The Common Room
1991-First Year
The hall erupted into cheers and the hat was taken off her head. Elizabeth got off the stool and walked off the platform. She looked down as she walked to the end of the Ravenclaw table. She noticed that her robes had changed to correspond to her new house.
“Cool,” she thought.
She sat down next to a boy with mousey brown hair and a gap between his two front teeth. He flashed her a smile and gave her a congratulations. She sheepishly smiled back more out of politeness than anything. She really wished people would stop looking at her.
However, once more names were being called, the attention was off of her and she finally felt like she could breathe. It didn’t last much longer though when Olivia was being called.
She looked at the girl and wished that she would be sorted with her. Elizabeth really did not want to have to make new friends again.
“HUFFLEPUFF!”
The smile on the Olivia’s face was instantaneous. The witch got what she wanted. Elizabeth was happy for her although disappointed. There still was Erin she could hope for.
Olivia waved at her from her table and she waved back. It wasn’t the end of the friendship. At least, that’s what she told herself to keep from freaking out.
More names got called and sorted into their houses. There were a few more sorted into her house including a girl with long blonde hair and bright blue eyes and an Indian girl with equally long black hair and dark eyes.
“HARRY POTTER!” Professor McGonagall called out.
The hall went silent. Everyone knew who he was.
“Is it him? The boy who lived?” someone whispered.
“I think so. His whole family was killed, but he didn’t die. Some people think he killed You Know Who,” another said.
Elizabeth didn’t know much about the wizarding war. Mainly because her parents had moved by that point. Her uncle was there, but he preferred to not speak about it. The only thing he said was that there was a reason he went to school in France.
Olivia, though, had filled her in and, yeah, that boy was a big deal.
“GRYFFINDOR!”
Well, maybe she’ll meet him at some point. They were bound to have some classes together.
Other names were called and soon it was Erin’s turn. It didn’t take very long before the word “Ravenclaw” sounded. Erin quickly walked over to Elizabeth and asked to sit next to her.
“I’m so happy we can stick together,” she said.
“Me too,” Elizabeth answered.
Soon, the Sorting was over and the headmaster started to give a speech. Elizabeth didn’t really listen to him, but preferred to look around at the different students.
The girl with the dark short hair, who’s name was Pansy, joined the Slytherin house along with the blonde kid, Draco.
Harry Potter was surrounded by a band of red heads who she assumed were a family of some sort.
“Nitwit! Blubber! Oddment! Tweak!”
Food appeared before them. It was a great feast with a full turkey, potatoes of every kind, and any sort of vegetable you could think of.
“Where does all this food come from?” Erin asked looking confused at the food.
“They have house elves working in the kitchens,” Padma explained.
“And what are house elves?”
“Oh, there like these creatures that thrive off being given chores and whatnot.”
“Are they paid?”
“Of course not. How absurd!”
“Sounds like slavery to me,” Erin muttered under her breath.
She agreed. At home, she did everything by hand and so did her uncle.
He claimed, “It is more rewarding to do things by hand. And you never know when you won’t have a wand to come save you. Elizabeth, remember that.”
She did and that’s why he made sure she knew how to do basic chores around the house. Not that they were her job, but if she could help out, she knew how.
That’s how she found her love for cooking and baking. Every Sunday, Uncle Todd and her would try out new recipes whether it was a new pastry, pasta, or even salad. They did it together. She’s going to miss that.
Elizabeth starting grabbing a couple things here and there. It all looked absolutely delicious.
“Oh, there’s tomatoes in this, she said.
“Do you not like them?” Erin asked.
She shook her head. Erin, then, plucked them off her plate and started eating again.
Dinner passed by quickly and soon it was over. They were directed to follow the prefects of their respective houses.
They seem to have walked for a while down many different corridors. How she was going to figure out where to go in this place, she had no idea. As they passed different passageways, she noted that the portraits on the wall would move. She knew that magical images were enchanted in some way to allow for movement and cognitive ability, but it was another thing to see it.
They spoke amongst themselves. “Look new students. Is it just me or are they getting smaller every year?”
