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To get into the Ravenclaw dormitory, they need to answer a riddle. What if they don’t know the answer? How will they get in?

alexwlchan
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Darth Theory
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2 Answers2

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You wait for somebody else to show up.

When Harry first encounters the eagle, Luna explains what happens if you get the question wrong. If you don’t know the answer, you wait for somebody else who does. Same as all the other dormitories, except (this being Ravenclaw) there’s a vague hope that you’ll learn something by doing so:

“What? Isn’t there just a password?”

“Oh no, you’ve got to answer a question,” said Luna.

“What if you get it wrong?”

“Well, you have to wait for somebody who gets it right,” said Luna. “That way you learn, you see?”

— Deathly Hallows, chapter 29 (The Lost Diadem)

According to the Pottermore welcome letter for Ravenclaw, it’s not unusual to find people stumped by the riddle, waiting for somebody to come along and help them out:

It’s not unusual to find twenty people standing outside the common room door, all trying to work out the answer to the day’s question together. This is a great way to meet fellow Ravenclaws from other years, and to learn from them – although it is a bit annoying if you’ve forgotten your Quidditch robes and need to get in and out in a hurry. In fact, I’d advise you to triple-check your bag for everything you need before leaving Ravenclaw Tower.

Note the phrase “the day’s question”. It sounds as if the raven changes the riddle once a day, which sounds about right. Most people will leave Ravenclaw Tower at least once a day, and so get the benefit of the day’s riddle, it won’t stagnate because everybody already knows it, and it’s not changing enough to be too annoying.

(And having said that, @chirlu points out in a comment that this is directly contradicted by the encounter in Deathly Hallows.)

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alexwlchan
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    Totally forgot Luna was a Ravenclaw. –  Mar 20 '16 at 17:10
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    This seems a bit problematic in case everybody get it wrong – Oriol Mar 20 '16 at 22:40
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    @Oriol the Ravenclaw text on Pottermore (I have no idea if it can be found if you don't have a Pottermore account that's a Ravenclaw) says that it's not uncommon for groups of people to be stuck at the entrance, and that you triple-check your bag before leaving because you might not be able to get back in easily. But there is no mention of everyone ever getting locked out. Someone would probably end up opening from inside anyway. – Pwassonne Mar 20 '16 at 22:59
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    @Pwassonne On the internet, everything can be found. – Rand al'Thor Mar 21 '16 at 01:45
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    @randal'thor I don't think they got internet at Hogwarts though, so you can't just Google the answer (mainly because Google wasn't around until the start of the 1998-1999 school year). – Thomas Jacobs Mar 21 '16 at 09:51
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    for internet at Hogwarts see http://thesetupwizard.tumblr.com/ – Julian Mar 21 '16 at 10:42
  • @ThomasJacobs Prior to Google we had Yahoo & Dogpile, but out of control SEO meant that finding anything useful before the 3rd or 4th page of results was remarkably unlikely. – tjd Mar 21 '16 at 16:09
  • @randal'thor - I believe the only somewhat significant piece of HP canon not found on the internet is the Daily Prophet Newsletters. – ibid Mar 21 '16 at 19:25
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    Harry and Luna get asked a different question (“What came first, the phoenix or the flame?”) than Amycus Carrow and McGonagall a few minutes later (“Where do vanished objects go?”). That would indicate a new riddle whenever the old one is solved, not a daily change (unless the daily change time happened to be shortly after Harry and Luna’s visit). – chirlu Apr 04 '16 at 08:42
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    @Oriol by the way, if ALL Ravenclaws got the answer wrong (but note that they can try to answer several times), they shouldn't be Ravenclaws. – A. Darwin Apr 04 '16 at 09:31
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If a Ravenclaw or non-Ravenclaw cannot answer the riddle you must wait until one answers the riddle correctly. Most 1st years of Ravenclaw wait for hours outside Ravenclaw Tower because they cannot answer the question, However, they watch and learn. Eventually, it becomes a challenge to see who will answer it correctly first, which means after your 1st year you will know how it works and look forward to every challenge. It does get quite annoying though if your in a hurry to get your Quidditch materials which you left inside the Tower.

MyHouseIsRavenclaw
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    The first sentence has already been elaborated on with great detail in the accepted answer; the rest seems as a fanfic. Take our [tour] to see what kind of answers we expect. – Gallifreyan Jun 12 '17 at 17:37
  • @Gallifreyan, how do you know that's not an authoritative answer from an actual Hogwarts student? ;) – Wildcard Aug 11 '17 at 01:28
  • @Wildcard I don't. SE system wasn't designed to rely on authority, so it's expected of the answerers to provide all the support and reasoning in their posts. – Gallifreyan Aug 11 '17 at 05:50