LOCATIONS, LOCATIONS, LOCATIONS -

PLOTABLE AND UNPLOTABLE

Hope you have your maps and "point me" spells ready because there we are going to be visiting quite a few interesting places.

Portkey Links:

4 Priivet Drive

12 Grimmauld Place  Updated September 20, 2005

Azkaban Prison  

The Burrow 

Chamber of Secrets

Diagon Alley - Fred and George WeasleyS' Joke Shop

Forbidden Forest

Ministry of Magic  - Department of Mysteries  

Godric's Hollow Updated September 20, 2005

Gringotts Bank - london

Hogsmeade

     HogsHead Pub 

     Three Broomsticks Pub

     Honeydukes Sweet Shoppe

     Zonko's Joke Shoppe

Hogwarts Castle  

Knockturn Alley

The Leaky Cauldron

THE ROOM OF REQUIREMENT Updated September 20, 2005

Shrieking Shack Coming soon

SPINNER'S END *Updated November 12, 2005

4 PRIVET DRIVE, LITTLE WHINGING, SURREY

Ah, we arrive at the number four right off the bat in the very first Harry Potter book.  Four is not a welcoming number for Harry.  And Number 4 Privet Drive is about as unwelcome a place as you there is... with the exception of maybe Snape's classroom.    Interestingly, a privet  is a small hedge that defines the boundary of an area.  And in this case, if you live on Privet Drive (which is very similar to Private Drive) you seem to be telling the world  NO TRESPASSING - KEEP OUT! 

But what is it specifically about Number 4 that makes it so unwelcoming?  Well that's obvious, isn't it?  The Dursleys, of course.  Blood is definitely not thicker than water in regards to Harry's only surviving relations.   Happy will be the day Harry can once and for all leave his aunt and uncle's house and never come back.

I've put together a small list of the ways that Vernon Dudley is always trying to shut out the world... especially Harry's world which, of course, includes shutting out (or even away) Harry.    I've also mentioned how Uncle Vernon's efforts are always thwarted by someone or something from Harry's wizarding world.

PS/SS - Uncle Vernon sealed up the mail slot, windows, and fireplaces to keep Harry's Hogwarts letters from getting in.  He also locked Harry in the cupboard under the stairs.  Harry is rescued by Hagrid.

COS - Uncle Vernon put bars on Harry's bedroom window and bolts on his door, imprisoning Harry in his room.  Harry is rescued by Ron, Fred, and George.

POA - Harry leaves on his own because of the prison like atmosphere.  Harry is "rescued" by the Knight bus.

GOF - Uncle Vernon's sealed up fireplace is blasted to smithereens by Mr. Weasley when the latter, Fred, George, and Ron arrive to take Harry to the Quidditch World Cup.

OOTP - Ordered to stay in his room, Harry once again escapes the confines of 4 Privet Drive when he is rescued by Lupin, Mad-eye, Tonks and other members of the Order of the Phoenix.

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12 GRIMMAULD PLACE, LONDON

Generally speaking, Sirius’s family home is a dreary and dreadful place, albeit literally a grim, old, place. Of course, the very fact that the number “twelve” is part of the address is an obvious hint that something wicked in this place dwells.   It’s a house of dark foreboding, death, and insanity.  For proof, just look and listen to the mad ravings of the house elf, Kreacher, and Mrs. Black’s portrait.  And I’m not so sure Phineas Nigellus’s portrait-self isn’t a bit touched either.  This depressing abode invites in pests and creatures of all sorts and it’s only by the concentrated and concerted efforts of Mrs. Weasley, Harry, Ron, Hermione, Ginny, Fred, George, Sirius and sometimes Remus, Mad-eye, and Tonks, that the rooms are becoming habitable. 

The noble (and I use this term loosely) House of Black is the official secret location of The Order of the Phoenix.  How long it will remain secret and can we trust Kreacher to obey Harry, his new reluctant master, and to keep his mouth shut?  I'm sure he wouldn't mind punishing himself to let a few secrets drop in Draco's earshot.  So Number Twelve Grimmauld Place, London may not be so safe.  Yes, yes, I know that Dumbledore is its  secret keeper and that it is enchanted by all sorts of unplotable spells but what if something happens to Dumbledore?

