As we all know, The Ravenclaw Common Room has an eagle-shaped bronze knocker on their entrance door, which asks a riddle to anyone who wants to enter. Without guessing the correct answer, no one is permitted inside. The brilliant knocker never asks the same riddle twice, which means that the past riddles are a source of fun in the present.

Thus, here comes the eagerly awaited, highly entertaining part of this magazine - The Ravenclaw Common Room Door-Knocker Riddle. This month's riddle is as follows: -

"Think in terms of atoms and molecules.

Of course, you will need your wand.

Precision and accuracy are its hallmarks.

Your attention and interest, this branch of magic will demand.

Visualization and willpower will carry you far.

Taking objects from one form to another,

Scattering particles or bringing them together

Five exceptions will always defy you, as decided by nature.

Living to apparently non-living, and non-living to apparently living,

Those slippers and that goblet were once moving.

Difficult to excel in, hard to master,

Recall the four Marauders if you still don't have an answer."

As usual, if you drop the correct answer in "The Hogwarts Monthly Magazine Office" on one of your most appreciated visits or send your answer via owl to Hiya Debnath, the compiler and publisher of this magazine, you will be bagging a prize of five Knuts, free advertizing opportunity in our magazine, which is claimable anytime, and, of course, a mention in this chapter in the next issue of our magazine. 

Now, it's time to laud the winners of previous month's (October Issue) riddles with a standing ovation from the Hogwarts Monthly Magazine Editorial and Publishing Team.

For answering the first Ravenclaw Common Room Door-Knocker Riddle in the October Issue of our magazine, the honor goes to none other than the intelligent Evony Senoj, a 2nd year Slytherin student and a Charms, Transfiguration, and Flying Professor Assistant at Hogwarts. She took away a prize of five Knuts and a free advertizing opportunity in our magazine. The correct answer was wands.

The only winner of the Halloween special extra riddle in the October Issue of our magazine was once again, Evony Senoj. She earned yet another free advertizing oppotunity in our magazine and received another five Knuts from our team for her win. The riddle was related to Divination, and the correct answer was tarot cards.

We are pleased to announce that Evony has been a winner of this section of our magazine, consecutively for two months. She is a holder of no less than three advertizing opportunities in our magazine until now, which she has been stacking up with the help of her wit and wisdom since our magazine was first published in the Hogwarts Library.

Here's a quick recap and the explanations of the answers to the previous month's Ravenclaw Common Room Door Knocker Riddles.

The first riddle was: -

"It's an extension of you, but it's not

In wood around a magical creature's parts, it's wrought

If it likes you back and is your soulmate, sparks fly.

It has a mind of it's own, well-nigh

Very loyal and yours for life

Works as anything, whether flashlight or knife"

Explanation - Wands are a foci of magic that channels a witch or wizard's inherent magical ability in the intended direction to achieve a certain effect. A wand is an extension of a magical person's being, but it is not actually a body part. It's made of wood wrought around a core, which is usually a part from a magical creature, such as a feather from the tail of a phoenix, a strand of hair from a unicorn's tail, or a heartstring from a dragon. When your wand chooses you, sparks are emitted. Wands often have a mind of their own, and not only do they choose their owner, but they have also been known to act of their own accord in quite a few instances. Wands are highly loyal foci of magic and function best when paired to the owner chosen by themselves. They remain with their chosen owner for life, unless they are broken or damaged in some way. A wand can function as a flashlight or as a knife. All you need to do is cast the Wand-Lighting Charm "Lumos" with or without incantation modifiers to get a flashlight, and cast the Severing Charm "Diffindo" if you want a knife. By casting the appropriate charms, you can use your wand for almost anything.

The Halloween special extra riddle was: -

"They often help you, but are not very loyal.

They have numbers, and are sometimes royal.

Made of paper, but living wrapped in cloth or in wood

They could be silently ominous or they could hint of good.

Friend or foe? We never know

But with some effort, they are always honest to you.

If you lack a friend or guide, or don't know where to go,

They are the ones you may often turn to.

Sometimes they are up straight and sometimes reversed

To get the correct answer, in your question you have to be immersed."

Explanation - Tarot cards are a weaker foci of magic, used to channel magical energy for Seeing and Divination. They help you by answering your questions, but are not as loyal as wands. They are quick to absorb the magical energy of other people, thus changing allegiance. Tarot cards are divided into the Major and Minor Arcana. The cards in the Minor Arcana are divided into four different suits. Each suit contains cards numbered from one (ace) to ten and also a King and Queen, besides a Knight and a Page. Tarot cards are made of paper and are usually stored wrapped in cloth in a wooden box. They may silently foretell something inauspicious or predict a good future outcome. Relying too much on predictions often makes people stop working for a good outcome, which changes the final result, thus making the tarot a foe. However, if interpreted and used correctly, the tarot can be a good friend. If enough willpower and concentration are applied, tarot readings can be performed accurately. People usually turn to tarot when they are at a loss and do not have enough reliable opinions from their friends or guides to trust. Tarot cards can be read straight or reversed, and a card drawn reversed would have a different meaning from the same card drawn straight. To get the most reliable answer from a tarot card, one needs to focus hard on their question.

The Hogwarts Monthly Magazine team hopes you have fun answering this month's Ravenclaw Common Room Door-Knocker Riddle and is eagerly looking forward to your answers.

- Hiya Debnath, Journalist, Compiler, Publisher, Editor, Hogwarts Monthly Magazine.