Gryffindor common room

Warning!

At least some content in this article is derived from information featured in: Harry Potter: Wizards Unite & Harry Potter: Hogwarts Mystery.
As such, spoilers will be present within the article.

"Once you’ve arrived inside Gryffindor Tower, come inside and be welcomed by the roaring fire, stuffed armchairs, and the great view we have from our windows. Our dormitories are reached by climbing the winding mahogany staircase, decorated with crimson and gold. As I said, there's plenty of gold around the tower. Our four-posters are covered with thick scarlet blankets (we have quite windy nights up in the towers) and are embroidered with gold. Gold chandeliers cast warm glows all around."

— Description of the tower^[src]

Gryffindor Common Room served as a Common room for Gryffindor House at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. In general, it sported several shades of red and gold. The fireplace mantle was adorned with a portrait of a lion (associated with the house) and the room was described as being 'cosy'.^[1]

Entrance

Fat Lady portrait — Gryffindor corridor and the Fat Lady's slashed portrait

The entrance to the Gryffindor common room was concealed under the portrait of the Fat Lady, on the lavish Gryffindor Landing.^[1]

To enter one had to present the Fat Lady with the correct password of the week.^[1] However, getting the password wrong meant the student would have to wait the day for another student to come by and pass them the code.^[2]

Description

"...the portrait swung forward to reveal a round hole in the wall. They all scrambled through it — and found themselves in the Gryffindor common room, a cosy, round room full of squashy armchairs."

— Description of the common room^[src]

The common room was a circular room where Gryffindor students could relax after a long day of studying. It was full of squashy armchairs, tables, and a bulletin board where school notices, ads, lost posters, etc. could be posted. The common room was decorated in several shades of red, which was associated with the house. The common room was comfortable, but not more comfortable than the Hufflepuff Basement.^[3]

There were many windows that looked out onto the grounds of the school, and a large fireplace dominated one wall. The mantle of the fireplace was adorned with a portrait of a lion. The fireplace was also connected to the Floo Network, but as it was extremely public except in the dead of night. The walls were decorated with scarlet tapestries that depicted witches and wizards, but also various animals. There were also bookcases located in the room, filled with various novels.^[2]^[1]

The common room was usually where celebration parties were held after Gryffindor Quidditch victories, or when Harry Potter completed the first task for the Triwizard Tournament.^[4] It was also the location for Harry and Ginny Weasley's first kiss following Gryffindor's Quidditch Cup victory in 1997.^[5] 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.^[6]^[7]

Behind the scenes

In the the film adaptation of Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, one of the portraits on the wall of the common room is of a young Minerva McGonagall.
When Ron Weasley and Lavender Brown began dating, one chapter of Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince described them as being "in a prominent corner of the common room". However, the Common Room is circular. It is possible that there are nooks or alcoves in various areas around the wall.
The Gryffindor Common Room as seen in the films differs slightly from its description in the books in that it is not a perfect circle, and that both the boys' and girls' dormitories are accessed via the same staircase: boys on the left, girls on the right.
The Chamber of Secrets video game is also the only place in the games or the films where the common room is accessed by crawling through an actual hole (albeit a square-shaped one). All other adaptations depict a doorway.
In the film adaptation of Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, Harry and Ginny have their first kiss in the Room of Requirement instead of the Gryffindor common room, due to the Quidditch match and Harry's detention with Snape being cut.
The common room as depicted in the video game adaptations of Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix and Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince is a near-perfect replica of the common room as seen in the films. One very subtle difference is that in the video games the stairs leading to the dormitories only go up, creating the misconception that there's only one dorm room for the boys (shared by Harry and the other boys in his year) and one for the girls. In the films (although it is difficult to notice unless you pay attention) you can see that, in addition to going up, the stairs also lead down (presumably to more dormitories). In the books it is stated that Harry's dorm is located at the top of the stairs.
Gryffindor is the only Common Room whose guardian/entrance is known to have changed at some point, the Fat Lady being replaced by Sir Cadogan.
In the Common Room's position in the back right of the Quad, the window to the left of the fireplace does not fit with the shape of the exterior model of the castle. In order for the window to view the outside, the common room would have to be pushed further out from the Quad so that nearly the entire room would stick out, while the exterior model only sticks out several feet from the rest of the building.

Appearances

The Harry Potter Wiki has 143 images related to Gryffindor common room.

Notes and references

↑ ^1.0 ^1.1 ^1.2 ^1.3 ^1.4 ^1.5 ^1.6 ^1.7 Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone, Chapter 7 (The Sorting Hat)
↑ ^2.0 ^2.1 Pottermore
↑ Transcription of new Pottermore information
↑ Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, Chapter 20 (The First Task)
↑ Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, Chapter 24 (Sectumsempra)
↑ Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, Chapter 8 (Flight of the Fat Lady)
↑ Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, Chapter 13 (Gryffindor versus Ravenclaw)

[PS7-1] 1.0 ^1.1 ^1.2 ^1.3 ^1.4 ^1.5 ^1.6 ^1.7 Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone, Chapter 7 (The Sorting Hat)

[PM-2] 2.0 ^2.1 Pottermore

[snitchseeker-3] Transcription of new Pottermore information

[GOF20-4] Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, Chapter 20 (The First Task)

[HBP24-5] Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, Chapter 24 (Sectumsempra)

[POA8-6] Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, Chapter 8 (Flight of the Fat Lady)

[POA13-7] Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, Chapter 13 (Gryffindor versus Ravenclaw)

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