Chapter 20: Ravenclaw, First Impressions, and The Problem (1/2)
2 September 1990 was a Sunday, which meant that there were no classes, and the first years were free to roam the castle. Quinn got up the next day, and in the morning, and after completing his morning routine, he took off to explore the castle but not before visiting the Great Hall for breakfast.
Hogwarts Castle was a large, seven-story lofty building supported by magic. It had a hundred and forty-two (142) staircases throughout its many towers and turrets and deep dungeons. The castle was built in the late Early Middle Ages (c. 993) by a wizard architect and the four most celebrated wizards of the age: Godric Gryffindor, Helga Hufflepuff, Rowena Ravenclaw, and Salazar Slytherin.
Quinn started from the Great Hall and then explored the castle for the entire day but could only cover the ground and the first floor. The castle was so large that Quinn wasn't able to move past the first floor. And Quinn was planning to memorize the entire castle. Quinn would live here for the next seven years, and because of that, he wanted to use the castle and the accompanying property as his new mindscape. He knew the transition from the West Manor to the Hogwarts castle would be gradual and a lengthy process. But, Quinn was confident that he would be able to explore enough of the castle in a year or two to build a working model in his mind. And, who knew what level of detail could he accomplish in seven years.
Quinn returned to his dorm just before dinnertime and freshened up by taking a shower. When he exited the shower, Quinn saw Eddie Carmichael in the room.
”Hey, Carmichael. Do you want to go to Great Hall together?” asked Quinn as he exited the bathroom.
Eddie looked relieved at the offer and spoke, ”Yeah, I forgot the way to the Great Hall. It would be great if we could go together.”
Quinn chuckled and offered, ”Don't worry, I will go with you till you get comfortable. Hogwarts is a confusing place.”
As the two climbed down the dormitory stairs, Eddie asked, ”Where have you been the entire day. I don't think I saw you in the dorms today.”
”Yeah, I didn't return to the dorm all day. I was exploring the castle. There were a lot of things to cover, and I lost track of time,” replied Quinn as he guided Eddie from the Ravenclaw tower to the Great Hall. ”What about you? What did you do today?”
Eddie shrugged and said, ”Played a lot of Gobstones, went to the Quidditch field to see some of the older students flying on brooms, and talked to some of the older students about Hogwarts.”
”Really? Tell me about it...”
When they reached the Great Hall, a lot of students were already seated. Quinn and Eddie found Marcus Belby sitting at the Ravenclaw table, already eating. Both the guys stopped just before reaching him.
You see, when it came to food, Marcus Belby could be compared to Ron Weasley. They both saw Marcus shoving food down his gullet without care. Eddie looked at Quinn, his eyes asking what to do, almost begging him not to sit next to their roommate. Quinn was of a similar mind, so neither wanted to sit next to Marcus while he ate.
”Let's just sit opposite to him. This way, he won't feel bad, and there would be plenty of distance between us,” offered Quinn. Eddie nodded, and both of them turned back to go around the table and sat opposite Marcus.
”Hey, Belby, how have you been today? You seem to be enjoying the food,” greeted Quinn and opened up the conversation, and the last sentence caused Eddie to stifle a laugh.
Marcus looked up and spoke with food still in his mouth, ”Fwud wis ghrathe.”
Quinn didn't understand a word that came out of Marcus' mouth, but he still spoke as he put food on his plate, ”Oh yeah? That is great.” It surprised Quinn that the sight of Marcus didn't erase his appetite, but Quinn was too hungry.
Eddie continued the conversation at the table, ”Professor Flitwick would be coming to the common room today. He will be giving us the timetable and talk with us before we start school tomorrow.”
”That is great. I heard Professor Flitwick is Britain's most knowledgeable Charms master. Plus, before he started teaching, he was Duelling Champion with the title of Master duelist. He has been at Hogwarts for around twenty years or so,” supplied Quinn as they talked about the upcoming event.
After some more idle chatting, Quinn became silent and concentrated on eating. With today's exploration and Quinn's usual habit of emptying his magical core every day, he needed a significant amount of calories to meet his dietary needs, so he was quite hungry and needed food in his body.
- (Scene Break) -
After dinner, all the first-year Ravenclaws gathered around the common room to meet Flitwick. On the decided time, Filius Flitwick entered the Ravenclaw common room and greeted the gathered people in his squeaky voice, ”Good Evening, children. I hope I didn't keep you waiting.”
