Horace Slughorn's office

"But I want Professor Merrythought's old office, not the water closet I had before!"

- Horace Slughorn

This office is located on Hogwarts Castle's Sixth floor. Once used by then-Defence Against the Dark Arts professor Galatea Merrythought, it is now used by Horace Slughorn, Potions Master. Its use after Professor Merrythought's retirement in 1945 in not known, although it can be assumed that it was left unnoccupied, as when Albus Dumbledore negotiated with Horace Slughorn that the latter resume his post of Potions master at Hogwarts in 1996, Slughorn demanded that he receive this particularly large office, implying that no other teacher had been using it. Fairly roomy, this office included a fireplace with two large sofas surrounding it, a round dinner table big enough to sit ten people and access to a private balcony. It had enough space to hold a Christmas party. Also, the room has two entrance doors, with at least one connecting to the sixth floor.

Under Galatea Merrythought
Around 1895, professor Galatea Merrythought was appointed Defence Against the Dark Arts professor at Hogwarts. She occupied this office, presumably since her appointment to her retirement in 1945.

Under Horace Slughorn
During his second tenure as Potions master, Horace Slughorn demanded the use of this office, not wanting the same office he occupied during his first tenure, calling it a "water closet". It was in this office Slughorn held dinner parties with his newly-reinstated Slug Club. More notably, this office held a Christmas party on December 20th, 1996.

Behind the scenes

 * In the film adaptation of Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, Slughorn makes a point of the office being large immediately after he agrees to return to Hogwarts. However, in the novel, this is not adressed until Harry Potter visits it during the Slug Club Christmas Party, and no mention of the office once belonging to Professor Merrythought is made.

Appearances

 * Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince
 * Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince (film)
 * Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince (video game)