Harry went over to the table of blue and bronze which were cheering for him, Harry couldn't care less about them, they knew nothing about him except what fictional books had written and yet they treated him like the next merlin simply because he was the only one to survive Voldemort.

The rest of the first years got sorted quickly and Dumbledore stepped up to the podium and started talking, Harry was so hungry he couldn't even focus on what he was saying, when people started clapping he automatically joined and then heard the words he had been waiting for all evening "Tuck in" food magically appeared before him and he immediately started piling food on his plate and into his mouth, he only cared about ensuring he got to eat as much as he could before he had to talk to the others.

When he finally looked up from his food he noticed a prefect looking at him with raised eyebrows "hungry?" she asked, a hint of humour in her voice, rather than reply Harry only nodded and looked around, the boy from the compartment, Ron, was at the Gryffindor table eating almost as fast as himself but was talking at the same time, spitting small chunks of food over the table, Harry noticed that Hermione was sitting a few seats down from Ron, talking to those around her, he didn't recognise anyone at the Hufflepuff table nor his own table, on the Slytherin table however he saw the blond boy, Draco Malfoy, was glaring at him, when he made eye contact Malfoy stood up and walked over to him followed by two boys behind him, reminding Harry of bodyguards

"Why didn't you tell me you were Harry Potter? I could have helped you make a wise choice of house rather than sit with these people" He said with a sneer, before Harry could respond the prefect stood up and said "Go back to your own house table, it is against the rules to move around during the opening or closing feasts"

Malfoy sneered at her but seemed unwilling to make a scene in the middle of the hall and strutted back to his own table

"What a git" The prefect said as she sat back down to her own meal "Not even here for an hour and he acts like he owns the school" Harry smiled at her as he shared the same thought, realising that as an older year she could tell him about what they would be learning he gathered his courage and asked "What are the lessons like here?"

"Well that depends on the year, as first years you will mostly be doing theory with a bit of practical, during the second year it will be almost entirely theory then in third practical, with fourth and fifth year being a mix of both and sixth year is normally entirely theory and seventh is just going over the old materials to ensure you know them all. I'm Penelope Clearwater by the way." She stuck out her hand and Harry shook it saying "Harry Potter"

"Yes, I know who you are" She said giggling "You would struggle to find anyone here who doesn't know your name, you're quite famous you know"

"Famous simply cause my parents died while I survived" He replied sourly, he hadn't been at Hogwarts for more than an hour and already somebody had brought up his celebrity status

"No, people look up to you for being able to defeat the worst dark lord while only a baby."

"Is that not the same thing? If my parents had lived I wouldn't be known as 'the-boy-who-lived' and nobody would know who I was"

Penelope couldn't seem to have an answer so shrugged and said sorry for bringing it up then went back to eating, Harry wanted to hold a grudge and ignore her but no one else on the table seemed like they wanted to actually talk to him so eventually he broke down and asked her to talk some more about Hogwarts, she smiled and explained about the staircases, portraits and hidden doors, Harry knew some of them anyway from 'Hogwarts: A History' and from what Dumbledore had mentioned when he had come to visit, it was still very interesting to hear about it from someone inside the school however as Penelope often gave her opinion or an example on what she described such as "Skip this staircase every day of a new moon, it often vanishes right as you step onto it, in my first year I found that out when I fell into it on the way to charms." or "This tapestry will let people through only if they run at it, but only if you can see a green apple on the tree, if its a red apple its a solid wall and it hurts when you run into it, I had a massive bump right on my forehead, it was awful"

Eventually it was time to leave and after a confusing closing speech from Dumbledore Penelope and a male prefect led the first years through the school and to their common room, when they got there Penelope knocked on the knocker and the eagle moved to face her and sang a riddle

"I'd grab ahold of all I can

Relentless in my spree

Amidst the crimes I hung a man

And then the man hung me

I met some more of my own kind

We really got along

In open hid where none could find

Except the dead and gone.

What am I?"

