Hogwarts Castle

"The castle is a stronghold of ancient magic."

- Albus Dumbledore to Harry Potter

The Hogwarts Castle is a vast castle with large grounds and home to the Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. The castle contains one-hundred and forty-two known staircases and a huge number of secret passages. Aside from the Room of Requirement, the whole of this castle was plotted by the Marauders on their magical map.

=Floorplan=

Chamber of Secrets
The Chamber of Secrets was allegedly created under the dungeons of Hogwarts Castle during Medieval times by Salazar Slytherin, who disagreed with the other Hogwarts Founders on the merits of blood purity. The Chamber of Secrets was home to an ancient Basilisk, which, according to legend, was intended to be used to purge the school of Muggle-born students. The Chamber is lined with statues of snakes, and a large statue of Salazar Slytherin is at the centre.

Potions Classrooms
The Potions Classroom is where Potions class is taught. The classroom used to be squared-sized, very large, with large tables and windows. From 1992-onwards, the classroom was of an oval shape and relatively smaller, with small work tables. In 1996, the classroom was extended, adding space for more work tables.

Head of Slytherin's Office
The office used by Severus Snape during his long tenure as Potions master at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry was a gloomy and dimly-lit room found in the school dungeons. The shadowy walls were lined with shelves of large glass jars filled with slimy, revolting things, such as bits of animals and plants, floating in potions of varying colours. Snape's collection grew over time - in 1994 Harry Potter noted there were more jars than in 1992, and by 1996, there were hundreds of them. The office had a fireplace. In a corner, there was a cupboard containing Snape's private stock of Potions ingredients. In 1997, the office also contained a table, but it is unknown if it had been there before.

The office is sealed with a spell only wizards can break.

Slytherin Common Room
The Slytherin Dungeon is located behind a wall in the cellars of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. A password spoken to the wall is required to enter it; whereupon a passage is revealed leading to the common room -- a low-ceilinged, dungeon-like room with greenish lamps and chairs. This dungeon extends partway under the lake (which is why it has green-coloured lamps). The common room has lots of low backed black and dark green leather sofas with buttons, skulls, and dark wood cupboards. It has quite a grand atmosphere, but also quite a spooky, cold one.

Hufflepuff Common Room
"It is a very cosy and welcoming place, as dissimilar as possible from Snape’s dungeon. Lots of yellow hangings, and fat armchairs, and little underground tunnels leading to the dormitories, all of which have perfectly round doors, like barrel tops"

- J.K. Rowling in an webchat

The Hufflepuff Basement is the common room for Hufflepuff students at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. The entrance to the Hufflepuff Basement is hidden behind a still-life painting near the kitchens.

The cellar is decorated with yellow hangings and filled with fat armchairs. Underground tunnels lead off to the students' dormitories and all the doors are perfectly circular. This is the only common room Harry Potter does not enter at some point.

Kitchens


The Hogwarts kitchen is located directly under the Great Hall, down the same staircase that leads to the Hufflepuff Common Room. It contains tables identical to those in the Great Hall and are directly below them; food must simply placed on the tables in the kitchens, and it magically appears in the Great Hall. The kitchens are staffed by over 100 house-elves including Dobby, Winky, and Kreacher (since Harry Potter inherited him and ordered him there). Helga Hufflepuff brought the House-elves to work in the kitchens as a way of ensuring they could work and not be abused. To gain access to the Kitchens, one must tickle the pear on a fruit portrait, which turns into a door knob

Entrance Hall
The Hogwarts Entrance Hall is located on the ground floor of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, with a wide marble staircase opposite the oak doors. Double doors to the right lead into the Great Hall. The Hufflepuff common room, the kitchens, the dungeons, and the Grand Staircase can also be accessed via the Entrance Hall. There is also an annex off the hall where Professor McGonagall speaks to first years before the Sorting ceremony at the beginning of each school year. The Goblet of Fire was placed in the Entrance Hall during the Triwizard Tournament. It is mentioned during the Battle of Hogwarts that there is a balcony above the Entrance Hall. In the first three video games, the room is depicted pretty much how it's described in the books.

