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?

Hope had finally finished the long and extremely tiring climb up ALL those stairs. Maybe they could put an escalator or something in the castle. She should start a petition for that. Maybe pull some Gryffindors in on it. After all, they too had to climb up all the stairs. She had seen them do it.

She turned down the corridor and to her surprise she found Gwen sitting there at the door. She gave her a small smile. "Hey Gwen. Whats up?" Was there a complicated riddle today? She had heard rumors of a first year in constant struggle to answer them. She turned to the knocker and it recited the riddle to her.

"A man without eyes sees plums on a tree. He neither takes plums nor leaves plums. How can this be?" IT WAS! YES! A CHALLENGE! Yet...it wasn't too challenging though. Hmmm....

Gwen sighed half in relief, half in frustration. Good, someone was here to help her, but she might feel doubly stupid if another first year could figure it out and she herself, could not. "Hi, Hope." She gestured to the knocker. "I can't get the riddle. I thought it might have been that he had a friend with him, but apparently that was wrong."

Hope was pretty smart, right? She usually had correct answers in class, and she just acted smart. She stood up and waited while the knocker repeated the riddle for her classmate. "Um, could you maybe not tell anyone that I couldn't get it? It's just, there are already rumors because I have to wait so often." Which definitely ensured Gwen would never be out after curfew, because she certainly wasn't going to sleep in the hall.

She turned the riddle over again in her head trying to catch a misplaced word or something that would clue her in, but she couldn't find anything. "A man without eyes sees plums on a tree." Maybe she should start with that bit? How did a man without eyes see?

Memory maybe. Maybe it was a tree that he thought had plums on it because it had when he could see? And now it had no plums so he couldn't take or leave any? She repeated that theory to the knocker who again said nothing, but didn't grant her admission. Great. Stupid twice and once while Hope was here. She was beginning to think that the knocker had a thing against her and simply wouldn't open because it was Gwen and the knocker knew as well as she did that she wasn't a real Ravenclaw.

Hope gave the girl a small smile. "They aren't all easy, don't feel bad. I've struggled with a few too." Okay, maybe she had only struggled with one, but she didn't want the girl to be all upset and what not. It wasn't cool and wasn't very Ravenclaw of her. However, Hope truly believed the girl would come into her wisdom and critical thinking skills sooner or later.

"A man with no eyes. That is plural. Sees plums on a tree. So, he's not blind if he can see. Maybe he only has one eye?" Mhm. That definitely made sense to her. After all, blind people can only see with their hands and their ears. You can't hear plums and plums could feel like other things. "Yes. I think we shall go with the assumption this man has at least one eye to see out of."

She turned to the girl hoping she could continue it out. She was fairly certain she knew the answer but she didn't want to show off. Or maybe she did, she just didn't want to make Gwen feel worse than what she already felt. "He take's no plums and leaves no plums. Both use of that word is plural, so?" Would she get it? Could she?

Hope knew. It was obvious that Hope knew, she was practically handing Gwen the answer on a silver platter. He only had one eye. Why had Gwen not thought of that? Because the stupid riddle said 'a man without eyes' and she'd assumed it meant without either eye.

Gwen sighed. The answer was clear now that Hope had basically told her. "There are only two plums, and he takes one and leaves the other," she concluded. It was all in the use of the plural vs. singular. As Gwen finished the answer the door swung open. Thanks to Hope who had known the whole answer all along. "Um, thanks for the help, Hope," Gwen tried to smile, her face flushing in embarrassment. Maybe she should just find an empty classroom and move in because this riddle thing was getting ridiculous.

Hope grabbed the door and pulled it closed after the girl had finished the riddle and said thanks. "Let's get one little thing clear real quick. I don't like people who self loath over the stupidest of things." Okay, even to her own ears that sounded mean and harsh and it wasn't her intention to be mean towards Gwen.

