Grand Staircase

The Grand Staircase is a massive structure in Hogwarts Castle, mainly used to access each floor of the castle, including the dungeons. There are hundreds of Portraits covering the walls in this tower, some of which conceal secret passages to other areas within the school. The multiple staircases in the Grand Staircase lead from platform to platform and go as high as the seventh floor where they come to an end.

It was Rowena Ravenclaw who came up with the idea of using moving stairs.

In May of 1998 Severus Snape and Death Eaters Alecto and Amycus Carrow watched students as they marched from the Entrance Courtyard to the Grand Staircase.

Behind the scenes

 * The Fat Lady's portrait is on the seventh floor landing in the later films making it entirely visible to passers by; however, in the first film, her portrait is shown in a corridor somewhere else in the Castle.
 * In the first five films the stairs are shown to be constantly moving, although there is no mention of this in any of the novels. When the stairs are seen again in Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2, it has a different appearance and the stairs no longer move. Upon leaving the Entrance Hall the wider middle staircases travel upward while the staircases to the side travel downward. However, they could have stopped moving for the battle.Hogwart_Grand_Staircase.jpg
 * When Dolores Umbridge takes over the school in the film adaptation of Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix she has Argus Filch take down all the portraits from the Grand Staircase. She also puts speakers constantly reciting her Educational Decrees on each floor. When Albus Dumbledore is restored to Hogwarts, the portraits are restored as well.
 * In the film adaptation of Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone, it shows Prefects leading Ravenclaw students to their Common room, where they walk down the stairs from the Entrance Hall, which leads to the Dungeons where the Slytherin Dungeon is.
 * Although this structure is referred to as the "Marble Staircase" on The Wizarding World of Harry Potter (see this image), on the books the Marble Staircase is a flight of stairs connecting the Entrance Hall with the first floor.
 * In LEGO Harry Potter: Years 1-4, the staircases are controlled by a portrait, who changed the levels the staircases lead to.

Appearances

 * Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone (film)
 * Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone (video game)
 * Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets (film)
 * Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets (video game)
 * Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (film)
 * Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (video game)
 * Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire (film)
 * Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (film)
 * Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (video game)
 * Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince (video game)
 * Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2
 * Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2 (video game)
 * LEGO Harry Potter: Years 1-4