with the students of her own House, and never went easy when deducting points.

Professor Snape was the Potions Class professor, as well as the Head of Slytherin.

If Professor McGonagall was a positive example of being strict with oneself, then Professor Snape was the opposite;

Professor Snape was exceptionally lenient toward his own House and extraordinarily strict with the other Houses. He would even split hairs and deduct points over all kinds of trivial matters;

however, this behavior was mainly aimed at Gryffindor, and because of that, Gryffindor's House points had been at the bottom for years.

Professor Flitwick, as Head of Ravenclaw, was in charge of teaching Charms Class. The atmosphere in his lessons was very interesting, and all the Ravenclaw students held him in great affection.

Professor Sprout was a kind middle-aged woman. She spent her days among all kinds of magical herbs, and among the Ravenclaw students, her reputation was quite good as well.

After the main course came dessert. Not only were there all kinds of pies; muffins, puddings, jellies, and ice cream were all there too.

The syrup on these pastries was far too heavy, and the taste was honestly much too sweet.

Wizet only scooped out a small piece of ice cream and carefully savored its rich milky fragrance.

Dessert could lift people's spirits. The older students changed the subject, chatting about their summer holidays and the recent break-in by thieves at Gringotts.

"Have you heard about the recent accident at Gringotts? The Daily Prophet has run it as a headline for several issues already."

"Robbing an underground vault, and the highest-level vault at that—I don't think any wizard would be stupid enough to do something like that."

"I think so too. Maybe the goblins staged it themselves to show off their so-called spirit of service... Of course, only to wealthy pure-blood families."

"Maybe it's another goblin rebellion? During the summer holidays, I went to visit the Eye of the Mine. They still preserved some facilities from the goblin rebellion there. Their smelting techniques really were interesting."

The desserts vanished from the plates, which meant the start-of-term feast was drawing to a close.

Dumbledore stood up again and walked once more to the owl lectern. "Now that everyone has eaten and drunk their fill, perhaps you would not mind listening to this old man ramble on for a few more words..."

Amid a burst of light laughter, he continued with a beaming smile, "First, allow me to introduce to you the new Defense Against the Dark Arts professor—Quirinus Quirrell."

Quirinus Quirrell stood up. His head was wrapped in a heavy purple turban, giving his attire quite an Indian flair.

He waved his arms somewhat clumsily and stammered in a low voice, "H-hello, everyone! I-I am Quirinus Quirrell! I'm very p-pleased to be in charge of Defense Against the Dark Arts!"

"Thank you, Professor Quirrell!" Dumbledore gestured for Professor Quirrell to sit down. "There are also a few familiar points to note..."

"First-year students, please be aware that the Forbidden Forest on one side of the grounds is strictly off-limits to all students. It is very dangerous, and if you wish to enter, you must be absolutely certain of yourself."

"If you wish to learn more about the school rules and the details of point deductions, you may seek out our caretaker, Mr. Filch. He has prepared booklets there."

"In addition, the selection of Quidditch players will be held next week. Please keep an eye on the notice board in your common room for the specific time..."

Dumbledore added quite a few more details, then finally cleared his throat, put away his smile, and grew serious.

"There is one more matter, and it is also the most important matter. If you do not wish to encounter an accident, suffer pain, and die miserably, you must not go near the corridor on the right-hand side of the fourth floor. Remember this well!"

The Great Hall fell into a brief silence, until Dumbledore smiled again.

He cheerfully drew out his wand. "Before you return to your common rooms, let us all sing the school song together!"

Bang!

A long golden ribbon flew from the tip of his wand. It floated in midair above the Great Hall, twisting like a snake into lines of words.

Dumbledore used his wand as a conductor's baton. "Use whatever tune you like. Follow the lyrics, ready... sing!"

Gryffindor's singing was the loudest, followed by Hufflepuff.

Ravenclaw and Slytherin performed about the same. They merely mouthed along, and very few people actually sang out loud.

The somewhat awkward school-song segment ended, and the prefects led the students out of the Great Hall in single file, heading for their respective common rooms.

Wizet followed the marble staircase all the way forward. When the portraits around them saw them, they whispered among themselves and pointed.

Rumble, rumble, rumble...

A heavy sound came from ahead.

They were magical staircases, shifting constantly—now lengthening, now shortening, now arriving before a door, now pressing close against the wall.

Penelope was leading the way. She pointed proudly at the magical staircases and said, "The designer of the moving staircases was the founder of Ravenclaw—Rowena Ravenclaw."

"As a magical school, the staircases naturally could not be too ordinary. Moving staircases should be as free as wizards... All right, now it's time to go up. Let's go!"

She led the students onto the moving staircases and continued introducing the history of Ravenclaw House.

"Ravenclaw House is as free as the sky, and our common room is set high above. Bronze and blue are the representative colors of the house. These two colors symbolize the eagle of freedom and the sky..."

"Our common room has a house library. Though its collection can't compare with the school library's, it isn't far behind. At least when we read these books, we have much more freedom..."

The journey to Ravenclaw's common room was a long one, requiring them to pass constantly through the moving staircases.

During this process, quite a few new students began to grow muddled and started dozing off as they walked.

Wizet was not one of them. He looked around curiously at everything, whether it was the moving oil paintings or the suits of armor fighting each other. Everything was so magical.

Cho Chang smiled and said, "Looks like you're very suited to Ravenclaw. You're not muddled at all."

Wizet nodded. "This place is just too interesting. I can't get enough of it no matter how much I look... I hope I'll be able to fall asleep tonight."

Cho Chang reminded him, "There are classes tomorrow. It's best to get up early and leave a good impression on the teachers."

At last, they arrived at the tower where the common room was located.

A bronze door stood before them, with a bronze eagle statue perched on it, its wings folded.

The eagle statue looked lifelike, as if it would flap its wings and soar into the sky at any moment.

Penelope walked up to the bronze door. The knocker beneath the eagle statue trembled, and a pleasant female voice came from it.

"Here I am, yet I know nothing of it; neglect me, and I shall surely die?"

Penelope looked at Wizet and the others. "Ravenclaw is different from the other houses. We don't need a password. As long as you can answer the question correctly, you can enter the common room."

"Today's question isn't too difficult, so why don't we let the new students answer? Let's see who can guess it... what exactly is the answer to this question?"

Seeing that many of the new students were at a loss, she gently reminded them, "Remember, there isn't only one answer. As long as you can explain it, you pass."