"HOWEVER, I have one exception to each rule I have and for this rule you are that exception." Hope gave her a soft smile and placed a hand on the girls shoulder. "I don't usually do the whole friend thing and I don't lend shoulders to cry on and I really don't tolerate people who can't seem to get past their own self doubt. However, you are my friend and I am going to be here for you. We will get you through this together. I still believe that you can do it on your own though."

She gave the girl a nudge forward toward the knocker. "The best advice that I can give you is to practice. Get another riddle and keep trying. I meant those words I said at the feast. You were meant to be in this house. The hat is never wrong. I also mean what I just said. I'm here for you."

Out of the knockers mouth came. "What is the beginning of the end, the end of time, the middle of yesterday, and nowhere in tomorrow?" Hope looked at Gwen. "Are we going to go in or are we going to stand here all night?" She wasn't going to answer it...well, she would after the other Ravenclaw gave it three tries.

Gwen took a step back. Was Hope not going to let her in? That was a little rude. Her defensive New Yorker kicked in. "I don't like people in general, so I think it's safe to say we shouldn't worry about liking each other." She snapped the words more harshly than she probably should have, and instantly regretted them when Hope said the next bit.

"Um, thanks," she said, refusing to look down, meeting Hope's eyes the whole time. "Sorry about what I said. I didn't mean it." Really. It was just a sort of automatic reflex, when someone was rude, you were rude back. However, the world kept working because of people who were smart enough to pick their battles. Hope seemed like a generally kind person, and it was the wrong battle to pick, arguing with her over something that wasn't actually mean.

The knocker said it's riddle and Gwen almost laughed. She didn't even have to think about that one, it was too easy. She looked over at Hope. "We are going in. The answer is the letter 'e'." See? That was the second riddle she'd figured out by herself. Maybe Hope was right. Maybe it would just take her a while to get the hang of it, but when she did, she intended to be an amazing Ravenclaw.

"Thank you, Hope," really. Because just giving Gwen the answer did nothing to help her learn. Hope was right, as usual.

Hope crossed her arms and stared at her. Gwen snapped and it brought a smile to Hope's lips because that just proved how much the girl belonged her. Ravenclaws may be bookish but most of the ones she had managed to meet so far have proven that Ravenclaws can also be a little on the tough side.

"It's cool. No harm, no foul. Just don't let it happen again." She was dead serious. You only snap at her once and there was the forgive but never forget policy she had in place. As Gwen gave the answer she linked their arms together. "Just remember. I'm here for you." That could both be a very good thing and a very bad thing. Only time would tell.

She was on a mission. A very important one that represented friendship and morals. Although, she wasn't on this only because it was a bestie!dute nor was it because she felt like returning a favor to Alexa. She was here because she was truly concerned. And being here meant that the snake approved seventy percent of the whole thing. Had she not approved she wouldn't be present here to seek a conversation. She'd have been sitting in the dungeons plotting something Slytherin-y.

Perhaps it was better for humanity that Cassia decided to drop by the Ravenclaw's common room for a talk.

Waiting by the Ravenclaw's common room's entrance seemed like the most logical thing to do. She didn't know much about the person she sought to know where that person might be hanging around in this hour of the day. She hoped he would be either leaving or entering the common room.

With a notebook in hand, she marched back and forth by the entrance.

Fresh air is just what Jun needed.

It was becoming too stuffy in the dorm that he hang left only for classes. Sometimes he even stayed there for classes. It was too painful to get out of bed. Also, laziness was the cause. Anyway, after spending about two hours outside, under a tree and writing nonsense, he felt like it was time to go back inside. Ugh, stuffiness again. Maybe he should detour around but then more effort was required for that. Plus, Jun just remembered about writing to his cousin about her sweet sixteen over the summer. Then gift planning and hopefully she wouldn't put him in her court. Which probably has already happened. At least it was a party, even if adults would be everywhere.

