Hogwarts kitchens

> "*He had one brief glimpse of an enormous, high-ceilinged room, large as the Great Hall above it, with mounds of glittering brass pots and pans heaped around the stone walls, and a great brick fireplace at the other end...*"
> ― Description[source]
>
>

The **Hogwarts Kitchens** was a room located in Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. It was where all the food for Hogwarts students and staff is prepared. House-elves inhabited this room and were responsible for preparing meals.

## Location

The kitchen was located directly under the Great Hall, down the staircase leading to the Hufflepuff Basement.

### Entry

The school kitchens were accessible by going through a door in the entrance hall and taking the stairs downwards. Downstairs, in a broad stone basement corridor, brightly lit and decorated with food-themed paintings, one could tickle a pear on a painting of a bowl of fruit. The pear would giggle and turned into a large green door handle, revealing the entrance to the Hogwarts kitchens.

## History

Helga Hufflepuff brought the house-elves in to work so that they could avoid being abused; she also created many of the recipes used to this day at Hogwarts.

In 1971 to 1978, James Potter used Cloak of Invisibility to sneak into the kitchens to steal food.

In 1992, after Gryffindor defeated Hufflepuff in Quidditch match, Fred and George Weasley brought tons of snacks from the kitchens to the Gryffindor Common Room.

In 1993, Headmaster Albus Dumbledore decided, upon the rescue of Ginny Weasley from the Chamber of Secrets, that the students of Hogwarts needed a feast. Hence, he sent Minerva McGonagall to the kitchens to persuade the house-elves to hold such a banquet.

In 1994, before the welcoming feast in the entrance hall, Peeves had caused havoc and mayhem in the kitchens, terrorising the house-elves. After Harry Potter impressive performance in the first task of the Triwizard Tournament, Fred and George Weasley brought tons of snacks from the kitchens to the Gryffindor Common Room, in order to hold a surprise party for Harry. The rest of the House were amazed at this accomplishment; however, as long as the students were kind and polite to them, the house-elves of the kitchens were more than glad to give away the food to them. After asking the twins how to access the kitchens, Hermione Granger discovered the kitchens, and although initially she attempted to convince the house-elves employed there to accept pay and holidays, upon seeing Dobby, she instead brought her friends Harry Potter and Ronald Weasley to visit Dobby.

In 1996, Harry ordered Kreacher to work in the kitchens, after he inherited him from Sirius Black. In the final part of the Battle of Hogwarts against Voldemort and his Death Eaters, Kreacher led the house-elves into battle from the kitchens.

## Description

The kitchen was a gigantic, high-ceilinged room with five tables identical to the ones in the Great Hall above; they were also in the exact same position. There were large quantities of pots and pans heaped around the stone walls, presumably on counter-tops or stoves, and a large brick fireplace at the other end of the hall from the door.

## Function

All of the meals served at Hogwarts are prepared in the kitchen by the Hogwarts house-elves. The five tables in the kitchen were magically linked to the tables in the Great Hall, and dishes placed upon the tables would be transported to their counterparts in the Great Hall.

During the Triwizard Tournament there were a few changes made to the kitchen system. The addition of the Beauxbatons and Durmstrang students demanded a greater variety of dishes to better suit foreign tastes. In addition, during the Yule Ball, dining was accomplished through guests selecting their meal choices through menus.

## Inhabitants

Over a hundred house-elves worked in the Hogwarts's kitchens.

* Hogwarts house-elves
	+ Pitts
	+ Krafty
	+ Unidentified house-elf
	+ Dobby
	+ Winky
	+ Kreacher