Filius Flitwick, half-goblin and half-human, had a short stature because of goblin lineage. He tottered to an empty chair and sat on it before asking the students to gather around him. Quinn sat on a chair that was a little distance away from the diminutive professor but at a distance where Quinn could clearly listen to him. Many students opted to sit on the floor to be closeby to the head of the house. They were already acting like little Ravenclaws not willing to miss out on anything that a teacher said.
”I hope all of you have settled down in your dorms and have no problems with your living arrangements because if you do, please do come to me. It is my duty to fix any problems you have, so don't hesitate to share any of your problems,” said Flitwick to the new students, trying to get them comfortable.
”Now first, let me introduce myself. My name is Filius Flitwick. I teach the subject Charms. This means I will be teaching you the wonders of all kinds of charms,” Flitwick showed a toothy grin seeing the bright-eyed children when he mentioned charms, ”But to you children, I am also your head of the house. You will be under my wings during the time you are at Hogwarts, so I once again I say that please don't hesitate and come to me with any problem.”
He took a pause before speaking, ”My doors are always opened to a ravenclaw in need.”
Then he took out his wand and gave it a swing for the Ravenclaw House symbol to appear in the air. The students ooh-ed in awe at the sight of the magic. Even Quinn was mildly surprised.
'Hmm, a light-based magic to project an image in the air,' reflected Quinn as he looked at the glowing house symbol. Quinn wasn't surprised because he hadn't seen anything like this before. The concept behind the magic was simple enough and was a magic from the same line as the Lumos spell, but a lot more complex than the Wand-Lighting charm. The reason behind Quinn's surprise was the detail in the projection image.
'I can see the individual feathers in the raven, and the image is three-dimensional with color grading and shadows,' thought Quinn as he admired the show of magic. Quinn could also project an image in the air, but it would lack the detail present in Flitwick's work.
Flitwick giggled as he took in the joy of his new charges and said, ”You all were sorted in Ravenclaw, so I think it is appropriate for you to know about the origins of the house.”
With a swish of his wand, the Ravenclaw symbol changed into a woman wearing medieval clothing. Quinn looked past everyone and saw that the white marble statue of Rowena Ravenclaw. He could see the resemblance between the two.
Flitwick presented a question to the students, ”Does anyone of you recognize this lady?” And, every single one of the students, including Quinn, raised their hands.
Flitwick pointed at Quinn and asked him to answer, ”Please tell us all your name before answering the question.”
Quinn stood up from his chair and answered, ”Quinn West. The lady is one of the four founders, Rowena Ravenclaw. She, along with the other three founders, established Hogwarts.”
Flitwick enthusiastically clapped while bouncing on his chair and said, ”Three points to Ravenclaw! As Mr. West said, Rowena Ravenclaw was one of the four founders, and she created the Hogwarts' house of Ravenclaw. Ravenclaws such as yourselves are characterized by their wit, learning, wisdom, acceptance, intelligence, and creativity. Lady Rowena sought all these qualities in her students, so Ravenclaw students display a number of these traits. I myself was a Ravenclaw during my time at Hogwarts as a student.”
”Rowena Ravenclaw prized learning above all else – and so do we. Unlike the other houses, which all have concealed entrances to their common rooms, we don't have that. Ours has no handle but an enchanted bronze knocker in the shape of an eagle. When you rap on the door, this knocker will ask you a question, and if you can answer it correctly, you are allowed in. This simple barrier has kept out everyone but Ravenclaws for nearly a thousand years.”
The last sentence did cause some first-years to worry, but Flitwick assured them, ”I can see some of you who are scared by having to answer the eagle's questions but don't worry. Ravenclaws learn quickly, and you will soon enjoy the challenges the door sets. It is not unusual to find twenty people standing outside the common room door, all trying to work out the answer to the day's question together. This is a great way to meet fellow Ravenclaws from other years and learn from them – although it is a bit annoying if you have forgotten your Quidditch robes or books and need to get in and out in a hurry. In fact, I would advise you to triple-check your bag for everything you need before leaving Ravenclaw Tower.” Flitwick was laughing hysterically by the end. He truly was as eccentric as people made him out to be.
Flitwick disappeared the projection and continued, ”Sometimes our pursuit of knowledge may come of a being as bookish, and my peers at my time at Hogwarts as a student called me a bookworm among other things.” When Flitwick said this, many students showed sad faces as a lot of them had been called similar words.
Flitwick smiled gently and spoke a little louder, ”But don't let any of those words deter you. They are just jealous of our knowledge and wisdom and say mean things because we have things they don't have. So, be proud of being smart, and don't feel embarrassed by your love of knowledge. Wear it like a badge of honor. Know that if Rowena Ravenclaw was alive, she would have chosen you all from all the students. Be proud because you are the smartest of the bunch.”