Finally reaching his floor, because Jun decided not to detour anymore, he headed towards the bronze knocker. But someone was pacing back and forth and they seemed familiar. "Cassia, right? The female Snake prefect?" That's all he could remember at the moment. And they did talk a bit back when they first met at the Three Broomsticks. "Are you looking for my house prefects or something?" Because obviously she wouldn't be looking for him. The only prefect who'd probably look for him was Lex. And well yeah, she wasn't around at the moment.

So, one of the perks of being a professor was, he could visit any common room and even get special treatment. This hadn't occured to him the whole term and just when it was about to end, he had a voilà moment. His first stop was, of course, his protégé's tower.

What treated everyone equally was the school property, something he couldn't think of before he met the Bronze Knocker.

THE Bronze Knocker. That infamous, blasted thing that asked him what was supposed to be a riddle, but was actually an Einstein-level question. How on Earth was he supposed to know that? The Ravenclaws? He could name like 10 of them on top of his head who would NEVER be able to guess the answer.

"You know I'm a professor, right?"

........

"This is outrageous. Scandaleous. Incredible. Terrible. OhpleasejustletmeinIbegyou -"

The thing miraculously opened, and he didn't even step aside to let the person or whatever pass. Instead, he pushed his way open and stepped inside the 'smart' tower.

Hmpf. He was just glad he had been a Slytherin. Let Ravenclaws deal with it, because only they would show off with stupid riddles.

Now that she was here, she was sort of hoping to come across her bestie, Blue! Or Dora. She hadn't hung out with them in a while and she didn't like that. It was odd them being in one castle and still struggling to find quality time. Life just gets busier as they grow up it seemed. Not a very pleasant thing but there was nothing she could do to change. She could only plot around it and try not making it a huge obstacle.

Back and forth, back and forth she remained moving. And both her hands got clammy from holding the book that it ended up under her armpit until one of her hands cooled. Was it going to take longer? She hoped not.

And speaking of which!

She had gotten really bored of this marching that she actually smiled at Jun, which wasn't what she had in mind. Not because she wasn't a smiler on the contrary, she was quite the smiling type but she had wanted to come off as intimidating and fearful and all that. Eeeh. Could they start again? That'd be stupid and weird.

But maybe a normal start wouldn't hurt. "Yup, that's me." She confirmed him and was glad that he didn't forget the badge. She was so going to play on the prefect card if needed. And he asked a question. She was supposed to ask those! She wondered if she should tell him that she came to talk to him or make it seem like a coincidence.

"Yeah, but that could wait," She didn't really deny nor confirm. HA! Back on track.

Readjusting the book, she hugged it to her chest and angled her body to face the Ravenclaw. "So, how have you been?" Judging by the wrinkles not so well health-wise. But a way to start a conversation "Lex told me interesting news," Talk about straightforwardness. She didn't feel like being subtle really. Not now.

Okay good.

Jun hadn't forgotten her name not her ..standings? Was that even the right word? Mostly likely not. But whatever. He didn't forget she was a prefect so that meant he had to behave. Not that he didn't with people who weren't, but she could get him in trouble for just giving her a wrong look. Pretty sure there were prefects of there who were like that. Let's hope Cassia wasn't one. Hm, guess prefects duties weren't important at the moment? Either way, she was here or something. And that notebook she was holding was making Jun feel any type of comfortable. But why worry about a notebook, right?

"I've been doing okay, aside from all the aging and stuff," And it was probably another reason as to why his parents wanted to transfer him out of here. He wouldn't blame them. Probably most parents wanted the same. Interesting news? "Oh?" Grin. Jun didn't know why but he grinned at what Cassia said. At least she ripped off the bandaid from the situation. "I'm guessing she told you about us?" Because there wasn't really any other interesting thing Lex could tell her about him.

Except dying his hair all the time.

He remained standing and didn't excuse himself since he was old and all but stayed whether bored and wanting anything to do or he was polite enough to do so. She was calculating all kind of things in her head. There was going to be scores and stuffs. So far, Jun got the highest score if compared to the other two eagles that might have once become in his shoes in the past. Though, neither of the two had gained the title 'boyfriend' which Lex used without cringing. Bet no one expected the Gryffindor to do so.

