Outside the Ravenclaw common room door.
Before Lucien could answer, Luna turned to the bronze knocker and gave the riddle's answer.
"Ignorance."
The moment the words left her lips, the bronze eagle's eyes lit up.
"Correct," the knocker said in its clear, calm voice. "Welcome back."
The door swung open. The young witch bounced inside, her dark golden-brown hair swinging happily behind her like she had something wonderful on her mind.
Lucien watched her go and opened his mouth, then closed it.
Wait. You knew the answer the whole time?
Then why were you standing out here like that…?
He shook his head and followed her in.
The Ravenclaw common room looked exactly the same—arched walls draped in blue velvet, silver stars twinkling across the domed ceiling.
A few eagles sat scattered on the couches, some reading, some 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 same one Ron got when faced with a giant plate of chicken legs.
"Lucien, can you get me 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 name stood out clearly.
"Newt Scamander's autograph," Terry's eyes sparkled. "Could you ask him for one?"
Lucien looked at the text and understood immediately—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 me!"
"Me too!"
"Can you ask Mr. Scamander to write 'To my most devoted reader'?"
"That's too long—just the name is fine!"
Voices came 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 comment 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 Merlin, First Class, Lucien had already become "famous."
Even so, he was still the classmate they saw every day—in class, at meals, 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 fame had never really felt that big to them before.
This time was different.
Newt Scamander—that name 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 something 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-name sense of distance.
It was as if Lucien had stopped being "just a classmate" and had become someone from another world.