1991-01 september (after dinner)

Penelope Clearwater led the first years to the Ravenclaw Tower making sure nobody was left behind.

"This is the entrance to our common room." she explained once they had reached the door with the stone raven head that was looking at them with keen interest.

"You cannot tell anyone from the other houses how to reach this place or how it works." Once she had said that, she turned her back on the first years and looked at the stone raven, that opened its beak and spoke?

Ron wanted to laugh at the surprising situation, but kept quiet and stretched his ears, eager to understand what was happening.

"I have mountains, but no trees.

I have seas, but not of water,

I have rivers, and they never waver.

What am I?"

"To enter one must guess correctly the answer to the riddle, they are always changing, and if you can't get it right you have to wait for someone to do so. Now who has the answer?" said Penelope.

Ron looked around, finding people with deep frowns and closed eyes, they were obviously trying to answer the riddle. Ron went over the riddle, if not for last part, it could have been Mars, at least from what he knew. The last verse didn't really make sense. Maybe it refers to golden veins or something similar?he thought.

"Is it Mars?" he said.

The raven clicked its beak twice, looking... frustrated? "Explain!" it croacked.

"This happens when the answer you give is a lot different from what the raven expects." Penelope encouraged him, while the others were either still trying to solve the riddle or looking at him, waiting for the explanation.

"Well, there are no plants of any kind on Mars, and it has deserts, which are seas made of sand, and there are mineral veins deep into the ground, so 'rivers that never waver'." Ron said.

"Very knowledgable!" answered the raven. Then the door opened.

While Penelopeled them inside, Padma tugged his sleeve: "How did you know that stuff about Mars?" she whispered.

"The first successful fly-by of Mars was on July 1965, by NASA's Mariner 4. And in '71, I think, Mariner 9 became the first space probe to orbit another planet when it entered into orbit around Mars. There are a lot of theories upon the planet, but I read that it doesn't have a very dense atmosphere, so no liquid water. And that means deserts of some kind. Absolutely no plants. I bluffed on the mineral veins." He whispered back.

Terry snorted. "Ron, I think she whanted to know where you learned that stuff." he suggested.

Noticing that Padma and Mandy were both giggling, Ron felt a blush taking over his face. "Oh." He stammered. "There is a muggle library near where I live, and I've read random topics, some things stuck."

He didn't think it was a problem telling them that he went into a muggle library, his mother would hardly find out. Besides, from the next summer foward I can probably tell mum that I'm studying in a library, it's not something that would enrage her... I hope. He was still somehow coming to terms with his sorting.

He had never considered the idea of being sorted differently from the rest of his family. And yet, there he was. He didn't find the company of the others boring, nor he felt any of them deserved the title of bookworm. But maybe it was still too soon to tell, during dinner he talked with the others without mentioning books or studies. Introducing himself had included talking about chess, obviously, but Mandy, for example, played the guitar, which was something somewhat uncommon in the Wizarding world, since there were simple charms that played instruments in your stead. They also talked about what they expected to learn, and he even found out that McGonagall was a cat animagus! So the image of bookworms he had really did not fit the bill. His housemates were interesting! Not like Percy at all. Then Ron reasoned that maybe he was a bookworm himself, and that was why he found himself so at ease among the others. That thought brought a frown on his face, that was quickly erased when he realized that he didn't really care. He liked learning, even if it was something that began as an escape from the loneliness he felt at the Burrow. That was it. He was surrounded by likely minded people, and that was just the icing on top of the cake. He felt warm at the thought of making friends.

He left that train of thought when they were all in the common room, it was an airy space. Circular, with seven tall windows at regular intervals, there were two big fireplaces surrounded by armchairs and couches. The ceiling stood comfortably at a height of five meters, and was enchanted to mimick the outside sky. Exactly like the Great Hall, but without the candles. There were several mahogany tables, with lamps and benches on the sides. To his delight, there were also several coffee tables with a chessboard placed on them, ready to be used. Between a window and the next, there were tall bookshelves filled to the brim and alcoves. Maybe all the topics they would need for assignments were already there! That would save them time, he would check as soon as possible.

"This as you can see is our common room, a lot of us study and do their homework here, but you can talk, no worries, even if you should keep an eye on the volume of your voice. The alcoves are mostly reserved for the fifth and seventh years, they apply a silencing charm on the edge of them so they can study without being disturbed. Behind you there are two archways, each leads to a turret, the first one the boys dorm, the second is for the girls. This year your rooms will be on the third floor of the turrets, you will share a room with the same classmate for the whole seven years, unless you ask for a change. You are all encouraged to enchant your room, once you will deemed capable enough, so not before your fourth year. The lessons begin at 9:00 am, and tomorrow morning our head of House, the Professor Flitwick, will have some words with the whole house and will give us our timetables, at 8:00 am, so that you'll still have time to eat breakfast in the Great Hall." Penelope explained.

