An Hogwarts-Headmaster's Office

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> One thing was certain: of all the teachers' offices Harry had visited so far this year, Dumbledore's was by far the most interesting... It was a large and beautiful circular room, full of funny little noises. A number of curious silver instruments stood on spindle-legged tables, whirring and emitting little puffs of smoke. The walls were covered with portraits of old headmasters and headmistresses, all of whom were snoozing gently in their frames. There was also an enormous, claw-footed desk, and, sitting on a shelf behind it, a shabby, tainted wizard's hat — the Sorting Hat.
>
> Harry Potter viewing the Headmaster's office for the first time, Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets

The **Headmaster's office** (or **Headmistress's office**) was the room in Hogwarts Castle that served as the private study of the incumbent Headmaster or Headmistress of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, where they worked, and presumably lived during the school year. It was located atop a tower that was accessed through the ***Gargoyle Corridor***. It was reached by means of a circular, moving stone staircase, which in turn was concealed by a ***gargoyle*** on the third floor. The gargoyle would step aside in response to a password, though the Head was able to override the password if, for any reason, they desired that it would not work.

### Location

Gargoyle Corridor, Headmaster's Tower, Hogwarts Castle, Highlands, Scotland, Great Britain

## Description

### Entrance

Like the Gryffindor Tower and Slytherin Dungeon, the Head's tower required a password from anyone who wished to gain entry to the room. The tower was guarded by a large and ugly stone ***gargoyle***, which rarely talked but was capable of doing so.

### Interior of the room

 File:Dumbledore's office UE booklet 1.jpg
The Head's office itself was a large circular room with many windows and many portraits of old Headmasters and Headmistresses. The ***portrait*** of the immediate predecessor of the current Headmaster or Headmistress hung behind the Head's desk, and those of their earlier ones were mounted on the surrounding walls. In addition to its duties as the office for the Headmaster, the Head's Tower was the permanent home of the Sorting Hat, which belonged, originally, to Godric Gryffindor, one of the four founders. While it can be assumed that the décor of the office changed with its occupants, it remained much the same throughout the recent history of the school.

In Albus Dumbledore's day, the office had also played host to a number of spindly tables upon which were set delicate looking silver instruments that whirred and emitted small puffs of smoke, as well as an incredible collection of books, which made up Dumbledore's private library, his Pensieve, and Fawkes the phoenix.

When Severus Snape assumed the position of Headmaster at the start of the ***1997–1998 school year***, most of the decorations in the office were removed, and the cabinets that once house Dumbledore's curios were instead filled with dark leather-bound books.

## History

### 1943

In Harry's second year, a memory of Tom Riddle's reveals the Headmaster's office as it had been in 1943: the time of ***Professor Dippet***, the Headmaster preceding Dumbledore. In the office, Dippet and Riddle discussed the Chamber of Secrets and whether the school was likely to be closed.

### 1992–1993

> He cast a wary eye around the sleeping witches and wizards on the walls. Surely it couldn’t hurt if he took the hat down and tried it on again? Just to see… just to make sure it had put him in the right House — He walked quietly around the desk, lifted the hat from its shelf, and lowered it slowly onto his head. It was much too large and slipped down over his eyes, just as it had done the last time he’d put it on. Harry stared at the black inside of the hat, waiting.
>
> Harry trying on the Sorting Hat in the Headmaster's office, Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets

 File:DumbledoresOffice PM.jpg
Harry first entered the office in 1992 when he had just rather literally tripped over the petrified body of Justin Finch-Fletchley. Professor McGonagall, the first on the scene, said nothing in response to Harry's pleas of innocence, except to say that it was out of her hands. She proceeded to a gargoyle in the halls, and uttered the password "Sherbet Lemon", whereupon the gargoyle leapt aside, revealing a slowly ascending circular staircase. Reaching the top of this, they found an oaken double door. Professor McGonagall left Harry there.

Harry saw that the room contained a vast number of portraits of past headmasters, all evidently asleep; many spindly tables with intricate ***silvery devices*** upon them; and the Sorting Hat resting on a shelf. After exchanging some words with the Sorting Hat, Harry notices a very ill-looking bird on a perch behind the door; as he watches; aghast, the bird catches fire. Professor Dumbledore, then entering, tells Harry that the bird, Fawkes, is a Phoenix, and that is his method of immortality; he will shortly be reborn from his own ashes. Hagrid then enters and says Harry is innocent, to which Dumbledore says he already thinks so.

