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Harry Potter: "How many people know about it?"
Dobby: "Very few, sir. Mostly people stumbles across it when they needs it, sir, but often they never finds it again, for they do not know that it is always there waiting to be called into service, sir."
Dobby explaining to Harry Potter about the unique nature of the Room of Requirement[src]

The Room of Requirement, also known as the Come and Go Room, was a secret room within Hogwarts Castle, that only appeared when a person was in great need of it.[2]

The room had the unique ability to provide or transform itself into anything that a witch or wizard required of it at that moment in time.[3] Because of this, it was thought to have some degree of sentience. Although there were some limitations; for example, it could not create food, as that is one of the five Principal Exceptions to Gamp's Law of Elemental Transfiguration.[4]

It was believed that the room was Unplottable, as it did not appear on the Marauder's Map,[5] nor did its occupants, although this could simply be because James Potter, Remus Lupin, Sirius Black, and Peter Pettigrew never found the room.

Overview[]

"It's a proper hideout, as long as one of us stays in here, they can't get at us, the door won't open. It's all down to Neville. He really gets this room. You've got to ask it for exactly what you need — like, "I don't want any Carrow supporters to be able to get in — and it'll do it for you! You've just got to make sure you close the loopholes! Neville's the man!"
— Seamus explaining the Room of Requirement[src]
Seventh

Hall of Hexes

The room was located on the seventh floor in the left corridor of the Hogwarts castle and had a hidden entrance opposite the tapestry depicting the attempt of Barnabas the Barmy to teach trolls ballet.[1] The way to open the room was to walk past it three times while thinking about what one needed, and the door would appear.[2]

The Room of Requirement, true to its name, was able to provide anything that one required of it, or transform itself into anything that one required of it. For example, when Harry Potter needed a place where he and his allies could study Defence Against the Dark Arts, the room was filled with multiple books on defensive magic and various training equipment upon their entrance.

However, it was advised that the users of this room be very specific about what they were looking for, as it had been shown that other people could enter the room and see what the occupant was doing if they knew how the room was being used. The Inquisitorial Squad found the hideout of the Dumbledore's Army in 1996 by knowing that the D.A. was in the room at the time. Neville Longbottom used this knowledge to create his hideout, as he specifically asked that the hideout be made unavailable to those who supported Alecto and Amycus Carrow.[6]

History of use[]

Pre 1990s[]

Outside of Vivarium - HL

Outside of the vivarium

During the 1890–1891 school year, Deputy Headmistress Matilda Weasley introduced the new fifth-year to the Room of Requirement so that they would have an area to focus on improving their abilities.[7] The student was later given access to the vivarium by Deek, a Hogwarts house-elf.[8]

During the 1900s, the Mirror of Erised was stored here. One night in 1927, Albus Dumbledore came here to stare into the Mirror of Erised and reminisce on his past with Gellert Grindelwald, specifically them making their blood pact.[9]

Qilin Ceremony Portkey with Dumbledore SOD

Albus Dumbledore observing the Qilin Ceremony Portkey

In 1932, Albus Dumbledore, Jacob Kowalski, Newt Scamander, Theseus Scamander, Lally Hicks, and Bunty Broadacre took a Portkey in the room to travel to Bhutan in order to interfere with the 1932 International Confederation of Wizards' Supreme Mugwump election and stop Gellert Grindelwald from being appointed as the next Supreme Mugwump.[10]

1990s[]

The first mention Harry Potter heard of this room was in 1994, when Albus Dumbledore told Igor Karkaroff of his discovery of a room full of chamber pots when he needed to go to the toilet. However, he was unable to find the room again later like many of those who stumbled across the room.[11]

Dumbledore's Army[]

Dobby: "Dobby knows the perfect place, sir! Dobby heard tell of it from the other house-elves when he came to Hogwarts, sir. It is known by us as the Come and Go Room, sir, or else as the Room of Requirement!"
Harry Potter: "Why?"
Dobby: "Because it is a room that a person can only enter when they have real need of it. Sometimes it is there, and sometimes it is not, but when it appears, it is always equipped for the seeker's needs."
— Dobby telling Harry Potter about the Room of Requirement[src]
HP5-01736

The Room of Requirement providing the D.A. with something to practise spells on

In 1995, Harry Potter asked Dobby if he knew of a place where Dumbledore's Army could safely meet. Dobby told Harry of what the house-elves called the "Come and Go Room" or "Room of Requirement", which he had used to treat Winky after she had gotten drunk on Butterbeer, as the room filled with antidotes to butterbeer and an elf-sized bed for Winky to sleep off her inebriation.