Rather than answer Penelope looked to the first years, while she projected an image of confidence inside she was desperately trying to figure out the answer, the knocker was enchanted so that whoever knocked would get a riddle just at their own ability, so if a first year knocked it would only be "I have a head and tail but no body" or something equally easy, of course the idea of an easy riddle is to the perception of the person answering the riddle so the riddle may not be easier just more people answered it correctly.

That was why the fifth year prefects always led the first years in Ravenclaw, it was assumed that the fifth year prefects would get easier riddles than a student in a high year as they had less knowledge, Penny knew that it was the same in Gryffindor although that was to prove that the prefects knew what they were doing, in Hufflepuff it was the second year's who actually led the first years with the sixth year prefects only watching while in Slytherin it was the seventh years who led the students.

Before Penelope had completed the riddle Harry stuck his hand up and after receiving a nod from the male prefect he said "A spider web"

The bronze eagle looked at him for several moments before bowing at him and moved to allow the common room door to open, around Harry the other first years were whispering to each other discussing how smart he was, Harry marched through the door leaving them behind, Harry had spent much of his childhood looking and watching the spiders in his cupboard, he sometimes wished he was one of them so he related to the last line of the riddle 'In open hid where none could find, except the dead and gone.' Even at Hogwarts nobody seemed to see Harry, only their fabled boy-who-lived, he was in a sense hidden were none could find.

So caught up in his thoughts he almost missed what Penelope said "Curfew is at 8pm for first and second years, breakfast served from 6am till 10 am, the dormitories are up the stairs on the first landing, boys on the right and girls left, inside the dormitories there are private study rooms, you will notice the rooms do contain beds, this is because students often fell asleep within the rooms when studying late into the night and Professor Flitwick, our head of year, thought it was best to have beds there if anyone needs it, there are no punishment for using the bed but we strongly advise you do not make a habit out of it."

The male prefect stepped forward then and said "You will learn of the rules from Professor Flitwick tomorrow morning, he will expect you to be up and ready to go by 8am so off to bed you lot"

Harry found the dormitory to be fairly large and open, there was a large empty bookshelf on the wall and a smaller bookshelf beside every bed, Harry expected there to be lots of desks and paper but the only furniture was a dark blue couch near the large bookshelf, the beds where in a line on one side of the room, a bookshelf on the left of the bed with a wardrobe on the right side, the side of one wardrobe. On the opposite side of the room were doors lined so that you could go straight from one bed to the matching door, Harry opened a door experimentally and looked inside, it was a small room compared to the dormitory but about the same size as his own room at the Dursleys, it had another empty bookshelf, a large desk with a neat stack of parchment to the side of it, a wooden chair for the desk, counters along one wall, a small blue plush armchair and a small bed.

Looking at the bed Harry felt like he would be using it a lot, having grown up almost entirely alone he was not very confident when talking to others his age unless it was a topic he knew about, talking to Hermione about magic felt natural but trying to talk to Ron was extremely awkward for him. The study room felt familiar to him and safe, the Dursleys left him alone in his room and as such he spent as much time there as possible, it became his safe haven from them and that idea of safety crept into his mind now, here he would be safe from the outside world and their expectations. He forced himself to shut the door and return to the dormitory bed, if he shut himself in that room on his first night he would never be able to connect with the other first years which he knew would only make his matter far worse, as such he carefully removed his clothes from his trunk into his wardrobe, before he had left for Hogwarts Petunia had taken him shopping for some muggle clothes "Can't have you looking scruffy when you aren't in uniform, they may send you home."

Once he had put everything away he looked around the dormitory and noted that most of the other first years had also finished and were looking at him, he raised an eyebrow at them and they turned away.

None of the others made to talk so Harry got into bed and started reading a defense against the dark arts book, first years did not do defense as the ministry thought that eleven year olds shouldn't have to see the darkness of the world, eventually Harry's dorm mates went to sleep too, unnoticed by all Harry held back tears, all he wanted was a friend yet it seemed he was destined to be alone, the one person he liked was in a completely different part of the school and he was alone.

Another chapter, originally I was going to make this one longer but I have been quite busy this week so you guys get two small chapters today and next week *yay*

If you are interested in another Ravenclaw Harry story I suggest "For the love of magic" a truly brilliant story, gets very mature so be warned.