I'm still not convinced that Lucius Malfoy can’t and won’t find it.  Old houses like that must have secret passages.  I wonder if Harry will discover their entrances and where they lead… maybe to the Malfoys?  Chilling thought.  I’m sure Draco would be too chicken to explore dark tunnels… but his dad is another story.  If there are tunnels that connect the two residences I really hope Lucius doesn’t know about them and never learns they exist.

Can Dumbledore lift the black cloud that hangs over this house?  Or will Number Twelve and all who go there drown in its blackness… Better get your wand out and say “Lumos” just to make sure you can find your way out again.

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AZKABAN PRISON

We first learn of Azkaban Prison in CoS when Hagrid is accused of opening the Chamber of Secrets and sent there.

In PoA, Sirius escapes from Azkaban. 

In GoF we learn, via the pensieve, whom of Voldemort's followers were sent to Azkaban, including the Lestranges, and Barty Crouch Jr. 

It is revealed in OotP with the escape of Bellatrix Lestrange, her husband, and several of Death Eaters from Azkaban that the Dementors are no longer taking orders from the Ministry of Magic and have returned to Voldemort's camp.  If I were Cornelius Fudge I'd disapparate to Bermuda.  Why?  Because.  Lucius Malfoy is a lot smarter than our dapper Mr. Fudge.  Let's see if I'm as smart as Malfoy.  I think that in HBP dear Lucius, in addition to usurping the Minister of Magic's position and power, will invite Cornelius to an extended stay in Azkaban.

Sturgeous Podmore is sent to Azkaban for 6 months for trying to break into the Dept. of Mysteries in the Ministry of Magic in OotP.  The fact that he was under the Imperious Curse so wasn't acting of his own free will didn't seem to matter to Fudge.

The Burrow

A burrow is a typically a hole in the ground that animals hollow out and make their home.  Well, since the Weasley’s aren’t animals or hobbits but humans I can understand why they built their burrow above ground.  Still, I’m sure there’s more to the name Weasley than just its similarity to weasel.

Ron’s family’s home is a ramshackle tangle of wood and glass held together with magic and spello-tape, more than likely, and filled with a collection of mismatched odds and ends.  Not exactly the Ritz, nevertheless, it’s a home filled with love and that in itself transforms it into a palace.  It’s not far from Ottery St. Catchpole, a muggle village, although I am guessing that the muggles aren’t too aware of the Weasleys and vice-versa since the postman doesn’t deliver mail there, and Mr. and Mrs. Weasley apparently don’t shop in the village since they don’t use or know how to use muggle money.  That leads me to assume that the Burrow must also have either in invisibility, disillusionment, or unplotable spell, or any combination thereof, cast upon it so that only magical folks can see it.

Ron’s room is near the top of a rickety turret just under the attic, which is where the family’s resident ghoul lives, bangs on the pipes and carries out other ghoulish occupations.  However, Ron has never said that it causes any major problems or disturbances; rather it’s almost like a pet.  I just wonder if it has some protective power it holds over the Burrow?

Chamber of Secrets

A thousand years before Harry Potter’s birth Salazar Slytherin discreetly built a labyrinth of tunnels under Hogwarts and the surrounding countryside and dubbed his hidden den the Chamber of Secrets.  But for what purpose did he do this?  To secretly carry on covert activities behind the backs of his fellow Hogwarts founders?  To give his Basilisk a place to grow and slither around through the maze of tunnels and pipes century after century until it was killed by Harry in our hero’s second year at Hogwarts?  Well, basically yes, although I’m sure Professor Slytherin never expected his deadly pet to be slain by a twelve-year-old boy. 

Still this mysterious wizard of old must have had other mysteries hidden in his underground cavern that Harry and we have yet to discover.  After all, it’s called the Chamber of Secrets not Secret.  Did he have a laboratory down there where he conducted his alchemy experiments, spells, enchantments and curses?  Perhaps he also had his own library filled with great tomes about the dark arts.

And just where did all of the tunnels lead?  To Hogsmeade?  I am guessing that Hogsmeade village was established shortly after the school so that’s highly reasonable.