He also said that Argus Filch had found extra cleaning supplies in the room. During the first D.A. meeting, Fred and George Weasley revealed that it had once taken the form of a broom cupboard which they had used to hide from Filch.[2] Previously Dumbledore had also mentioned the Room of Requirement to Harry during the Yule Ball.[11]

Dumbledore's Army used the room as their headquarters and practice area. Among the items provided by the room for the D.A. were Dark Detectors and shelves of helpful books such as A Compendium of Common Curses and Their Counter-Actions, The Dark Arts Outsmarted, Self-Defensive Spellwork, and Jinxes for the Jinxed.[2] Hermione Granger was very impressed with the collection of books provided.

Cho-chang-kiss

Harry and Cho kiss in the Room of Requirement

Around Christmas, which was the last meeting before the break, Harry was cornered by Cho Chang under some mistletoe. Harry commented that the mistletoe was probably full of nargles. The two then shared a kiss. Harry later commented that the kiss was wet, as Cho had been crying at the time.

They were eventually discovered by the Inquisitorial Squad; due to the Squad wanting evidence, the Room provided the meeting room and the list of members.[12]

Second Wizarding War[]

Main article: Second Wizarding War
HPDH2-0996

The Room of Requirement as a hideout for Hogwarts students in 1998

During the 1997–1998 school year, Neville Longbottom and several other students used the room as a hideout to escape the wrath of the new Death Eater professors, the Carrows. The problem was the lack of food, as it was one of the exceptions to Gamp's Law of Elemental Transfiguration. So the hideout adapted by adding an eighth passage into Hogsmeade, connected to the Hog's Head pub, whose owner, Aberforth, provided food.

Also, this advantage allowed members of the Order of the Phoenix to enter the school to help fight off Lord Voldemort's attack, without setting off the Caterwauling Charm on the village.[6]

21st century[]

During the 2008–2009 school year, Ivy Warrington got lost in the castle and ended up in the Room of Requirement. She had no idea how she got there or what she was searching for. Daniel Page and his friend were trying to find her when the door to the room appeared.

When they entered it, they saw Ivy sitting on a trunk. They encouraged her to leave before they were caught out of their common room after curfew and told her to bring her trunk, but she told them it couldn't be hers as it was there when she arrived. When they left, a hand inside the trunk opened it up and poked out.[13]

Room of Hidden Things[]

The Room of Hidden Things is one of the Room of Requirement's forms, appearing to those with a great need to hide or store something. It takes on the form of a storage room with a vast number of miscellaneous items that had been stored there over the years.

The Room of Hidden Things became inaccessible whenever the Room of Requirement was used for another purpose. As a result, during the Battle of Hogwarts, when the room was being used to provide passage to Hogsmeade and as a sanctuary, it had to be vacated of all people and "reset" before the Room of Hidden Things could once again be accessed.[6]

History[]

After Simon Talmadge died, the Hogwarts Headteacher asked for all the furniture that belonged to a secret club that Simon had co-founded to be moved to the Room of Hidden Things.[14]

First Wizarding War[]

After Tom Riddle resurfaced as Lord Voldemort and had his second request of becoming Hogwarts' Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher denied by Dumbledore, Voldemort managed to sneak Rowena Ravenclaw's Diadem into the room, as a means to hide one of his Horcruxes.

