Open Mysteries From the Beginning of Time

[Weston Stirling]

"Noooo!" Weston was a second too late. The door to Ravenclaw slammed shut, leaving him to stare at the bronze eagle-shaped knocker. "Come on." He had barely taken three steps out of the common room when he realized that he'd left his homework in his dorm. Class wasn't for several hours, but if past experience with the knocker was anything to go by, he could be stuck outside for a while. He had never been good at solving the eagle's riddles by himself, often having to wait until someone smarter came by.

Unfortunately the eagle did not take pity on him. "What is the opposite of magic?" it asked. Weston blinked. "Uh, muggle?" The door remained closed, and he groaned. The riddles were never that easy. He pressed his ear to the door, hoping someone might be on their way out, but all he could hear was silence. In fact, the whole corridor was deserted. With a sigh, Weston took a seat against the wall opposite the door and started to mull over the riddle. He'd barely gotten started when he heard footsteps at the end of the hall. "Hey! Can you help me?" he called out.

 

[Sutton Spencer]

Sutton held her new book series in her hand as she walked back towards the Ravenclaw Common Room. She had such a week, but that didn't bother her much. She always could escape into a new book or even an old book. Any world seemed better than the world she was often stuck in. It wasn't that Sutton wasn't grateful that she was at least at Hogwarts having a magical life. It just felt lacking sometimes, like if she was in one of her stories she would always be a side character. The young Ravenclaw did not want to even consider that. She was meant to be the hero. She could feel it. Although she had talked to her younger sister about this, she much preferred the company of a book.

She was just getting to the part in which Annabeth was following the mark of Athena when she heard someone's voice ahead of her calling for help. Is this my hero moment She thought absentmindedly as she looked up from the pages of her book to see a younger boy waiting in front of the common room. The young fourth year Ravenclaw continued down the hall, closing the book in her hand, after placing a spare page of class notes as a bookmark. No wonder she lost so many notes. "Hey there" She said walking closer to the boy. "The door's got you stumped I'm guessing" She stated. Riddles weren't exactly her thing either. She enjoyed pretending that they were given by a Sphinx instead of a door, but still sometimes she struggled to figure it out. How stereotypical was it that all Ravenclaws were good at riddles anyway.

 

[Weston Stirling]

Weston was incredibly relieved when the girl actually responded and didn't just continue on her way, pretending not to hear him. His hope grew when he saw that she was both older and a Ravenclaw. She would definitely be able to solve the riddle and open the door. Though Weston was anything but a stereotypical Ravenclaw — academics had never been his strong suit — he tended to believe that most of the other Ravenclaws embodied the house's traits to a T. This girl was probably super smart; she was even holding a book.

"Yeah, I've been stuck out here forever," he said dramatically. It probably hadn't been more than a few minutes at most, but it had felt like an eternity. "Can you help? The riddle's, 'What is the opposite of magic?' But it's not muggle. I already tried that." Or maybe the door was looking for something a little more than just "muggle." Weston sometimes felt like he could never give the door what it was looking for.