So many secrets!!

I am unsure if Harry will return to the Chamber of Secrets in his sixth or seventh years at Hogwarts but it’s possible that more of Salazar Slytherin’s secrets may be revealed when we learn the identity and intentions of the Half-Blood Prince.  I can’t wait!

Diagon Alley - FRED AND GEORGE WEASLEYS' JOKE SHOP

Number ninety three, Diagon  Alley -- Weasleys' Wizarding Wheezes in Half-Blood Prince.   This seems like a perfect location, not only for the twins mirth-filled magical merchandise but also a secret location for undercover work for the Order.  By the end of GOF Fred and George were legally of age and even though Molly Weasley intentionally refuses to accept the fact that her two sons are not longer in nappies, they could join the Order.  I'm not so sure that number twelve Grimmauld Place is still a safe hideaway, even though Dumbledore is its secret keeper.  Regardless of whether the Black house stays the headquarters for the Order of the Phoenix, I'm willing to bet a dozen Skiving Snack Boxes that Fred and George's joke shop laboratory will also be bubbling with covert activities. 

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Forbidden Forest

Dark and thickly wooded, the Forbidden Forest is non-the-less home-sweet-home to countless magical and mythical birds, beasts, insects, and one Ford Anglia.  Hagrid assured Harry during his first trip into the dense wood in PS/SS that as long as you keep to the paths you’ll be okay.  Of course, Harry, more than once strayed clear of the safe forest paths only to find himself face to face with a giant, giant spiders, angry centaurs, howling werewolves, and yes, more frightening than all the rest combined, Lord Voldemort.

GODRIC'S HOLLOW 

Is this just coincidence that the village where the Potter's lived is named after Godric Gryffindor or is it a purposeful tribute to the founder of Hogwarts?  I may be wishing but I just keep thinking that James Potter was a descendant of the great wizard and that perhaps the family home was (maybe still is) in Godric's Hollow.  When Harry pulled Godric's sword from the Sorting Hat, Dumbledore remarked only a true Gryffindor could have done that.  Yes, Harry is in Gryffindor house at Hogwarts, but maybe the true house of Gryffindor is Harry's birthright.

My last question, for now, is where is this place and is the house where Harry last lived with his parents more than a pile of rubble?   At any rate, I feel Harry must go there and, in deed, he intends to return to his childhood home after his 6th year at Hogwarts.  He has to relive his past in order to be able to get on with his future and the best place to start is where it all started.  There must be clues lying around in the debris.

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Gringotts  Bank - LONDON

Just like the Bank of England, Gringotts represents the might and power of its nation’s people.  I don’t know what lies beneath the marbled floors of the Bank of England but I do know that the London Underground isn’t the only rail system speeding beneath the streets of the city.  Under the equally beautiful marble floors of Gringotts are miles of roller coaster type mine cars whiz and weave a their way between hundreds of vaults containing countless gold Galleons, silver Sickles,  bronze Knuts, and many other priceless treasures. 

Goblins are clever, cunning and money-savvy folks, and they take theirs and everyone else’s galleons very seriously… just ask Ludo Bagman.  But just how secure is the wizard’s bank?  We are told in PS/SS that anyone trying to steal from its subterranean vaults may find themselves permanently sealed inside a vault door – not a pretty sight, I’m sure.  Yet when Quirrell/Voldemort tried to abscond with the philosopher’s stone he/they successfully escaped that gruesome fate even though they failed to snatch the stone.  Maybe the latter is why they didn’t suffer the former doom.

I really think there will be a major bank coo in either HP six or seven and I’m curious to see just whose fate is safe and secure, and who becomes a life long door jam.  For more thoughts about this read up about Goblins, Cornelius Fudge and Bill, Fred and George Weasley.

