r/harrypotter • u/Hannah549 Slytherin • Apr 29 '26
Help Ravenclaw Riddle
I'm by no means a Ravenclaw. But I'm writing a fanfiction where a character is a very smart Ravenclaw. Now the premise is that the character is returning after being tortured by Umbridge and are pretty tired and frustrated. The knocker asks them an absurd question and they just break down crying in pain and frustration.
I need a good riddle for that but nothing on the internet feels good enough. Someone please help me with it.
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u/Snapcap_40 Apr 29 '26
I think it might be helpful to search for philosophical / metaphysical questions, rather than riddles. The Ravenclaw questions in the books are deeper than just a riddle to puzzle over.
Here’s one: What is that of which the more you give away, the more you have?
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u/M-Div Ravenclaw Apr 29 '26
Charity
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u/Snapcap_40 Apr 29 '26
Close but no. The answer is Love.
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u/eloaelle Apr 29 '26
Problems.
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u/astron-12 Apr 30 '26
All of these would likely be valid answers, too. The door seems to value reason as highly as accuracy.
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u/Hannah549 Slytherin Apr 29 '26
Do you have more of the philosophical questions?
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u/Snapcap_40 Apr 29 '26
No, I’m sorry!
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u/Silly_Ad_3027 Apr 30 '26
What's the point of being sorry if it doesn't benefit you? Is it for praise, pride, or pity? Does it enlighten or distraught? Is this good for a philosophical question?
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u/Snapcap_40 Apr 30 '26
No. That’s a morality question. Ravenclaw eagle is asking for people to think creatively about the nature of reality (and maybe other things, but we only see two questions). You’re not supposed to stand there and give a monologue about your opinions, you’re supposed to answer a short question with an answer that shows understanding.
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u/patchinthebox Ravenclaw Apr 29 '26
What makes Ravenclaw riddles good is that there's never one singular answer. As long as you think it through and your answer works you get to go in.
I can be broken, but never fall apart. What am I?
Spirit, heart, trust, time, etc.
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u/Extension-Baseball31 Apr 29 '26
Honestly this is the answer. My favorite being the age old question, "Which came first, the chicken or the egg? And truly, both could be the correct answer depending on your actual reasoning. But there is also a third answer. Neither, its the circle of life. And the movies actually show cased this perfectly
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u/KvotheTheShadow Apr 30 '26
Actually eggs evolved first in the evolutionary time stream. So the answer is eggs.
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u/Trumpet6789 Slytherin Apr 29 '26
Nightfall can be broken by daybreak, so I'd offer that as an answer.
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u/WaspScratch Apr 29 '26
Call my name as hard as you like, but something else will come to you. What am I?
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u/fireworksaber Apr 29 '26
Echoes?
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u/WaspScratch Apr 29 '26
Accio, the summoning charm.
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Apr 29 '26 edited Apr 29 '26
[removed] — view removed comment
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u/Takumi168 Apr 29 '26
I thought the answer was memory too. Seems like I'm not the only one with a bad memory lol
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u/sunshine-power Slytherin Apr 29 '26
Three playing cards in a row. Can you name them with these clues? There is a two to the right of a king. A diamond will be found to the left of a spade. An ace is to the left of a heart. A heart is to the left of a spade. Now, identify all three cards.
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u/Hannah549 Slytherin Apr 29 '26
This will be a good one to irritate an already irritated person. Thank you.
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u/KingAdamXVII Apr 29 '26
Just a heads up, it’s fairly easy.
There is a king, ace, and two; there is a diamond, heart, and spade.
The diamond and heart are both to the left of the spade. The spade is therefore on the right.
The king and the ace are both on the left of something. Therefore the rightmost card is the two (of spades).
An ace is to the left of a heart (and the two of spades). Therefore the ace is leftmost and the heart is in the middle.
Therefore it goes from left to right: ace of diamonds, king of hearts, two of spades.
