Knocker Riddle, Learn The Essence

[The banquet finally came to an end, and Harry Black followed Penelope, along with the new students, toward the Ravenclaw common room. As they climbed the stairs, a series of thoughts passed through his mind.

Did those stairs have some sort of consciousness? Or were they just programmed mechanisms to move?

Keeping these questions for later research, Harry Black finally arrived at the entrance of the Ravenclaw common room.

At the top of a tall tower, there was a smooth wooden door, adorned with a bronze eagle-shaped knocker. Penelope stepped forward, ready to explain how the entrance worked to the newcomers.

"Unlike other houses, Ravenclaw doesn't have a password or a physical entry method. Instead, you must answer a riddle. If the answer is correct, the door will open. Otherwise, you'll have to wait until another student can answer correctly."

After finishing the explanation, Penelope approached the door. The knocker, in the shape of an eagle, seemed to come to life and, with a soft voice, asked the question:

"If time can destroy everything, what can destroy time?"

As Penelope prepared to answer, Harry Black, who was a little behind, murmured without thinking:

"Memory, because as long as it's remembered, time is never lost."

Silence fell over the group as the door made the characteristic sound of a lock unlocking and slowly opened.

"Wow!"

The students behind were surprised and looked at Harry Black with admiration.

Even though they were from Ravenclaw, they were still too young to answer such a question and hadn't expected anyone their age to get it right.

Penelope was slightly stunned, before giving Harry a somewhat forced smile.

"Not bad, Potter. Not many manage to answer the knocker's question on the first try. Seems like you have a destiny tied to Ravenclaw."

Harry Black felt a little embarrassed. He hadn't expected to steal the spotlight and had spoken without thinking.

However, what he didn't notice was the intense sparkle in Hermione's eyes and the proud expression on her upturned face, as if she were the one who had solved the riddle.

Penelope led everyone inside the common room, explained some rules, and then sent each one to their dormitories. Harry Black said goodbye to Hermione before entering his room and meeting his new roommates.

To his surprise, there were only three students in the dorm.

Since he had already interacted with almost everyone during the banquet, he quickly recognized their names: Terry Boot, Michael Corner, and Anthony Goldstein.

They were all half-bloods, which made it easier to get along, and they quickly became friends.

During the conversation, Harry Black discovered the reason for having so few students in the dorm: the rooms were divided by gender and year, and most of the Ravenclaw students that year were girls.

So, he and the other three were the only boys in the class.

Harry Black wasn't sad about this; on the contrary, he even smiled. Who would want to wake up every day surrounded by several men? It was better this way.

After talking for a while with his three new friends, Harry lay down, eager for a new day.

The next day

Harry Black woke up promptly at six o'clock.

Noticing that the other three were still deeply asleep, he waved his serpent-shaped wand, casting a simple illusion that distorted the view around him, and began his magical training method practice.

When he finished the last movements, he was surprised to notice a significant increase in his magical power. Although it was only 0,50%, at Harry's current level, that already represented a great leap in a single day.

Thinking for a moment, he guessed that the Hogwarts environment was the reason for that progress. Perhaps the concentration of magical power in the air was greater than in Muggle places?

Pushing those thoughts aside, Harry Black finished his practice, left the dormitory, and made his way to the common room, which was still empty.

Noticing the shelves filled with dense books, he smiled and picked one on magical theory that he hadn't found at Flourish and Blotts in Diagon Alley. He settled on the sofa and began reading.

Time passed, and the students began to slowly gather in the common room. When they saw Harry Black, engrossed in reading, their eyes filled with admiration.

Remembering how easily he had answered the riddle of the eagle knocker, they finally understood that his intelligence came from constant effort to learn.

As if being infected by his dedication, several students grabbed books from the shelves and began reading enthusiastically, eager for knowledge.

Some time later, Hermione left the dormitory. Upon noticing Harry Black immersed in his reading, she quickly grabbed a book and sat next to him, lowering her head as if concentrating.

However, her ears, which gradually turned red, betrayed her true thoughts.

Harry Black noticed her presence and smiled, but said nothing, continuing to flip through the pages calmly.

The girls, seeing Hermione so close to Harry, felt a wave of jealousy. Suddenly, the books in their hands seemed less interesting. The older students merely sighed, thinking to themselves:

"Ah, how nice it is to be young."

At 7:30, Penelope, who had gone out to call everyone to breakfast, was surprised to see the common room so full.

However, she set this thought aside and focused on gathering the students, leading them to the Great Hall.

Harry Black found Ron and Neville and talked a lot with the two of them, who seemed quite excited.

After agreeing to meet again at lunch, Harry Black finished his meal and then turned to Hermione, who was sitting next to him.

"Our first class will be Potions with Hufflepuff. Do you want to take a look at the library?"

Hermione immediately agreed, and the two of them headed to the library together. When they arrived, Harry Black was surprised by the seemingly countless number of books.

Harry had always imagined that, upon arriving at Hogwarts, the place he would explore the most would be the library.

He believed he would learn enough in his seven years there. However, now he wondered if he would be able to absorb so much knowledge without decades of continuous learning.

Noticing that Harry seemed distracted, Hermione asked:

"What's going on, Harry?"

"Hermione, do you know how many books the Hogwarts library has?"

"Eh? The Hogwarts library? Hmmm... according to what I've read, Hogwarts' thousand-year heritage has gathered around two hundred thousand books or more, but definitely fewer than five hundred thousand."

Harry Black fell silent, surprised by this impressive number, and sighed deeply in his mind.

"Well, let's just learn the essence and discard the impurities. That's the most correct way to go."

With his mind focused, Harry Black took a little while but eventually found three books on Potions and sat down to read.

If any older student passed by, they would be surprised to notice that the books Harry was reading were only suitable for fourth-year students.

Hermione also noticed this and smiled discreetly before grabbing a third-year Potions book and starting to read without concern.

Time passed, and it was finally time for the first Potions class with the Hufflepuff students.

Harry Black and Hermione followed the path they had already memorized and arrived at the classroom. The two sat down and waited for the professor's arrival.]