"Hopefully they'll do something about this," Because although she wasn't personally infected, it still wasn't cool to see teenagers in grey hair and wrinkled skins. Not to mention the pace of walking, it gets worse when she as a prefect has to wait for them in any given occasion. They take forever. So her reasons might be a bit selfish but she still wished all of them to be cured.

She had already known from a previous encounter with him that he wasn't one of those true study-hard Ravenclaws. His question assured her. Or maybe it was rhetorical question. She nodded her head. Did he notice that she wasn't smiling and being herself because this was serious and all? She was trying to work on the dramatic effects by nodding and crossing her arms across her chest and all. But then again, he didn't know her all that well to notice the difference. She, however, was proud of herself thus far and hoped to keep the composed expression on her face as he grinned. It was hard not to grin when others did. "You might be wondering why I'm here, Mister Kim," she said bringing her hands, that clutched the notebook, behind her back and started walking in a circle around him. Oh, this was so fun.

"See, Lex is my bestfriend," In case he didn't know. "And I need to make sure of a couple of things," More than a couple but who was being literal.

Jun nodded. The sooner, the better. It was getting in the way of the boy being himself and having to play it safe in everything. He was used to broken bones and all, but not when stepping wrong caused it. Sigh. And he missed dying his hair different colors. It was his thing and maybe some people at school had probably noticed at the beginning of the year. "Don't plan on being like this until the time is right," Which was probably in like seventy years. Hopefully a bit more than that. Still, a sixteen year old shouldn't suffer like this. Suffering only came from school and parents. Sometimes.

Jun looked at Cassia as she walked around him. Great, another interrogation. Was this going to become a daily thing for dating the Gryffindor prefect? He had already had one in the hands of the head boy. Which Jun made sarcastic remarks and poor Alec didn't catch on. But back then, Alec was just wondering about their candy date back in Hogsmeade. Who wasn't actually? Jun bit down on his lip, trying his best not to laugh. "Only wondering a bit. And this conversation won't be anything serious of you keep walking circles around me. Are you trying to be intimidating?" Because it wasn't working and the boy was not intimidated by anyone or anything very easily. Maybe except Culloden because he just down right looked frightening to anyone.

A couple of things?

"Like what my intentions are?" Did she not trust him already? It's only been about a week or so. Still, maybe snakes didn't like eagles just because. Who ever needed a legit reason nowadays anyways? "My only intention is to be a good enough boyfriend to her. I don't think you should worry much," Unless there was more to why Cassia was asking in the first place?

Yeah, about the bonus points he got, he might have lost some of them. Cassia completed another circle around him before she stood before him again. "Why are you intimidated? Or just jealous that my joints are dandy?" she said with a smug smile. How happy she was she didn't catch this disease. Phew. And no, snakes don't tend to be sensitive. Straightforward, is what it really is. Now that was a joke but a little harsh one perhaps, except that the snake wouldn't see it that way.

Back on track to the interrogation part. Now that she noted his noticing of her attempts she decided to switch to another scenario.

"That is in fact a very good question," The intentions one. She listened to him as he spoke while watching him like she was waiting for anything to show up on his face. Though, it wasn't like she'd been one of those who could read people's faces and see through their souls and all that.

Good enough boyfriend. Yeah, sure, don't they all. "That sounds awesome," she had to give it to him. "However, here's the thing about words," She told him chucking the book aside because really she got bored of it and really didn't know what to do with it when she needed her arms. Which she crossed across her chest as she straightened. Would have helped is she was taller or if she'd worn high-heels. "You say words, and you might mean them. You also might not, I'd never know," he surely saw it, too, right?! "And like you might already know, I really don't want anything to upset my bestfirend," Not because Lex couldn't handle herself had someone upset her but because Cassia would hate to see her in such a state. Again..