Entrance Hall Antechamber
The Entrance Hall Antechamber is a little building before the Entrance Hall where Professor Minerva McGonagall makes the first year students wait before the Sorting and the Welcoming Feast.

Great Hall
The Great Hall in Hogwarts is the main gathering area in the school. Students eat their meals, receive daily owl posts, and have certain special events here. The Great Hall is a large hall that contains four long tables (one for each of Hogwarts' houses) that run the length of the room. At the end furthest from its doors, the hall also has a raised stage-like platform, situated on which is the staff table, which is placed widthways across the room. The ceiling is enchanted such that it imitates the current weather outside or the mood of the community in Hogwarts. This area is used for communal eating, Apparition training, exams and some rare events, such as the Yule Ball.

Staff room
A long, panelled room with mismatched, dark wooden chairs. There is a wardrobe which can become infested with magical creatures. (Usually Boggarts when Remus Lupin was teaching)

The entrance to this room is guarded by two stone gargoyles that can talk. Those gargoyles were partially destroyed during the Battle of Hogwarts

Caretaker's Office
An office containing files of student records and confiscated contraband. Argus Filch worked here for many years. Fred and George Weasley, Sirius Black and James Potter have entire drawers for their files on misbehaviour. The office contains well-oiled chains which were, at a time, used to punish students.

Transfiguration Classroom
This classroom, situated in the Transfiguration Courtyard, is the current residence of Professor McGonagall.

Classroom Eleven
In Classroom Eleven, the centaur Firenze taught Divination.

History of Magic classroom
This room contains a blackboard, through which Professor Binns, a ghost, occasionally enters at the start of his lessons. Remus Lupin used this room when he taught Harry all about Dementors.

Temporary Defence Against The Dark Arts Classroom
This classroom was used by Professor Quirrell between the years 1991 and 1992 while the third floor corridor was out of bounds.

Gryffindor Head's Office
The Gryffindor Head Office is positioned on a corridor which may be accesed by climbing the large staircase in Hogwarts' Entrance Hall. This office was occupied by Professor McGonagall, head of Gryffindor house, for many years.

Charms Classroom
Filius Flitwick used this classroom for many years, during which time it was considered a classroom of great activity.

Girl's Lavatory - Out of Order
This bathroom is more commonly known as Moaning Myrtle's bathroom among the students of Hogwarts. Situated in this bathroom is the secret entrance to the Chamber Of Secrets, through which Harry, Ron and Gilderoy Lockhart passed in 1993. This led to Harry's fight with the Basilisk and his rescue of Ginny from Tom Riddle's control.

Entrance to Headmaster's Office
The doorway to the entrance's staircase is guarded by a gargoyle, and can only be accessed by using the correct password. Once the password has been spoken, the gargoyle rises up, revealing a spiral staircase. Upon reaching the top of the staircase, one will find themselves at the main door to the Headmaster's office. The passwords created by Dumbledore were always the name of of his ever-changing favourite sweet.

Defence Against the Dark Arts Professor's Office
When Gilderoy Lockhart was the Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher, this room was filled with pictures of himself. Under Remus Lupin, it contained creatures that were to be used in class. Alastor Moody, who was actually an impostor at the time, filled it with Dark Detectors and Foe-Glass. Dolores Umbridge had pink frilly doilies and china plates painted with gambolling kittens.

One-Eyed Witch Passage
Leads from Hogwarts to Honeydukes in Hogsmeade. To gain entrance to the passage, one must give the password: Dissendium. Once the password is given, the witch's hump opens to reveal a short slide into a tunnel which leads under the school and takes about an hour on foot to get to Hogsmeade.

Trophy Room and Armour Gallery
Housing awards, trophies, cups, plates, shields, statues, and medals, which are kept in a crystal glass display. This room also contains a list of Head Boys and Head Girls.

Prominently displayed are Hogwarts Awards for Services to the School, with known recipients being Tom Marvolo Riddle (for supposedly catching the opener of the Chamber of Secrets, though it was most likley removed after Harry saved Ginny), Harry Potter and Ron Weasley (for removing the threat of the Chamber of Secrets and the rescue of Ginny Weasley).

