Outside the Ravenclaw common room door.
Before Lucien could answer, Luna turned to the bronze knocker and gave the riddle's answer.
"Ignorance."
The mont the words left her lips, the bronze eagle's eyes lit up.
"Correct," the knocker said in its clear, calm voice. "Welco back."
The door swung open. The young witch bounced inside, her dark golden-brown hair swinging happily behind her like she had sothing wonderful on her mind.
Lucien watched her go and opened his mouth, then closed it.
Wait. You knew the answer the whole ti?
Then why were you standing out here like that…?
He shook his head and followed her in.
The Ravenclaw common room looked exactly the sa—arched walls draped in blue velvet, silver stars twinkling across the dod ceiling.
A few eagles sat scattered on the couches, so reading, so playing chess, others tucked in corners entertaining themselves.
But the second Lucien stepped inside, he noticed almost every pair of eyes turning toward him.
The looks weren't casual like usual. They felt… how to put it? Like they were watching a rare protected animal.
"Hey, Lucien!"
Terry sprang up from the couch and hurried over in three quick steps. He rubbed his hands together, wearing an expression Lucien had never seen on him before—the sa one Ron got when faced with a giant plate of chicken legs.
"Lucien, can you get an autograph?" Terry's voice carried a careful thread of hope.
"Autograph?"
Terry pulled the book he'd been carrying under his arm and opened it. Green cover. The Hippogriff with wings spread wide—Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them.
He flipped to the front page and tapped the paragraph in the preface where Lucien's na stood out clearly.
"Newt Scamander's autograph," Terry's eyes sparkled. "Could you ask him for one?"
Lucien looked at the text and understood imdiately—why Terry was asking, why the other eagles were staring at him like that.
So Luna had known too. She'd known about his connection to Newt.
Yeah… that girl had clearly known the answer to the riddle but had waited outside on purpose…
Before Lucien could think more about it, more eagles crowded around.
"Lucien, I want one too!"
"Get one for !"
" too!"
"Can you ask Mr. Scamander to write 'To my most devoted reader'?"
"That's too long—just the na is fine!"
Voices ca from every direction, buzzing around his ears like a swarm of bees.
Lucien found himself surrounded, arms suddenly full of books, completely caught off guard.
Two or three would've been fine, but this many…
"All right, all right." Cho stepped out of the crowd, a gentle smile on her face. She winked at Lucien, then turned to the others. "You're crowding him so much he can barely breathe."
Everyone backed off a little, though their eyes stayed eager.
Cho looked at Lucien, her tone lightly teasing. "They should be asking for your autograph too. You're a big star now, after all."
The comnt was clever—it gave Lucien an easy out.
A few eagles laughed, and the atmosphere lightened.
But the way they looked at him still felt complicated and strangely distant.
After earning the Order of rlin, First Class, Lucien had already beco "famous."
Even so, he was still the classmate they saw every day—in class, at als, walking the corridors together. No matter how well-known he got, he was still just the quiet eagle who sat at his desk reading.
His fa had never really felt that big to them before.
This ti was different.
Newt Scamander—that na they'd all grown up hearing, the legendary figure of the wizarding world.
And Lucien had been written into one of his books.
This wasn't sothing you could explain with "good grades" or "strong magic."
This was truly "standing alongside a legend."
So those looks held admiration, envy, and a faint, hard-to-na sense of distance.
It was as if Lucien had stopped being "just a classmate" and had beco soone from another world.
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