Knownly Entrance Hall

> The entrance hall was so big you could have fit the whole of ***the Dursleys***’ ***house*** in it. The stone walls were lit with flaming torches like the ones at Gringotts, the ceiling was too high to make out, and a magnificent marble staircase facing them led to the upper floors.
>
> Description of Harry's first view of the Entrance Hall, Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone

The **Entrance Hall**, also known as the **Front Hall**, was located on the ***ground floor*** of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, with a wide marble staircase opposite the oak doors. Double doors to the right led into the Great Hall and, on the other side of the hall, ***Slughorn's Stairs*** led to the ***Dungeon Corridor***, and another door led to the ***Classroom Eleven*** ***corridor***. Other corridors accessed by the hall allowed passage to the ***staffroom corridor***.File:EntranceHall.jpg

### Location

Ground floor, Hogwarts Castle, Scotland, Great Britain

## History

 File:HousePointHourglasses.png
The Hufflepuff Common Room, the ***kitchens***, the dungeons, and the Grand Staircase could also be accessed via the Entrance Hall. There was also an annexe off the hall where Professor McGonagall spoke to first-years before the Sorting Ceremony at the beginning of each school year. The ***Goblet of Fire*** was placed in the Entrance Hall during the ***Triwizard Tournament*** in ***1994***. There was also a balcony above the Entrance Hall and a ***broomstick cupboard***.

The house point hourglasses were also located in the Entrance Hall.

## Behind the scenes

 File:Entrance-Hall-hp4.jpg
* In the films that follow from *Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone* and *Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets*, as well as the video games that follow from ***Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix*** and ***Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince***, it is shown with the doors to the Great Hall directly across from the main doors. The staircase does not appear to be marble, and there is a golden statue that appears in front of a window. The Grand Staircase is called the Marble Staircase in Template:WWHP.
* In the models of Hogwarts, there is an extra connector hallway between the Entrance Hall and the Grand Staircase that prevents the outside of the ***Marble Staircase Tower*** from colliding with some of the Great Hall's windows. However, this extra area is not represented at all in the films or video game interiors until Template:DH, where its length was decreased. It is not clear how Template:OOTP and Template:HBP were able to omit this area of the interior while still representing it with the exterior. It is possible that the games used textures and collision detection for the interiors that were not activated until the player entered into close proximity of the area. That would explain how those games were able to represent other architecturally impossible areas in an open world.
* In Template:DH, the entrance to the Grand Staircase has been greatly enlarged and above the oak door of the Great Hall there are ***suits of armour*** that come up to fight in the ***Battle of Hogwarts***.
* In the film adaptation of Template:DH, a large portion of the Entrance Hall's roof was blown away by spells.

 File:Entrance HallHBP.jpg
* The Entrance Hall's description from the books is brought to life in the video game adaptations of Philosopher's Stone, Chamber of Secrets and Prisoner of Azkaban, where it's a vast room with a large marble staircase and the House Point hourglasses. The later games use the smaller room from the films and relocate the hourglasses to the staff end of the Great Hall.
* In the first two films, the Grand Staircase is not directly left of the Great Hall. It was to the left then to the right of the Great Hall. This can clearly be seen when in the second film Nearly Headless Nick enters the Great Hall from the left and the Grand Staircase can clearly not be seen. File:37812 332327540197872 1451691755 n.jpg
* In the first two films, there is a gold statue of the Architect of Hogwarts in front of the window across from the stairs. This statue isn't seen in the third and fourth films but re-appears in the fifth and the sixth. This statue also appears in the fifth and sixth video games. The statue then replaced by the statue of the ***First Headmaster of Hogwarts***.
* In the Harry Potter films the double doors has a portcullis which is used to seal off the Entrance Hall.

### Appearances

* Template:PS Template:1st
* Template:COS
* Template:POA
* Template:GOF
* Template:OOTP
* Template:HBP
* Template:DH
* Template:DH Template:Comment
* Template:DH
* Template:PM
* Template:HM
* Template:WU
* Template:MA

## Notes and references

Template:Reflist

1. ↑ Template:COS
2. ↑ Template:PS

Template:Hogwarts Ground Floor