Unlike the others, he did not have time to set up many powerful spells to protect it due to time constraints, but believed that he was the only one who knew of the room's existence, and that nobody would look for it. This is another showcase of his own arrogance and ignorance, as he was clearly proven incorrect based on the mass of objects hidden by students before and after him.[15]

Second Wizarding War[]

"I virtually lived in the Room of Hidden Things all last year, I know how to get in."
Draco Malfoy to Harry Potter regarding the room of hidden things[src]
Vanishing cabinet and malfoy

Draco Malfoy in the room trying to fix the Vanishing Cabinet

In his sixth year, Draco Malfoy spent the majority of his days within this room, fixing the Vanishing Cabinet that he moved from the school's hallway, in order to smuggle Death Eaters in and help him assassinate Dumbledore.[16]

The repair took most of the year, as Draco spent much time inside the room, and had his friends Vincent Crabbe and Gregory Goyle remain outside in disguise to drop something onto the ground should anyone approach, to warn Draco not to come out.[5]

Harry used the room in his sixth year to hide the Half-Blood Prince's copy of Advanced Potion Making. He found that many other students had used the room to hide a multitude of other objects, including the Vanishing Cabinet. Inside the cabinet in which he hid the book, Harry found a cage that contained the skeleton of something that had five legs.[17]

Room of Hidden Things, B6C24M1

Harry using the Room of Hidden Things to hide the Half-Blood Prince's copy of Advanced Potion-Making

Also in Harry's sixth year, Professor Trelawney attempted to use the room to hide her sherry bottles, but Draco Malfoy threw her out.[18] Draco was using the room to repair the Vanishing Cabinet so he could smuggle Death Eaters into the castle via a counterpart Vanishing Cabinet in Borgin and Burkes, together forming a passageway. They did in fact use the room to infiltrate the castle in 1997.[16]

Skirmish in the Room of Requirement[]

Later that same year, during the Battle of Hogwarts, it was used as an evacuation route to move the students away from the dangers that followed. Later, Harry realised that Rowena Ravenclaw's Diadem, one of Voldemort's Horcruxes, was hidden in the Room of Requirement, as he has seen it in his sixth year while hiding his Potions book and had even picked it up without realising what it was.[15]

Possibly Partis Temporus-2

The Fiendfyre

While the room was being used to maintain the passage to Hogwarts, the Room of Hidden Things couldn't be accessed. Harry, Hermione, and Ron cleared the room and accessed the Room of Hidden Things, where they were ambushed by Draco Malfoy, Vincent Crabbe and Gregory Goyle. Crabbe let loose cursed fire that destroyed the Horcrux and many other objects, killing himself in the process. Ron wondered if the Room of Hidden Things could be accessed again due to the possibility of it being destroyed.[15]

After the war[]

During the late 2000s or early 2010s, Lottie Turner and her friend went to the Room of Hidden Things to recover the secret club's pieces of furniture with the guidance of Gossamer and bring them back to the club space.[14]

Protection[]

The Room of Hidden Things may have had a special protection that prevented a Summoning Charm being used in it, meaning students had to physically find what it was they were looking for. This was the case when Hermione attempted to summon Rowena Ravenclaw's Diadem, but failed, although this may be because the diadem was a Horcrux. She, Ron and Harry had to go searching for it instead.[15] However, this protection may have been placed by Voldemort specifically for the diadem, as he took similar precautions for his locket Horcrux.

Tom Riddle believed that he, and only he, was the only person that ever discovered the deepest secret in Hogwarts. He never expected Harry to discover this chamber. Additionally, even House-Elves cannot Apparate into the room, meaning they have to know what to ask the room to become into in order to access it.[2]

While Harry discovered Draco is using this chamber to progress his plan, he could not make the room appear for him to see what the young Death Eater was up to, no matter what variation of thinking he used, thus giving Draco the privacy he requested.[5]

The room seemed to provide some form of protection to ensure the items stored inside would not be permanently destroyed so long as they remained inside, as despite Crabbe releasing Fiendfyre that enveloped the entire room in a sea of flames during 1998, about ten years after that, Lottie Turner and her friend were able to retrieve some furniture that had been stored inside since the 1820s.[14]

Items hidden inside[]

Harry Potter saw many things that other students had hidden in the room, including:

  • Broken and damaged furniture (mostly chairs, tables, & various cabinets haphazardly stacked), perhaps hidden to hide mishandled magic.[17]
  • Thousands and thousands of books (either in tottering piles or in bookcases).[17]
  • Flying catapults.[17]
  • Fanged Frisbees.[17]
  • Chipped bottles of congealed potions.[17]
  • Corked bottles whose contents still shimmered evilly.[17]
  • What looked like dragon eggshells.[17]
  • Several rusting swords.[17]

Vivarium[]

