Anathema giggles. "I think it's a basilisk. They're the king of snakes."

"No, it's a dragon who's declared itself king," another student argues. "It's got scales, and it eats people who say 'hey maybe dragons shouldn't be kings.' Basilisks don't have voices, but dragons roar." ("Dragons can't be kings, they aren't smart." "That's why everyone keeps defying it, duh.")

"It's a T. rex you dummies," one girl snaps. "King lizard. And dinosaurs are the feared lizards... And they eat people! But Potter's right, I wanna sleep." ("Weren't there no people in the Jurassic?" "Shush.")

-"I mean, some people've thought justice can consume people - doesn't like that one Egyptian goddess lady feed criminals' hearts to a crocodile?" ("Wicked." - That would be Anathema.)

--"People get eaten in Azkaban, so like real justice actually does kinda consume people." ("Wait what?" "Well, their souls, same difference." "No, seriously, what - ")

"It's a law that says people can't go to their beds or read books. Shouldn't libraries be open? Why's there a closed door."

"It's a trick."

The statue smiles - and steps aside, revealing an unlocked door. "You have all reasoned well," she says. "Feel free to continue your debates, of course."

What, so it wasn't actually looking for an answer? Maybe if she were less tired she'd feel differently about it, but Ellie doesn't like people playing games with her. Even if they're statues.

The prefect opens the door, leading them in.The Ravenclaw common room is large, decorated in blues and bronzes, lined with bookshelves.

"There's always a question to get in, though it's not all riddles - she customizes to students as she gets to know them. Though she does really like riddles. ...Also if you're ever stuck on a riddle, 'some kind of dinosaur' has been a solid guess lately. A first year read her a book about dinosaurs last year, and she's been obsessed ever since. And I think she'll sometimes let students bargain? If you think you can tell her something she doesn't know yet. And she usually accepts 'I need to look that up,' though she'll pout if you don't come tell her the answer afterward." Yawn.

"Anyways - first year dorms are just up the stairs," he gestures to some stairs at the back, which actually extend both up and down. "First floor. Boys on the right, girls on the left, your luggage is by an assigned bed in the dorm according to what's on your paperwork, but just talk to a prefect or Professor Flitwick if you wanna switch. You don't have to ask to switch beds within a dorm. Professor Flitwick said he'll talk to you all after lunch tomorrow, but you should get an older student - preferably a prefect - to show you how to get back to the Great Hall for the first couple of meals. Prefects have a 'P' badge."

Up the stairs and to the left.

Anathema skips up the stairs behind her, followed by the other girls in their year. Ellie's bed is on the far end from the door, next to Anathema's, her trunk sitting at the base. The beds are all four poster, with heavy looking blue drapes and quilts in a patchwork of blue and bronze. The curtains over the windows (also blue and bronze) are currently pulled closed.

Anathema takes a flying leap into her bed, bouncing and giggling a bit, then wiggles under the covers.

Ellie inspects her bed a little more calmly before climbing on.

Most of the other girls pull their drapes, while Anathema leans out of her bed (crawling out from under her covers) to fetch a book from her trunk (and then pulls the drapes).

Everyone seems to be going to bed.

Time for sleeeeeep. She pulls her curtains shut.

Sleep! The curtains are amazingly effective at blocking noise and light, apparently, she doesn't even get shone on - or hear her roommates getting up - the next morning.

Good thing she set an alarm.

She still seems to be one of the last ones up.

Anathema's down in the common room, reading a book.

"Morning."

"Morning!" Anathema says, cheerily, closing her book (after slipping a blue ribbon into it to mark her place). "Wanna go get breakfast?"

Nod. "Sounds good, yeah."

She finds a fourth year willing to show them the way, and then onward to food!

After breakfast, Ellie wants to explore a little bit.

"Sounds fun. Inside?"

"Yeah."

"Up or down, first?"

"Up?"

"Okay. Let's go wander, then!"

Off into the castle!

There are:

Moving, talking portraits, that can offer directions!

Lots of statues and tapestries! (Which mostly don't move.)

Lots of empty rooms, though most do have art on the walls!

Maze like tunnels!

Moving staircases, which sometimes mean they can't backtrack!

A set of rooms dedicated to music on the third floor!

A locked door, also on the third floor! (With a "students not permitted" warning over it.)

A large lounge on the fifth floor, with stained glass windows depicting dragons!

A library, consisting of four rooms of bookshelves (and eight small study rooms branching off of it) on the second floor! And there's also a few locked doors leading out of it, all with signs saying "RESTRICTED" and then a category for why it's restricted (Fragile! Delicate! Special Precautions! Dark! Dangerous!). It's really small by Muggle public library standards, but all the books are on magic.

Excellent places all.

They'll definitely have to mark the location of the library, that seems important.

Absolutely! The dragon lounge also looks fun to hang out in.