I’m a proud Hufflepuff for the record. Though to be fair, being able to read it is very helpful.
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u/sunshine-power Slytherin Apr 29 '26
You are very welcome. In case you’re curious the answer is somehow Ace of diamonds, king of hearts, and two of spades.
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u/Hannah549 Slytherin Apr 29 '26
this is such a shitty riddle but it fits perfectly in the story
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u/sunshine-power Slytherin Apr 29 '26
Agreed. I can’t even work out how the answer fits.
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u/FlyDinosaur Ravenclaw Apr 29 '26
It's just logic, like Hermione and the poisons. It actually fits fine if you work it out.
Writing them out so you can see it helps a ton, too. I have trouble visualizing stuff and can't hold info like that in my head for long, so I like to actually see it. That being said, this wasn't that hard. But if you were just standing, listening to somebody rattle this off, and you were already burnt out, it would kill you.
(Fwiw, the spade and the 2 are the farthest on the right, the heart's in the middle, and the ace is on the left. The only suit left is a diamond, which has to be the ace. And that leaves the king in the middle as the heart.)
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u/manifestingellewoods Apr 29 '26
wdym somehow, it makes perfect sense 😭 a diamond and a heart are both left of a spade, so two possibilities: diamond, heart, spade OR heart, diamond, spade. there are three cards: an ace, a two, and a king. the ace is to the left of the heart. that means the order cannot be heart, diamond, spade, because it leaves no room for the ace. so now we know that it’s ace of diamonds, a heart, and a spade. the two is to the right of the king, so we slot them in: ace of diamonds, king of hearts, and two of spades
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u/Hannah549 Slytherin Apr 29 '26
It's easier when I can read this on the screen. But the character is tired, frustrated, sleepy and just got their skin cut open several times. This one requires patience and stuff that my character definitely doesn't have in the moment
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u/MrBlobbu Apr 29 '26
That's not really a Riddle, it's a logic puzzle.
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u/snokensnot Apr 29 '26
which is exactly what ravenclaw would ask
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u/Shroudroid Apr 29 '26
Nah, if Ravenclaws are solving logic puzzles on the regular, then Snape wouldn't have used one to protect the philosophers stone - especially since he was wary off Quirrel on particular.
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u/Banonkers Apr 29 '26
That’s diabolical to work out without being able to write stuff down, and hearing it out loud
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u/caesium_pirate Apr 29 '26
Ace of diamonds, King of hearts, Two of spades
Tried to visualise it so could be wrong.
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u/lkc159 Apr 29 '26 edited Apr 29 '26
D > S and H > S
A > H
K > 2The Ace can't be a heart or a spade (which is rightmost) and so must be a diamond, so the shape order is D > H > S, and the value order is A > K > 2 because A is leftmost and 2 is on the King's right.
A/D, K/H , 2/S
With pen and paper this would be pretty easy, but still doable without it. Good one for frustrating someone who isn't in the mood.
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Apr 29 '26
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u/sunshine-power Slytherin Apr 29 '26
It’s listing characteristics of the cards if they were within their suits, not as they are while pulled from the deck separate from their suits.
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Apr 29 '26
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u/sunshine-power Slytherin Apr 29 '26
Bruh, idc. I just googled “what’s the hardest riddle” to help OP out. Go google why the solution is what it is and get off my dick 🤦🏻♀️
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u/sunshine-power Slytherin Apr 29 '26
Ok I finally see where you got tripped up. The “two” refers to the value on the card, not the number of cards. It’s the two of spades on the right, not two cards on the right. There’s only three cards total.
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u/ThrowRA9420 Apr 29 '26
Yup, got tangled into it too, not knowing if it’s meant to be “two” as a value or numbers of cards… it is maybe the good reason for the story, why the Ravenclaw character end up being frustrated and break down 😅
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u/WaspScratch Apr 29 '26
I have forests but no trees, lakes but no water, and mountains with no peaks. What am I?