Hogsmeade:

HogsHead Pub

Albus Dumbledore’s brother, Aberforth, runs this rather grungy pub in Hogsmeade.  Layers of dust and dirt cover the pub’s floor and cling to the glasses under the bar counter, while a less than respectable clientele usually passes through its ancient doors.  Hagrid, highly respectable in my book, does occasionally indulge in a round or two with strangers passing through and bearing an assortment of oddities including dragon eggs and three-headed dogs.  Even our highly respected Hogwarts Headmaster himself interviewed Sybill Trelawney there before he hired her as Divination teacher.  And don’t forget that Harry, Hermione, Ron and twenty-five other students met there to discuss establishing the D.A.  It’s an interesting place, you’d have to agree, and I’d bet a hundred butterbeers that ol’ Aberforth has overheard a dungeon-full of secrets whispered between one unsavory witch or wizard to another.  But just what are they and how many of these juicy tidbits does he pass on to his brother?

Three Broomsticks Pub

Honeydukes Sweet Shoppe

Bertie Botts Every Flavored Beans, Chocolate Frogs and every other confectioner’s delight of whimsy can be purchased at Honeydukes in Hogsmeade.  Even Hermione’s dentist parents can be appeased with sugar-free treats.  And while my mouth waters at the idea of such succulent sweets my mind is stirring with wonder at what lies beneath the floorboards of the famous confectionary.  Who built the tunnel that leads from the candy store basement to Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry?  A chocoholic?  Perhaps but then again, perhaps Honeydukes hasn’t always been the shop of preference on that spot?  Maybe in days gone by the current building or another was used for other means, along with its secret passage leading to the castle.  Indeed, this secret may never be revealed by J.K. Rowling but it does give us muggles some candy-coated gum to chew and ponder upon.

Zonko's Joke Shoppe

Zonko’s – Hogsmeade’s premier fun place to shop… if you don’t count Honeydukes Sweet Shoppe, of course.  Zonko’s is a haven of brilliant tricks and laughs, and it is probably Fred and George’s favorite place to visit.  I know they have bought many a magic joke item there during their school days at Hogwarts.  I wonder if Zonkos will become a favorite customer of Weasley’s Whizzes now that the boys have started their own joke shop?  It looked like the boys were thinking about in it HBP.   Let's hope nobody else decides to take it over because I don't we'd find their jokes magic too funny.  Well, just keep your rubber wands ready…

Hogwarts Castle

Enchantments to fill a castle… or protect and hide one in the case of Hogwarts Castle.  It is apparently definitely a charmed fortress in more ways than one.  What exactly are all the spells enchanting Hogwarts?  Well, it’s apparently unplotable to muggles who only see a crumbling old ruin with a warning to stay aware should they happen to wander by.  It’s also protected from those who might try to use Legilimency who are outside the castle grounds… although we know that in Harry’s case this didn’t include Voldemort slithering into his dreams even inside the thick castle walls.  We also know, thanks to Hermione’s constant reminders, that witches and wizards cannot apparate or disapparate into and out of Hogwarts… but this doesn’t seem to have any affect on House Elves diligently popping here and there doing their household duties.  There are ways to come and go, however, that are magical… like using portkeys and phoenixes… and undoubtedly a myriad of other means.  But it’s also apparent that it’s not completely sealed to intruders… as in the case of the troll that Quirrell let in during Harry’s first year… or worse yet, Voldemort!

So where exactly is Hogwarts Castle?  Somewhere in Scotland is my understanding.  It was built around a thousand years ago by Godric Gryffindor, Rowena Ravenclaw, Helga Hufflepuff and Salazar Slytherin, the latter adding a few secret chambers on his own.  A veritable architectural labyrinth filled with clearly accessible classrooms, offices, kitchens, great halls, dormitories, and dungeons, Hogwarts has no less number of secret tunnels, vanishing room, hidden doors, and moving trick staircases.  Harry, Ron, and Hermione have stumbled upon or purposefully found several of the castle’s invisible or at least disillusioned interior locations, I just have a feeling we’ve not seen it all yet.

I assume the Dumbledore’s office was once occupied by Godric Gryffindor.  Are they’re other secrets in that room that we will discover along with Harry in the last two books?  And what of Snape’s dungeon office?  Did Salazar Slytherin build secret entrances and exits only he knew of?  Does Snape know about any of them?  I wouldn’t be surprised if he did.

