Starlight sparkled.
Silver moonlight poured down from the tall tower windows, penetrating the night like a stream, illuminating a corner of the room, and coating the ancient stone walls and wooden structures with a layer of soft silver glow.
"Don't push, upperclassmen make way for the younger students."
"Just a bit more, just a bit more, I would have fallen and died. When will the school expand the staircases? Those inflexible professors really don't know how to adapt!"
"My dad was right, Hogwarts is indeed dangerous!"
...
The two Ravenclaw Prefects led the students back to the common room.
While walking through the long corridor, the line was fairly orderly, but due to heading to the highest area, the continuously rotating staircase caught the freshmen somewhat off guard.
As a result.
The originally neat line turned into a holiday travel crowd, with everyone pushing each other, afraid of missing the staircase's rotation and being unable to smoothly reach the common room.
"Damn it! Prefects, do something! An old witch is touching my butt!"
All the way upward.
Due to his relatively small build, Ian dared only to squeeze into the frontmost position, never expecting to be attacked several times from behind by unknown people.
Perhaps.
A little boy more handsome than Leonardo going out would sometimes find it hard to protect his innocence.
"It's just the beginning of the term, what's with you people, keep it in check!"
As the female Prefect, Penelope sternly reprimanded the senior girls in the line, while the male Prefect Ditrik quickly pulled Ian to his side.
"Our academy's students are always bolder than those in other academies," Ditrik explained softly to Ian, while warning the witches and a few wizards behind him with his eyes.
The line continued to climb upward.
Soon.
Under the leadership of the two Prefects, everyone arrived at the tower's topmost area. This is Ravenclaw students' exclusive common room, where Ravenclaw students believe the position represents wisdom overlooking all beings.
"Once again, welcome everyone to Ravenclaw, here will be where you study and live in the future." The two Prefects stopped in front of a bare wooden door with the group.
The door didn't have any handle or slot for inserting a key, looking like a bare wooden panel, with a bronze door knocker embedded in the center.
The door knocker was decorated with a finely crafted eagle, bearing marks of age. After all, it's an ancient school over a thousand years old, making it reasonable to call it an artifact.
"All academy gates require a password to pass. Only we, Ravenclaw, are different. We must answer a question to pass the gate."
"This is a test of our wisdom."
As she spoke.
The female Prefect Penelope knocked on the door.
Then.
The bronze eagle's sculpture seemed to come alive.
It didn't make a bird call but spoke human words in a gentle and slow tone.
"Which changes the world more: knowledge or power?" A very obvious philosophical question.
The sound of this alchemy creation was very gentle, a bit similar to Nana Mizuki's feeling. Upon receiving the question, the female Prefect Penelope didn't immediately give a response.
"Start with you first,"
The female Prefect Penelope pointed at Qiu Zhang.
"Me?"
Qiu Zhang seemed a bit nervous, but still stood out from the crowd, contemplated for a moment, and gave her answer.
"I think it's knowledge because knowledge can enlighten the heart. It is the foundation of world development, while power is merely a derivative relying on world development."
Despite appearing restrained, her voice was assertive.
"Makes sense."
As the bronze eagle's voice fell, the common room door opened. The female Prefect Penelope motioned for Qiu Zhang to enter, then immediately closed the door.
"?????"
Ian, standing near the front, wanted to follow in but was stopped.
"This is our initiation custom."
Penelope, with an amusing smile, knocked on the door again.
"If you could choose a historical sage as your mentor, who would you choose?" The soft voice issued again from the bronze eagle's mouth.
"Rowena Ravenclaw."
Ian glanced around. In this place, could he give another answer?
"What's the reason?"
The bronze eagle asked, puzzled.
"That counts as a second question. Ask me why next time I come."
Ian shrugged.
"Even more reasonable."
After considering for a bit, the bronze eagle opened the door again.
Ian hurriedly dragged his luggage in.
The door closed again.
"You sure are fast."
Qiu Zhang, who had been observing the decoration of the common room, saw Ian being let through the next moment.
"Lucky, came across an easy question."
Ian also began examining his surroundings.
The interior of the common room is mainly blue and bronze.
On the walls hang silk drapes in these colors, and the ceiling is adorned with stars, complementing the stars spread across the deep blue carpet below.
Beside the door leading to the dormitory stands a tall statue of Rowena Ravenclaw made from white marble, lifelike, with an introduction to her life story beside it.
"Sometimes the questions can be difficult. I've heard of people going in and out of the common room dozens of times a day just to interact and compete in Q&A with the bronze eagle."
Qiu Zhang, coming from a pure-blood wizard family, seemed quite knowledgeable about Hogwarts.
"I think that senior would be depressed after graduating," Ian said, standing before the Ravenclaw statue, reading adjacent text.
"Huh? Why?"
Studying the sofa, Qiu Zhang turned her head in confusion.
"Because his love likely ended the moment he graduated."
Ian chuckled in response.
Qiu Zhang paused for a moment before understanding Ian's meaning.
"Who would have a romance with a door?"
She couldn't help but burst into laughter.
At that moment.
Outside the door.
Seeing another student smoothly pass through the gate.
The other little wizards all showed expressions eager to try.
Just as Qiu Zhang mentioned.
For Ravenclaw students, contemplating and answering questions isn't a torture but a joy, potentially evolving into a pleasure as one progresses in grade.
"What gate has no panel?"
The bronze eagle, tricked by Ian, changed the way it posed the question.
"A goal."
The Q&A continued.
The door opened once again.
Watching yet another young wizard being let in.
Ian was somewhat surprised.
The questions on the door knocker even included brain teasers?
"The question pool really is too random."
Ian pondered.
He felt the bronze eagle of his academy was too careless, and perhaps he should spare some time in the days ahead to persuade the bronze eagle to make some progress.
For example, using more advanced math problems would be good.
After all.
Math doesn't allow for ambiguity.