Third Floor Corridor - Off Limits/ Main Defence Against the Dark Arts Classroom
This corridor was off limits during the 1991-1992 school year as one of the classrooms on this corridor was used as the entrance to the hiding place for the Philosopher's Stone, guarded by Fluffy. This room was later used as the main Defence Against the Dark Arts classroom after the Philosopher's Stone was destroyed.

Hospital Wing
The hospital wing contains several beds and the Nurse's Office and is where students are treated for any injuries.

Library
The library contains tens of thousands of books on thousands of shelves, split into sections. Included in its many sections is an Invisibility Section, a section with information about dragons and the restricted section set off with a rope. The Restricted Section has books with information deemed dangerous for common knowledge. Students must gain permission from a professor to browse this section, as demonstrated by Hermione who gained Lockhart's permission to withdraw the book that aided her in creating the Polyjuice Potion in 1992. One of the books in this section screams when opened. Food and drink are not permitted in the Library. The Library closes at 8 p.m.

Storage Room (Mirror of Erised Room)
This room is where the Mirror of Erised was kept from September to December 1991 and where Harry saw the image of himself and his deceased parents. After this it was moved under orders from Dumbledore in the hope that Harry would not go in search of it again.

Bathroom
This is the bathroom where Montague Appeared after entering the Vanishing Cabinet in 1995.

Prefects' Bathroom
Hidden in the fifth door to the left of a statue of Boris the Bewildered. The door opens when given the correct password. There is large pool-like bath and many taps for different types of bubble baths and lotions. In one side of the room there are the stalls with toilets inside. Opposite of the toilets there is a large, swimming pool-like tub with faucets surrounding it. The faucets all run differently-coloured water, bubbles, and foam. Looking at the tub, one would imagine it would take quite some time to fill, but it actually fills remarkably fast, considering its size.

Muggle Studies Classroom
Professors Quirrell, Burbage and Alecto Carrow have all used this classroom.

Boy's Lavatory
There is a passage leading from this bathroom to the seventh floor.

Study of Ancient Runes Classroom
Professor Babbling uses this classroom, and can give lectures as the classroom has a podium.

Seventh Floor
There are entrances to Gryffindor Tower and the North Tower on this floor.

Ravenclaw Head's Office
The Ravenclaw Head's office is the thirteenth window from the right of the west tower. This was where Sirius Black was held captive, awaiting the Dementor's Kiss, during Harry's third year. He was rescued by Harry and Hermione, and escaped on Buckbeak the Hippogriff.

Room of Requirement
The Room of Requirement can only be found by someone in desperate need. One must walk around the corridor three times, passing a portrait of Barnabas the Barmy, all the while concentrating on what he or she needs. When the room reveals itself, it will contain the solution to that need. Albus Dumbledore found the room filled with chamber pots while searching for a bathroom. It is believed that the room is Unplottable, as it does not appear on the Marauder's Map, nor do its occupants, although this could simply be because James Potter, Remus Lupin, Sirius Black, and Peter Pettigrew never found the room.



Arithmancy classroom
Professor Septima Vector has used this classroom.

North Tower
The North Tower is one of the many towers in the castle. The tower is the location for Divination classes and The Divination Teacher's Office. The entrance consists of a ladder leading through a trap door.

Headmaster's Tower
The Headmaster's office is located within this tower. The entrance, as previously mentioned, is located on the Second Floor. The office is a circular room with windows, decorated with portraits of previous Headmasters including Dilys Derwent and Phineas Nigellus Black. Many magical instruments are kept here, such as the Sorting Hat and the Pensieve.

Gryffindor Tower
One may gain entrance through the hole behind the Fat Lady's portrait by giving the correct password. This is the location of the Gryffindor Common Room and the dormitories for all the house members. The common room has a fireplace and armchairs, and is used for studying, recreation and occasional celebrations involving the Gryffindor students. There are separate dormitories for girls and boys which lead from the Common Room and are subdivided by year. Girls are permitted to enter the boys' dormitories, but boys cannot visit the girls', due to the fact that the founders of Hogwarts felt boys were less trustworthy than girls. Harry Potter and Ron Weasley discovered this when Ron attempted to gain access to the girls' room to see Hermione, and the stairs transformed into a flat slide, causing him to slip all the way down. The common room is usually where celebration parties are held after Gryffindor Quidditch victories, or when Harry Potter completed a task for the Triwizard Tournament. It was also the location for Harry and Ginny Weasley's first kiss following Gryffindor's Quidditch Cup victory in 1997. The common room fireplace was used on several occasions by Sirius Black to contact Harry while hiding from the Ministry of Magic.