The grounds surrounding Hogwarts are beautiful, vast and often very dangerous.  Although the quaint village of Hogsmeade is nestled snuggly on one side of the castle, lurking ominously on the other side is the Forbidden Forest where ominous creatures reside.  I think mountains form the backdrop on Hogwart’s third side and the lake provides scenic protection on the fourth. 

Hagrid is not only gamekeeper and the magical creatures instructor, he is perhaps most importantly, keeper of the keys to Hogwarts.  I’d like to know where he keeps those keys, wouldn’t you?  I doubt he carries them around in his moleskin coat pocket but is there a hidden niche in his hut where he keeps them safe?  Are they under a floorboard beneath Fang’s bed?  Are they even regular keys or are they chanted too? 

There is a cemetery somewhere on the Hogwarts grounds but where and does Hagrid have the key to it?  You’d have thought if it were in plain view Harry would have found it his first year, yet even by the end of his fifth year he’s none the wiser that a cemetery even exists. It is unplotable too?  Or is Dumbledore secret keeper for those who are supposed to eternally rest in peace there.   I keep thinking it must be a pretty big plot of ground because I figure its first occupants were the castle’s founders… at least three of them if not all.  Are all of the deceased headmasters and mistresses buried there?  That adds up to quite a few people over the span of a thousand years, don't you agree? And what about the ghosts, like Nearly Headless Nick and Moaning Myrtle?  Were their bodies laid to rest there too?  Will Harry discover that his parents’ graves are indeed also in the Hogwarts cemetery?  I’m nodding my head emphatically “yes.” 

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Knockturn Alley

Knockturn Alley is the complete antithesis of the light, bright and merry Diagon Alley.  The whole dark, dank place is filled with hags and other scary characters.  Borgin and Burkes is the only shop in Knockturn Alley that we know by name and have seen it’s gruesome interior through Harry’s eyes after he was catapulted from its fireplace in CoS.  Filled to the brim with sooty, cobwebby skulls, skeletal hands and mummy sarcophagus it gives Madame Tussaud’s Chamber of Horrors a run for the money.  I may be looking through dust-coated glasses but I have a feeling we might be visiting this shop again.

 Who shops in Knockturn Alley and what are they shopping for?  I have a few ideas.  We already know that Hagrid shops there occasionally for stuff like Flesh-Eating Slug Repellent.  I’m sure he finds lots of weed, slug and otherwise nasty magical pesticides in Knockturn Alley.  What do you think… “Pesky Pests Poisons-R-Us”?

 This offers me a great segue to the next potential K.A. shopper on my list – Severus Snape.  Where else would our severe professor find hard-to-find herbs and other questionable ingredients for his potions?  I’m sure it’s possible that many of his recipes call for easy and abundant items that can be bought in Diagon Ally or Hogsmeade but I wouldn’t be surprised of there being a few “noir market” things that only the most cunning and creative witches and wizards can find… and even then these dark ingredients are probably not available over-the-counter.  Yet, I’m sure our greasy-haired Snape has many connections.  He probably even creates his own hair-care products… (but I don’t think Gilderoy Lockhart has need to worry about the competition.)  Will Harry accidentally run into his least favorite teacher on a shopping spree at some time?

 If anybody knows the ins, outs, nooks, crannies and dark alleys of Knockturn Alley I’m sure it must be Mundungus Fletcher.  Where else would one buy, sell or steal cauldrons and who knows what else?   If I needed to dig up some dirt either about someone or from the curbside, I’d call on Mundungus to take up the task.  I’ll bet he even knows what’s hidden in the dark corners of Borgin and Burkes… probably because he put them himself there for safekeeping…

 It’s no secret that Lucius Malfoy is no stranger in Knockturn Alley and knows Mr. Borgin very well.  He sold several unsavory items to the shopkeeper in CoS.  Will he try to get any of them back?  Or will he have more mysterious contraband to sell? 

 I’m not going to list the next group by name but I think we can all agree that any day of the week it’s more than likely a Death Eater is either shopping, stealing or taking part in a clandestine meeting in Knockturn Alley.  I advise you all to keep a closer eye on those hooded window shoppers because they might just turn out to be Crabbe, Goyle, Avery, Nott, perhaps even Wormtail or… dare I say his name?  I dare… Lord Voldemort.

