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After the feast was finished and Dumbledore gave his warnings and spoke nonsense, Harry followed the other Ravenclaws up to their tower, being lead by Penelope Clearwater who Harry had never met, but remembered getting petrified in his second year and for dating Percy Weasley. The other prefect, Jason Samuels, Harry had never heard of.
Making the first years wait while the rest of the house entered, Penelope waited for the door to close before beckoning them all closer.
"Right, we have a tradition in our house for first years, which is that you all have to work together the first time to unlock the door. Unlike the other houses, we in Ravenclaw don't have a set password, instead the door guardian will ask you a riddle. To get in, all you have to do is answer correctly," she explained.
Harry shared nervous looks with the rest of his house mates. He had become a lot more studious and cunning since having the blocks removed, but he didn't know if that would correspond with him being able to solve riddles.
"Right then, are we ready?" Jason asked.
Harry, alongside his year mates, nodded and waited for the guardian to speak.
"You will always find me in the past. I can be created in the present, but the future can never taint me. What am I?
Harry thought about it and failed to reach a conclusion straight away; he had first thought about memories but he knew from his own that they could be tainted quite easily, however, after a moment, a new idea hit him.
Sue Li seemed to have worked it out as well as she bounced slightly. "History," she said.
The others all nodded and realised the answer after she spoke.
"Correct," the guardian said, opening the door.
Leading them up the spiral staircase and into the circular common room where the rest of the house was waiting, Penelope walked forward and led the group into the room. Harry remembered coming in here once in his last life when he was looking for Tom's horcruxes; at the time he hadn't really taken in the beauty of the room. It was very different from the Gryffindor common room. The white walls were broken up by tapestries of famous events and the ceiling was covered in stars, perfect renditions of the solar system. Against most of the walls were massive bookcases, which were filled to the brim. Unlike the stone floor that covered Gryffindor common room, the eagles nest had navy carpet and there were more singular love seats over couches and sofas. There was also a lot more desks and notice boards dotted around, which Harry saw had specific subjects engraved underneath.
After Harry had finished his appraisal, he noticed that Penelope had taken a step back and that a new older prefect had stepped forward. "Welcome and congratulations on being sorted into Ravenclaw, the house of wit, learning, and wisdom. My name is Maria Delphine and I'm your seventh year female prefect. Now, like I said, we eagles do strive for knowledge but you should remember that's not what we're all about. Unlike what some people will say, we do know how to have fun and, between us, we do throw the wildest parties. However, as you can probably tell from looking around, we take our learning seriously. You'll see that each subject has a notice board in the common room; if you're ever struggling and want help, or simply want to talk about a specific subject, you can put a note on the board. I recommend that you check them regularly as often people will post study sessions on them and they're a great way to advance your studies and have fun."
Harry was impressed by the system and wished that Gryffindor had had something similar - that notice board had been covered in junk. This seemed like a great idea.
Maria continued her speech, "For first years, you'll see that some of the subjects don't apply to you. This does not mean you can't ask questions; deciding what options to take in your third year is important and asking questions to make an informed decision is the smart thing to do. However, you should know that 5th and 7th years may not always take the time to indulge you as they are exam years. Moving on, in Ravenclaw we have unofficial rules, you won't find them written down but we all know them and we all abide to them. The rules are simple: never leave a fellow raven alone in danger - If you see a raven alone being attacked or bullied, you help them. If that means getting involved, distracting the perpetrator, or getting a teacher it doesn't matter. You help. The next rule is similar to the first: you never deliberately get a fellow raven into trouble. If you have a problem, you keep it in the common room, you don't risk house points to get even. The last rule: never be afraid to push the boundaries of knowledge or conform to what is expected, we all have our strengths and weaknesses. Never feel that you have to back down, chase the knowledge you desire if that's your passion."
Maria's speech left the first years nodding in agreement. A second seventh year stepped forward, this one a wiry Asian male. "Like Maria said, we are Ravenclaws and we stick together. I'm Tomas Li, your male seventh year prefect. During this first week many of you will most likely begin to see which areas of magic you excel in, however don't be disheartened if what you get isn't what you expected. Some of you will be great at charms, some at potions, and some at transfiguration, so don't worry if you seem to struggle in some areas - work together and help each other. Building on that, for the first few days there will be an upperclassman escorting you to and from your lessons until you get a general feeling for the route. You will also be given a map of the school. Study it and learn it, after the first few days tardiness will not be accepted.
"Now then, Professor Flitwick is our head of house. He tends to favour us slightly, but, in general, he's a fair teacher; all the heads of houses do that, so we're at no real advantage. The only teachers to be wary of would be Professor Snape in the dungeons. He teaches potions and he is not to be messed about with. If you do your work to the best of your ability and don't mess around, he should treat you fairly even if you're not naturally gifted in brewing. The other teacher to watch would be Professor Trelawney, though you shouldn't really come into contact with her until 3rd year. She teaches divination and tends to be a bit... free with her death predictions. It's best to take whatever she says with a pinch of salt. The defence professors should usually be treated carefully in the first week until you can get a feel for them; they change every year, so no insight can usually be given. However, Quirrell once taught muggle studies, therefore we can safely say you should be fine with him."