Penelope led the first-year students to the Ravenclaw common room, nestled in the western wing of the castle.
They climbed a high, spiraling staircase until they arrived at a door. There was no doorknob, no keyhole—just a smooth, timeworn wooden panel set with a bronze knocker shaped like an eagle.
Penelope knocked gently. The eagle's beak opened—not to screech, but to speak, in a soft, melodious voice:
"Which came first, the phoenix or the flame?"
Penelope turned to the first-years and said, "To enter the Ravenclaw common room, you must answer the eagle's riddle. From now on, this will be your responsibility."
She replied, "A circle has no beginning."
The door swung open, and the new Ravenclaws filed inside.
Wang Yong nodded thoughtfully. Ravenclaw's entrance questions were always philosophical or metaphysical—nothing he couldn't handle.
The Ravenclaw common room was a large, circular chamber designed with striking elegance. It exuded an airy, almost ethereal atmosphere.
Standing quietly at the edge of the crowd, Wang Yong took it all in. The solemn serenity of the room stirred something deep within him.
"This… this is the kind of place one could truly belong," murmured Xiao Yi in his mind, a soft sigh of contentment.
Wang Yong's expression twisted wryly.
"Xiao Yi, this is exactly why you wanted me in Ravenclaw, isn't it?"
"Hm? Well… maybe~" Xiao Yi's voice faded into silence.
Wang Yong glanced around the room with a conflicted heart. Arched windows lined the walls, elegantly framed, draped in blue and bronze silk. By day, they surely offered a breathtaking view of the surrounding mountains.
The ceiling was a dome painted with stars, mirroring the deep blue carpet below, which was also studded with constellations. The room held cozy chairs, desks, and tall bookshelves. Opposite the entrance, in a niche, stood a tall statue carved from white marble.
Beside the statue, a door led up to the dormitories.
Drawn to it, Wang Yong approached the statue—a beautiful woman gazing down with a mysterious smile. Graceful, yet somehow intimidating.
Above her head was a marble halo, delicately etched with the words:
"Wit beyond measure is man's greatest treasure."
He stood there for quite a while, so long that the other students began to stare. Realizing this, Wang Yong cleared his throat dramatically.
"Just a little moved, that's all."
Seeing Penelope rolling up her sleeves, he smiled awkwardly. These upper-year girls probably thought he was about to deface a piece of school history on his very first day.
Eventually, Wang Yong and his new roommates found their dorm through a winding spiral staircase. Their trunks had already been delivered.
Four four-poster beds, each with deep blue velvet curtains, filled the room. After quickly changing into their pajamas, his dormmates collapsed into bed.
Wang Yong remained awake, sitting by his bedside, listening to their peaceful breathing. Thankfully, no snorers.
Barefoot, he walked over to the window.
The moonlight poured in, casting a silver glow across the quiet expanse of the Hogwarts grounds. In the distance, solemn and cold, stood the mountain ranges.
A strange serenity settled in his heart—a deep calm, beneath which churned the quiet fire of determination.
And so, Wang Yong's new life at Hogwarts had truly begun.
There are 142 staircases at Hogwarts. Some were wide and grand, others narrow and rickety. Some changed their destinations on Fridays. Others vanished halfway up, requiring one to remember exactly where to jump.
There were also many tricky doors—ones that wouldn't open unless you asked politely or tapped the right panel. Some weren't doors at all, just solid walls pretending to be one.
On Wednesday nights, they studied astronomy, gazing through telescopes to learn the names of stars and the paths of planets.
Three times a week, a stout witch named Professor Sprout led them to the greenhouses behind the castle for Herbology—learning to cultivate magical plants and fungi, and how to use them.
Charms, taught by Professor Flitwick, the Ravenclaw Head of House, was another class Wang Yong enjoyed immensely. After all, most people's first image of magic involved casting spells.
Professor Flitwick was especially fond of his Ravenclaws, and frequently praised Wang Yong's magical talent.
"I'd thought the brightest first-year was a girl from Gryffindor," he once said. "But it turns out Ravenclaw has a prodigy of its own."
Wang Yong earned five points for Ravenclaw in his very first Charms class.
While his magical talent was, for now, on par with Hermione's, his advanced self-study meant he had already surpassed her in practical knowledge. His talent was solid but not exceptional—others in his year, like Malfoy and Neville, were roughly equal in potential. Harry Potter, of course, stood apart.
Transfiguration, shared with Gryffindor, was taught by the stern Professor McGonagall.
"Transfiguration is among the most complex and dangerous branches of magic you'll learn at Hogwarts," she warned. "Anyone fooling around in my class will be shown the door—permanently. You've been warned."
She then transformed her desk into a pig, and back again.
Wang Yong watched with fascination. Turning furniture into animals—that was sixth- or seventh-year level magic. He was still far from that.
After a mountain of note-taking, McGonagall gave each student a matchstick and instructed them to transfigure it into a needle.
Wang Yong focused his intent, and the matchstick transformed instantly.
McGonagall blinked in surprise, studying him from head to toe.
"As expected of a Ravenclaw. Five points."
Wang Yong caught a sharp glance out of the corner of his eye. Turning his head, he met Hermione's gaze—cool and less than friendly. A sly smile crept onto his lips.
Hermione, for all her effort, only managed to turn her matchstick vaguely needle-like by the end of class. No points for her.
When the bell rang, she stuffed her books into her bag with a dramatic thump and dashed off to the library, clearly determined to beat Wang Yong at something.
Thanks to his quick point gains and sharp intellect, Wang Yong soon became a standout among the first-years. Even upperclassmen began to seek him out for help.
But Wang Yong had little free time. He spent nearly all of it in the Hogwarts library—a place so vast and packed with books it almost overwhelmed him with joy. He couldn't remember when he became so diligent, waking at five each morning to read and studying late into the night. He was rarely seen in the Ravenclaw common room.
The library was a treasure trove—from ancient grimoires to the latest publications. Even in his home world, few libraries could match its depth and history. To Wang Yong, this was the true wealth of Hogwarts.
Hermione, meanwhile, was even more fanatical than in the original timeline. The two of them practically turned the library into an academic battleground—though Wang Yong never saw it as a competition.
Now and then, he'd visit the Room of Requirement on the eighth floor, opposite the tapestry of the troll clubbing Barnabas the Barmy, to conduct potions experiments.
Oddly, such a life didn't exhaust him. On the contrary, Wang Yong felt he was burning with excitement every moment—learning magic, exploring its depths. The Philosopher's Stone within him kept away all fatigue and negativity.
Before long, he became Ravenclaw's newest eccentric genius—a quiet, solitary figure often seen only with Susan. But his magical prowess quickly won the entire house's respect.