THE LEAKY CAULDRON – LONDON

This pub and inn is also the magical doorway between the muggle community and the wizarding world.  Here are some interesting points to consider about the Leaky Cauldron:

A unique correlation has been created in GOF between the actual pub Leaky Cauldron and the leaky cauldron bottom report that Percy so feverishly composes for his boss, Barty Croutch.  One, it suggests that shoddy cauldron construction has been going on for perhaps centuries based on the idea that the ancient London establishment of the same name has also been around for centuries.

Of course, the other meaning is that a leaky cauldron is someone who gossips or lets the cat out of the bag with all the skeletons in the closets, and is in essence a “snitch”… the non-golden kind.

And that leads to me ask is Percy a snitch or the wizard who exposes the snitch, or is he the one who will seal up the leak?  Hmmm.  Tatty cauldron bottoms can be a messy business and I think our displaced Weasley (which reminds of weasel, another name for someone who rats on their family and friends) could find himself in a smelly pot of fish.  (Please forgive my over abundant use of metaphors… it was just so much fun.)

Meanwhile, back at the Leaky Cauldron pub… Tom is the current owner/manager of this popular wizards hangout.  He seems innocent and trustworthy enough; perhaps too innocent, etc., to see the dark goings-on right under his wrinkled nose.  We all know that all kinds of potions are brewed in cauldrons and there’s always something brewing at the L.C.  I think we need to keep a wary eye pealed on who comes and goes here.  Remember, even Voldemort snuck in under Quirrell’s turban in PS/SS and nobody was the wiser at the time.’

And one last thought… I wonder if muggles have ever accidentally stumbled through Leaky’s front door?  Probably not but not impossible I reckon.  Well one thing’s for sure, the Leaky Cauldron is the holds many more secrets and mysteries waiting to be revealed and I’ll drink to that.

Ministry of Magic  -  Department of Mysteries

The Department of Mysteries conjures up all sorts of wild and eerie ideas.  But lets start off with the facts… It’s located on the ninth floor in the Ministry of Magic building in London and the ministry employees who work in the Department of Mysteries are call unspeakables because, according to Mr. Weasley, nobody really knows what they do in there.  Broderick Bode and Croaker, whose name reminds me again of a frog or dying, both worked there.  Bode was killed by Devil’s Snare while recovering in St. Mungos.  There’s at least one more department employee… rather former employee; Rookwood, one of Voldemort’s Death Eaters, also worked in the Department of Mysteries before being sent to Azkaban for fourteen years.

The main door to the Department of Mysteries that opens off the ninth floor hallway leads into a room with twelve more unmarked doors.  (Oooh, there’s that nasty number twelve again.)  When someone opens one of these doors the room whirls around so that whichever door one tries remains a mystery.  Remember, Hermione cleverly marked each with a flaming X so that she, Harry, and the others would know which doors they’d opened and closed?

Each of the twelve doors leads into a different room where a different mystery is studied by the unspeakables.  So far, as of OotP, we know that there is:

v     A room filled with clocks and timeturners where time is studied.

v    A room where octopus-like brains are kept.  Thoughts are studied here.  Just a reminder:  thoughts can leave life long scares.  Don’t believe me?  Ask Ron.

v     A room there is the Prophecy room lined with shelves of glass orbs containing prophecies that can only be touched by those directly concerned.

v     A room death is studied in the room where the diocese and veiled archway is kept.

v     And a room where love is studied in the room behind the door that Harry’s knife blade melted.

Ahh, but that’s only five rooms.  I wonder what is hidden behind the other seven doors?

I believe that in HBP Harry will find a way into the sealed room filled with all the mysteries of love are guarded.  He may discover a way to contact Sirius in this room.  Whatever happens, we can assume that this room contains powerful magic, as demonstrated by the effect of Lily Potter’s ancient spell of love that she used to save baby Harry’s life.  We also know this love, which Harry seems to be filled to brimming, saved him again in OotP when Voldemort tried to possess him but couldn’t; the pain was too great.  The question is will Harry be able to harness and control this powerful magic when the time comes that he must vanquish Voldemort?  Or will Voldemort figure out a way to utilize the force generated therein to his own advantage?  The power of love is the most powerful magic there is… but then I believe that Harry was born to be the most powerful wizard to ever live.

