Chapter 23: House of Eagles
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As soon as the banquet concluded, a ginger-haired girl and a boy with brown and blonde hair called for all the Ravenclaw first years to gather around them right outside the Great Hall.

Upon gathering around the two, Adrien immediately noticed the golden 'P' badge that gleamed on their breast pockets.

'Wonder who the prefects were for 1988 Ravenclaw; well, I'm about to find out.'

He inspected the two students with a curious expression. They were never shown in the canon, so he couldn't recognize them.

Once all the hatchling Eagles were present, the ginger-haired girl spoke first,

"Hi, everyone! Congratulations on getting sorted into Ravenclaw! I'm Prefect Tulip Karasu, and I'm delighted to welcome you to our House."

She started affably. Then, she glanced at the boy with brown and blonde hair as if cueing him.

Tacitly acknowledging the cue, the boy smiled and introduced himself, "I'm Prefect Talbott Winger, and welcome to Ravenclaw, the home of Hogwarts' brightest."

The boy's tone and mannerisms made it clear he was proud of being a Ravenclaw, and this caused some of the first years to beam elated smiles.

"Right." Tulip let out a slight chuckle, "We'll be showing you how to get to your dormitories and the common room, so please follow us! Make sure to stay close, so you don't get lost."

With those words, Tulip and Talbott whirled around and led the first years towards the west side of the Hogwarts Castle. As they walked, Tulip and Talbott pointed out rooms, features, and things of interest as they came across them.

Soon, the group reached a door with a bronze knocker in the shape of an eagle after climbing multiple floors and the spiral staircase leading up to the door.

"Beware, you must, for change I will."

The bronze eagle knocker welcomed them with a riddle - a typical occurrence for anyone seeking to enter the Ravenclaw tower.

Talbott effortlessly answered, "The staircases."

A moment after his answer, a clicking sound rang through the air, and the door subsequently opened, revealing the dreamy Ravenclaw common room.

Talbott and Tulip gestured for the first years to follow along and led them through the doors.

The Ravenclaw common room was breathtaking, to say the least. It was a vast circular room, airier than any Adrien had ever seen, with graceful arched windows punctuating the walls.

Each window was hung with blue and bronze silks. The dome-like ceiling of the room had a lulling projection of the starry midnight sky. The room was furnished with blue tables, chairs, and a divan, some of which harbored students looking at the first-year group. Some with interestedly, and some amusedly.

Interspersed along the circular walls were paintings and bookcases containing a wide variety of books - of course, the bookworm eagles had to have their own private library.

On the other side of the common room, there was another door, presumably leading up to the dormitories, and next to this door, a white marble statue of Rowena Ravenclaw was laid.

'I can definitely get used to this. It's simply breathtaking...'

Adrien was awed by the splendor and opulence of the room. It looked incomparable to how it was depicted in the movies. He was especially awed by the starry night sky projection of the ceiling; it gave the entire room an ethereal feel.

"It's so beautiful!"

Beside him, Evelyn couldn't help but exclaim as she took in the room. She hadn't expected the room to be so breathtaking.

Tulip and Talbot were smiling, seeing the first-years awed looks. Tulip cleared her throat and spoke first,

"Welcome to the Ravenclaw common room! As you've seen, it's located on the west side of Hogwarts, past the spiral staircases. To get in, you simply have to answer the riddle the bronze knocker asks you. And don't worry, the riddles tend to be easy, so it's not a hassle to get in most days.

If you felt lost on the way here, don't fret! For the next three days, Talbott and I will be helping you guys get to the Great Hall and back, so make sure to be here before 8:00am because that's when we'll be guiding you."

She cheerfully explained. She was about to continue, but a first-year girl suddenly asked,

"What happens if we fail the riddle?"

Talbott smiled and spoke up, "Well, should that happen, you would have to wait outside until someone else comes along and answers correctly. It's quite annoying, but you get used to it. Rowena probably made it this way, so we don't all become brain-dead." he said, chuckling at the end.

The students' expressions turned from dismayed to amused hearing Talbott's light joke.

"Right." Tulip tittered before continuing,

"Your dormitories are past that door over there. We're the only House that offers students individual rooms, so you won't be sharing your rooms with anyone!"

She said, gesturing her hand toward the door opposite the common room entrance.

Most of the students cheered hearing Tulip's revelation. They became giddy and quickly started murmuring amongst themselves.

Seeing that, Talbott laughed and clapped his hands audibly, "Alright, quiet down, everyone!"

The murmurs and hushed voices quickly died down after Talbott's command. Tulip, seeing that, duly continued,

"Additionally, boys and girls will have separate dorm sections. Now, I must inform you that boys are not allowed to go to the girls' section, whereas girls don't have such restrictions."

