The Ravenclaw common room is a spacious, round room with sky blue as the main color. The arched ceiling is adorned with intricate astrological maps, creating an ethereal atmosphere as soon as one enters.
Because of the room's circular structure, the lounge has windows every 30°, with a total of 12 rectangular hollow windows, all hung with blue silk.
Looking out through the glass, one can clearly see the main building of the castle and the Forbidden Forest not far away. It's safe to say that the scenery of Hogwarts is fully visible here.
A dark blue embroidered carpet stretches across the floor, and rows of pinewood bookshelves, filled with books, line the walls.
…
Of course, the most striking feature is the white marble statue standing in the niche at the front.
This is a statue of Rowena Ravenclaw, one of the founders of Hogwarts.
The statue bears a faint smile, which is both beautiful and warm, yet also intimidating.
On her head, there is an exquisite marble ring inlaid with sapphires, with a line of small words engraved on it: "Extraordinary intelligence and talent are the greatest wealth of mankind."
"Welcome, everyone. My name is Putt Thompson, and I'm the seventh-year prefect of Ravenclaw..."
The students of Ravenclaw tend to be quiet in general. After a brief speech by the class leader and a simple welcome ceremony for the new students by the senior students, they all went about their own business.
The freshmen also entered their respective dormitories one by one, under the guidance of their class leaders.
Ian also made his way to the place where he would live for the next five years: a standard Ravenclaw four-person dormitory.
It's just that his roommates hadn't returned yet, which was normal. They were all third-year students, and they wouldn't return to the dormitory to rest immediately after dinner.
"This is your dormitory. There happens to be an even number of third-year boys in the academy, so I'm sorry, you may only have two roommates," explained the prefect, named Putt Thompson, apologetically.
"They may still be in the library or somewhere else right now. It doesn't matter. You'll see them later."
Before leaving, Putt added, "By the way, Professor Flitwick, who is also our dean, hopes that after you get familiar with the dormitory, you can go to his office as soon as possible to discuss questions about your courses.
The office is on the fifth floor of the castle. You just need to go out of the tower and follow the path..."
Putt's personality was obviously not that of a chatterbox. After he finished explaining what he needed to say, he turned around and left.
…
Ian looked around and was very satisfied with his dormitory. In the center, there was a large round desk suitable for four people to use at the same time.
Three thick and sturdy single wooden beds were arranged in an equilateral triangle, with sky blue bed curtains that were tranquil and elegant. Apart from that, there was nothing else cluttered, suggesting that his two roommates were also simple people.
Ian wasn't surprised by Professor Flitwick's notice. It was clear that Professor McGonagall had explained his situation to the other faculty members after the sorting ceremony.
Since it was related to tomorrow's class, Ian quickly went to the office after the class monitor left.
Following the instructions, Ian soon arrived at his destination. After knocking on the door and receiving a response, he entered Professor Flitwick's office.
The room looked spacious but had very little usable space, as it was surrounded by bookshelves filled with rows of books. Ian roughly estimated that there were at least a thousand books in the office.
"Mr. Titus, I know all about your situation from Minerva. The reason I asked you to come here, in addition to giving you a special schedule, is that I think you need to hear a bit of advice," Professor Flitwick said, getting straight to the point.
Ian responded readily, "Thank you, Professor, and you can call me Ian!"
"Okay, Ian. Since you've never been exposed to magic before, it's clear that the third-year course is not suitable for you. You can only start by auditing the first-year courses.
My advice to you is to completely give up the third-year courses and focus on mastering the first-year content this semester. If you have any questions, feel free to come to me for help.
If all goes well, I hope you'll be able to audit the second-year classes starting from the second half of the year. This progress will be very beneficial for your OWLs exams three years later."
Professor Flitwick paused for a moment.
"Also, regarding elective courses, starting from the third year, students must take two elective courses, and you are no exception, so you have to decide on two courses today.
My suggestion is Care of Magical Creatures, Muggle Studies, Divination, and Arithmancy. You can choose two of them. These courses require very little basic knowledge, and the exams are relatively easy, not taking up too much of your time."
After quickly speaking these words, Professor Flitwick fell silent, obviously giving Ian some time to think.
Ian was deep in thought. He immediately dismissed Muggle Studies—this course was purely for credits and completely useless.
After a moment of contemplation, the answer came to him.
"Professor Flitwick, I'm choosing Care of Magical Creatures and Divination."
Ian's choice came after weighing the pros and cons. In 1991, the current professor of Care of Magical Creatures was not Hagrid but Professor Kettleburn. Obviously, he could learn something useful from him.
As for Divination, it was purely to maintain his plot-stealing persona. After all, in Dumbledore's eyes, he was a true prophet.
…
"Wise choice, Ian. Wait a moment," Professor Flitwick said.
He tapped his wand, and the parchment on the table automatically wrote Ian's name, then folded itself into a paper airplane and flew gracefully out the window.
Apparently, this was to inform the two professors of Ian's choice, since the class would officially begin the next day. Pressed for time, Professor Flitwick opted for this more convenient method of communication.
After doing all this, Professor Flitwick seemed a little more relaxed. He took out a small cake from his drawer to treat Ian and briefly instructed him on some important matters related to the class.
About half an hour later, Ian left Professor Flitwick's office with his special timetable in hand.