"You know, nothing's personal, but it might get so," See, now that was a tricky sentence, wasn't it? She stopped talking to gauge his reaction. Was he gonna storm off and tell her to stay out of it. Or was he gonna play along. They were like on a crossroad now. Not literally, since practically they were at the common room's entrance.

Intimidated? Pfft. Not one bit. Even if she was a prefect. So yeah, no intimidation happening here. "I'm not intimidated, but yeah, jealous that your joints aren't about to break off like mine," But why was he infected anyway? It's not like he hung out with lots of people. Maybe one of those few people got him infected. But which one? It was a small list anyway.

Jun watched as Cassia tosses her book. Hm, why was she carrying it in the first place if she was just going to get tired of it an toss it aside? Jun gave her a weird look at everything she was saying. What exactly did she want from him? Was she setting rules for him already? Wasn't it still. Bit too early for all that? "Actions speak louder than words, I know. So what exactly do you want me to do?" Because all of this vagueness was getting them nowhere and his joints were starting to hurt. "Do you think I would upset her on purpose? So far, I don't think I've upset her, unless she hasn't told me. Maybe you should go ask her that," Because he wouldn't have any idea about that.

Jealousy. Noted. Though, in his case it was justified since it wasn't fair that some had healthy bodies and others didn't. That was surely not the students' fault, infected and healthy alike. But just in case she noted it keeping it in mind for the future just in case. "I understand that," Close people to her were going through it and she sympathized with them all.

So far he didn't seem to be SO annoyed by the talk, of course he didn't seem happy either. Which was good, boy could negotiate. "It's not what I want you to do, it's what I don't want you to do," She clarified. "Just don't do anything that might upset her," She wasn't going to list things, if he thought he was good enough to be Lex's boyfriend he should be able to figure those things out. "And make sure she doesn't have too much candy that it hurts her," Both she and Lottie kept an eye on that for the Gryffindor's sake. They wouldn't be thrilled if a boyfriend comes along to shower their bestie with candy.

"And I don't think anything," She answered him. "Look, I told you, it's not personal. I'm not here because I don't think you are good enough," Which was quite the opposite. If she had thought he wasn't good enough she wouldn't have bothered with the talk and tried to cancel the whole thing instead. "I'd be having this talk with any boyfriend," That was supposed to be assuring. "I wouldn't mind us being friends, you know," Since he was dating her bestfriend and she supposed she might be seeing him regularly.

Hm. Well, that was a given. No boyfriend should make their girlfriend upset in the first place. That was like asking for a full out smack to the face. Or a breakup. But some guys were stupid like that. So far, Jun knew that lovey dovey type of things bothered Lex. Gladly, he wasn't like that and it earned him brownie points in her book already. "I won't. Wouldn't make sense to get her upset for no or stupid reasons," Even if girls were complicated at times because they wanted to boy to always figure things out for them. Sorry, we're not mind readers here. Oh. "And not too much candy? She's told me about getting really hyper once and I think I told her that I would make her cut back drastically if that happened again," Jun couldn't remember. That was a long time ago when they were hanging out in a corridor. Or was it their date at Hogsmeade? See? He couldn't remember anymore.

He nodded. That he understood. "You're here to make sure I don't act like an idiot to Lex. Understandable. Any best friend would be worried," Maybe except his? Char hasn't really said a word to him about the whole thing. And she was the one who told Lex how he felt after Jun telling her to stay quiet. "And I happen to be the first one?" From what Lex told him, he was the first. Nodnod. "I wouldn't mind us being friends. Wouldn't be good if I didn't get along with her friends," It'll make everything too complicated.

NOW, they were getting somewhere. Cassia nodded approvingly at the boy. He had potential, this one did. Not to be too trusting or gullible but she could see that he was a good one. But since there was no one perfect she aimed to find out about his not so good qualities. Just to be ready for anything. She was a paranoid person who liked to have her thumb on such matters. "Good, good," she said. As for the candy issue he said just what Cassia wanted to hear. "Yeah, it sometimes gets really bad when she has a lot," she told him. Something he should know about that if he hadn't already.

