"First-years, please pay attention. The forest at the edge of the school grounds is strictly forbidden to all students. Of course, some of the older students might also do well to remember that."
Dumbledore's calm yet slightly amused voice echoed through the Great Hall.
"At the same time," he continued, "I must inform you that anyone who does not wish to suffer a painful death should avoid the corridor on the right-hand side of the fourth floor."
The students exchanged uneasy looks. The warning sounded oddly casual, yet completely serious at the same time.
"And now," Dumbledore said cheerfully, "before we retire for the night, let us sing the school song together one last time!"
With a flick of his wand, golden letters floated into the air above the Great Hall. The lyrics of the Hogwarts school song shimmered brightly, large enough for everyone to see.
"Everyone may choose their own favorite tune," Dumbledore added happily.
The result, however, was absolute chaos.
Some students sang loudly and enthusiastically. Others sang softly and timidly. A few attempted complex musical styles, while some simply shouted the words without any rhythm at all.
The hall quickly filled with a deafening mixture of melodies that clashed horribly with one another.
To be honest, the effect was terrible.
From beginning to end, Ryze—who had just selected the Doomsayer ability—felt as if he were being subjected to a full-scale sonic assault.
The sound was so chaotic that it almost reached the level of a magical attack.
It felt dangerously close to the sensation of accumulating Curse Energy.
Unfortunately, no actual Curse Energy stacks appeared.
At the same time, Ryze noticed several older Ravenclaw students sitting nearby who barely moved their lips. They lazily recited the lyrics with almost no enthusiasm, clearly eager for the performance to end as quickly as possible.
Perhaps the only truly memorable performers were the Weasley twins.
Instead of singing normally, they used the slow, solemn melody of a funeral march.
Because their rhythm was the slowest among everyone present, their voices gradually stood out from the chaotic noise.
By the time the song finally ended, their version had become not only the clearest but also the most "pleasant" one in the entire hall.
Dumbledore himself enthusiastically conducted their performance with his wand and gave them the loudest applause when they finished.
"Ah, music!" Dumbledore sighed emotionally. "A magic beyond all that we do here!"
He wiped his eyes dramatically before announcing the dismissal of the students.
Many of the older students visibly relaxed.
At last, they could finally return to their dormitories and sleep.
Soon afterward, the two Ravenclaw prefects stepped forward.
Robert Hilliard and Penelope Clearwater were responsible for guiding the new Ravenclaw students back to their house tower.
Fortunately, during this era, the wizarding world had not yet become entangled in the complex identity debates of later generations. There was no confusion regarding dormitory arrangements.
Everyone quickly organized themselves into two neat lines based on gender and age.
The group began climbing the grand marble staircase of Hogwarts.
As they walked, the prefects took turns introducing Ravenclaw House to the first-year students.
They spoke about their house's respected Head of House, Professor Filius Flitwick, whose friendly and cheerful personality made him popular among students.
They described the eagle-headed door knocker guarding the entrance to the Ravenclaw common room. Unlike other houses, Ravenclaw students could not simply provide a password. Instead, they had to answer a riddle correctly in order to enter.
They also mentioned the small private library located inside the Ravenclaw common room.
This library was separate from the main Hogwarts library and contained a number of rare books that could not be found anywhere else in the school.
Another unique feature was Ravenclaw's house ghost: the mysterious Grey Lady.
According to the prefects, the Grey Lady rarely interacted with students from other houses. However, she occasionally helped Ravenclaw students who had become lost in the castle or forgotten important things.
The prefects continued describing other traditions as well.
For instance, Ravenclaw students were known for their individuality.
Except during formal occasions, they were not required to wear traditional wizard robes throughout the day. Instead, they were free to wear whatever clothing they preferred.
Overall, the atmosphere of Ravenclaw sounded extremely free and relaxed.
According to Prefect Robert, even if someone spent an entire day in the common room studying the properties of troll bogies or tapping eggs to analyze the shape of their shells, no one would complain.
"Because geniuses are always eccentric," Robert declared confidently.
Ryze listened quietly.
His mind immediately drifted to a certain strange girl who would enroll at Hogwarts the following year.
Luna Lovegood.
Even among Ravenclaws—who prided themselves on embracing individuality—Luna's personality was considered unusually eccentric.
Sometimes it seemed as if even Ravenclaws struggled to keep up with her unique way of thinking.
Therefore, Ryze suspected that Robert's optimistic words were somewhat exaggerated.
If someone truly spent an entire year in the common room obsessively researching troll bogies, Ryze doubted they would avoid being treated as an oddity.
After walking for nearly ten minutes and climbing what felt like an endless series of spiral staircases, the group finally reached the top of Ravenclaw Tower.
In front of them stood the famous door with the eagle-headed knocker.
Before allowing the students inside, Robert turned around and addressed them one last time.
"There is one interesting mystery about Ravenclaw House," he said.