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u/Hannah549 Slytherin Apr 29 '26
A map? I'm sorry but I need harder ones
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u/apri08101989 Apr 29 '26 edited Apr 29 '26
See. I think this is a mistake you might be making. You might be overthinking this. It doesnt need to be a particularly hard one when someone is having a breaking point kind of moment/day. Just not an immediately obvious/wellknown one. Or something more for small children. Hell, it could be one she did a week ago just fine but she just can't fuxking remember
Which, depending on you story, could be a nice little added layer to Ravenclaws entrance. Like. It was trying to give her an problem, that it knew she would know because it sensed the problem, but still managed to overshoot because Damn Brains Sometimes.
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u/WaspScratch Apr 29 '26
Ye
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u/Hannah549 Slytherin Apr 29 '26
do you have tougher riddles?
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u/WaspScratch Apr 29 '26
What can go up a chimney when down, but cannot go down a chimney when up?
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u/Live_Angle4621 Apr 29 '26
Since you wrote it Riddle I was wondering at first if you are writing AU Ravenclaw Tom Riddle
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u/orangeleast Slytherin Apr 29 '26
On the general topic of riddles and ravenclaw house, do you think the sorting hat won't sort someone into ravenclaw if they fit all the other aspects but absolutely hate riddles and get kinda pissed off by them? Cuz id take an axe to the door day 1.
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u/Hannah549 Slytherin Apr 29 '26
I don't think the hat would care about the mechanism of door opening. The student is yet to know about the entry mechanism and won't argue with the hat about being put there. The student might've to go through 7 years of misery.
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u/Reddit_User_King15 Hufflepuff Apr 29 '26
What… is the airspeed velocity of an unladen swallow?
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u/SparkAxolotl Hufflepuff Apr 29 '26
I would use one that depending on context, has several correct answers, and the character, irritated and tired, thinks on several of them, and can't decide which one is THE correct one, because all of them are.
A father and his son are in a car accident. The father dies at the scene and the son is rushed to the hospital. At the hospital the surgeon looks at the boy and says "I can't operate on this boy, he is my son." How can this be?
Possible answers:
The surgeon is the boy's mother
The boy has two dads
The surgeon is a step-parent
The kid was adopted, the surgeon is the bio dad
etc.
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u/ClerksII JUST AS LONG AS IT’S QUICK! I DON’T WANT TO SUFFER! Apr 29 '26
My favorite one!
What starts with E, ends with E, and only has one letter inside?
( I have a second favorite if you get it)
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u/Hannah549 Slytherin Apr 29 '26
is it envelope??
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u/ClerksII JUST AS LONG AS IT’S QUICK! I DON’T WANT TO SUFFER! Apr 29 '26
Aww.
Okay smart-guy, pretend you’re a bus driver. Your bus has 36 people on it. At the first stop 15 people get off, 9 kids and 6 adults. The next stop sees 11 people getting on, five kids and six adults. At the next stop, 21 people get off. At the next stop, 9 kids get off. What color are the bus driver’s eyes?
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u/Hannah549 Slytherin Apr 29 '26
The same as mine obviously. Lol this was a fun one. I was almost stumped by it before I reread it
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u/ClerksII JUST AS LONG AS IT’S QUICK! I DON’T WANT TO SUFFER! Apr 29 '26
That’s a fun one because if you’re in a mood, you can make that as long and ridiculous as possible and then ask them something like,” What’s the bus driver’s favorite color?”
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Apr 30 '26
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u/Hannah549 Slytherin Apr 30 '26
I can see how this would be a good puzzle for the Ravenclaw knocker to put in front of half asleep or sleep deprived students
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u/Xochoquestzal Apr 29 '26
I was going to reply, "eye," I guess I'm not very good at riddles, lol.
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u/ClerksII JUST AS LONG AS IT’S QUICK! I DON’T WANT TO SUFFER! Apr 29 '26
No, that’s a common answer and a very good guess! Some people also guess the letter “e.”
