History of Hogwarts

As it might be evident from a look at the whole Castle, there are numerous towers that go high up above the main structure. While these improve the overall appearance of the place, they're not there just to look pretty. Quite the contrary — all of them are fully utilized in various ways. In this lesson we'll cover the notable Towers of Hogwarts.

Astronomy Tower

The name itself is a giveaway that this is where the lessons for the Astronomy class are held. It is the tallest tower in the castle, and it's tall enough to give visitors a perfect view of the starry sky, which is the reason why it's used for Astronomy purposes. The classes usually take place around midnight when the stars are most prominent since the main class activity is studying the positioning and movement of the stars using a telescope.

The tower is located almost directly above the entrance doors of the castle, though you reach it through a steep spiral staircase from a corridor on the seventh floor. It is out of bounds to students when they're not attending a class there. The top of the tower has a parapet, and there is also a wooden door with an iron-ring handle that leads to the ramparts that are connected to the tower itself. Among other things, the tower holds an office for the Astronomy teacher and a reading room filled with books, star maps, telescopes, and many other objects relevant to the subject of Astronomy.

Gryffindor Tower

The entrance to this tower is behind the magical portrait of the Fat Lady, but you will first have to give her the correct password if you want the portrait to swing open and give you access to the round stone hole in the wall. The portrait is there because this tower holds the Gryffindor Common Room, and it is also the only way to reach the dormitories where the Gryffindor students are situated.

The Common Room is round but surprisingly cosy, filled with squishy armchairs, tables, various tapestries and decorations colored in scarlet and yellow, and of course a noticeboard. After all, the students need to have a way to share announcements and personal requests.

There are two separate staircases that lead to the boys' and girls' dormitories, respectively. The stairs to the girls' dormitories are enchanted so that, if someone of a different gender attempts to go up, the stairs will transform into a steep stone slide, preventing them from reaching the dormitories. There are seven separate dormitories in both areas (one for students of every year). Their rooms are round, holding beds and several wardrobes, and have windows that look at the Hogwarts grounds.

Ravenclaw Tower

As you may have guessed, this is another tower that holds a Common Room — this time Ravenclaw's. To reach the entrance you have to go up a tightly-winding spiral staircase from the west side of the castle's fifth floor. What you might find peculiar is that the door to the Common Room lacks both a handle and a keyhole; it only has a bronze eagle-shaped knocker. However, this knocker can talk, and it will only open the door to those who provide a correct answer to the riddle the knocker will present them with. When a specific riddle is too difficult, you can find a group of students congregating outside the Common Room as they attempt to solve it together.

The Common Room is quite wide, circular, and is considered the most airy room in the whole castle, especially with the graceful arched windows that provide a view of the nearby mountains. The room is completely decorated with the house elements — it has bronze and blue silk wall hangings, a dark-blue carpet with stars, and even the ceiling is painted with a dark-blue night sky.

There is a large marble statue of Rowena Ravenclaw, the founder, behind which lies the entrance to the house's library. It is said that this library holds almost as many books as Hogwarts' main library, despite the fact that the Ravenclaw one appears far smaller in size. Maybe the Ravenclaw students taking this class can confirm or disprove this.

The Ravenclaw dormitories are located in turrets off the main tower. They're positioned so high that students say you can hear the wind whistling around the windows. At least they've got comfy beds with smooth blue silk bedsheets to keep them warm when the wind blows too hard.

North Tower

This is the place for all things Divination. To enter you have to climb up a ladder that leads to a trapdoor. There are two rooms in the tower — a classroom and an office for the Divination teacher. The classroom is round, and one could easily describe it as a cross between an attic and an old-fashioned teashop. It has many small round tables with squashy armchairs, lots of shelves filled with tea cups, stubs of candles, crystal balls, decks of cards, and many other objects. All the windows are covered with curtains and the lamps are draped with red scarves, making the room rather dark with small amounts of crimson light. Most of the time there is a large copper kettle (can't read tea leaves if you don't prepare some tea!) heating on a fire, making the room quite warm and filled with a specific scent.

West Tower

A narrow spiraling staircase leads from the seventh floor to the top of this tower. This is where the Owlery is located, meaning all the owls and their belongings can be found here. It's a circular stone room with no glass on the windows, making the tower itself freezing cold during the winter. The floor is completely covered with straw, owl droppings, and bits of mice and vole skeletons.

Headmaster's Tower

This is where the Headmaster resides and where his office is. You will likely find yourself escorted to this location if you've done something exceptionally great or exceptionally bad. The entrance to the tower is on the seventh floor behind an ugly gargoyle statue. The gargoyle will move aside and the wall behind it will split in two, revealing a spiral stone staircase, only if you can provide the correct password. Usually only the staff know the password.

There is a highly polished oak door with a griffin-shaped brass knocker that opens into a very large circular room with many windows and portraits of the former Headmasters and Headmistresses of the school. This is of course the Headmaster's Office. The decor of the office is usually changed to the preference of the current Headmaster or Headmistress, but the portraits always remain there. The most prominent thing in the room is definitely the Headmaster's huge working desk, often found covered with parchments, books, and various appliances. Beyond the desk there are several shelves, containing items of high value and importance, such as the Sorting Hat and Godric Gryffindor's Sword.