Ron let himself fall on the blue covers of his bed with a groan that expressed his exhaustion. He ended up sharing a room with Terry Boot, who was, in his opinion, an ok bloke. The room was at the third floor, like Penelope had promised, there were two big windows that let natural light shine over two desks of modest dimensions, each with a chair. There were two bookshelves, and, just after the bedrests (each with an alarm clock), two little wardrobes. Probably they were big enough just for the standard clothing that was suggested by the Hogwarts Letter. With a last effort, Ron divested himself from the schools robes and opened his trunk, finding his pijamas and quickly donning it. He would tranfer the clothes in the wardrobe on the next day. He cursed when his bare feet touched the cold stone floor and jumped again into the bed. He closed the courtains around his bed before wishing 'good night' to Terry, who answered in kind. And soon he drifted into sleep, tired from the day's events.

The following morning came way too fast in Ron's opinion. However at 8:00 am he found himself with his whole House in the common room, listening to Professor Filius Flitwick. With a twitch of his wand, a flurry of timetables stormed the room, and suddenly Ron found himself holding his own. The control showcased with that seemingly insignificabt spell had shut up everyone, quieting the mutterings and the whispers of those still not fully awake. After that everyone but the first years left for their own rooms, to grab the books needed for the day, before going to the Great Hall for breakfast.

"I'll steal you only a few minutes." the half goblin said. "First let me clear a few misconceptions. I do not require any of you to keep an average of Oustanding in all of your subjects. Some topics will result easier to one, more complex to another, and that is without considering the natural attitude soneone has toward a certain field of magic. So while I encourage each of you to study hard and give your all to complete your homework, grades are not something that determines in any way your value in my eyes. The Hat choose to put you in Ravenclaw, and it has always had his reasons for doing so."

Some of the first years relaxed a tiny bit after hearing that. To be honest, Ron too was feeling some pressure born from the high standards everyone held Ravenclaws to.

Their Head of House shot them a knowing grin before going on: "Hogwarts prides itself with one of the most extensive libraries of the world. So while you are researching something for your assignments, if you find another topic that strikes your fancy, enjoy it without worries. Just remember to keep track of your surroundings, and complete your assigments before you start research sonething else. Remember however, that while books are a wonderful tool to learn, many things can be understood only through experience. Don't lock youreselves behind a thick wall of dusty tomes, the world is yours, but only if you choose to live in it."

He gave them a warm smile to digest his wise counsel, before wrapping it up: "The door to my office is always open: if you find youreself not understanding a particular topic, you're welcome. If you wish to talk about something, and that includes how your feel about Hogwarts, you're welcome. If you wish to play chess or gobstones, you're welcone to join the respective clubs." he concluded with a merry laugh that stole a few, grateful smiles from the still tense first years.

After the first three weeks, the first years Ravenclaws had counted one hundred and forty-two staircases at Hogwarts: wide, sweeping ones; narrow, rickety ones; some that led somewhere different on a Friday; some with a vanishing step halfway up that you had to remember to jump. Then there were doors that wouldn't open unless you asked politely, or tickled them in exactly the right place, and doors that weren't really doors at all, but solid walls just pretending. It was also very hard to remember where anything was, because it all seemed to move around a lot. Obviously the people in the portraits kept going to visit each other, and it would have been rude interrupting their conversations to ask for indications. That removed them as possible landmarks, and Ron was sure the coats of armour could walk. The ghosts didn't help, either. It was always a nasty shock when one of them glided suddenly through a door you were trying to open. Peeves the poltergeist was a right menace in Ron's opinion, and he even suspected that the twins sicked him on their Ravenclaw brother because of his 'betrayal' toward his family. He had no material proof, obviously, but the grins and laughs Fred and George exchanged with each other every tine they saw him soaking wet from a water balloon assault were enough to him. Such attacks often ended up reaping casualities amomg his housemates, who were anything but amused.

In short, between the literal labyrinth of moving staircases, trick doors, and unending pranks, Ron and his classmates became quickly very knowledgable about how to navigate the school.

The lesson themselves however were pure awesomeness. Well, all but DADA and History of Magic.

He shared the first with Hufflepuffs, and usually spent it either reading ahead or studing something that had absolutely nothing in common with Defence Against the Dark Arts. He had been outraged by how Professor Binns, who was a bloody ghost by the way, managed to turn a subject so wonderful into something so deadly boring. In those lessons he, along with the other Ravenclaws, took turns in taking notes. While one unlucky sod was forced to pay attention, the others were free to spend the period doing whatever they wanted.

Herbology soon grew to bore him. He didn't really care about plants, magical or otherwise. Even if some of the more nighmarish plants managed to gain a spark of interest from him, they were more Mandy's field than his. Having already read One Thousand Magical Herbs and Fungi by Phillida Spore allowed him to keep his Exceed Expectation without too much grief.

