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"Our emblem is the serpent, the wisest of creatures; our house colours are emerald green and silver, and our common room lies behind a concealed entrance down in the dungeons. As you’ll see, its windows look out into the depths of the Hogwarts lake. We often see the giant squid swooshing by — and sometimes more interesting creatures. We like to feel that our hangout has the aura of a mysterious, underwater shipwreck."
— Description of the dungeons[src]

Slytherin Dungeon was a dungeon in Hogwarts Castle that served as the common room and dormitories for the students of Slytherin House at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.[2] In general, it sported several shades of green and the mantle was adorned with a portrait of a serpent (all associated with the house).[1]

History[]

Harry Ron polyjuice2

Draco Malfoy unknowingly being interrogated by Harry Potter and Ron Weasley

In Harry Potter's second year, he and Ron Weasley went into the Slytherin common room disguised as Vincent Crabbe and Gregory Goyle with the aid of Polyjuice Potion to attempt to discover the identity of the Heir of Slytherin. The entry password was "Pure-blood" when Draco Malfoy let them in. The Polyjuice Potion's wearing off prompted Harry and Ron to leave after staying nearly an hour, still not finding out the identity of the Heir of Slytherin, but they did learn that Malfoy was not the heir, as they originally thought.[1]

In 1998, Harry, operating under the alias "Vernon Dudley", attempted to defend his false claim that he was a member of the Slytherin house by describing the location of the Dungeon to the Snatchers.[3]

In 2020, after Albus Potter's catastrophic adventures with the "true" Time-Turner, his father went to his dormitory to speak with him about the events.[4]

Entrance[]

There was a door on the right side of the Entrance Hall (if coming down the Marble Staircase facing the front doors of the castle)[5] that was most frequently used by Slytherin students to get to their common room. Behind the door was a set of stone steps which descended deep into the dungeons.[1]

Note that this door was different from the entrance to the narrow staircase that lead down to Snape's office.

The entrance to the common room was located behind a bare stretch of stone wall in the dungeons of Hogwarts Castle. A password was required to enter it; once spoken, the passage would be revealed.[1]

Common room[]

Main article: Slytherin common room
"The Slytherin common room was a long, low underground room with rough stone walls and ceiling, from which round, greenish lamps were hanging on chains. A fire was crackling under an elaborately carved mantelpiece ahead of them, and several Slytherins were silhouetted around it in carved chairs."
— Description[src]
Interior of the common room

The common room was a dungeon-like room with greenish lamps and chairs. This dungeon extended partway under the lake, with three large windows on that side of the common room, providing an underwater view and giving the light in the room a green tinge. There was a grand staircase on the opposite side of the common room.[6] The common room had lots of low backed black and dark green button-tufted, leather sofas; skulls; and dark wood cupboards. It was decorated with tapestries featuring the adventures of famous Medieval Slytherins. It had quite a grand atmosphere, but also quite a cold one.[1] It is close to boys and girls' dormitories.

Slytherin Common Room CoS

Interior of the common room

After entering Slytherin Dungeon, one enters a small room with a statue of a pair of mermaids, and a staircase to the right. One can reach the Slytherin common room by going down the stairs, around an indoor waterfall.[6]

The password to the common room changed every fortnight, and was posted on the noticeboard. Slytherin students were warned never to bring students from other houses into the common room, or to reveal the password. Supposedly, no outsider had entered the common room for more than seven centuries until Harry and Ron entered it, disguised as Vincent Crabbe and Gregory Goyle with the use of Polyjuice Potion.[7]

As of 2016, a portrait of Horace Slughorn had a place in the common room due to his bravery at the Battle of Hogwarts.[8]

Dormitories[]

Slytherin Dormitory (Hogwarts Mystery)

Slytherin dormitory.

The Slytherin dormitories were also located in the dungeon, the boys' dorms were located through a hallway on the left side from the grand staircase (from the perspective of someone facing the staircase). The girls' dormitories are located up the stairs through a hallway on the right side of the grand staircase. Both hallways circled back around to the common room, meaning that each one had two entrances, one by the entrance to the common room itself, and one by the grand staircase.

The doors for the dormitories each had a number plaque, designating what year the dormitory was for. They were lined up in order from First year to Sixth year. It started with the First year dormitories from the entrance near the grand staircase and ended with the Sixth year dormitories at the other end of the hall near the common room entrance.

The Seventh year dormitories were located at the top of the grand staircase. The Seventh year dorms were larger and more grand than the others.[6]

Known passwords[]

Behind the scenes[]

