The Hogwarts Common Rooms: Where They Are and How to Get In

Every Hogwarts house has its own common room: a private space for socialising, homework and the occasional late-night plan. Dormitories lead off each one.

The entrances are designed to keep out students from other houses, and each works differently. Those differences aren’t random. They tell you a lot about what each house values.

At a glance

House	Location	How you get in	Inside
Gryffindor	Seventh-floor tower	Give the Fat Lady’s portrait a password	Round, warm, scarlet hangings, fire, armchairs
Ravenclaw	West tower	Answer the eagle knocker’s riddle	Round, airy, blue and bronze silks, starry domed ceiling
Hufflepuff	Basement, near the kitchens	Tap a barrel in the right rhythm	Round, low, earthy, full of plants and copper
Slytherin	Dungeons, under the Black Lake	Give the stone wall a password	Long, low, green-lit, elegant and chilly

Gryffindor common room

Where it is

Gryffindor Tower stands on the seventh floor of the castle. The entrance is a portrait of the Fat Lady in a pink silk dress.

How you get in

Give the Fat Lady the current password and the portrait swings forward, revealing a round hole in the wall. Passwords change regularly. Over the books, they include Caput Draconis, Pig snout and Fortuna Major.

The system relies on trust. Anyone who knows the password can get in, which is why Neville’s habit of writing them down caused trouble in Prisoner of Azkaban, when Sirius Black used a list of passwords to get through.

Inside

A round room full of squashy armchairs, tables and a large fireplace, decorated in scarlet and gold. Spiral staircases lead to the boys’ and girls’ dormitories. The girls’ staircase is enchanted to turn into a slide if a boy tries to climb it.

What it says about the house

It’s the most open of the four entrances. Gryffindors trust each other, and the room is designed for warmth and company. It’s also the easiest to break into.

Ravenclaw common room

Where it is

Ravenclaw Tower is on the west side of the castle. The entrance is at the top of a spiral staircase: a plain wooden door with a bronze eagle knocker.

How you get in

There’s no password. When you knock, the eagle asks a question, and you have to answer it well. In Deathly Hallows, the knocker asks Luna Lovegood which came first, the phoenix or the flame. She answers that a circle has no beginning, the knocker accepts her reasoning, and the door opens. Students who can’t answer have to wait for someone who can.

Inside

A wide, circular room with arched windows and a domed ceiling painted with stars. The walls are hung with blue and bronze silks. A marble statue of Rowena Ravenclaw stands opposite the door, wearing her famous diadem.

What it says about the house

Ravenclaw tests your mind, not your memory. Knowing a password isn’t enough; you have to think. It’s the most fitting entrance in the castle, and the most frustrating if you’re in a hurry.

Hufflepuff common room

Where it is

In the basement, down the same corridor as the kitchens. The entrance is hidden in a stack of large barrels in a nook on the right of the corridor.

How you get in

Tap the barrel two from the bottom, in the middle of the second row, in the rhythm of “Helga Hufflepuff”. The lid swings open and you crawl through. Tap the wrong one, or the wrong rhythm, and the barrels douse you in vinegar.

Inside

A round, earthy, low-ceilinged room that feels cosy rather than grand. It’s decorated in yellow and black, with honey-coloured wood, copper fittings and plenty of plants. Round doors lead to the dormitories. It’s often described as sunny despite being underground.

What it says about the house

The entrance hides in plain sight. Nobody suspects a stack of barrels next to the kitchens. That suits a house that’s modest, unshowy and easy to underestimate. See why Hufflepuff is underrated.

Slytherin common room

Where it is

In the dungeons, partly under the Black Lake. The entrance is a bare, damp stretch of stone wall.

How you get in

Give the password and a hidden stone door slides open. In Chamber of Secrets, the password is pure-blood, which says something about the house’s history.

Inside

A long, low underground room with rough stone walls and green lamps hanging from chains. Light filters through the lake water, giving everything a green glow. Furniture is elegant and carved, and there’s a fireplace with a carved mantel. Slytherins are said to sometimes see the giant squid and other creatures swim past the windows.

What it says about the house

Slytherin’s entrance is hidden, cold and exclusive. It’s designed to keep outsiders out. That fits a house that values its own circle and keeps its business private.

The dormitories

Every common room leads to dormitories, split by year and sex. Each first-year shares a dormitory with the other students of their year, and keeps the same roommates for their whole time at Hogwarts.

In Gryffindor Tower, Harry shares his dormitory with Ron, Neville, Seamus Finnigan and Dean Thomas. The beds are four-posters with deep red velvet curtains, and the room is reached up a spiral staircase. Hufflepuff’s dormitories are reached through round doors and have patchwork quilts and copper lamps. Slytherin’s have green silk hangings, and Ravenclaw’s sit at the top of the tower with views over the grounds.

Life in the common room

The books give a good feel for what students actually do in their common rooms:

• Homework. The Gryffindor common room is where Hermione nags Harry and Ron into finishing essays.
• Notice boards. Announcements go up for Hogsmeade weekends, Quidditch trials and lost property.
• Celebrations. After a big Quidditch win, the Gryffindor common room turns into a party.
• Business. In Order of the Phoenix, Fred and George test their Skiving Snackboxes on first-years in the common room, to Hermione’s fury.
• Secret meetings. Harry speaks to Sirius through the fire in the Gryffindor common room late at night.

What’s near each common room

Each common room’s location puts students close to certain parts of the castle:

House	Nearby
Gryffindor	The seventh floor, including the Room of Requirement
Ravenclaw	The west towers and upper floors
Hufflepuff	The kitchens, run by house-elves
Slytherin	The dungeons, including the Potions classroom

The Hufflepuff and Slytherin locations come with clear perks. Hufflepuffs are a short walk from midnight snacks; Slytherins have Potions, taught by their own Head of House for most of the series, just down the corridor.

How the entrances compare

	Gryffindor	Ravenclaw	Hufflepuff	Slytherin
Security method	Password	Riddle	Secret knock	Password
How hidden	Obvious (a portrait)	A visible door	Very hidden	Very hidden
Penalty for failure	Refused entry	Wait outside	Vinegar	Refused entry
Height in the castle	High	High	Low	Lowest
Values shown	Trust	Thought	Modesty	Exclusivity

There’s a neat symmetry here. The two “head” houses, Gryffindor and Ravenclaw, live in towers. The two “ground” houses, Hufflepuff and Slytherin, live underground. It matches the elements too: fire and air up high, earth and water down below.

When Harry visited each common room

• Gryffindor: his home for seven years.
• Slytherin: in Chamber of Secrets, Harry and Ron drink Polyjuice Potion to look like Crabbe and Goyle and follow Draco Malfoy into the Slytherin common room.
• Ravenclaw: in Deathly Hallows, Harry and Luna go into Ravenclaw Tower looking for clues about the lost diadem.
• Hufflepuff: Harry never visits it in the books.

Which common room would you call home?

Would you be answering riddles, tapping barrels, giving the Fat Lady a password or slipping through a stone wall? Take our house quiz to find out, and see your score for all four houses.