"While being with Neville would be nice, I think it will be much braver for me to be placed in a dorm with people I don't know yet." Harry says, realizing that the statement is an absolute stretch, but he's getting desperate.
"I'm pulling your leg young one. While you would do great things in any house, your dedication means quite a bit. Perhaps you'll be the one to start putting an end to the house rivalries. As it stands, it better be..." The hat says in Harry's head.
"RAVENCLAW!" The hat screams out loud. Harry stands up, and places the hat back upon the stool, before walking to the Ravenclaw table and taking his seat next to Hermione.
Harry only knew one of the remaining eight students to be sorted, and that was the red-headed boy who was on the boat with him, who's name was apparently Ron Weasley. Oliver Rivers was sorted into Hufflepuff. Sophie Roper was sorted into Gryffindor. Alice Runcorn was sorted into Slytherin, Zacharias Smith into Hufflepuff. Dean Thomas was sorted into Gryffindor, and Lisa Turpin joined Harry and Hermione in Ravenclaw.
Ron Weasley found himself sorted into Gryffindor, and Harry was now glad that he had managed to avoid being sorted there, as Ron didn't seem like a very nice person. The final student to be sorted was Blaise Zabini, and he was sorted into Slytherin.
After the sorting concluded, there was a brief pause in proceedings while an old man at the head table prepared himself for a speech. "For those of you who are joining us for the first time, welcome to Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, I am your Headmaster Albus Dumbledore, and for those of you who have been with us before, welcome back! There are a few announcements I must make before we begin our feast, but I promise they will not take too long. As per normal, the Forbidden Forest is just that, forbidden for students to enter. Along with that the third floor corridor on the right hand side is off-limits for those who do not wish to die a most gruesome death. With that, I have but a few words to say: Nitwit, Blubber, Oddment, Tweak. Thank you."
Harry, despite his confusion, was very excited when the feast appeared before him, it was more food than he had ever seen in his life, which was pretty impressive when he considered just how much Vernon and Dudley ate. Harry filled his plate with some of the delicious looking food, and took the time to listen in to the various conversations going on around him. Several of the older students were mentioning about how Quirrel used to be the Muggle Studies teacher, and were surprised that he had taken the Defense Against the Dark Arts position, despite it supposedly being cursed. They however were proud of the Ravenclaw alumni, as that now meant that more professors at the school were from Ravenclaw, as Quirrel's Muggle Studies replacement, Professor Sikander, was also a Ravenclaw.
After the feast, Harry and the rest of the first years are escorted to Ravenclaw tower by the prefect Penelope Clearwater. "Unlike the other houses, Ravenclaw tower requires you to solve a riddle to enter it. Being of the house of the intelligent, you should not have issues solving these riddles, but for your first year you may request assistance from other Ravenclaw students. Please watch."
Penelope uses the bronze eagle knocker on the door and it animates like one of those singing bass fish and asks: "What happens only once an eon, twice a week, and never in a month?"
"The letter E," Penelope says quickly, and with that the door swings open revealing a large circular room.
The room itself is carpeted from wall to wall, with small brown brick sections in front of two fireplaces on the east and west walls. Entering from the south wall opposite of them is a large statue of a pretty woman wearing a modest dress and a tiara. The statue itself appeared to be bronze, and stood roughly nine feet tall. On either side of the statue were a set of staircases, one labeled "Boys" and the other labeled "Girls. Spread throughout the room were several couches and comfortable chairs and cushions, each one having a small bookshelf or table next to it. The walls were covered in even more bookshelves, with several of those wheeled ladders affixed to them.
"This is your common room, as you can see we have many bookshelves full of various reference volumes here. If there is a book you need to reference for any of your classes this year, you should be able to find it here and not need to go to the library. This should hold true for most of the core subjects throughout your time here, although your electives or self study may require you to find material in the library. On the lectern in front of the statue of Rowena Ravenclaw is a book that lists the highest point scorers in the house; do well and you can get your name entered into it! Now you all will be sharing your dorm room with your other year mates, separated into boys and girls. You'll be in this dorm room for your entire seven years here, so don't be afraid to make it your own without destroying it. Boys will be on the third floor, and girls will be on the second. Your things should already be in your room, so go and get comfortable. You should report to breakfast no later than 7:30 in the morning to eat before receiving your schedules. Welcome to the house of the eagles!" Penny says.