"Glad you understand," She told him, "And trust me, I like the idea of everything going on smoothly and me not having to hex anyone," Since her punching skills weren't that good, not like Lex's anyway, who put her skills to use when the situation called for it.

She wondered how much Jun knew about the Aidan and Benjy situation but she assumed Lex gave him an idea. Probably didn't go through the details since they do NOT talk about the miserable couple of months last year. For both Cassia and Alexa. "Yup, you are," She confirmed. "Fantastic," she clapped her hands together delighted that the talk didn't go bad. "I'm glad I talked to you, Jun, I expected whiny and annoyed answers but got none," she told him as she gracefully bent down picking up the notebook. See, healthy joints.

"I'll keep that in mind. Wouldn't want her bouncing off the walls and all" That would just be bad in general. Maybe Jun would throw water on Lex to calm her down. But that was also discusses and pointed as a bad idea. It would also earn him hexes and jinxes his way. Nope, not happening. "You're a hexer too?" Could be why Cassia and Lex bonded. Him and Lex bonded over candy on the train and how deep their candy bags went. Then it was candy dates and hexes in the entrance hall. ..that was a really long time ago. Maybe Cassia didn't need to know that he too was a hexer. And smacked people with pans when he wasn't allowed to use magic. But Lex had given him ideas on torturing his cousin over the summer. Just had to choose which one didn't end him up in Azkaban.

Jun laughed. Did she really expect that? "Whiny and annoyed? Did I seem the type?" Maybe. But that was only when he was really annoyed with whoever was asking questions in the first place. But he wasn't this time. Not even the slightest. And it took a lot to annoy him, depending on the person too. "I'm hoping not because then I'd get annoyed with myself,"

She hoped that despite him not being a die-hard Ravenclaw he'd still be able to remember that like he said he would. A super hyper Lex wasn't something good. Mostly because of the down feel that'd get a hold of her. And because when hyper she'd need to let the power out, something that probably meant dangerous ideas which the snake wouldn't approve of. And maybe Cassia didn't want Jun to be the one who'd get to be part of the adventures by himself. Mhhm, jealousy. If she was to get any less attention, problems were to arise. " I am when I need to be," Which thankfully, wasn't something that happened regularly.

Leaning back against one of the walls, she shook her head,"Actually, no. But I expected 'none of your business'-like responses, since some might see it as me butting in," she snorted. Pffft. She believed so hard that she had the right to be here and give the talk. Call her nosy but now she'd sleep better at night.

"By the way, do you have a pet?" Collecting information and all. This seemed to be like a legit and important question.

"Fair enough," He was pretty sure that a prefect obviously couldn't just hex anyone into doing what they were told. Perks of not being a prefect because a lot was expected from them. If Jun were prefect, which he never will be if Elwood knew what was good for her house, he would secretly hex people and point the blame to others. No need to get the badge taken away. Jun sat in the floor, because ouch pain. But yeah, he understood where Cassia was coming from. "People who respond like that are already making the relationship go down hill," Because if either the girlfriend or boyfriend didn't get along with the other's friends, it was going to be a rocky relationship.

Please don't get him talking about creatures. They were his weakness at times. He just really liked them. "I have a crup named Uggie and that's about it," But Jun wanted more. Preferably ones that got along with muggles.

With two rolled-up posters in her hand, Adrienne left the common room, looking for a place to hang them up. She was aching everywhere and really didn't feel like walking too far, cursing once more the fact that the Ravenclaw common room was so far away from everything else in the castle, so to her relief she found an empty space of wall right outside her own common room. Unfolding the first poster, she looked it up and down proudly before pulling out a few tacks and stabbing them into the corners of the poster and the wall. She usually would have used the sticking charm or something similar, but it, like so much else recently, was eluding her mind. Ah, well, at least she'd gotten it up in a noticeable place. Adrienne stuffed the other poster into her bag and marched down the rest of the spiral staircase, glancing around for another place to advertise her anti-Pluto stance.