  • In the video game adaptation of Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, there is another way to the common room, where there are several enemies such as gnomes and Cornish pixies. There is also a bridge between the dungeons and the common room, held up by Ectoplasm. A male Slytherin student uses the Skurge Charm on the Ectoplasm to spitefully remove it, so Harry has to find a way to restore the bridge.
  • Revealed in Pottermore: It was revealed that often the Giant Squid appears at the windows, and sometimes more interesting creatures, and that the sound of swishing water is relaxing at night.
  • The Slytherin common room as seen in the film differs from its description in the book. In the book it is described as low, but in the film it appears to have a high ceiling.
  • In its entry for the Bloody Baron, the glossary on the Scholastic official website mistakenly refers to the Slytherin common room as Slytherin Tower. A similar error is made with the Hufflepuff Basement.
  • If no non-Slytherins have entered the Common Room for seven centuries as of 1991, this means that the last time a non-Slytherin entered it was in the late 13th century.
  • In Hogwarts Mystery, if the player character is a Gryffindor or Hufflepuff, they sneak into the Slytherin Common Room and get caught by Severus Snape and Felix Rosier. As the game is set in the 1980s, this seems to contradict Gemma Farley's statement that no non-Slytherin had entered the room for centuries.
  • It is unknown who changes the password for the Common Room.
  • In Hogwarts Legacy, in the Slytherin common room there are various representations of Merpeople: such as the statues of the sirens in the entrance or the (possibly) small stuffed selkie.
    • In the same game, the entrance was made visible when the body of a stone serpent rises from the floor right before the wall and forms an arch.[9]
    • In the game, it is confirmed that first-year Slytherin students usually stand in front of windows for hours just to hear the mermaids sing. According to Ominis Gaunt, Slytherins find this game fun.
  • In Harry Potter: Magic Awakened, the Slytherin common room also has a glass domed ceiling that looks out into the lake.

Appearances[]

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Notes and references[]

  1. 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 1.6 1.7 1.8 1.9 Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, Chapter 12 (The Polyjuice Potion)
  2. Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets (video game)
  3. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Chapter 23 (Malfoy Manor)
  4. Harry Potter and the Cursed Child, Act Three, Scene Eleven
  5. Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, Chapter 38 (The Second War Begins)
  6. 6.0 6.1 6.2 Hogwarts Legacy
  7. Pottermore introduction for Slytherins (transcription available here)
  8. Short Stories from Hogwarts of Heroism, Hardship and Dangerous Hobbies, Chapter 3 (Horace Slughorn)
  9. 9.0 9.1 Hogwarts Legacy, Main Quest "Welcome to Hogwarts" - Information revealed if the player is Slytherin.
  10. The door of the common room is seen magically appearing and disappearing everytime we come across it.

See also[]

Below the ground floor of Hogwarts Castle
Classrooms
Alchemy Class · Defence Against the Dark Arts dungeon · Potion-Mixing Room · Potions Classroom
Common Rooms
Hufflepuff Basement · Hufflepuff Boys' Dormitory · Hufflepuff common room · Hufflepuff Girls' Dormitory · Slytherin Boys' Dormitory · Slytherin common room · Slytherin Dungeon · Slytherin Girls' Dormitory
Corridors
Boathouse passageway · Corridor of Secrets · Dungeon cave · Dungeon Corridor · Forgotten Cavern · Hidden Herbology Corridor · Hieroglyphic Hall · Kitchen corridor · Lost Tunnel · Lower Chambers Corridor North-East · Lower Chambers Portrait Corridor · Lower Chambers Corridor West · Poltergeist Passage · Porticus Circumscriptus · Porticus Periculum · Porticus Imago · Porticus Medius · Prowling Passage · Quidditch cave · Secret way to Slytherin Common Room · Slytherin Corridors · Undercover route to the Kitchens · Unexplored passage to Hogsmeade · Way to Courtyard · Way to the Forbidden Forest
Halls and rooms
Athenaeum · Bottom of the Well · Campaign Room · Cauldron Room · Chamber of Secrets · Conical Crypt · Dark Hall · Deathday Ballroom · Deathday Party Hall · Duelling Room · Dungeons · Dungeon Chamber · Dungeon Five · Dungeon foyer · Dungeon hall · Dungeon Pit · Dungeon Portrait Room · Forgotten Dungeons · Grate Chamber · Kitchens · Map Chamber · Potions Classroom adjoining room · Potions Classroom dungeons · Room of Doom · Room of Runes · Shop · Slug Pit · Slytherin Duelling Dungeon · Undercroft · Vestibule of Mischief · Werewolf Saga Tapestries room
Offices
Secret study beneath Greenhouse One · Severus Snape's office · Slytherin's Scriptorium
Other locations
Boathouse · Dungeons cell · House-Elf Living Quarters · Lever Rooms · Lower Hogwarts Castle · Keepers' Caverns · Troll Bedroom · Underground Chambers
Portraits, statues and other artwork
Basil Fronsac · Bearded man with book · Bloody Baron · Cecilia Gallerani · Charles Rookwood · Emily · Elizabeth Burke · Hooky · Horace Slughorn · Howard · Mad old man · Mopsus · Niamh Fitzgerald · Old man · Percival Pratt · Percival Rackham · San Bakar · Salazar Slytherin · Sleeping Dragon Statue · Sleeping hermit · Slytherin Dungeon tapestries · Urn of Ashes
Staircases
Detention Escape Route · Dungeon foyer exit · Dungeon Staircase · Grand Staircase · Slughorn's Staircase · Slughorn's Stairs · Staircase to the Quad
Storerooms
Basement · Firefly Room · Neville Longbottom's storeroom · Potions basement · Store Room · Troll Storeroom
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