"Everyone knows that the name 'Ravenclaw' is a combination of the words raven and claw. In the wizarding world, ravens symbolize wisdom, and there are indeed many raven nests around Ravenclaw Tower."
He paused briefly.
"So many people naturally assume that our house symbol should also be a raven."
Robert smiled slightly.
"But in reality, the official symbol of Ravenclaw House has always been an eagle, ever since Hogwarts was founded."
The students looked confused.
"We all know that Rowena Ravenclaw was famous for her wisdom," Robert continued. "But the reason she chose the eagle as the symbol of her house remains unknown."
He shrugged lightly.
"This is not a formal riddle from the door knocker. However, if any of you manage to discover the true reason during your seven years at Hogwarts, the school would likely reward you with a Special Merit Award."
"Your discovery might even be recorded in the history of Hogwarts."
Then he spread his arms dramatically.
"So once again—congratulations."
"You are now members of the smartest, most unique, and most interesting house at Hogwarts."
"Welcome to Ravenclaw."
After finishing his speech, Robert turned back to the door.
He knocked on the eagle-shaped knocker.
The knocker immediately asked its riddle.
However, Robert did not give the new students an opportunity to answer. Instead, he calmly provided the correct response himself.
The door opened.
Clearly, the prefect had no intention of forcing the exhausted first-years to solve riddles late at night.
Once inside, the students quickly separated and began searching for their dormitories.
Ryze followed the small nameplates hanging beside each door in the corridor until he located the first-year boys' dormitory.
Ravenclaw dormitories came in two different layouts.
One type was a four-person room equipped with bunk beds.
The other was a three-person room with three single beds arranged along the curved wall of the tower.
Regardless of the layout, Ravenclaw dormitories were widely considered the most distinctive among all four Hogwarts houses.
Ryze had been assigned to the four-person room.
Compared to his previous life—where he had once shared a cramped university dormitory with eight people in less than thirty square meters—this environment felt incredibly luxurious.
The room measured nearly forty square meters.
Two sturdy bunk beds stood beside massive windows built into the tower wall. From the beds, students could simply turn their heads and gaze at the beautiful starry sky outside.
Near the door stood several large wardrobes.
On the opposite side were study desks and multiple shelves for books.
Their luggage had already been neatly placed beside their respective desks.
The four new roommates began introducing themselves while unpacking their belongings.
Naturally, Ravenclaw did not contain many familiar characters from the original story.
Aside from Emma, who was one year older, and Luna, who had not yet enrolled, Ryze could only recall a few other Ravenclaw-associated figures such as Professor Flitwick, Gilderoy Lockhart, and Professor Quirrell, both of whom had already graduated.
Most Ravenclaw students from this year had almost no presence in the original storyline.
Ryze therefore simply memorized the names of his roommates.
There was Anthony, a sturdy blond wizard with Jewish heritage.
There was Michael, a handsome black-haired boy with a calm expression.
And there was Terry, a somewhat talkative brown-haired student.
By coincidence—or perhaps by design—Ryze shared the same bunk bed with Terry.
Interestingly, all four boys in the dormitory were half-blood wizards.
Not a single one of them was a pure-blood or completely Muggle-born.
After finishing their introductions, the boys organized their belongings.
Clothes were placed in the wardrobes.
Books were arranged neatly on the shelves.
Some of them even sat down at their desks to write short letters home, planning to send them the next morning.
Eventually, their attention shifted to the class schedule that would officially begin the following day.
"The Hogwarts schedule follows an alternating-week system," Anthony explained while lying comfortably on his bed.
"There are more classes during odd-numbered weeks and fewer during even-numbered weeks."
He pointed to the parchment.
"Tomorrow morning we have Charms with Gryffindor."
"In the afternoon, we have Herbology with Slytherin."
"And the day after tomorrow, we'll attend Transfiguration with Hufflepuff."
At Hogwarts, classes were generally shared between two houses.
The pairings were not fixed. Over time, every house would eventually share classes with every other house.
Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff typically had peaceful interactions.
However, when Slytherin and Gryffindor shared classes together, conflicts often erupted.
That rivalry had practically become a defining trait of the two houses.
Anthony continued studying the schedule thoughtfully.
"I heard from my mother that the staircases at Hogwarts move frequently," he said.
"And the classrooms are spread very far apart."
He sat up slightly.
"To avoid being late tomorrow, I'm thinking of waking up early and heading to the Great Hall."
"From there, we can explore the castle and figure out where our classrooms are located."
"That way we'll know exactly where to go before classes start."
"What do you think?"
The others quickly agreed.
After all, no one wanted to get lost in the castle on their very first day of school.
Ryze personally had no problem waking up early.
In fact, he was already planning to explore Hogwarts before classes began.
However, when it came to locating classrooms, there was actually a far more convenient method.
Ryze raised his hand slightly.
Then he quietly summoned something.
"Ailey."
A faint magical ripple appeared in the room.
A small figure materialized beside him.
"This is my familiar, Ailey," Ryze said calmly.
"She can help us handle things like this."
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