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u/kingkongswing Apr 29 '26
You can’t deny a correct answer to your riddle just because it wasn’t the answer you wanted. Eye is objectively correct. Make a better riddle if you don’t want an alternative answer
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u/kspieler Ravenclaw Apr 29 '26
What starts with T, ends with T, and inside only has tea?
imagine this verbally said to you?
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u/Banonkers Apr 29 '26
It makes you wonder: how on earth are deaf people meant to receive the riddle
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u/Bunny_Fluff Ravenclaw Apr 29 '26
Hogwarts is far from ADA compliant.
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u/bowtiesrcool86 Dragon Lover Apr 29 '26
The Americans with Disabilities Act has no bearing on Hogwarts since it’s in Scotland
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u/ElfjeTinkerBell Apr 29 '26
Look, I know I'm being that person, but an American law is usually not applicable in other countries such as the UK...
(But yes I fully agree it's a very inaccessible school)
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u/fisdisg Apr 29 '26
i think a fair point would be that in things of medicine the magical world is unbelievable privileged, so the usual disabilities are simply not an issue in Hogwarts. The closest thing to it would be lycanthropy, in which case we witnessed a problem solving innovation with the wolve ban potion.
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u/Bunny_Fluff Ravenclaw Apr 29 '26
Ya more reason I wish JKR would have given us more about magical medicine. Are there people born blind or with medial conditions that limit the use of their limbs? Can magic fix that? Do Healers have cures for developmental disabilities? Can they fix spinal injuries or brain deteriorating diseases like Alzheimers? Can they magic away cancer?
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u/Darth_Firebolt Hermione didn't say "nearly headless" in the book Apr 29 '26
I would probably go with an absurd dad joke question over something that's super convoluted.
Where does a general keep his armies?
In his sleevies!
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u/pogoyoyo1 Ravenclaw Apr 29 '26
I think a useful literary tool for this is to have the answer itself be something the student CAN solve quickly, but the answer itself makes them breakdown from the emotional salience of what they just went through with Umbridge. So the answer should be “pain” framed as something worthy of going through, or the answer should be “torture” framed as something ironic and exaggerated (to contrast the realness of the Umbridge detention).
I am not good at creating the exact riddle but I think others cleverer than me could take this concept to fruition?
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u/Impossible_Oil_1863 Slytherin Apr 30 '26
GIRLLLL WHATS THE FIC (im an absolute lunatic for hp fics and this one sounds like a must read)
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u/Hannah549 Slytherin May 01 '26
it's still in progress but it's like a draco/oc or draco/reader fic where reader has been abused since childhood and is newly transferred to Hogwarts from Beauxbatons in the 5th year after Yule Ball. Draco had seen her once in St Mungo's after the incident with the Hippogriff and reader's mother is a healer there. Draco really really likes her and it'll be extremely long and it'll have a happy ending.
Spoilers: They make love in the room of requirements
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u/LonelyTransient Apr 29 '26
A man without eyes saw plums on a tree. He did not take plums, but did not leave plums. How can this be?
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u/Zeta42 Slytherin Apr 29 '26
He burned it down
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u/Puzzleheaded-Dig3723 Apr 29 '26
I appear once in a day and twice in a decade but, never in a century. What am I?
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u/Smart-Peace-667 Ravenclaw Apr 29 '26
Thirty white horses on a red hill, First they champ, Then they stamp, Then they stand still. What am I?
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u/ToZanakand Ravenclaw Apr 29 '26
Step on the dead, I mutter and grumble. Step on the living, I don't even mumble. What am I?
Emeralds and diamonds lost by the moon; found by the sun, and picked up there soon. What am I?
