Slytherin Dungeon

## Location information

### Location

Down a staircase from the Dungeon Corridor, Hogwarts Castle, Scotland, Great Britain

### Permanent residents

Slytherin students (as long as in school)

"*The Slytherin common room was a long, low underground room with rough stone walls and ceiling, from which round, greenish lamps were hanging on chains. A fire was crackling under an elaborately carved mantelpiece ahead of them, and several Slytherins were silhouetted around it in carved chairs.*"
—Description[src]

The **Slytherin Dungeon**, also known as the **Slytherin Common Room**, serves as the common room for students in Slytherin house at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. In general, it sports several shades of green and the mantle is adorned with a portrait of a serpent (all associated with the house).

## History

### 1992

In Harry Potter's second year, he and Ron Weasley went into the Slytherin common room disguised as Vincent Crabbe and Gregory Goyle with the aid of Polyjuice Potion to attempt to discover the identity of the Heir of Slytherin. The entry password was "Pure-blood" when Draco Malfoy let them in. The Polyjuice Potion's wearing off prompted Harry and Ron to leave after staying nearly an hour, still not finding out the identity of the Heir of Slytherin, but they did learn that Malfoy was not the heir, as they originally thought.

### 1998

In 1998, Harry, operating under the alias "*Vernon Dudley*", attempted to defend his false claim that he was a member of the Slytherin house by describing the location of the Dungeon to the Snatchers.

## Entrance

The entrance to the common room is located behind a stone wall in the dungeons of Hogwarts Castle. A password is required to enter it; whereupon a passage is revealed leading to the common room.

## Common Room

The common room is a dungeon-like room with greenish lamps and chairs. This dungeon extends partway under the lake, giving the light in the room a green tinge. The common room has lots of low backed black and dark green button-tufted, leather sofas; skulls; and dark wood cupboards. It is decorated with tapestries featuring the adventures of famous Medieval Slytherins. It has quite a grand atmosphere, but also quite a cold one.

The password to the common room changes every fortnight, and it is posted on the noticeboard. Slytherin students are warned never to bring students from other houses into the common room, or to reveal the password. Supposedly, no outsider has entered the common room for more than seven centuries.

As of 2016, a portrait of Horace Slughorn has a place in the common room due to his bravery at the Battle of

Hogwarts.

## Behind the scenes

* In the video game version of *Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets*, there is another way to the common room, where there are several enemies such as Gnomes and Cornish Pixies. There is also a bridge between the Dungeons and the common room, held up by Ectoplasm. A Slytherin student casts *Skurge* on the Ectoplasm, so you have to find a way to restore the bridge.
* Revealed in Pottermore: It was revealed that often the giant squid appears at the windows, and sometimes more interesting creatures, and that the sound of swishing water is relaxing at night.
* In its entry for the Bloody Baron, the glossary on the Scholastic official website mistakenly refers to the Slytherin common room as Slytherin *Tower*. A similar error is made with the Hufflepuff Basement.
* If no non-Slytherins have entered the Common Room for seven centuries as of 1991, this means that the last time a non-Slytherin entered it was in the late 13th century.

## See also

* Gryffindor Tower
* Hufflepuff Basement
* Ravenclaw Tower

Boathouse ·
Boathouse passageway ·
Chamber of Secrets ·
Conical Crypt ·
Dark Hall ·
Deathday Party Hall ·
Defence Against the Dark Arts dungeon ·
Detention escape route ·
Dungeons ·
Dungeon cave ·
Dungeon Corridor ·
Dungeon Five ·
Dungeon hall ·
Dungeon Pit ·
Dungeon Staircase ·
Entrance Dungeon ·
Forgotten Cavern ·
Hieroglyphic Hall ·
Hogwarts Basement ·
Hufflepuff Basement ·
Kitchens ·
Lever Rooms ·
Lost Tunnel ·
Lower Chambers Corridor North-East ·
Lower Chambers Corridor West ·
Lower Chambers Portrait Corridor ·
Poltergeist Passage ·
Porticus Circumscriptus ·
Porticus Periculum ·
Porticus Imago ·
Porticus Medius ·
Potion-Mixing Room ·
Potions basement ·
Potions Classroom ·
Prowling Passage ·
Quidditch cave ·
Room of Doom ·
Room of Runes ·
Severus Snape's office ·
Shop ·
Slug Pit ·
Slughorn's Stairs ·
Slytherin Boys' Dormitory ·
Slytherin Duelling Dungeon ·
**Slytherin Dungeon** ·
Slytherin Girls' Dormitory ·
Undercover route to the Kitchens ·
Underground Chambers ·
Vestibule of Mischief ·
Way to Courtyard
Basil Fronsac ·
Bloody Baron ·
Cecilia Gallerani ·
Elizabeth Burke ·
Hooky ·
Mad old man ·
Mopsus ·
Old man ·
Percival Pratt ·
Salazar Slytherin ·
Sleeping hermit ·
Bearded man with book

1. ↑ *Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets (video game)*
2. ↑ *Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets*
3. ↑ Pottermore introduction for Slytherins (transcription available here)
4. ↑ Short Stories from Hogwarts of Heroism, Hardship and Dangerous Hobbies, Chapter 3 (Horace Slughorn)