Prefects' Bathroom

Prefects' Bathroom
Location information
Location	Fifth Floor Hospital Tower Corridor, Hospital Tower, Hogwarts Castle, Scotland, Great Britain

"You know the Prefects' bathroom on the fifth floor? It's not a bad place for a bath."

— Cedric Diggory to Harry Potter about the Prefects’ Bathroom

The Prefects' Bathroom is a special bathroom on the fifth floor of Hogwarts restricted to use by school Prefects, Head Boys, Head Girls and Quidditch captains. It is located on the fifth floor behind the fourth door to the left of a statue of Boris the Bewildered, which only opens when given the correct password.

Description

In one side of the room there are the stalls with toilets inside. Opposite the toilets there is a large, swimming pool-like tub with bath taps surrounding it. The pool-like bath is sunk into the ground and is not above ground. The bath taps all run different-coloured bath water, soap bubbles, foam, towels, and bathrobes. These bath taps are a hundred golden taps surrounding the whole pool-like tub, with a different jewel set in each tap. There are most likely bath supplies on one side of the pool, such as soap, bath oil, bath powder, bath salts, shampoo, hair spray, and conditioner. Looking at the tub, one would imagine it would take quite some time to fill, but it actually fills remarkably fast, considering its size. Under the bathroom there are sewers that can be entered by blasting one section of the wall. These sewers may or may not be a part of the passages and tunnels of the Chamber of Secrets. It has pictures of mermaids on stained glass windows.

History

1988-1989

In the 1988–1989 school year, new prefect Charlie Weasley got access to this bathroom and was given a tour of it by his older brother Bill Weasley. If they became a prefect, Jacob's sibling was on that tour as well.

Later in the school year, Jacob's sibling entered the bathroom with the older two Weasley brothers in order to talk to Duncan Ashe in order to find out more about Jacob's time at Hogwarts, and later to get the Vault Portrait from Peeves.

As part of their attempt to impress Peeves, Jacob's sibling put Frog Spawn Soap in the bath. Not long afterwards, Charlie entered the bath and was horrified to see frogs everywhere. Charlie forgave Jacob's sibling, but could not see taking baths the same way again and only took showers instead.

1994-1995

After the first task of the Triwizard Tournament, Barty Crouch Jr, disguised as Alastor "Mad-Eye" Moody, told Cedric Diggory to open the golden egg that contained the clue for the second task under water. Cedric took the egg to the prefects' bathroom and followed Crouch's advice. Underwater, he could hear the merpeople's song, but it took him some time to deduce that it was sung by merpeople, despite the fact that the mermaid in a nearby painting was wide awake. Myrtle Warren, who visited this bathroom sometimes to spy on the prefects, witnessed the scene. Cedric then told Harry, in return for telling him about the first task: dragons.

Harry Potter in the bathroom with his golden egg

After the Yule Ball, Cedric Diggory told Harry Potter to try to solve the riddle of the golden egg while taking a bath in the prefects' bathroom. He also gave him the current password, which was "pine fresh". Harry followed his advice in the night of 21 January, 1995. Awed as he was by the bathroom, he had no idea at first how a bath was going to help him solve the egg's clue. He filled the pool with water and bubble bath from several taps, took a short swim and opened the egg. As usual, it emitted a loud, wailing noise and he closed it quickly. Moaning Myrtle revealed her presence and told him to open the egg under water, like Cedric had done. To Myrtle's delight, Harry solved the clue much faster than Cedric.

1996-1997

"That gives you equal status with Prefects! You can use our special bathroom now and everything!"

— Hermione Granger regarding Harry Potter's Quidditch captaincy

One of the first things Hermione Granger mentioned when she congratulated Harry for becoming Captain of the Gryffindor Quidditch team in 1996 was that he could now use the prefects' bathroom. Ron Weasley also mentioned it while congratulating Harry. It is unknown whether Harry ever used the bathroom in his sixth year.

Known passwords

The mermaid in the Prefect's Bathroom

• Pine Fresh

Behind the scenes

• In the video game adaptation of Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, there is a very long level in which Harry, Ron, and Hermione trek through the bathroom's plumbing areas in search of the golden egg, which Ron has dropped into one of the pipes.

  

  The bathroom in the films

• In the video game adaptation of Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, the bathroom can be freely visited by the trio. The golden egg still sits in the tub, and screeches its noise unless the tub is filled enough that the egg is covered by water, which can be achieved by casting Banishing Charm on the taps. The mermaid's song can then be understood. The tub can be emptied again by pulling the plug with the Summoning Charm. A rubber duck sits on the tub's edge.
• There is a short level in LEGO Harry Potter: Years 1-4, where Harry must find the entrance to The Prefects' Bathroom (which is now in Moaning Myrtle's bathroom) and then persuade the mermaid on the window to throw the egg to him.
• In LEGO Harry Potter: Years 1-4, Harry wears his underwear to go in the giant bathtub instead of being naked.
• It is unclear whether the bathroom locks itself automatically when someone is using it. Harry worries he might be caught by Argus Filch when he is mulling over the egg clue in Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, so the person going in does not lock the door.

Appearances

• Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire (First appearance)
• Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire (film)
• Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire (video game)
• Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (Mentioned only)
• Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (video game)
• Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince (Mentioned only)
• Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince (video game) (Entrance only)
• LEGO Harry Potter: Years 1-4
• Pottermore
• Harry Potter: The Character Vault (Mentioned only)
• Harry Potter: Hogwarts Mystery

See also

• Hogwarts Quidditch Captain
• Prefect
• Hogwarts Castle