Dormitory

Robert stood before the open door.

Wearing large black-rimmed glasses, he swept his gaze over the young wizards and asked in a calm tone, "May I ask which junior answered just now?"

"It was Lucien!"

Terry raised his hand with an excited look, so thrilled it was as if he had been the one to answer correctly.

That shout instantly drew everyone's attention to Lucien.

With a crowd staring at him in curiosity or surprise, Lucien showed no discomfort and remained perfectly composed.

Robert adjusted his glasses, then suddenly gave Lucien a thumbs-up.

"Impressive. Truly impressive."

"That question just now—I'd wager some third- and fourth-years wouldn't be able to answer it. I didn't expect..."

"The Sorting Hat was absolutely right to put you in Ravenclaw, Lucien!"

"What did I just say? Eagle House has the cleverest wizards!"

As he spoke, Robert lifted his head proudly again, making his golden woolly curls bounce.

"All right, let's enter the Ravenclaw common room. This will also be your home for the next seven years."

They followed Robert into the common room.

What entered Lucien's view was a bright, dreamlike scene. Starlight shone through the surrounding windows, shifting star charts moved across the ceiling, and even the carpet was dotted with stars.

It was a large circular room, hung with silk in Ravenclaw's representative colors of blue and bronze.

Some older students were gathered in corners or on sofas, discussing course material, while others were simply practicing charms.

Lucien walked closer to an arched window and found that from here, he could look down on the Black Lake, the Forbidden Forest, the greenhouses, and the Quidditch pitch.

As expected of Eagle House, even their common room was chosen at the top of a tower.

The view here was open and expansive, and it was very quiet too. It really was well suited for studying.

Mm, coming to Ravenclaw really was the right choice!

"Everyone, please look at this statue."

Robert raised an arm, signaling for the young wizards to look toward the white marble statue in the center of the common room.

It was of a beautiful lady who also looked somewhat stern.

It was clearly only a statue, yet Lucien somehow felt her eyes were rather lively.

As if she were examining and encouraging the students before her.

"This is the founder of our house, Rowena Ravenclaw."

While everyone was admiring Ravenclaw's statue and listening to Robert's introduction to her life, Terry sidled up beside Lucien and whispered sneakily, "Hey, hey, Lucien, how exactly did you solve that question just now?"

Lucien tilted his head toward Terry and said softly, "The premise is that all five wizards are absolutely intelligent. After that, you can try working backward, starting from the fifth wizard."

Hearing Lucien's hint, Terry lowered his head and began thinking.

Children sorted into Ravenclaw all loved learning and craved knowledge.

Terry was no exception. He wanted to use the hint Lucien had given him to try to crack the riddle.

"That's all for today's introduction. These are your room numbers. Please take them."

"If you have any questions, you can come straight to room 108 to find me."

Robert waved his wand, and dozens of slips of paper floated out of his pocket, flying toward each young wizard.

Watching Robert perform wordless magic so easily, Lucien raised an eyebrow.

As expected, anyone who could become a Ravenclaw prefect had some real skill.

"Lucien, which dorm are you in?"

"I'm in 226."

Terry even held his own slip of paper up in front of Lucien.

"Mm, what a coincidence. I'm in 226 too."

"That's great! What a coincidence, what a coincidence, hahaha."

Lucien and Terry went up a flight of stairs and arrived at their dormitory.

They found that their luggage had already been placed beside their beds.

Because it was inside a tower, Ravenclaw's common room was the smallest of the four houses, and it was also the only one that used bunk beds.

The beds came with dark-blue curtains. If they wanted their own little space, they only had to pull them closed.

Terry wandered around the dormitory, curiosity written all over his face.

"Hey, Lucien, our dorm's a double room. It's just a little small."

Lucien nodded.

True, it was a double room, and the dorm was on the small side, but fewer people meant it was quieter too.

"Lucien, you pick first. Top bunk or bottom?"

"Top bunk."

"Done, no problem. I happen to like the bottom bunk. More convenient."

As he spoke, Terry had already launched himself onto the lower bunk, directly testing how soft the mattress was.

Terry rested his head back and looked up at the bedboard above him.

"I'm guessing our house just has too many girls and too few boys, so they put us in this little dorm."

"Sigh, having so many girls feels like such a hassle. I can't play with them at all. What am I supposed to do for the next few years?"

Hearing Terry's typical little-boy complaint, Lucien glanced at him.

Heh. In a few years, you might end up hugging the Sorting Hat and giving it a kiss.

Thanking it for sorting you into Eagle House, where there were so many girls.

If there were a magical item that recorded those words and played them back to him later, that would be pretty interesting too.

Unfortunately, Hogwarts seemed to be affected by ancient magic, and Muggle electronic devices could not be used here.

Lucien examined the bunk beds. They could not compare to the big bed at home, but he was still used to it.

After all, before crossing over, he had lived in school dorms too, six-person rooms, eight-person rooms, bunk beds and all...

Ugh, this was a world of magic. It was just a bed, a minor issue.

Later, he could learn the Undetectable Extension Charm and first expand the bed's space a little.

Perhaps he could ask Professor Flitwick for advice. He was one of the foremost Charms masters of the age, and also Lucien's head of house. He definitely would not refuse.

After they finished putting away their luggage, each of them washed up.

Terry had already changed into pajamas and lain down in bed.

"Lucien, aren't you sleeping yet? I think we have class tomorrow morning."

Lucien sat by the window, reading a copy of Encyclopedia of Common Potions by the lamplight and starlight.

"I'll read a little more, then sleep."

Seeing how seriously Lucien was reading, Terry sighed softly.

"You work way too hard. Honestly, just thinking about learning magic tomorrow has me so excited I can't even sleep, let alone read!"

Lucien shook his head.

"It's fine. Reading is a habit too. It helps me relax."

"Oh right, Lucien, I still haven't figured out that Galleon-sharing problem. Can you explain it to me?"

Lucien kept reading as he began to explain.

"Start from the fifth wizard. No matter what proposal the fourth wizard makes, he'll reject it and use the chance to take all the Galleons for himself. From there, consider the fourth wizard, then the third..."