Harry Potter Wiki
Register
Advertisement
Harry Potter Wiki

The Clock Tower was one of the older features of Hogwarts Castle.[citation needed] It housed an antique clock which had a clear glass dial. The mechanism ran within the tower. There was an old courtyard at its base.

Description[]

The tower began on the third floor level of Hogwarts Castle because it was placed on a hill. The entrance had a large hall with flights of wooden stairs on the right and left side. The pendulum of the Clock Tower could be seen slowly swinging on the third level. The first landing was on the fourth floor, which contained the clock face and had a long corridor leading to the entrance to the Hospital Wing. The same corridor connected the tower to the rest of the castle.[1][2]

Up another flight of wooden stairs was a second landing on the fifth floor, which housed the clock's bells and the suspension spring of the pendulum. They were four large gold and copper bells which chimed and struck every hour. There was another corridor on the landing which linked the tower to the main castle.[1]

There was space between the clock's movement and the dial for a person to either repair the clock or to stand and look out over the courtyard on a balcony.[3]

As some students were scared of the many large mechanical gears in the clocktower they chose to avoid it, creating a solitude that some students preferred.[4]

Clock[]

The clock had a clear glass dial. It had four bells of varying sizes appearing to have been made of copper. The clock chimed every half hour and struck a small bell at the beginning and conclusion of class sessions. What powered the clock's mechanism is currently unknown, but it is presumed to be weight-driven. The clock had a visible pendulum swing of 46 beats per minute, due to the length of it.[5]

History[]

The Crossed Wands duelling club, run by Lucan Brattleby, was based in the Clock Tower during the 1890–1891 school year.[6]

Hogwarts Castle OotP concept art

Clock Tower of Hogwarts Castle in 1994

During the 1993–1994 school year, the Clock Tower Courtyard was where students waiting to visit the village of Hogsmeade would gather.[5]

Copy of HPDH2-2208

The Clock Tower's destruction during the Battle of Hogwarts

During the Battle of Hogwarts on 2 May 1998, the Clock Tower was heavily damaged by Death Eaters, especially on the front side. The clock face was nearly obliterated and the clock mechanism was badly damaged. One of the bells, belonging to the Clock Tower or the Bell towers somehow ended up at the Viaduct Courtyard. The tower was likely reconstructed and the clock mechanism fully restored to working order sometime after the battle concluded.[7]

Behind the scenes[]

Appearances[]

Notes and references[]

Hogwarts Castle
Towers
Astronomy Tower · Bell towers · Boathouse Bell Tower · Central Tower · Clock Tower · Dark Tower · Faculty Tower · Founders' Tower · Greenhouse tower · Gryffindor Tower · Headmaster's Tower · Hospital tower · Hufflepuff Duelling Turrets · Lookout Tower · Marble Staircase Tower · Moaning Myrtle's Bathroom tower · North battlements · North Tower · Octagon Tower · Pepperpot · Quidditch tower · Ravenclaw Tower · Ravenclaw Tower roof terrace · Right Long Gallery tower · Small Locked Tower · South Tower · Suspension Bridge towers · The Quad battlements · The Tower · Training Grounds tower · Turris Magnus · Turris Medius · Upper Hall tower · Viaduct Courtyard Gatehouses · West Tower · West Tower battlements
Portraits, statues and other artwork located in the towers
Albus Dumbledore · Armando Dippet · Affpuddle of the Cheerful Countenance · Valeria Myriadd · Dexter Fortescue · Dilys Derwent · Oraclitus Spheer · Fat Lady · Niamh Fitzgerald · Sir Cadogan · Slytherin knight · Hufflepuff lady · Heliotrope Wilkins · Severus Snape · Phineas Nigellus Black · Vulpus · Quentin Trimble · Limebert · Ravenclaw bust · Ravenclaw lady · Rowena Ravenclaw · Walter Aragon · Quidditch player · Professor · Female etiquette teacher · Gryffindor lady · Gryffindor man · Gryffindor man · Gryffindor man · Gryffindor seeker · Red-haired witch · Young maiden · Vase with flowers · Group of women in crinolines · Pangur Donn · Sinister-looking monks · Winged horse
Advertisement