T/N: Decided to release the two fics early, other one will be probably out in like an hour.
These past few days, I've read quite a few responses regarding how I've portrayed Ravenclaw, and upon reflection, I realize I did mess up the order of things.
Ravenclaw is indeed wise. Originally, I wanted to use Helena's memories to illustrate Ravenclaw's core essence — tolerance.
A wisdom-driven tolerance. Because wisdom allows one to see more, to see farther, it leads to tolerance — not the kind of kind, unified tolerance found in Hufflepuff, but rather a tolerance for differing opinions and divergent paths.
That's why the Sorting Hat says that anyone with wisdom can find like-minded people in Ravenclaw.
This makes Ravenclaw a house fundamentally different from Hufflepuff — a more oppositional group, where differences gradually emerge until paths diverge completely. But everyone is using their own wisdom to pursue their own way. Because of tolerance, Ravenclaw can accommodate those with differing paths. And because of wisdom, those with differing paths are not easily persuaded.
While writing the extra chapter for my last book, I started thinking about Luna, and I realized — Ravenclaw should have villains. Because it welcomes a bunch of wizards with strong ideas, it shouldn't be a peaceful and harmonious place. It should resemble the Hundred Schools of Thought during the Spring and Autumn Period in ancient China — a state of constant ideological contention.
It should have a massive number of factions like that era — some good, some bad — all fighting for what they believe in, even sending those they disagree with to Azkaban.
And Ravenclaw House, based on this very principle, encourages those who are driven to confront and debate each other, so that through intellectual conflict, brighter wisdom can emerge. But just like in the Spring and Autumn Period, this inevitably also gives birth to ideas and people that aren't necessarily virtuous or admirable.
That's why it naturally includes people like Gilderoy Lockhart, the fame-seeker, and Rita Skeeter, the authoritarian — because they are using their intelligence to pursue what they believe is important.
So it's only natural that some Ravenclaws believe people like them are wrong and should be sent to Azkaban — because that's what Ravenclaw is.
Because of tolerance, Ravenclaw includes Lockhart and Rita — but it also includes someone like Millicent Bagnold, the Minister for Magic who resisted Voldemort until the end and led the Ministry to victory.
Would all Ravenclaws be proud of Rita or Lockhart? Of course not — which is exactly why Ravenclaw's tolerance allows people with radically different actions and opinions to enter, but it also guarantees the existence of many who reject them from within.
This kind of tolerance can even allow for unity in collective rejection — like during the selection of the Triwizard Champion — but that doesn't stop them from turning around and wanting to throw each other into Azkaban later.
Professor Flitwick, the Head of House, undoubtedly reflects this idea of tolerance — though that might also be because he's barely described in the original books.
It's under this overarching idea of tolerance that I began creating all kinds of eccentric Ravenclaws — though it seems I may have gone a bit overboard, to the point where I now feel the need to explain myself, since I wasn't able to lay out the philosophy clearly from the beginning.
But I believe Ravenclaw should be this way — devoted to wisdom and the pursuit of knowledge, unafraid to strike hard against fellow housemates, and equally unafraid to confront others in the school — "I love my teacher, but I love truth even more."
Pursuing grades? Good marks? Unity and harmony? That's all fine — but it's too small a vision… Sure, part of Ravenclaw is like that, but it can't only be that.
It should dare to discuss the future of the wizarding world, to think ahead for all of wizardkind, to seek reason amidst chaos, to dare to say no, and to be willing — once firm in belief and goal — to prove it by any means necessary. Including, but not limited to, sending other students (even Ravenclaws) to Azkaban.
Yes, that's what Ravenclaw is like.
T/N: For the first week, every 200 power stones equals a bonus chapter.