“Hey, John.” Once the feast began, everyone started eating, and the atmosphere in the Great Hall became lively again.
Titus, carrying a plate piled with chicken legs, came over to the Ravenclaw table and sat down right beside John.
“Didn’t we agree to go to Hufflepuff together?
How did you end up in Ravenclaw by yourself?” Titus spoke with obvious dissatisfaction while chewing on a chicken leg.
“Huh?
When did we agree to that?” “I was winking at you from the stage, and you nodded back!” Seeing John’s completely unconcerned expression, Titus immediately protested.
?
“That counts as an agreement?” John looked utterly confused.
“Then why did you nod?” Titus asked in a completely matter-of-fact tone.
“I thought we were just exchanging normal glances without any special meaning.” John answered as though it were perfectly natural.
“…” “Traitor!” Titus fell silent for a moment before accusing him fiercely.
Even so, he still sat beside John and continued gnawing on his chicken legs in silence.
Seeing the little chubby boy, who had chatted nonstop with him the entire journey here, now sulking quietly, John felt a bit helpless and placed another chicken leg onto his plate.
“Alright, alright, I was wrong, okay?
Next time, I’ll definitely be in the same House as you.” Hearing John admit his mistake and seeing the extra chicken leg, the little chubby boy immediately grinned foolishly again.
“It’s a deal then.
Next time, you have to be sorted into Hufflepuff.” With that, he picked up his plate and headed back.
Halfway there, Titus suddenly froze.
Wait a minute, what did he mean by next time?
The next life?
…
After the feast ended, the Ravenclaw prefect, Robert, was the first to lead the Ravenclaw first-years out toward their common room.
The Ravenclaw common room was located inside a tower on the west side of the castle, also known as Ravenclaw Tower.
Following the prefect, they left the Great Hall and arrived at the spiral staircases John had only read about in books before.
The staircases would occasionally change direction, and the walls around them were covered in portraits.
The figures in the paintings could talk and move.
Every first-year present was stunned by the sight before them.
Keeping pace with Prefect Robert, they climbed the staircase on the right, went all the way upward, passed through a corridor in the castle, and finally arrived at Ravenclaw Tower.
The group stopped in front of a massive bronze door shaped like an eagle.
“This is the entrance to the Ravenclaw common room.” “Unlike the other Houses, we do not use a password to enter.
Instead, we must answer the bronze eagle’s question.” “Of course, there’s no need for everyone to answer individually.
As long as one person answers correctly, everyone may enter.” “Now then, step forward.” With that, Prefect Robert moved aside, allowing the first-years to experience it for themselves.
As they approached the bronze eagle, the eyes of the eagle’s head suddenly lit up.
“If a prophecy must come true, does the warning contained within the prophecy become the cause of its fulfillment?” The bronze eagle spoke in a low voice.
Hearing the question, John immediately began thinking, though not about the question itself.
Instead, he was wondering whether philosophical questions like this even had a single correct answer.
Would a simple “yes” or “no” be enough?
After all, the bronze eagle had not asked for an explanation.
Just as John was about to try answering, another young Ravenclaw spoke first.
“If a prophecy is destined to come true, then it will happen regardless of whether there is a warning or not.
Therefore, it is not the warning itself that causes the prophecy to come true.” After the answer was given, the bronze eagle neither confirmed nor denied it.
With a dull thud, the bronze door slowly opened, revealing the passage leading into the common room.
Looking at the setup, this method of entry was probably meant to keep Ravenclaw students thinking rationally at all times.
It also trained their thinking and reasoning skills from time to time, and perhaps it would even occasionally present unsolved problems to see whether some extraordinary genius could answer them.
Forget it, he could try answering one himself another day after returning.
Everything about this school fascinated John.
He was already beginning to look forward to his future life at Hogwarts.
The Ravenclaw common room was located at the top of the tower, with several floors of dormitories beneath a two-story shared lounge area.
The lounge itself was circular, furnished with vases, sofas, tables, chairs, and two rows of bookshelves.
Ravenclaw banners hung everywhere, and a statue was set into the wall beside the staircase entrance.
The curved walls were lined with windows, and many astronomical telescopes and globes had been placed along the windowsills.
There was even a small observatory at the very top of the tower.
Although he had not seen the other common rooms, John felt Ravenclaw’s was probably among the best.
He soon arrived at his assigned dormitory, a room meant for four people.
It was quite spacious, with two bunk beds draped in blue curtains patterned like a starry sky, four large desks and chairs, and a huge celestial-map carpet covering the open area in the middle.
There were also several old books piled in the corner, likely left behind by previous students.
Since Ravenclaw had not accepted many students this year, there were only six boys including John.
They were divided into two rooms with three students each on the same floor, making it convenient for them to visit one another.
…
By the time they finished unpacking and making their beds, it was already close to ten o’clock.
They had classes the next morning and should have gone to sleep.
However, all the first-years were still extremely excited, making it difficult to fall asleep so easily.
After John and his two roommates briefly introduced themselves, the three of them sat on the floor chatting.
Since they were all around the same age, there was not much awkwardness between them.
“John, I heard that on the train today, you fought a Dementor for three hundred rounds?” The speaker was a blond boy named Ryan Gray.
“Ah?
The rumor I heard was that John beat the Dementor so badly that it was crawling all over the floor?” Another boy with curly hair, Ethan Holder, who was much sturdier than the other two, asked with a confused expression.
“Is there any chance that the one getting beaten up and crawling around was actually me…” John replied helplessly as the rumors became more and more outrageous.
“Besides, the whole thing lasted less than five minutes.
Where would I even get the time to fight for three hundred rounds?” “I heard someone screaming, so I went over to check.
Seeing that black figure, I thought it was some kind of robber, so I rushed forward and tackled it.
How was I supposed to know it was a Dementor?” “If Professor Lupin hadn’t arrived afterward, I would’ve been completely helpless.” John briefly explained what had happened.
Even though he had not actually been much help, Ryan and Ethan still admired him for daring to rush in and save someone in that situation.
“You’re really brave.
Maybe you should’ve been sorted into Gryffindor.” Ryan looked at him with admiration.
“…The Sorting Hat said that wasn’t bravery, it was recklessness…” Ryan and Ethan both froze for a moment before bursting into laughter.
It seemed the Sorting Hat had not been wrong.
Ryan came from a pure-blood family, so his magical talent had been discovered at a very young age.
His understanding of the wizarding world far surpassed both Ethan’s and John’s.
Under his parents’ guidance, he had even learned a few simple spells in advance, such as the Wand-Lighting Charm and the Levitation Charm, both of which were normally taught during first year.
He even demonstrated them for the two of them.
Ethan was a half-blood, so although he knew more about the wizarding world than John, it was only slightly more.
After all, he had only learned about many things after discovering his magical ability.
The reason the three of them had been sorted into Ravenclaw was naturally because they shared certain traits, namely curiosity.
Ryan suggested that when they had free time, they could explore this mysterious old castle together.
Having attended boarding school in his previous life and even sneaked out at night to visit internet cafés, John suddenly had an idea and raised a finger.
“Hey!” “How about we go exploring the castle tonight?”