Richie listened to Terry and the others stressing out over their assignments and just shook his head with a laugh.
"If you guys don't know what to do, just ask the upperclassmen," he said. "They have to write essays too; they definitely know how it works."
"Oh, right."
The guys chuckled sheepishly. Having never dealt with anything like this before, they had no choice but to turn to their resident "Seven-Pointed Star" for help.
Richie agreed to help his roommates out—after all, he had the thickest skin of the bunch. Once they were back in the Ravenclaw common room, he cornered a few older students at random. After turning on the charm, he managed to successfully borrow four essays that had scored an "O."
He quickly learned that Hogwarts used the same grading scale for both homework and exams:
Outstanding (O)
Exceeds Expectations (E)
Acceptable (A)
Poor (P)
Dreadful (D)
Troll (T)
When it came to homework, anything below Acceptable meant a mandatory do-over. If you scored a Troll, you were looking at a one-way trip to the professor's office for a "chat."
Armed with their assignments and textbooks, the boys headed down to the Great Hall.
It was already more than half full. At this time of day, the whole school basically treated it as a massive study hall. Some kids were at their seats practicing spells, while others were grinding through homework or just hanging out.
Richie and his crew grabbed spots at the Ravenclaw table and got to work. True to the Ravenclaw reputation, almost everyone at their table—first-years included—was either studying or writing essays.
The first-years from the other houses, however, weren't quite as disciplined.
Harry and his friends showed up a bit late and sat down at the Gryffindor table. Harry and Ron immediately started venting about Snape targeting them in Potions class. Hermione, meanwhile, shot a quick glance over at the Ravenclaw table. Then, she slammed a massive stack of books onto the desk and started writing furiously.
"Man, she really belongs in Ravenclaw, not Gryffindor," Ron muttered to Harry, watching Hermione bury herself in her work. "Only Ravenclaws actually care about getting their homework done early!"
"Ron, I highly suggest you start your homework," Hermione said, not even looking up from her parchment. "You have tasks to complete every single day. If you don't do today's homework, you'll just have more pile up tomorrow. If you keep putting it off, you won't even have time to eat by the deadline!"
Ron just scoffed. "I've got my own schedule, thanks. And right now is definitely not the time for homework."
He pulled a book out of his robes. Harry leaned in curiously and saw the cover: two black-and-white knight pieces raising their swords in a standoff, titled The Strategy of Wizard's Chess.
"I borrowed this from Fred!" Ron said excitedly. "He only gave me a week, so I have to read it right now! Do you want to check it out, Harry? Wizard's Chess is literally the best game in the magic world! We can read it together!"
Hearing that, Harry was definitely tempted.
"Harry, if you blow off your homework to read that with Ron, I am absolutely not letting you copy mine later!" Hermione warned, shooting him a stern look before diving right back into her essay.
"Uh... actually, Ron, I think I'll just finish my homework first. We can look at it after," Harry backpedaled, looking a little guilty as he pulled out his own parchment.
Ron rolled his eyes, muttered something under his breath, and happily cracked the book open by himself.
Sometime later, the sound of hundreds of wings beating against the air echoed through the upper reaches of the Great Hall.
"It's the owls!"
A massive flock of owls swooped down from the rafters, carrying packages of all shapes and sizes. They navigated the hall perfectly, dropping parcels right in front of their respective owners.
Richie got a small package himself. Curious, he tore it open and found a letter tucked next to a small coin purse.
The design of the purse looked incredibly familiar. Wasn't that Aunt Annabelle's wallet? He popped it open and, sure enough, found several gleaming golden Galleons inside.
Richie turned his attention to the envelope, sliced it open, and skimmed the contents. Yep, it was from his aunt. The letter was short and sweet. Basically, she was worried he wouldn't have any spending money at Hogwarts, so she'd sent him some cash.
She also made a point of demanding he write home regularly to let them know he was safe.
"Oh crap, I totally forgot." Richie smacked his forehead.
When a kid goes off to boarding school, the first thing they're supposed to do is call home to say they made it in one piece. Or, in the wizarding world, write a letter. Richie had been so distracted by all the new knowledge that it had completely slipped his mind. Thank god his aunt reminded him; otherwise, his mom probably would've killed him when he went home for winter break.
Without wasting a second, Richie pulled out fresh parchment and drafted letters to both his mom and his aunt.
The message was simple: he asked how they were doing, mentioned he'd been sorted into Ravenclaw, and talked about how amazing the classes were. He was having a great time. As for his dad, Denton, Richie just threw in a brief mention of him at the end of his mom's letter.
Sensing that its owner was going to write back, Richie's owl hadn't left the hall. It had just been waiting quietly in the corner. When Richie waved it over, it swooped right down.
"Thanks for the hard work," Richie said, giving the bird a gentle scratch on the head. "I'll make sure to buy you some premium owl treats up in the Owlery."
Now that he thought about it, buying owl food was probably the only thing he'd actually need his aunt's money for while stuck at Hogwarts anyway.
Hearing the promise of premium food, the owl finally offered its leg. Richie quickly tied the letters on.
"Off you go!"
Richie watched his owl take flight, soaring out through one of the high windows near the ceiling. With that handled, he looked back down, fully intending to get back to his studies.
Just then, a huge wave of chatter erupted across the Great Hall.
"Did you guys see today's Daily Prophet?"
"Someone broke into Gringotts! It was a robbery!"
"Merlin's pants, that's insane!"
Gringotts? The wizarding bank? Someone actually robbed a bank?
Curiosity getting the better of him, Richie leaned over next to Stephen, who was holding a copy of The Daily Prophet.
Plastered right in the middle of the front page was a massive photograph of a dark cave. The number "713" was carved into the rock face above an intricate, heavy iron door that loomed in the shadows.
> LATEST ON THE ILLEGAL BREAK-IN AT GRINGOTTS: VAULT 713...
"But it's Gringotts, how is that even possible?"
"Do you think this has anything to do with them lowering the interest rates?"
"Who knows, but my dad already pulled all our Galleons out just to be safe..."
Well, it looks like the wizarding world isn't quite as safe as Aunt Annabelle made it out to be...
Richie shook his head as the gossiping continued around him, shifting his focus back to the textbook on his desk.