Ravenclaw Tower

"*Our emblem is the eagle, which soars where others cannot climb; our house colours are blue and bronze, and our common room is found at the top of Ravenclaw Tower, behind a door with an enchanted knocker. The arched windows set into the walls of our circular common room look down at the school grounds: the lake, the Forbidden Forest, the Quidditch pitch and the Herbology gardens. No other house in the school has such stunning views.*"
—Description of the tower[src]
**Ravenclaw Tower** serves as the common room for students in Ravenclaw House at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. In general, it sports several shades of blue with bronze (all associated with the house). It is also the airiest of the four common rooms.

## Entrance

The entrance to the common room is located on the west side of Hogwarts at the top of a spiral staircase, presumably located on the fifth floor, and is a door without a doorknob or keyhole, but a bronze knocker in the shape of an eagle. In order to enter the room, a person must answer a riddle asked by the eagle knocker; if they answer incorrectly, they must wait for someone else who gets it right.

## Common Room

The Ravenclaw common room is one of the airiest rooms at Hogwarts. It is a wide, circular room with arched windows hung with blue and bronze silks and a midnight blue carpet covered in stars, which is reflected onto the domed ceiling. During the day, Ravenclaw students have an excellent view of the school grounds, including the lake, Forbidden Forest, Quidditch pitch, Herbology gardens and the surrounding mountains.

The room is furnished with tables, chairs, and bookcases; and by the door leading up to the dormitories stands a tall statue of Rowena Ravenclaw made of white marble. According to Prefect Robert Hilliard, the sound of wind whistling around the windows of the tower is relaxing while going to sleep.

## Dormitories

The entrance to the Ravenclaw dormitories are also located in the Tower, beside a statue of Rowena Ravenclaw.

## Known riddles

**Question**: "*Which came first, the phoenix, or the flame?*"
**Answer**: "*A circle has no beginning.*"
— Luna Lovegood[src]

**Question**: "*Where do Vanished objects go?*"
**Answer**: "*Into non-being, which is to say, everything.*"
— Minerva McGonagall[src]

## Behind the scenes

* Since the entrance to Ravenclaw Tower requires an answer to a riddle, rather than a password, it may be easier for some members of other Houses to enter the common room if they are intelligent enough. For example, Minerva McGonagall, Head of Gryffindor House, successfully answered the riddle and entered the tower shortly before the Battle of Hogwarts; however, Amycus Carrow, Deputy Headmaster, failed to answer correctly and was unable to enter despite numerous attempts to force the door open or break it down. According to Hermione Granger in Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone, most wizards rely on their magical abilities rather than logic, so being able to solve the riddle may be unusual for non-Ravenclaws. Professor McGonagall, who managed it, was almost Sorted into Ravenclaw on her first day at school, being a Hatstall.

* It is thought that the Ravenclaw Tower could possibly be the Central Tower as it is one of the tallest Hogwarts Towers. However, this is unlikely since the tower is squared and the common room is circular. It could also be the Stone Bridge Tower, since that was one of the only towers to change in *Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2*. Alternatively, it could also be a turret on the Astronomy tower, but this is unlikely.
* Even though the Common Room does not appear in *Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2*, we still get to view the stairwell inside the Tower.
* In *Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2*, it is strange that Harry knows where the common room is despite not going there in previous films. In the novel, Luna Lovegood takes him to the Tower, although he could have found where the common room was by examining the Marauder's Map.
* The statue of Rowena Ravenclaw inside the tower may have been constructed by someone other than Ravenclaw herself, as, according to Pottermore, Salazar Slytherin was the only founder to make a giant statue of themselves. Though it is it is said that Ravenclaw's statue was tall, Harry was able to climb onto its plinth to read the engravings on the diadem sculpted at its top, which means the statue is close to human-height. As such, it's not a giant statue and therefore possible that Ravenclaw did create it.

## See also

* Gryffindor Tower
* Hufflepuff Basement
* Slytherin Dungeon

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