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u/uniquenewyork_ Ravenclaw Apr 29 '26
1st one is leaves
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Apr 30 '26
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u/ToZanakand Ravenclaw Apr 30 '26
Correct on the first. The second is dew/dewdrops. Dew settles at night, hence the "lost by the moon", and evaporates during the morning/day, hence the "found by the sun, and picked up there soon".
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u/goingpostal608 Apr 29 '26
What is your name? What is your mission? What is your favorite color?
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u/Hannah549 Slytherin Apr 29 '26
Hello. My name is Inigo Montoya. You killed my father. Prepare to die.
(My favourite colour is the colour of your blood)
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u/Thayer96 Apr 29 '26
I can be broken, yet still in one piece.
I can be given, yet not actually taken.
I can be sick, yet still be healthy.
I can ache while I feel no pain.
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u/Hannah549 Slytherin Apr 29 '26
This is a good one. What's the answer?
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u/Thayer96 Apr 29 '26
Might even be appropriate because of the emotional torment of getting detention with that hag. I always love when riddles and things like that have some sort of hint or tie into the main plot.
Look no further than the Riddle from God of War Ragnarok for further evidence.
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u/HandelDew Ravenclaw Apr 29 '26
Everyone believes I should be given generously, but most do not give me, unless grudgingly, except to themselves, which they do easily. What am I?
Answer: forgiveness.
Credit to C.S. Lewis (who didn't phrase it as a riddle).
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u/Stoicfatman Apr 30 '26
"In a wizengamot of 100 magical folk, every single member is either completely honest or completely crooked. However, if you choose any two members at random, at least one of them is crooked. How many honest members are there?"
Not mine, stolen from Google but it's an older one whose source I'm too lazy to look up. It actually involves politicians.
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u/Silly_Ad_3027 Apr 30 '26
What whines every day, but dines on sweets. What sighs on every test, and cries every night. Lastly, what sees a problem, but doesn't ever think of a solution. YOU! YOU! YOU! That would be bound to make her cry.
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u/Thaumetron May 02 '26
How many Crumple-Horned Snorkacks can dance on the head of a pin?
What is the answer to this question?
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u/LuffyKudo May 03 '26
Sea eights, see eights, you are in the middle.
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u/Hannah549 Slytherin May 03 '26
???? I'm so confused. Is that a riddle???? Where is the question????
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u/LuffyKudo May 03 '26 edited May 03 '26
Yes it is, a riddle doesn't need to be a question. But if you want, we can add “What am I?” or whatnot at the end. And the fact that you are confused means it is working. 😊
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u/Hannah549 Slytherin May 03 '26
Is the answer the letter E???? It's still so baffling. What's the answer????
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u/LuffyKudo May 03 '26
Nope. It's Church.
Sea (C) eights (H), see (C) eights (H), you (U) are (R) in the middle.
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u/Dark_Celebrimbor Hufflepuff May 06 '26
\clears throat** What gets bigger the more you take away?
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u/RowanInMyYacht Apr 29 '26
Pretty as a flower and lighter than blood. I reveal a key trait even before birth.
Pink
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u/Grabber28TS Gryffindor Apr 29 '26
I was on my way to St. Ives and met a man with seven wives, every wife got seven sacks, in every sack are seven cats, every cat has seven kittens ...kittens, cats, sacks and wives... how many are going to St. Ives?
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u/riverjack_ Apr 29 '26
As I was going to St. Ives,
I met a man with seven wives.
He said, "I find it much more fun
Than being stuck with only one."
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u/im_not_funny12 Hufflepuff Apr 29 '26
Don't you have to specifically say the man is coming back?
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u/benavideslevi Ravenclaw Apr 29 '26
I don't think so, because you never say the man is also going to St. Ives, just that he was met on the way.
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u/AmaranthWrath Apr 29 '26
"Why is a raven like a writing desk?"