“I think you’re right.”
“They are for sure getting cuter though. Oh, I miss my children.”
Their voices got distant and the group arrived at the base of a winding staircase.
The prefect ahead of them started explaining that this was the entrance to Ravenclaw Tower. Boy, she would get her workout in every day with these stairs.
They started walking up. Air was already getting harder to get into her lungs after only a few steps. They got to a landing with an ornate door and a bronze knocker in the shape of an eagle.
“Why was the emblem an eagle instead of a raven?” Erin had asked on the train when they were discussing the houses.
“Literally no idea.” Elizabeth said
The prefect knocked three times and the eagle started speaking.
“The more you take, the more you leave behind. What am I?” it asked.
“Anyone know?” the prefect looked at the students.
The students looked confused.
“Air?” one said half-heartedly.
“Footsteps!” a student yelled.
The double door opened.
“If you want to enter the Ravenclaw common room and dorms, expect to be asked a riddle. I highly recommend finding a book on them so you don’t get stuck.”
The students entered the common room. It was a circular room with stairs framing an alcove with a large marble statue and bookcases at the end of the room. Windows lined the room with dark blue curtains hanging around They stretched the whole length of the wall, from the dark sky painted ceiling to the fluffy blue carpet. At the center was a circular marble floor that had a white grand piano sitting in the middle. It was incredibly airy and light considering the time of day it was.
The prefect explained that the girls’ dormitories were to the left and the boys’ were to the right. If they had any questions, they were to ask any older student, they’ll be sure to help.
Elizabeth went up to him before he left, “Classes start tomorrow, right? When do we get our schedules and possibly a map?”
“You’ll find all of that with your stuff in the dorm. I would also suggest to stick with the girls in your dorm. Teachers will be less harsh if you all show up together if you get lost.”
She thanked him and Elizabeth and Erin went straight to find their room. They found their stuff already settled at some of the beds. Their beds were next to each other so they were extremely happy. Luna, Padma and Cho were also in their room.
Elizabeth looked down at her watch. It was already quite late. She looked over her schedule. Classes started at 9 am and breakfast at 7:30 am. First class was charms and then potions.
She knew potions would likely be an easy class for her considering how much she listened to Uncle Todd drone on about bat spleens and fluxweed. Charms was another story. She didn’t have much practice with a wand, but it was being taught by the head of Ravenclaw House, Professor Flitwick.
Erin was grabbing her things to go change and get ready for bed whereas Luna was spraying something around her bed, complaining about nargles and the other two were gossiping about some boy they saw.
Elizabeth grabbed her own things for bed and Erin and her went off to the bathroom.
“Are you scared too?” Erin asked.
“Definitely. But we’ll be together and we have potions with Hufflepuff tomorrow. So, we’ll be able to see Olivia.”
“That’s true. I just don’t want to make a fool of myself.”
“You won’t. We’re all learning here.”
Erin nodded in agreement seemingly less tense than before, but if only she could convince herself so easily. She did not want to mess up either.
They finished up in the bathroom, leaving the room nice and comfy in their pajamas. She left her things on her clothes on her trunk folded and grabbed the things she would likely need for tomorrow. No harm in being prepared.
The other girls were getting into bed. It was already close to 9 pm. The lights turned off and they went to bed.
…
Elizabeth jolted awake. It was still incredibly dark outside and she could hear the soft snoring from the girls beside her. Her heart was beating incredibly fast and everything felt sticky. There was a pit in her stomach.
This happened sometimes when she was nervous and usually, she would go to climb into her uncle’s bed. He would wake up and knowing that she was stressed and he would talk to her about some nonsense. She would fall asleep in his arms.
But she couldn’t do that now. The light from the moon shone in and lit her way to her bag. She grabbed her charms book and a small head light she brought with her. She had a feeling it might come in handy.
She started reading through different charms, practicing the movements with a pencil (definitely didn’t want to accidently light something on fire in the middle of the night).
She fell back asleep with the book laying over her chest and a pencil in hand.