West Tower
The West Tower is one of the many towers in the castle. The Owlery is at the top of West Tower.

Ravenclaw Tower
Ravenclaw Tower is located on the west side of Hogwarts, presumably on the fifth floor, and is the location of the Ravenclaw common room and its students' dormitories. The entrance to the room is located at the top of a spiral staircase, and is a blank door without a doorknob or keyhole. The door only has a bronze knocker in the form of an Eagle. To enter the room, one must correctly answer a question asked by the knocker. If the wrong answer to the question is given, one will not be granted access to the Common Room and will have no option but to wait outside for someone who can answer the knocker correctly.

Astronomy Tower
The Astronomy Tower is the tallest tower of the castle and is above the main entrance. It's where the students gather to study Astronomy with Professor Sinistra. There are telescopes and other astronomical tools located at the top.

Clock Tower
The Clock Tower provides access to higher floors in the school and also has bells to signal the hours and class times. The Tower does not begin at the Ground Floor level, instead at Third Floor level due to the fact that the tower is located on a hill. Upon entering the Tower, one will find oneself in a very large space, not unlike an entrance hall. Flights of wooden stairs are situated on both the right and left sides. The first landing in the tower is at the Fourth Floor level. It is at this landing that the clock's mechanism and face can be accessed. On this landing there is also long corridor with an entrance to the Hospital wing. This same corridor connects the Tower to the remainder of the castle. After ascending another flight of wooden stairs, one will reach another landing, this time at the Fifth Floor level. At this level one will find the clock's massive gold and copper bells and the start of the giant pendulum.

=The Grounds=

Gamekeeper's Hut


The gamekeeper's hut is located on the edge of the Forbidden Forest. Rubeus Hagrid, the gamekeeper during Harry's time at Hogwarts, lived here for many years. This hut is more commonly referred to as 'Hagrid's hut,' although many of Hagrid's predecessors have lived in the hut too.

The Forbidden Forest


This forest is forbidden to all students, as it home to many types of dangerous and foreign creatures, such as centaurs, Thestrals, unicorns, Hippogriffs and Acromantula. Hagrid once hid his half-brother, Grawp within the trees of this forest. Students serving detention sentences with Hagrid with often find themselves in the forest. Harry, Ron and Hermione paid many visits into the forest for various reasons, sometimes accompanied by Hagrid and Fang, other time alone.

Greenhouses and Gardens
There are at least three greenhouses in which Herbology classes are held, under Professor Sprout's supervision. Greenhouse three is restricted to students as it houses dangerous plants such as Venomous Tentaculas, Mandrakes, and others.

The Lake


The Hogwarts Lake is a large body of water located to the south of the castle. It is about half a mile in diameter and the Hogwarts plumbing network drains into it. It is home to a giant squid and a colony of Merpeople. The lake was also used as the site of the Second Task of the Triwizard Tournament.

Quidditch Pitch


The school has its own pitch where each house's Quidditch teams practice and play games against each other. Each year will see a total of six inter-house matches, along with numerous training sessions by each house team.

Entrance Gates


The Entrance Gates to Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry were located on the edge of the Hogwarts Expresses stop point, the gates would be opened on the first day of term and beyond the gates there is a long path up to Hogwarts Castle, ususally lined up with Carridges pulled by Thestrals to take students to the castle. In the event that a student is late that Thestrals and carridges are now gone and the student would have to walk. Once all students have been checked of a list by Flitwick as they pass through the gates he will magically seal the gates locked until the last day of term (only opening them to allow students to leave during the holidays).

=See Also=
 * Covered Bridge
 * Viaduct

Notes and references

 * Floorplan based based on a list created by the Harry Potter Lexicon.