Secret Passages, Undiscovered Broom Closets and Persnickety Stairs Lore

SECRET PASSAGES

So, it's Christmas break at Hogwarts and you think you know your way around the castle? Not by a long shot! You may have studied a curious, if baffling, little charm in your classes in first year. Dissendium. You might have been bored out of your mind, sitting in History of Magic class, or perhaps were mesmerised by your lovely professor! Maybe you weren't paying much attention and another student told you the spell was used to clear snot from your nasal passages when some school mate casts the curse of the bogies on you!

But now you've got some free time to explore the place. Most students have gone home. (And more importantly, most of the Prefects have gone home as well!) There aren't as many professors or other staff around either. This is the best time to go exploring! One of your mates tells you she heard about Hogwarts having secret passages, and not just the usual corridors and hallways you've been treading the last year or so! This might come as a surprise to you, especially if you're a Muggleborn or a Halfblood and are not so familiar with the ways of magic as your more knowledgeable house mates.

You might even have a friend who has literally read Hogwarts, A History from cover to cover and knows all about the old secret passages that used to connect the school with different places in Hogsmeade. This gets you thinking! A sudden inspiration hits you and you blurt out something about that spell you learned and half forgot --- what was it? Diffindo? No. Diescendo? Nope! Not that either! Oh! You remember it now: Dissendium!

Suddenly you and your mates get all excited! It's not really a spell for clearing snot from your nose like that horrible fourth year Colin McCoire told you! No doubt with a smirk on his scarred Slytherin face and a twinkle of his pond scum green eyes. It's a spell for opening secret passages inside the castle itself! You look at your friends in wonder, your own Golden Trio, as if you've just uncovered one of the greatest mysteries in all of existence! All of your eyes are bright with anticipation, and you're practically salivating at the chance to get out later and explore this whole new dimension of magical life.

Donning your dark robes and with wands in hand, you set out into the corridors of Hogwarts after hours...

Hogwarts is riddled with secret passages. Historically, some of these passages have led away from the castle, for example the legendary passages that ran out to different parts of Hogsmeade. These, of course, have long been sealed up and are no longer of any interest whatsoever to the students of Hogwarts School.

But there are other corridors, passageways, halls, crawl spaces, cellars, oubliettes, gangways, and the like that connect various places within the castle to one another. And many more that simply lead nowhere...

Still, many of these passages are very useful indeed! For those of you who are Slytherins, there is a passage behind the hieroglyphic hall that leads to the Slytherin common room. For you Gryffindors, there is a corridor concealed behind a bookshelf that connects the fourth-floor corridor and the Fat Lady's Corridor. A very convenient way to get around indeed!

Some of these passages are visible to those keen of eye. Whilst others remain hidden until revealed. And still others, indeed whole levels of the castle itself, can only be accessed if you happen to have the key to the door or if you have the money to purchase a particular map that shows you where the entry points are! Such a map is indeed Ideal for a night trip with friends... so next time you sneak into Hogsmeade, be sure to hunt down that particular artifact!


Some might be wondering what exactly a secret passage is. Especially those students of Muggle heritage or those who have not read Hogwarts, a History. Quite simply, secret passages are alternate routes that connect specific locations within Hogwarts Castle or places on its grounds. Of course, these are not officially advertised to new students, because there is naturally the risk that students making use of these corridors might become hopeless lost in a maze or may actually become trapped within the walls of the castle.


And there are many different sorts of passages, too. Some are fancy and well travelled, known by many students. Others are dark and cramped and overtly anti-student. These passages might seek to mislead or waylay!


Shortcuts & Secret Stairs:

As the name implies, shortcuts are passages that connect two distant places by a much shorter path between them. Don't even try the geometry until you can master the tesseract! These are often used by intrepid students who wish to get to class early so that they can eagerly begin their studies each day! Others are used as a way of impressing friends or simply as a convenient way of avoiding Prefect entanglement when conducting their entirely legitimate after hours activities!

The Chamber of Secrets:

Students of magical history will undoubtedly be familiar with the name of this location, though they may not understand the Chamber or even know that it is possible for students to access it! The Chamber of Secrets itself lies far below the school, constructed originally by Salazar Slytherin himself. The Chamber itself is much more an entire level, or a separate location all its own. Its long and twisting tunnels, broad halls and dimly lit arcades all surround the main chamber itself. This, so it is said, was once the home of a monster! The Great Basilisk! There, a long stone pathway surrounded on either side by shallow corridors of dark water and flanked by huge carved serpents lead towards a now partially broken effigy of some water spirit. It was from the mouth of this figure that the basilisk would come when the Heir of Slytherin called it forth. Some say its bones and its still poisoned fangs can be found down there!

In order to enter, one must simply ask the chamber door to open up! "Bahahah!" says dear Sal! Surely it can't be quite that easy. No sir! No mere Muggleborns getting into this chamber so quick as you please!

The truth is, any wizard with the gift for speaking Parseltongue has the ability to enter the Chamber. The huge iron Door that protects the Chamber of Secrets can only be opened by one who can speak this snakey language! Anyone who can't speak Parseltongue may only gain entrance by befriending one who can and by being invited to join in some mad adventure far below the ordinary levels of the castle.