Astronomy often left him breathless, but only because he started observing celestial bodies he read about in the muggle library near home. He was often reprimanded for his lack of focus. The subject itself was not something that managed to interest him for now, but they were only mapping the Moon face, so there was hope still.

Potions was demanding, but only because it required one's complete attention for the entire duration of the process. That was because, like one of the handwritten notes scribbled on the side pages of Magical Drafts and Potions explained, the magic of the wizard or the witch poured itself into the concociton with a passive process. Ron had no idea what passive meant, at least not in that context, but the answer to that question was probably somewhere in the library.

Like he had showcased on the train, Ron seemed to have an aptitude for charms. After all, they required only the correct incantation, the wand movement and a big load of power behind them. He already knew all the wand movements they would be learning during the first year, that left him practicing his pronunciation and almost reaching magical exhaustion every evening before falling asleep. That came with an heavy dose of headaches, but he could see the benefits already. The first time he levitated a shoe, he could only keep it afloat for a minute, give or take, but after two weeks of grueling work, the 'hovering time' had reached one minute and half. Soon he could start with levitating two objects at once. Then he would learn how to direct them. And one day he would be able to manage Professor Flitwick's feat with the levitation charm. And he would impress him once they got started on it in class, since they were still working on lumos. Changing the intensity or the color of the light had not been an impossible challenge for him, even if certain colors resulted, for some reason, impossible to him, and he still wasn't able to switch on and off quickly enough.

Transfiguration was beautiful. Simply as that. It required, above everything else, imagination. You had to picture t end result, and even how it felt. Sure, incantation and wand movement were important, but without the proper mindset, nothing seemed to work. Ronald guessed the importance of the feel that the end result would give off when he turned his matchstick into a thin ice needle. He had got himself distracted and was thinking about the Ice Giants of Norse myhology. McGonagall understood immediately why his spell went awry and gave him a detention with Filch, for 'fooling around with transfiguration'. He was still glad that his imagination had been honed enough during the year spent in the muggle library that he could bring forth such a change when his fellow first years were still trying to turn the matchstick pointy.

On a friday afternoon, Ron went to the library alone. He wanted to complete all of his assignments for the following week so that he could spend the whole weekend practicing charms. He was in for several hours of hard work. Snape's essays were murder, and nobody could make him think otherwise.

He was looking for a free table, when he spotted a familiar mop of unruly black hair. A smile blossomed on Ron's face, the first weeks had been hectic, so he had not been able to interact with Harry beyond a casual 'hello' or an exchanged nod.

He sat down and started whispering: "Hey mate, how have you been?"

Harry snapped his head up from the book he was reading, and surprisingly Ron found himself facing the tip of the holly wand. Recognizing him, Harry lowered his arm, and sported a sheepish smile. "Sorry." he mouthed.

"Blimey, Slytherin made you a bit jumpy!" answered Ron.

Harry simply shrugged, and from there on it was like they were still on the train, easily finding again the camaderie they had developed while throwing around Malfoy and his goons.

"Slytherin is not that bad, even if they're big on tradition and stuff like that. I had to shut up Malfoy a few times, when nobody was looking, obviously. And I am trading help with defence for customs lessons with Zabini. But I have to learn ahead so I have something to trade, you know."

Opportunistic twats. Thought Ron, but instead he said: "I'm doing the assignments for the next week this afternoon, we can do them together, and this weekend we can practice together, we can use..."

"This?" Harry interrupted him, showing the library's copy of Curses and Counter-Curses (Bewitch your Friends and Befuddle your Enemies with the Latest Revenges: Hair Loss, Jelly-Legs, Tongue-Tying and much, much more) by Professor Vindictus Viridian.

Ron snorted. "Yeah, that's the one. My copy has Bill, Charlie and the twins' notes all over it. So we can learn all sort of tricks, besides to learn this kind of thing one has to practice, we'll need an empty classroom."

Harry thought about it for a few seconds, before nodding. "Sounds like a plan. Are you any good at transfiguration? I manage somewhat with the practical, but every time I think I've got the theory, it... slips. I don't know how to say it."

"Yeah, I'm good at the theoric side of transfiguration. How do you feel about potions? I don't know how to complete the last assignment." Ron answered.

"Potions is not a strenght of mine, however I completed the homework with a Gryffindor yesterday, he knew how to properly grind fangs from a fanged lily and I managed to sqeeze in two whole inches on the assignment. You can have a look at it, if you want."

"Cool, I'm already set for herbology and history. And I am halfway done with astronomy." concluded Ron.

And so they studied together for the whole afternoon. Helping each other pointing out respective errors or suggesting things that the other didn't know. In Ron's opinion, beyond the effectiveness of working together, it was a new kind of fun, a strange cross between deeply satisfacting and empowering.