The Vivarium

The vivarium was an enclosure kept in the Room of Requirement during the 1890–1891 school year. Inside was an outdoor area which housed magical beasts and other creatures.[20] Creatures could be transported into the vivarium via a nab-sack.[8]

Known creatures[]

Creatures known to have inhabited the vivarium include:

Gallery[]

Behind the scenes[]

Room of Requirement LEGO set 2020

The Room of Requirement as a LEGO Harry Potter set

Ginny & Harry in the Room of Requirement LEGO Y2

The Room of Hidden Things in LEGO Harry Potter: Years 5-7

  • In the fifth film, Neville Longbottom found the Room of Requirement.
  • In the sixth film, Harry and Ginny have their first kiss in the Room of Hidden Things, instead of the Gryffindor common room.
  • In the eighth film, Gregory Goyle casts the Fiendfyre curse in the Room of Hidden Things, killing himself in the process, since Vincent Crabbe was cut from the two-part film. Also, Blaise Zabini is present at the fight. However Goyle is killed by grabbing a loose chair and falling into the Fiendfyre unlike Crabbe.
  • In the Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince video game, the Room of Requirement can be found on the sixth floor, even though in one of the scenes in the game Harry says the room is on the seventh floor. In the fifth game, fifth film, and all the books, the room is on the seventh floor. Presumably this is because the first floor in Europe is called the second floor in the USA.
  • The Room of Requirement is the main location of the Nintendo DS version of LEGO Harry Potter: Years 1-4, despite being introduced in Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix.
  • In the Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone video game, the Room of Requirement is possibly mentioned by Albus Dumbledore, who was walking around the castle and found a room full of Chocolate Frogs. On another day, however, the room was filled with Fire Crabs.
    • In the Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire video game, Dumbledore possibly mentions the Room again, when he explains that he was walking around the castle and found a room full of a fine collection of chamber pots. He said that he wanted to find it again.
  • In the books, it is stated that to enter the room, a person must walk by the wall three times for the door to appear. In the film, Neville Longbottom walks by the wall only once when he finds the room.
  • There is contradictory evidence as to Dumbledore's knowledge of the Room. Though he states to Karkaroff in Goblet of Fire that he only found the room once and did not know its true purpose, Pottermore reveals that Dumbledore found the Mirror of Erised in the Room. However, it is possible that he was being facetious, as saying he later found the Room's true purpose would ruin the point of bringing it up in the first place (that he didn't know all the castle's secrets).
  • In the original script for the film adaption of Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, Ginny claims to have been shown the Room of Requirement in her first year by Fred and George.[26] This cannot be considered canon, however, as Fred and George did not know of the nature of the room themselves until the Dumbledore's Army meetings in Ginny's fourth year.
  • It is unknown if the Room of Requirement can still be accessed, as the Room of Hidden Things was heavily damaged by Crabbe's Fiendfyre sealing itself once Harry, Hermione, Ron, Draco and Goyle were out.
    • Although the room may have repaired itself, as it appears in Harry Potter: Magic Awakened, which takes place 10 years after the battle of Hogwarts.
  • In the film adaptations of Half-Blood Prince and Deathly Hallows, almost all of the objects were reused props from the previous 7 films, which included, besides the previously listed objects:
  • In LEGO Harry Potter: Years 5-7 the cabinet that contained a Boggart can be seen. Also, the Flying Ford Anglia is used to make a bridge. Additionally, a panda is burned by the Fiendfyre.
  • In Hogwarts Legacy, the Room of Requirement is not bound by the Anti-Apparition Charm that covers the rest of the castle.
  • Whenever the player of Hogwarts Legacy collects a magical beast, it is stored in the vivarium.
    • The vivarium is customisable with different objects and furnishings that the player can place, size and change whenever they like.[27]
    • They can interact with the beasts, providing food and toys. They can also find out how to care for it and give their creatures a name of their choice.[27]

Appearances[]

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Notes and references[]

