Chapter 130, Chapter 128. A Breeze Blows By My Side.
Lynn's first impression of Ravenclaw's common room was the sheer number of books.
It was a large, round room with elegant arched windows in the walls, adorned with blue and bronze silks, allowing the young wizards in the common room to see the scenery outside.
The ceiling was domed, decorated with star-shaped stones, as was the dark blue carpet below.
The room contained tables, chairs, and bookshelves, and in a niche opposite the door stood a white marble bust of Rowena Ravenclaw.
A door next to the bust led to the dormitories above.
Looking around, the most abundant thing you could see in this common room was the books on the shelves.
It's said that some of these books are rare copies left behind by early Rowena Ravenclaw, while others were donated by wizards who graduated from Ravenclaw.
"Cho, why isn't the common room door closed?" A tall, upperclassman came down the dormitory stairs and asked, noticing the slightly ajar wooden door.
Cho Chang was one of the young wizards who had just entered the common room; the girl who spoke to her was Penelope Crivart, the prefectural headmistress at Ravenclaw.
"The bronze eagle knocker on the common room door seems to be broken. None of us could answer its riddle, but it opened the door for us."
Just as Cho Chang was talking to Penelope, the door suddenly closed again.
The eagles chatting or reading in the common room were suddenly startled, because none of them had seen anyone come in.
Ravenclaw Quidditch's Seeker, Roger Davis, seemed a little nervous.
"Could it be a ghost?"
"A ghost isn't scary at all; you've seen ghosts before," a young wizard mocked him.
"It could also be Peeves playing a prank."
Penelope finally decided to go check the door herself. She and Cho Chang went outside, and she touched the bronze eagle-shaped door knocker. The door closed, and the eagle repeated the riddle again.
"A gust of wind, a ship, six sailors rowing together, a helmsman in charge."
The prefect shrugged. "Isn't that perfect? This door knocker was left by our college's founder, Mrs. Ravenclaw. Even after a thousand years, it won't break."
But Cho Chang still felt something was off.
"Then why did the door open even though no one gave the answer?"
"Maybe the freshmen were shy, guessed the answer but didn't dare say it aloud, and the door knocker sensed their whispers."
"Okay, that's the only explanation." Qiu Zhang also felt there was no better answer.
Afterwards, the two of them stared at each other outside the door, wide-eyed.
"So what's the answer?"
Lynn, who was wandering aimlessly in Ravenclaw's common room, was unaware that because of him, two Ravenclaw girls were now locked out and had to solve the riddle again.
Lynn felt extremely happy now.
Ravenclaw girls... oops! No, it's that Ravenclaw has so many books.
This place is practically another mini library at Hogwarts. Lynn is nestled in a corner of a bookshelf, reading a spellbook about the petrification spell.
The Ravenclaw common room's collection doesn't overlap with the library's, and most importantly, it contains many rare books left behind by Ravenclaw during Hogwarts' early days.
In the world of Harry Potter, there's no such thing as the older the magic, the more powerful it is. On the contrary, because modern wizarding scholars are constantly refining older magic, the magic that young wizards are currently learning is superior to ancient magic.
However, nothing is absolute. Modern, convenient, and reliable spells are all variations of ancient, crude, and unstable spells. Sometimes, studying some ancient spells can be helpful in learning modern spells.
Before he knew it, Lynn had been in Ravenclaw's common room for quite some time. He checked the time and realized that Hogwarts' curfew was about to begin.
Although he didn't think Felch could catch him, staying in someone else's house common room indefinitely wasn't a good idea.
It was already quite late, and there were no more young wizards in the common room; everyone had mostly returned to their dormitories to rest.
Lynn's courage grew, and instead of hiding in the corner, he walked openly in the middle of the road.
Meanwhile, outside Ravenclaw's common room, two poor girls were still trying to solve the riddle.
Not every Ravenclaw was good at solving riddles; Penelope and Cho Chang were undoubtedly just freeloaders who tagged along with other young wizards to get riddles.
They were now hugging each other tightly, trying to ward off the cold wind of the corridor.
Cho Chang couldn't help but ask, "Are we sleeping in the corridor tonight, Prefect?"
Penelope was still wearing her pajamas, and she was already shivering and had a runny nose.
"There definitely aren't any Ravenclaw wizards who haven't returned by now, and curfew is about to start. If no one in our house plans to break the rules and go out at night, we'll probably be sleeping in the hallways tonight."
"But that's so embarrassing! If they see us locked out of our own house tomorrow morning, they'll laugh us to death." Cho Chang buried her face in her knees in shame at the thought.
Penelope, being a seasoned prefect, remained unfazed.
"It's not uncommon. What's so embarrassing about it? Not just in our house, even the Fat Lady, the janitor of Gryffindor's portrait, sometimes causes Gryffindor wizards to sleep in the hallways when she goes to visit."
As she spoke, she rubbed her arms.
"But it's so cold. If I stay here all night, I'll definitely catch a cold tomorrow."
"I hope someone will open the door for us from the inside," Qiu Zhang prayed.
"I promise I won't hold him responsible for his nighttime outing." Even Penelope said the same thing.
As if the heavens responded to their prayers, the wooden door to Ravenclaw's lounge was suddenly opened from the inside!
The two girls immediately jumped up excitedly.
As soon as Lynn stepped out, he saw two figures shivering in the cold wind. He was startled and immediately crouched down again, carefully hugging the wall, and tiptoed out.
Sleeping in the corridor so late at night? That's a really strange habit.
After mentally grumbling for a moment, Lynn didn't linger and quietly slipped away.
Cho Chang and Penelope stared in horror at the empty doorway.
"Did you see anyone come out just now, Prefect?"
"I think I felt a cold wind blow past me."
Just then, a flash of lightning streaked across the window, illuminating the two girls' pale faces.
A deafening clap of thunder followed, drowning out their terrified screams.
________________________________________
Can't wait for the next chapter?
30+ advanced chapters are already available on Patreon!
👉 patreon.com/Horizons685
______________________________________
(End of Chapter)