On the following day, Ron and Harry met in an empty classroom on the fourth floor, and immediately the bespectacled wizard opened Ron's copy of Curses and Counter-Curses (Bewitch your Friends and Befuddle your Enemies with the Latest Revenges: Hair Loss, Jelly-Legs, Tongue-Tying and much, much more), eager to learn.

"Langlock seems a useful spell to know, if you manage to nail your opponent with it he can't use incantations." He pointed out.

"I agree, but before we start hexing each other, maybe we should make sure that we are able to reverse the effects." answered Ron. "Look in the counter curses section of the book, there is the all purpouses counter spell 'finite'. If I remember correctly, you just need to jab your wand at whatever you're trying to undo and say the incantation."

Harry eagerly flipped foward in the book, soon finding what they had been looking for, and started reading: "Finite is cast tapping with the tip of your wand the subject you want to free from the effects of the jinx you want to undo. Blah Blah Blah... Yeah you were mostly right Ron. Oh wait this is interesting, an important variation of this counter course, is the Finite Incantatem. Blah Blah Blah... focusing on what you want to accomplish (undoing the effects of a jinx or hex), you need to jab your wand toward the subject you wish to uncurse."

Harry paused and took out a spare parchment, where he started jotting down notes about what he had just read. At that point Ron poked his head over his shoulder, squinting his eyes to decipher the scribblings of his siblings on the side of the pages. "This looks like Bill's handwriting, listen. Undoing your own curse is easy, because your magic acts as a... key in a keyhole? Otherwise you have to overpower the spell in place. A key in a keyhole? Why did he think about that? No wonder he ended up becoming a cursebreaker. And here there is the twins scribble: finite incantatem on shields, finite on spells. Ok shields are fifth year material, so we'll put a pin on that."

"How do we practice the finite?" asked Harry "I mean, I'd prefer casting it on something instead of each other, so if it goes awry we are still safe."

"Well I could levitate a sock, and you cast both finite and finite incantatem on it until it drops. But I don't know, since Wingardium Leviosa is something that I have to keep active, so I don't really know how it would work." Proposed Ron.

"Uh, I don't know the levitation charm yet." muttered Harry. "What about transfiguration? We can turn a little splinter from one of the desks into a needle, and undoing each other's one. You know the cutting charm, don't you? Is in the The Standard Book of Spells, Grade 1."

Ron assumed a pensieve stance. "I know only the theory, I never tried it. Wait a moment, you want me to cut up the desks? If the professors find out..."

"Only enough to use a little splinter, besides, there is also the mending charm in our texbook." Harry explained his reasoning.

Ron threw him an unimpressed glance: "Another spell I've never tried, I don't know if I can make it work."

"Well, we have the whole day,and I can try to learn it too." Harry proposed.

"And here I had thought it would be easy." the Ravenclaw wizard whined, "Luckily I've brought my Book of Spells here today. Ok, let me read again the chapter on the cutting charm, and we'll go from there. You can practice the stinging hex in the meantime." and when he saw a grin blossoming on his friend face, he added "Not on me." Harry pit up a 'fake innocent' impression that made them both laugh.

It took Ron half an hour before he managed to synch intent, incantation and wand movement in a smooth and single gesture. Only then, he slashed his arm toward the side of a desk, shouting: "Diffindo!"

He obtained a very uneven looking deep scratch on the before smooth wood. He pinched the bridge of his nose, closing his eyes, erasing the feelings of disappointment from his head, leaving behind only his purpose.

Then he went at it again. "Diffindo!" from the tip of his wand, a thin almost transparent looking line shot foward like the edge of a blade.

The spell didn't reach the edge of the desk, but dissipated itself after a meter give or take.

"Uff!" Ron panted. He lost focus because he had been admiring the result of his spell. It was a stupid error to make.

Careful to keep his focus, he slashed his wand, shouting the incantation. This time, the thin, translucid line hit the desk, cutting it. However, the spell landed in the middle of the wooden board.

There was a loud crack, and the desk snapped along a line that crossed its center.

"Well it worked." commented Harry. Ron shot him a glare, before grabbing a splinter and throwing it to Harry. "I don't think I will be able to learn something beyond finite today." he said, swiping his own forehead with his robe's sleeve, removing the thin layer of sweat that he had worked up.

"The cutting charm took a lot out of me, in the afternoon I'll keep practicing it. Along withfinite. Tomorrow I'll come back here and try to learn the mending charm, I don't think anyone but us will come here in the meantime." Ron reasoned.

Harry was already handing over a transfigured needle, even if it was a couple of palms long. "We should also soon start transfiguring different shapes, or a somewhat ornated needle." the Ravenclaw added. "It was an exercise for bettering the control, I think Charlie scribbled it on the transfiguration textbook."