Tulip's statement dampened the mood of some of the male students considerably. A few grumbles of dissatisfaction echoed, causing the prefect duo to chuckle.

"Lastly, your schedules for the term are posted on the bulletin board over there. Be sure to take a good look at it before your first class on Monday. If you have any questions about it, you just have to look for either Talbott or me, and we'll answer all your inquiries."

Tulip stopped momentarily and allowed the first years to take in all the information she had just announced. After a minute, she looked at Talbott and gave him a nod.

"And now, we'll be escorting you to your respective dormitories. Boys, please follow me."

Talbott said and proceeded to lead the male first years to their dormitories. The first-year dormitories were located a floor above the common room, so it was a short walk.

One by one, Talbott showed each male first year to their respective rooms. All the rooms were located along a corridor, at the end of which the communal bathroom was situated.

Once Adrien got to his room, he immediately hopped on his bed and lay facing the sky.

'What a long day....'

Exhaling softly, he thought with a tired expression on his face. After lying for a few minutes, he got up, stretched a bit, and inspected his new room.

It was pretty simple as far as dormitory rooms go. It had a poster bed, a desk with a chair, and a medium-sized closet. There was an arched window between the bed and desk, through which the soft, ethereal moonlight twinkled.

'Pretty basic for a dorm room. Though its just how I like it, simple.'

Adrien thought, in approval of his new room. After inspecting it, he promptly changed into his nightwear, which comprised a plain gray tee shirt and checkered blue and white pants.

Once he was all set, he ruffled his hair, ensured the door was locked and placed his briefcase on the floor with its handles facing him.

The briefcase had a capital letter 'F' inscribed in golden at its center and the Flamel motto, 'Chercher, Découvrir, et Éclairer', under it.

'Should really get a defensive blood magic charm for my lab. I'll ask Dumbledore to do it for me. I don't have the magic capacity or power sufficient enough to cast one complex enough for my liking.'

He gently ran his hands across the edge of the briefcase and opened it, revealing a pitch-black interior. He put his hands through the darkness and felt for a ladder.

'Ah, there it is.'

Once found, he proceeded to use it to climb down into the interior of the briefcase.

When he first received his briefcase from Newt Scamander during the Flamel Christmas Ball of '83, it consisted of merely a room and a nicely furnished living room - a rather basic interior.

Adrien, however, was unsatisfied with it. He wanted the briefcase to serve as his home away from home, so he found its previous structure inadequate and requested for Nicolas, his father, to modify the interior of the briefcase and extensively outfit it.

Now, the briefcase consisted of a richly decorated living room, a room, a kitchen, a bar, an extensive library, and a laboratory stocked with standard lab apparatus, which included advanced light and electron microscopes.

The ladder Adrien climbed down led to the living room of the briefcase. Once down, he made his way to the kitchen and fixed himself a cold glass of Butterbeer.

"Mmm"

Letting out a satisfied moan upon taking a sip of the drink, he made his way over to the couch at the center of the living room, in front of which lay a small table and a fireplace.

He took a few more sips of the Butterbeer, placed the glass on the table, and let out a slight burp.

As he burped, he heard the sound of slicing air, causing him to smile subconsciously. He already knew who it was.

"Hey, Aella. How's your day been?"

He warmly asked, turning his head towards the majestic white and gold feathered Thunderbird perched on his left shoulder.

*Relatively dull and uneventful.* Aella hooted cooly in response.* What about yours? How was your first day at Hogwarts?*

"Eventful," Adrien started with a chuckle, "Made a new friend on the train ride...It's that girl who tried to touch you."

*You mean the raucous brat?* Aella asked with a perplexed expression.

Adrien laughed, "Yes, the energetic girl...Her name's Evelyn."

*Ah, I see* Aella murmured, clearly surprised, *What about the sorting and start of term banquet? How did those go?*

Adrien grabbed his glass cup and took a sip of his Butterbeer before responding,

"It was quite interesting. You won't believe that..."

Like that, the boy and bird continued to converse blithely, occassionally permeating the warm air around them with laughter. Adrien always found talking to Aella relaxing; it was one of his favorite ways of unwinding.

'Right. Let's get to work...Let's see if it still works as intended. Hopefully, it does...really want to avoid having to continue tweaking it.'

After talking to Aella for about an hour and a half, he dropped his now-empty glass cup on the table and sat upright on the couch. He then took out his wand, The Stormbringer, and caressed it softly, causing its intricate lightning carvings to glimmer faintly.

"Metior"

With a masterful flick of his wand, and under the watchful eyes of Aella, he mumbled these words and immediately invoked the restlessness of the magical energy particles around him...

~.~.~

A/N: It's Arithmancy Time!

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