All in all, a successful expedition.

"Yeah!"

Anathema's hungry for lunch, now, and after that's the talk from Flitwick...

Then the next step is finding their way back to the Great Hall. Possible with assistance from some paintings...

Luckily (most of) the paintings are rather exceptionally helpful. Still, they get to lunch a bit after noon - though lunch stays served throughout the day.

"I wonder if there's any way to ask for particular things..." Anathema muses.

"Dunno. Probably have to find whoever does the cooking."

"Maybe we can go looking for them tomorrow."

"Or later today, depending on how long this takes."

"Yeah. Hopefully won't be super long."

"Hopefully."

Back to Ravenclaw Tower, then?

That's the place to be.

The statue is still guarding the door. "Do you wish to pass into my domain?" she asks.

"Yes."

"Tell me, then: what do you most wish to learn?"

"The Animagus transformation."

"Everything," Anathema says, cheekily.

"Good answers."

And the statue moves out of their way.

"That is a good answer; I should have gone with that," Ellie says as they enter.

"Then I would've had to come up with something else," Anathema teases.

"Then it's all for the best, huh?"

"You could say that."

She glances around - there's some first years gathering, probably waiting for Professor Flitwick. Still, the common room has a lot of couches and such, so they can find somewhere open to sit.

And maybe crack open a book, if they're waiting.

Sounds good to Anathema!

Professor Flitwick does eventually arrive - after the last of the first years have settled in. He's an exceptionally short man (shorter, even, than the first years), wrinkly, with flyaway wisps of white hair. He's wearing a Victorian tailcoat over a pinstripe shirt, rather than typical wizarding robes. He glances around at them all, clapping his hands, and says, "Excellent! I'm Professor Flitwick, as you may have guessed, the Head of House of Ravenclaw. Now, if you would all gather around..."

Fortunately Anathema and Ellie don't have to move; they're already sitting by the open space he's settled in.

"Welcome to Ravenclaw House, and to Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry!" Professor Flitwick says, smiling. "I teach Charms here - a class I hope you're all as excited about as I am. Now, I don't want to keep you all too long, but I'd like to explain your classes, as well as things like clubs and electives."

"First things - clubs are on the weekends, primarily, meeting once a week, except some sports which get special permission to have training days more often. Quidditch is the main one of these - that being the United Kingdom's only native wizarding sport of international renown. It's exceptionally popular here, and we often take Quidditch matches between the official House teams rather seriously." He chuckles. "Now, over the next week, the established clubs will be posting advertisements on the bulletin boards outside the Great Hall, and on Saturday there'll be a little fair down on the lawn. Not every club participates, of course, but most students like a chance to show off and sway other students over to their group. There's quite a large number of clubs, one for nearly every interest - sports, exercise, book clubs, modern languages, religious groups, chess and other games..."

"Now," he continues, "As of the last few years, students are required to join at least one physical exercise club." Several students groan. "It doesn't need to be a large time commitment - I believe there's some that only meet half an hour every week - but the school board likes to hear that their children are staying in shape. You don't need to pick right away - the first meetings will be held next weekend, but the deadline's not until the week after Mabon."

"For your electives - you first years only have one slot, sadly, and it must be a personal enrichment elective. Art is just that - a study of the history of magical artistic endeavors, and education on how to produce your own wondrous works. Drama is the study of theater, including reading and acting out plays - and learning a bit of the behind the scenes work, of course. Literature will have you reading classic works of fiction from around the magical world. Music at this level mostly focuses on familiarizing students with basic instruments and reading musical notation, but you'll get an introduction to magical traditions, too. None of these classes require textbooks this year - everything will be provided for you. Electives will be a mixture of all the Houses, depending on who takes what."

"Second through seventh years get four elective slots. They have a wider variety to pick from, but they do have to pick before summer holidays."

He pauses. "Does anyone have questions, before I move on?"

"What are the electives for the older years?"

"They're in four categories - older years pick one from each, though you can also apply for special permission to take more. Generally by sitting in with the younger years, since electives in a year's category are usually in the same time slot."

"The first category is personal enrichment, which is the same group you all are taking, though with more advanced studies. Art, Drama, Literature, and Music."

"The second category is magical studies. Most years that means Ancient Runes, Arithmancy, Astronomy, Divination, and Care of Magical Creatures. Some years we'll get guest professors with other specialties, though, and that's always exciting."

"The third category is ancient languages and cultures. Currently, that's Old English, Ancient Egyptian, Latin, and Ancient Greek."

"The fourth category is cultural studies. Those are Muggle Studies, Cultures of the World, Comparative Religions, and Government and Law. Government and Law covers the United Kingdom's magical communities, though sixth and seventh years can do special topics in foreign governments. Both Cultures of the World and Comparative Religions focus on magical communities."

"Some of these are easier to switch among than others, since they do generally build on prior years. Still, all of them allow you to test in if you join in a higher year, and all of them allow you to start with a lower year. However, we do recommend keeping with the same electives throughout your Hogwarts career."