The walk to the Ravenclaw common room was long, winding, and peppered with staircases that moved just when one began to feel confident. May tried to memorize every twist, every suit of armor, every floating torch — but Hogwarts wasn't a place that wanted to be learned quickly. It shifted like a dream, challenging her to keep up.

Olivia chattered as they walked with a small group of fellow Ravenclaws, including a serious boy named Edwin who seemed to think the common room was a competition of who could answer the door riddle fastest.

When they finally reached the arched door set into a curved wall high in a tower, it had no handle — just a brass knocker shaped like an eagle.

The eagle's voice was calm and clear:

"I speak without a mouth and hear without ears. I have no body, but I come alive with the wind. What am I?"

May blinked. Olivia frowned. Edwin grinned.

"An echo," May whispered.

The door swung open.

The Ravenclaw common room was unlike anything she had imagined — wide and airy, with high arched windows revealing the dark night sky, silver moonlight flooding over blue velvet chairs and high bookshelves. A white marble statue of Rowena Ravenclaw stood near the far wall, gazing serenely across the room.

"It's like living in a star," Olivia whispered, awestruck.

May smiled softly. "Exactly."

That night, May tucked the Avalon pendant under her pillow and drifted into sleep with the sound of owls beyond the window.

⸻

Over the next few days, May explored more of the castle between lessons. Charms, Herbology, and Transfiguration blurred into each other — fascinating and terrifying in equal measure. Olivia loved Astronomy, but May's favourite so far was History of Magic, even though most students groaned at the mention of it.

Professor Binns, a ghost who drifted through lessons in a monotone drone, was enough to send even the most attentive pupils into daydreams or quiet naps.

But not May.

She sat upright near the front, quill poised and eyes wide. She didn't mind Binns' hollow voice or the endless lists of goblin rebellions and treaties — in fact, she found it comforting. The way the timelines wove together, the rise and fall of magical empires, the forgotten duels and enchanted civilizations… it fascinated her. She scribbled careful notes in her neat handwriting, often adding her own side thoughts or underlining names she wanted to research later.

Olivia once whispered, "You're the only person I know who stays awake during this class on purpose."

May had only smiled, whispering back, "It's like reading a long, quiet story. You just have to listen between the lines."

And she did. Every date, every legend — she stored them like precious pieces of a puzzle she hadn't yet seen the full picture of.

But Hogwarts was more than just subjects. It was alive.

On Wednesday afternoon, May and Olivia were heading back from the library when they noticed a group of older boys sneaking around the corner on the third floor.

"Well, that looks suspicious," Olivia said under her breath.

May recognized James's unmistakable messy hair. He was whispering to a boy with a wide grin and stormy grey eyes — Sirius Black. Behind them, a boy with sandy brown hair held a map, and a short one with a mischievous glint was holding something that looked like a floating cupcake.

"That's James," May muttered, tugging Olivia behind a column.

"I see the resemblance."

Suddenly, a loud pop! echoed through the corridor, and dozens of enchanted cupcakes launched themselves into the air, hovering just above the heads of a group of Slytherins coming around the corner.

The cupcakes exploded — not violently, but with a dramatic pouf! of glitter and shrieking jelly-like laughter.

Chaos broke out. One of the Slytherins slipped, another tried to pull off a cupcake clinging to his robes like a leech.

"Potter!" a voice barked. It was Professor McGonagall from further down the hall.

The Marauders — May heard someone shout that name — scattered. James grabbed Sirius by the collar and ran. The boy with the map cursed under his breath and vanished through a tapestry. The shortest one just… disappeared.

Olivia burst out laughing. "Did they just prank an entire hallway with cupcakes?"

"James never mentioned… that," May said slowly. She didn't know whether to be embarrassed or impressed.

The professor swept by, robes flying. The hall calmed slowly.

"I think we just witnessed a legendary Marauder moment," Olivia said.

"I'm still not sure if that's something to be proud of," May replied — though a part of her, deep down, thought it absolutely was.

⸻

That night, she sat by the high window in the common room, quill in hand, writing a letter to her parents. James hadn't spoken to her since the prank — too busy, perhaps, or avoiding a lecture.

May stared out at the dark sky. Hogwarts still felt enormous, sometimes lonely, but she was starting to believe that she had a place in it.