Elemental

7. Lyra Hale: The Common Room

7. Lyra Hale: The Common Room

The dessert plates vanished, leaving empty tables as the Headmistress stood up and made a speech. She welcomed the first years to the school and welcomed the other back before dismissing them to their dormitories.

"Where do we go though?" Keely asked.

Lyra and Auria both shrugged in response. "To our common room," Harper announced.

"Where's that?" Auria asked quickly.

Harper took her turn to shrug. "I'm not sure. I know it's in one of the towers though."

A tall girl with electric blue hair walked over. "Hi, Ravenclaws!" She chirped.

"What exploded in her hair?" Auria whispered, making them all chuckle.

"Sorry about the hair," the girl continued. "Spell gone wrong. Nothing that can't be fixed though. I'll be blonde again tomorrow!"

The boy next to her rolled his eyes. "Anyway, enough about your hair. I'm Jack Wesley, and this is Ophelia Carter. We're your house prefects."

Ophelia beamed at all the nervous first years. "So if you'd like to just follow us, we'll take you to the common room."

The four friends along with the rest of the new Ravenclaws clambered to their feet and clattered noisily down the hall. They were the first house to leave; the Gryffindors, Hufflepuffs, and Slytherins were still sitting down.

They headed along a corridor and up a flight of stairs whilst Jack and Ophelia chatted. The first years ambled along awkwardly, mumbling the occasional word. "Do you think we'll share a room?" Lyra asked excitedly.

Harper nodded enthusiastically and said, "I hope so!"

They headed up more stairs to what seemed like it may be the fifth floor. There they they came to a spiral staircase, and silently, they began to climb it. When they reached the door at the top of the stairs, the first thing they saw was that it had no doorknob or keyhole. "How do get in?" Auria asked.

Lyra and Keely had been wondering the exact same thing. Harper chuckled but didn't get the chance to explain as Ophelia started talking again. "Every common room requires a certain passcode or phrase in order to get inside. However, Ravenclaw is different. Since we value those of wit, you must solve a riddle in order to gain entrance."

Lyra blinked. Had she heard right? A riddle? She was even more surprised when the bronze knocker in the shape of an eagle began to speak, "What gets harder to break everytime it is broken?"

"A -" Jack began, only to be cut off by Ophelia who turned to the first years with a smile. "Does anyone know the answer?"

Lyra raised her hand shyly. The rest of the first years parted so that she could get rhough. She found herself starting inquiitively at the knocker before she remembered that she was supposed to be answering the riddle. "Is it a record?" She mumbled quietly.

"Speak up!" Jack advised laughingly. "The knocker can't hear you!"

Lyra thought that was very strange, but this time she announced her answer more loudly. "A record."

To her delight, the door swung open, and the prefects began to lead the way inside. Lyra felt someone squeeze her arm, and she turned to see Keely grinning. "Great job on the riddle, Lyra," Keely said as they slipped inside the common room.

Inside was breathtaking. A wide, circular room with a midnight blue carpet lay before them. Immediately, Lyra was overwhelmed trying to admire everything at once. There were arched windows with soft blue and bronze silk curtains as well as a painting of stars on the domed ceiling.

"I love the stars," Harper exclaimed happily. "Does it remind anyone else of the ceiling in the Great Hall?"

Auria and Keely nodded, whilst Lyra wasn't really paying attention. She was being blown away by the room whose walls were covered in thick, fully-stocked bookcases. There were tables and chairs dotted around the room in an orderly fashion. Some of the older students had already taken residence on the chairs. Auria had wandered over to the window to peer out before announcing that when it was dark, you couldn't see a thing out there.

"Girls, I'll take you to your rooms then," Ophelia announced when the first years had finised their ooh's and ahh's. "Boys will go with Jack."

Lyra shuffled off after Ophelia where they puased momentarily to stare at a statue of a beautiful woman. "Who's that?" Auria asked.

"Rowena Ravenclaw," Ophelia chirped over her shoulder. "I could tell you about her, but perhaps you should read some of the books over on that shelf beside her."

"She's one of the four founders of Hogwarts," Harper told them quietly.

Lyra was delighted to learn that she was rooming in the same room as her new friends. She took the bed closest to the door and next to Harper and began to unpack. Auria and Keely took the bunks above Lyra and Harper.

Once all the girls were unpacked and settled, they were exhausted. They changed into their pyjamas and slipped into bed, listening to the soft whistles outside their dorm. Slowly, they all slipped off into a peaceful sleep and dreamed of what would come the next day.