Portrait Passages Within the Castle:

Hogwarts is home to thousands and thousands of magical portraits. Some say of every wizard that ever lived! Most likely, the portraits are only of those wizards who could afford to have themselves painted by a skilled magical artist. Whatever the case may be, the school's walls are lined with hundreds of paintings of famous magical people. And they can all be questioned, talked to, chatted with or even scolded by! Especially at night if you're exploring in the darkness and you've got your wand out and have cast a nice strong lumos! Just the sort of light that would wake up any sleepy portrait dweller or attract the attention of a prowling Prefect!

What many students are entirely unaware of is the fact that quite a few portraits hide secrets of their own. Every Gryffindor student know, or should know if they do not wish to spend the night on the cold hard stone floor, is that their dorms and common rooms are accessed by passing behind the portrait of the Fat Lady. She loves her little lion cubs and always lets them in!

But there are other portraits that conceal a hidden passage way. There is a painting of Timothy the Timid, up on the fifth floor corridor that hides a shortcut between that location and the Herbology corridor. The password was "flaming earwigs". A painting of Giffard Abbot hides a shortcut between the Grand Staircase and the Middle Courtyard. The password here is "dragon's egg".

A painting of Basil Fronsac hides a shortcut between the Grand Staircase and the ground floor corridor, near the Library. The password is "studious success". A painting of Damara Dodderidge hides a shortcut between the Grand Staircase and the Clock Tower Entrance. The password is "chops and gravy". A painting of Edward Rabnott hides a shortcut between the second-floor corridor and the fourth-floor corridor. The password here is "three heads are better than one".

And there are many other portraits who stand guard at the entrance of various shortcuts and lesser known corridors.

Passages to Hogsmeade:

We mention these secret passages only in passing, for they are no longer accessible. Before the 1990s, several such passageways existed that led from certain parts of the castle to spots in Hogsmeade. If you had good map, such as the famous Marauders Map, you stood a good chance of being able to sneak out of the castle for a drink at the Three Broomsticks! But otherwise, it was almost impossible to find the secret doorways!

For example, one such passage beneath a one-eyed witch statue by the stairs to the Defence Against the Dark Arts classroom, led to the cellar of Honeydukes. Tapping the hump with a wand and speaking aloud the word Dissendium to the witch made the hump on the statue open just wide enough for a small person to slide down to the hidden passageway. Another passage, located within the West Well, once led to a fountain in Hogsmeade.

These passages were all blocked up, destroyed or otherwise put out of service long ago, during the Second Wizarding War. Sadly, while some students might hope otherwise, there is simply no good that can come of looking for these passageways! So don't even try!

Are you brave enough or cunning enough or smart enough or persistent enough to find these hidden treasures of Hogwarts Castle? Maybe you are, or maybe you aren't. Let's find out what some students have had to say about their adventures exploring these secret places!


Dean Saunders of Hufflepuff said that "he'd heard the gentle whispers of rumours, of a secret passage carved through the stone, of candy and the faint smell of caramel. He wasn't sure of that last bit, of course, but one who did not try did not live". Indeed! One must try something new and difficult before can truly live.

Delilah Chapman of Gryffindor said proudly: "But oh, how exiting it would be to have a secret passage, a place only I know about !"

"Now probably wasn't the best time to tell her this particular passage wasn't all that secret or that they'd merely crossed into an undecorated, ill-used corridor in the dungeons." --- Finnegan Connor of Gryffindor

"It's practically a second home down here," said Colin McCoire of Slytherin; "I can brew my darkest night potion in peace and not worry about nosy Prefects snooping around all the time!"

"But just like with the secret passageways, every once in awhile there was some truth to his words." --- Rebecca Lark of Ravenclaw

" It seemed they were in... a secret passage? ... It seemed like a tunnel. Like one of the passages Aunt Aces told us about?" --- Astra Norrick of Slytherin

"Keep yer eyes open and yer ears listening! Ye never know when some bunch of sixth years will spill the tea about a password to certain favourite passageway! And now you know too!" --- Colin McCoire of Slytherin

Gryffindor alumna Xailah Alptraum-Leveret seems to take a more do it yourself approach! Clearly, she is a master of Hogwarts's secrets, but she is clearly going to her grave without spilling the tea: "There are a number of secret passages around the school. Will I reveal them to you? If I did they wouldn't be secrets anymore! The wonder of stumbling upon one is far more rewarding than being guided to one. I implore exploration; and if you too are fortunate enough to find one, keep it a secret for the next wanderer to enjoy".

Gryffindor Finn Connor, who apparently spends quite a bit of time in secret passageways, also told us: "Anyway, if you ask me what secret passageways look and feel like, I'd say there could be various kinds. My mind immediately goes to the dark and narrow hallways, either damp or cold, with walls on the verge of caving Some sections where you have to climb over some rubble in order to continue, or maybe you have to crawl or slip through some half-collapsed part. I've even seen some rubbish laying around. You know. Candy wrappings and that."

He also mentioned a very curious one: "...some abandoned rooms and spaces at points along the passageway. There was a room somewhere that led into an tiny abandoned tower and gave a view over the lake and castle."

Student quotes were slightly edited to fit the article perspective.