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 142 known staircases and at least 8 secret passages. Besides the Room of Requirement, the whole of this castle was plotted by the Marauders on their magical map.

=Floorplan=

Chamber of Secrets
Deep under the dungeons of Hogwarts is the Chamber of Secrets.&#160; This is a&#160;legendary chamber with&#160;numerous smake-like statues&#160;and one very large statue of the face of the Chamber's creator: Salazar Slytherin who built it during the Middle Ages. The entrance to the chamber&#160;is hidden in a girls' bathroom on the second floor of the castle which is known to most of the students as Moaning Myrtle's bathroom. The beast within the Chamber, a Basilisk, kills anyone who dares to look it directly in the eye, and even its reflection has the ability to petrify. It has been known to be controlled by the heir of Slytherin, who can cause it to unleash its powers onto those who, in Slytherin's and many other pure-bloods' eyes&#160;, are not worthy of performing magic, muggle-borns.

Potions Classrooms
One&#160;of these classroomsis large enough to accommodate a double class (about twenty cauldrons). It is colder in the dungeons than in the main castle as it is located under the Hogwarts lake. Dungeon Five is another Potions classroom.

Slytherin Head's Office
Adjacent to the potions classrooms, Severus Snape worked from this&#160;office&#160;for many years. This room is filled with bizarre creatures in jars and a private yet rich supply of potions ingredients. Hermione Granger, Dobby and Barty Crouch Jr have all broken into this office at different times in Hogwarts history.

Slytherin Common Room
The entrance to the common room is a blank stone wall. To enter, one must give a password. It has a low ceiling and greenish torchlight. The common room is located partially under the lake as it is in the dungeon. 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 password was 'Pure Blood' in Harry Potter's second year. In Harry's second year he and Ron went into the Slytherin common room disguised as Crabbe and Goyle with the aid of Polyjuice Potion to attempt to discover the identity of the Heir of Slytherin.

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 Common Room is a room similar to a cellar, but not at all like a dungeon. It is a very cosy and welcoming place with yellow and black hangings, fat armchairs, and little underground tunnels leading to the dormitories, all of which have round doors like barrel-tops.

Kitchens
The Hogwarts Kitchen is located directly under the Great Hall, and shares a staircase with the Hufflepuff Common Room. It contains tables identical to those in the Great Hall; 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. To gain access to the Kitchens, one must tickle the pear on a fruit portrait.

Entrance Hall
The Entrance Hall is accessible through west-facing double doors constructed of oak. A wide marble staircase is situated opposite these doors. There is also a broom closet in this hall. Two other staircases lead off from the hall - one to the Hufflepuff Common Room and the Kitchens, the other to the Dungeons. Also contained in the Entrance Hall are four hourglasses which show the number of House Points collected by each house so far in a particular school year, and therefore show the leaders for the House Cup. There is also an annex from this hall where Professor McGonagall speaks to the new first-years&#160;prior the Sorting ceremony at the beginning of each school year.

Receiving Room
From the Entrance Hall is a small receiving room where guests presumably collect themselves after travelling to the castle. This is also where the Deputy Headteacher convenes with first-year students before their Sorting Ceremony each September.

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)&#160;that run the length of the room.&#160; 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&#160;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.

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&#160;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
This is situated up the marble staircase in the entrance hall and down a hallway. This office was occupied by Professor McGonagall,&#160;head of Gryffindor house,&#160;for many years.

Charms Classroom
Filius Flitwick used this classroom for many years, during&#160;which time it&#160;was considered a classroom of great activity.

Girl's Lavatory - Out of Order
This bathroom is more commonly known as Moaning Myrtle's&#160;bathroom among the students of Hogwarts.&#160;Situated in this bathroom is the secret entrance to the Chamber Of Secrets, through which Harry, Ron&#160;and Gilderoy Lockhart&#160;passed in 1993.&#160; This led to Harry's fight with the Basilisk&#160;and his rescue of Ginny&#160;from Tom Riddle's&#160;control.

Entrance to Headmaster's Office
A doorway leading to the spiral staircase that goes up to the office. A password must be spoken to gain entrance. The entrance is guarded by stone gargoyles. The password created by Dumbledore is always the name of of his ever-changing favorite sweets flavour.

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 but 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 because it was the entrance to the hiding place for the Philosopher's Stone. This was later made the main Defence Against the Dark Arts classroom after the Philosopher's Stone was destroyed. In 1991-1992 was home to Fluffy the three headed dog.

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

Library
Containing tens of thousands of books on thousands of shelves.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. One of the books in this section screams when opened. Food or drinks 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.

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 Fat Lady's portrait by giving the correct password. This is the location of the Gryffindor Common Room and dormitories. The common room has a fireplace and armchairs. There are separate dormitories for girls and boys, which are subdivided by year. Girls are permitted to enter the boys' dormitories, but boys cannot visit the girls', because the founders of Hogwarts felt that boys were less trustworthy than girls. Harry Potter and Ron Weasley learned this when Ron ran up the stairs leading to the girl's dormitory to get Hermione Granger, and the stairs turned into a flat slide, causing him to fall 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 he was on the run 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, pressumably on the fifth floor, and is the location of the Ravenclaw common room and dormitories. The entrance to the room is at the top of a spiral staircase, and is a door without doorknob or keyhole but a bronze knocker in the shape of an eagle. In order to enter the room, you must answer a question asked by the eagle knocker; if you answer wrong, you must wait for someone who gets it right

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 doesn't begin at the Ground Floor level. Because it's placed on top of a hill, the Tower beggins at the Third Floor level. When you enter the Tower, there's a huge space, like a Entrance Hall with flights of wooden stairs at the right and left side. The first landing is at the Fourth Floor level. It's at this landing that are the clock's gears and face. A long corridor with an entrance to the Hospital wing is at this landing. This same corridor connects the Tower to the remaining castle. If you go up another flight of wooden stairs, you will get to another landing, this time at the Fifth Floor level. It's in this landing that are the clock's bells; some massive gold and copper bells

=The Grounds=

Gamekeeper's Hut


The gamekeeper's hut is located on the edge of the Forbidden Forest. Rubeus Hagrid, gamekeeper of Harry's time, lived here for many years. This hut is often referred to as 'Hagrid's hut,' although many other gamekeepers have lived in it.

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. Detentions are often held here. The Gamekeeper will frequently visit this area for various reasons.

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. The Slytherin common room is beneath the lake, accessed through an entrance in the school dungeons. The Chamber of Secrets is also thought to be beneath the lake.

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.

=See Also=
 * Covered Bridge
 * Viaduct

Notes and references

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