  1. 1.0 1.1 Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, Chapter 18 (Dumbledore's Army) - "'Good,' said Harry quietly, when she told him, 'because we've found somewhere to have our first Defence meeting. Tonight, eight o'clock, seventh floor opposite that tapestry of Barnabas the Barmy being clubbed by those trolls.'"
  2. 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 2.5 2.6 2.7 2.8 Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, Chapter 18 (Dumbledore's Army)
  3. 3.0 3.1 Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, Chapter 28 (Snape's Worst Memory)
  4. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Chapter 15 (The Goblin's Revenge)
  5. 5.0 5.1 5.2 Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, Chapter 21 (The Unknowable Room)
  6. 6.0 6.1 6.2 Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Chapter 29 (The Lost Diadem)
  7. Hogwarts Legacy (see video)
  8. 8.0 8.1 8.2 8.3 8.4 Hogwarts Legacy, Main Quest "The Elf, the Nab-Sack, and the Loom"
  9. Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald - The Original Screenplay, Scene 73
  10. Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore
  11. 11.0 11.1 Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, Chapter 23 (The Yule Ball)
  12. Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, Chapter 27 (The Centaur and the Sneak)
  13. Harry Potter: Magic Awakened, Year 1, Main Story, Chapter I: The Night Ivy Went Missing
  14. 14.0 14.1 14.2 Harry Potter: Magic Awakened - "Chamber behind the portrait" event (see this video)
  15. 15.0 15.1 15.2 15.3 15.4 Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Chapter 31 (The Battle of Hogwarts)
  16. 16.0 16.1 16.2 Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, Chapter 27 (The Lightning-Struck Tower)
  17. 17.00 17.01 17.02 17.03 17.04 17.05 17.06 17.07 17.08 17.09 17.10 17.11 17.12 17.13 17.14 17.15 17.16 17.17 17.18 17.19 17.20 17.21 17.22 17.23 Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, Chapter 24 (Sectumsempra)
  18. Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, Chapter 25 (The Seer Overheard)
  19. 19.0 19.1 Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2 (video game)
  20. Hogwarts Legacy shares its final trailer before launch
  21. 21.00 21.01 21.02 21.03 21.04 21.05 21.06 21.07 21.08 21.09 21.10 21.11 21.12 Students may rescue creatures individually and store them within the vivarium.
  22. Hogwarts Legacy, Side Quest "Phoenix Rising"
  23. Hogwarts Legacy, Main Quest "The High Keep"
  24. Hogwarts Legacy, Main Quest "San Bakar's Trial"
  25. 25.0 25.1 Only available with certain requirements, such as a downloaded content pack or a pre-installation (see respective pages for details).
  26. Half-Blood Prince script on the Internet Movie Script Database (archived here)
  27. 27.0 27.1 Hogwarts Legacy - Official Vivarium Beast Care Gameplay (4K)
Seventh-floor of Hogwarts Castle
Bathrooms
Disused bathroom
Classrooms
Classroom 7B · Classroom 7C · Divination Classroom · Seventh-floor classroom
Common rooms
Gryffindor Boys' Dormitory · Gryffindor common room · Gryffindor Girls' Dormitory
Corridors
Divination corridor · Fat Lady's Corridor · Hall of Hexes · Porticus Olidus · Pungent Passage · Runic Corridor · Seventh-floor corridor
Halls and rooms
Bean Challenge rooms · Gryffindor Tower reading room · Knights' Room · North Wing
Offices
Filius Flitwick's office · Sybill Trelawney's office
Other locations
Dark Tower topmost cell · Room of Requirement · Vivarium
Portraits, statues, and other artwork
A Young Professor McGonagall · Bridget Wenlock · Sir Cadogan · Caged monkey · Edward Rabnott · Elephant · Elizabeth Burke · Fat Lady · Flowering almond trees · George von Rheticus · Giraffe · Godric Gryffindor · Healers · Hippopotamus · Journeying wizards · Lachlan the Lanky · Man in a chair · Mother and baby · Oraclitus Spheer · Staring Portrait · The Lady and the Unicorn · Three young ladies · Tiger · Troll Tapestry · Two lovers in a graveyard · Valeria Myriadd · Wailing Egyptians · Witch flying to the moon · Wizard in black flowing robes · Wizard in blue · Wizard with a broomstick · Wolfhound
Staircases
Detention Escape Route · Divination Stairwell · Grand Staircase · Grumpy Staircase · Ravenclaw Tower staircase · Secret stairway to the fourth floor · Slughorn's Staircase · Staircase to the sixth-floor corridor · Turris Magnus staircase
Storerooms
Attic
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