Gwen hated this. She had gotten the answer to the riddle one time, but every other time had to sit and wait until some smarter person from her house answered it correctly. It was humiliating and at this point they probably all knew that Gwen was the stupidest Ravenclaw, because at this point probably every member of her House had seen her sitting out here like a dummy.

Dreading the question she lifted the knocker and let it fall heavily onto the door.

"A man without eyes sees plums on a tree. He neither takes plums nor leaves plums. How can this be?" The knocker asked the little girl.

She groaned. Why couldn't it be something she already knew the answer to? Like the one about walking on four legs in the morning, etc. She knew the answer to that. She knew the answer to the St. Ives riddle, but this stupid knocker never failed to come up with a question that Gwen would never be able to figure out.

She paced for a second, repeating the riddle to herself. A man without eyes sees plums on a tree.... Well, if they didn't mean seeing in the literal sense, as in he felt that there were plums on a tree, or he imagined that there were plums on a tree that could make sense.

He neither takes plums nor leaves plums. She brightened for a second. "I've got it! He was with a friend who told him there were plums, so he saw it in his minds eye. The friend took all of the plums, so the man neither took plums nor left plums!" She was pleased with herself and waited patiently for the door to open.

To her dismay instead of allowing her inside the knocker repeated the riddle. Gwen sank down to sit on the stairs in frustration. Why was she in this House again?