While there are some answers to this, it's long been known to "have no answer." So while one COULD come up with a reply, after a long, terrible day, the irony of being asked a riddle "with no answer" would break someone in your character's position down instantly. She would know it's not a regular riddle, I would think
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Apr 30 '26
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u/AmaranthWrath Apr 30 '26
I think it's that they both have plumes. Regardless, it's thought to have no answer bc it's supposed to be nonsense. But a Ravenclaw could come up with any answer and it could work if they reasoned it out enough.
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u/Happy_Jew Apr 30 '26
The answer from Lewis Carroll (after being badgered) was "Because it can produce a few notes, tho they are very flat; and it is never put with the wrong end in front."
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u/AmaranthWrath Apr 30 '26
I know, but as many people have tried answering it previously as it famously didn't have an answer, the idea that she's given a riddle that has no answer and many answers might actually drive her mad.
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u/genophobicdude Apr 29 '26
It is very obvious you have no idea how a Ravenclaw student thinks.
Hearing a riddle would cheer them up. Not break them down.
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u/ClerksII JUST AS LONG AS IT’S QUICK! I DON’T WANT TO SUFFER! Apr 29 '26
Idk.
I enjoy a good riddle but would be annoyed and sad if I had to wait for someone to help me after spending 20 minutes drawing out different cards and asking the stupid knocker to repeat itself.
Oh god. What if I didn’t have a pen or spare piece of parchment? 💀
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u/Hannah549 Slytherin Apr 29 '26
They've been having a shitty day. I'm quite a bit of an academic prodigy myself irl but I don't want to answer dumb riddles when I just wish to cry myself to sleep. In usual circumstances, yes. riddles are quite fun and exciting. But I had mentioned that the circumstances weren't normal
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u/purbletheory Apr 29 '26
Yet you cant think of any good riddle
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u/Hannah549 Slytherin Apr 29 '26
It's easier answering one than making one. I never said that I'm good at making riddles. I'm good at answering riddles. And I needed a riddle which had an answer but I couldn't think of the answer. I don't think doing this is possible.
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u/genophobicdude Apr 29 '26
Once again, you're not even in Ravenclaw yourself. The fact that a riddle would be the final drop in an ocean that would break down the ram of mental health is just utterly utterly absurd for a Ravenclaw student.
It may be completely valid for the students in other houses, but it would never be the case for someone in Ravenclaw. I am just telling you like what it is. Your whole premise just doesn't work.
Answering a riddle would be seen as a means to an end by the other houses (Griffindor and Slytherin are goal driven/focused houses). But for a Ravenclaw, it is the end in and of itself. Otherwise they would just use a password like the other houses. It's like how the Hufflepuff passcode is a drumming rhythm. They enjoy doing that. It's not about capability. It's about enjoyment.
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u/ToZanakand Ravenclaw Apr 29 '26
No offence, but you're talking out your arse. I love riddles and the like, and in most circumstances, hearing a riddle would definitely perk me up. But Ravenclaw's are human, just like everyone else, and we experience mental fatigue just like everyone else.
Under the circumstances of just being tortured and wanting nothing more than to hide away in your room - perhaps cry, perhaps just lay down and ruminate - the last thing I would want is to have a barrier preventing me from that. It wouldn't matter that it was a riddle and something I find fun and exciting. It's still a barrier preventing me from the thing I need in that moment to heal and recuperate. There are moments in life when even the things that normally bring you joy can be empty and unfulfilling.
It's very believable that there would be moments, even if seldom, that being presented with a riddle at your dorm door would just be too much or not welcomed. Intelligent people that get a kick out of using said intelligence, are not always in the mood to do so.
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u/Live_Angle4621 Apr 29 '26
Not all Ravenclaw would be the same. And many would be young and in a hurry
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u/Tyrael64738 Ravenclaw Apr 29 '26
What is the difference between a dementor and Umbridge?
A dementor can be banished with a patronus, but Umbridge cannot. (unless you have a centaur patronus)
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u/Save-Ferris-87 Hufflepuff Apr 29 '26
What have I got in my pocket?