[Achievement Unlocked: Ravenclaw Arithmetic Question]
The moment Tom entered the common room, he received a notification that he had completed an achievement.
[Successfully answered a Ravenclaw door knocker's arithmetic question. Reward: 40 magic stones]
Although it didn't grant him another spell, the reward was still decent. He could earn the same amount by completing four daily tasks.
"Nicely done!" Robert patted Tom on the shoulder. In his eyes, this little first-year was undoubtedly quick-witted. In previous years, most new students struggled to answer such questions, let alone answer them as quickly as Tom did.
Ravenclaw wizards had a natural affinity for cleverness, and Robert was no exception. He found Tom even more appealing now.
The Ravenclaw common room was a large circular room with an ethereal atmosphere. Elegant arched windows with blue and bronze silk curtains adorned the walls. The ceiling was painted with stars, and the deep blue carpet was covered in stars as well. The room had tables, chairs, bookshelves, and, facing the entrance, a marble statue.
It was the statue of Rowena Ravenclaw.
Rowena Ravenclaw wore a faint, almost mocking smile on her face—beautiful but somewhat intimidating. A delicate marble diadem adorned her head, inscribed with tiny words: "Exceptional wit is humanity's greatest treasure."
There weren't many people in the common room, just a few older Ravenclaw students. They didn't show any special interest in the new arrivals, appearing somewhat indifferent.
Once all the new students had entered the room, Robert gave a brief welcome speech to them, signifying their initiation.
"Congratulations, I'm Prefect Robert Hilliard, and I welcome you to Ravenclaw House..." (To read the full speech, click here)
After finishing the speech, Robert breathed a sigh of relief. He led the new students through the door behind the Ravenclaw statue, heading to their dormitories. There were two corridors behind the door—one leading to the boys' dormitory on the left and the other to the girls' dormitory on the right.
"Good night," Tom waved goodbye to Hermione and walked into the left corridor.
He joined five other boys—Michael Corner, Anthony Goldstein, Terry Boot, Stephen Cornfoot, and Kevin Entwhistle—and together they found their new dormitory. The clean and tidy room had six four-poster beds with blue silk curtains, and the beds were covered with sky-blue silk sheets. The wind outside the window made a comforting sound. Their trunks had already been delivered and sat neatly under their beds. The exhausted young wizards fell asleep as soon as they laid their heads on their pillows.
However, Tom couldn't sleep. He stared at his system, his emotions in turmoil. At this moment, his "casual stroll through the mortal world" had completed check-ins at three locations: the Great Hall of Hogwarts, the Ravenclaw common room, and surprisingly, the Ravenclaw boys' dormitory...
From a general perspective, the boys' dormitory could be considered a valid location for a check-in. But when looking at it rationally, it was quite absurd...
If the boys' dormitory could be considered a location, then what about the girls' dormitory? Could check-ins be done for all four houses? Could it apply to students and even professors? Tom felt that the system was encouraging him to stir up trouble. Think about it, for Stage Three, he only needed to unlock four locations, but for Stage Five, it required sixteen! And then thirty-two, sixty-four, and one hundred and twenty-eight...
How could he possibly achieve that? The later stages of this task were getting increasingly difficult.
A bold idea suddenly occurred to him: if he could persuade Dumbledore to establish several other-gender dormitories, could he farm achievements? For example, a transgender dormitory, a non-binary dormitory, a transgender dormitory where same-sex attraction was still acknowledged, or a transgender dormitory with gender dysphoria and same-sex attraction...
Layer upon layer! But he felt it probably wouldn't work.
Aside from the changes in his progress for the casual stroll through the mortal world task, he also received a notification about unlocking the main quest.
[Main Quest Chapter 1: Catching the Wind Wanderer: Please go to the Room of Requirement after sunset and solve the puzzle.
Reward: Unknown]
The description was quite vague, and it didn't even mention what the reward was. Moreover, the completion time for the quest was odd, specifying that it had to be done after sunset, which meant he had to venture out at night. Scotland had late sunsets, usually not until after 8 PM.
He thought for a moment. Today might be a good opportunity. It was the first day of school, and the professors had many tasks to attend to. This gave him a chance to secretly complete the quest. He decided to seize this opportunity. Without wasting any time, he got out of bed, dressed quietly, and made his way to the common room.
What surprised him was that it was almost eleven o'clock, yet there were still people in the common room!
It wasn't just anyone; it was Hermione. She had arrived at Hogwarts on her first day, full of excitement, unable to sleep. She had decided to read a book in the common room. However, before she could read more than a few pages, she heard footsteps and looked up. To her surprise, she saw Tom sneaking out from the boys' dormitory. This raised suspicions in her mind.
"What are you planning?" Hermione was the last person Tom expected to encounter. "I can't believe you're doing this, Tom. You're trying to sneak out! Remember that the first rule in the school regulations is that students are not allowed to leave their dormitories at night. Do you know how many points this could cost our house?"
Tom considered telling her part of the truth. "Well, I received a lead and want to explore a hidden place. Don't worry; it's perfectly safe."
"You should contact Professor Flitwick," Hermione stated bluntly, believing that informing a professor was the best course of action in this situation.
"No," Tom refused Hermione's suggestion, knowing he couldn't approach a professor.
(End Of Chapter)