THE ROOM  OF  REQUIREMENT

On the magical 7^th floor of Hogwarts there is a door to the room of your dreams… more practically called the Room of Requirement.  Perhaps it could also be called the Room of Desire… or even Erised… because it is only with your deepest, most desperate need or desire that the door to this special room will reveal itself.  The only problem with the room is finding its door. 

Harry first heard about the room from Dumbledore in a seemingly throwaway comment during a conversation the Headmaster was having with Harry and Karkarov during the Yule Ball feast in GOF.  Dumbledore confided with a wink to Harry that once when he had a most powerful need to find a toilet in the wee hours of the morning -- Taa-Daa -- the door to a very elegant room of chamber pots appeared before him. 

In his 5^th year, Harry found himself particularly desirous for just the right place to teach his fellow class mates defense against the Dark Arts, since the old toad, Umbridge, refused to teach them anything worthwhile in the real DADA class.  To Harry’s delight, Harry’s DADA room had everything he and the other members of Dumbledore’s Army needed to learn and practice their defensive spells. 

But Harry and the DA weren’t the only ones to make good use of the RoR in OotP.  Dobby confessed to Harry that he often had to take a tipsy Winky there to sleep off the effects of her Butterbeer binges. 

And speaking of being tipsy, Professor Trelawney has even discovered this multipurpose room in the guise of her own private liquor store where she keeps her coveted bottles of sherry.  Well, it may not be as private as she would like since others, like Draco Malfoy, having secrets to keep have found the extraordinary key to this particular room of requirement door…

In HBP, Draco utilized the room as his ideal workshop where he could hide the broken Vanishing Cabinet while he worked to repair it.

Which brings us back to Harry, who also during his 6^th school year,  who couldn’t figure out how to get into Draco’s room until he frantically needed to hide his old Potions book so that Snape wouldn’t take it.  Needing a special place to hide the book, Harry marveled that he entered the room of requirement this time it had grown into an ancient and cavernous medieval space crammed to the brim with an infinite number of things collected and hidden over the last thousand years.

And finally, this brings my meandering mind to shrudely consider Harry’s nemesis, Lord Voldemort aka Tom Riddle.  If I were Tom Riddle and I needed a place to hide something or some things of great value… a Horcrux, possibly… I would head straight for the room of requirement.  I have no doubt that Tom knew all or nearly all of Hogwarts secret passages, tunnels, and rooms including the RoR.  I feel with 99.99999% confidence that this is where he hid Ravenclaw’s tiara (or other personal affect) and/ or Hufflepuff’s mug.  At the end of HBP Harry says to Ron and Hermionie that he doesn’t plan on returning to Hogwarts to finish his 7^th year, but I feel he must return if for no other reason than to search for hidden treasures lying in wait on the 7^th floor of Hogwarts Castle.

Shrieking Shack

spinner's end

Spinner’s End sounds like it is the last stop on a spider’s web.  Visitors and strangers beware, as I don’t think anyone is really welcome and yet those who tarry too long will surely become the prey of the one who lives there.  No, it’s not a spider, although he does associate with snakes and rats; and in his bat-like way, Severus Snape using his radar-esk Legilimense undoubtedly will know who is lurking at his door. 

It isn’t until the sixth Harry Potter book that we, the readers, learn where Snape lives when he isn’t at Hogwarts… and I suspect he will be spending a lot more time at home after HBP.  It was probably his parent’s house and although it has that old and lived-in look, it’s not a place I would call homey.  In fact, it could definitely use a little DIY TLC.   It seems to have more than one level, and maybe there are stairs that go both up and down from the main floor.  I can only imagine that it might also have secret passages leading deep down underground to bat-laden catacombs.

All in all, it’s a pretty dismal spot.  In HBP, a few people besides Snape visit the last house on Spinner’s End:  Wormtail, Bellatrix Lestrange, and Narsissa Malfoy.  Who else might know of Snape’s family home?  How long has Wormtail been there?  And will Harry go there in the future to confront his despised potions teacher?