### 1995–1996

 File:Prophecy-0.png
In the ensuing, rather heated, discussion, Harry destroyed one of the spindly tables and the instrument sitting upon it, as well as tossing a ***Lunascope*** into the fireplace. In this discussion, Dumbledore explained to Harry Potter the contents of the prophecy made by ***Sybill Trelawney***, and its effects on Harry for the first time.

### 1996–1997

> The circular office looked just as it always did; the delicate silver instruments stood on spindle-legged tables, puffing smoke and whirring; portraits of previous headmasters and headmistresses dozed in their frames, and Dumbledore’s magnificent phoenix, Fawkes, stood on his perch behind the door, watching Harry with bright interest. It did not even look as though Dumbledore had cleared a space for duelling practice.
>
> Harry begins his private lessons with Dumbledore, Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince

Another while later, in the summer of ***1996***, Albus Dumbledore used Godric Gryffindor's Sword to destroy one of Lord Voldemort's Horcruxes, ***Marvolo Gaunt's Ring***, which he had retrieved in the ***Gaunt Shack***. Between the latter half of 1996, and the first half of ***1997***, Albus Dumbledore and Harry Potter had a series of ***private lessons*** in the office.

During these lessons, the two used Albus Dumbledore's Pensieve to delve into memories pertaining to Tom Marvolo Riddle in an attempt to discover a weakness. Together, the pair formulated a plan to bring down the Dark Lord. Instead of an instrument, one of the tables contains, at various times, artefacts of Tom Riddle's early life.

At the end of that year, after Dumbledore's death, a large portrait of him, asleep, appeared in the headmaster's office. The portrait was already present when Professor McGonagall summoned the Heads of House to discuss the future of Hogwarts, mere hours after Dumbledore had died, and without anyone else having been in the office.

### 1997–1998

 File:HarryPotter WB F8 HarryPotterLookingIntoThePensieve Still 100615 Land.jpg
In ***1998***, during the ***Battle of Hogwarts***, Harry Potter made use of the Pensieve, which was stored in the Headmaster's Tower, to learn the truth about what he was supposed to do to defeat Lord Voldemort entirely.

At the end of the battle, Harry, Ron, and Hermione went to the Headmaster's office, and the gargoyle (who had been a rather battered by the battle) let them in without a password. Upon entering, they were greeted with applause by the portraits. Harry informed the portrait of Dumbledore that he dropped the Resurrection Stone somewhere in the Forbidden Forest, and that he didn't know where and he wasn't planning to look for it, to which the portrait of Dumbledore agreed. He then mentioned that he was going to keep the Cloak of Invisibility until it was his time, upon which he would pass it down.

He then decided that he was happier with his old wand rather than the Elder Wand, and so he used the Elder Wand to repair the broken halves of his holly and phoenix feather wand. Harry then decided to put the Elder Wand back into its late master's tomb, and then when he died a natural death, the wand's power would be broken. Ron was at first reluctant at this decision, but Hermione agreed, and Harry pointed out that the wand was more trouble than it was worth, and that he had had enough trouble for a lifetime. Though his perceived allegiance to Lord Voldemort did initially get in the way of him getting ***his own portrait*** mounted on the wall, it was eventually installed in tribute to his brave deeds after Voldemort's ultimate defeat.

## Media

Harry Potter Interactive Tour- Dumbledore's OfficeHarry Potter Interactive Tour: Dumbledore's Office
## Abilities

The Headmaster's office, like so many things in Hogwarts, seemed to have a will of its own. In ***1996***, ***Dolores Umbridge*** was unable to gain entry to the office after she was announced the new Headmistress of Hogwarts; ***Phineas Nigellus Black***, one of the previous Headmasters of Hogwarts, explained that this was because the "*room is barred to all but the rightful headmaster*", suggesting that even though the Ministry officially decreed Umbridge as Headmistress, Hogwarts itself did not recognise her as such.

## Known passwords to enter the Headmaster's office

* Sherbet lemon
* Dumbledore

## Behind the scenes

* The Headmaster's office is the place where the final scene of the ***final book*** in the series takes place, excluding the Epilogue.
* In Template:COS, the entrance to the Headmaster's Office is located in the ***Middle Courtyard***, whereas.
* In Template:POA, the set used for Harry's ***private lessons*** with ***Lupin*** is the same used in *Chamber of Secrets* for Dumbledore's office.
* In Template:GOF, the entrance to the Headmaster's Office is stated to be on the second floor. However, the entrance is on the seventh floor. This is easily explained, however, by Hogwarts' magically ever-changing floorplan.
* In Template:DH, Hermione Granger mentions that she summoned the library books about Horcruxes from the Headmaster's Office using the Summoning Charm, and that she was able to watch them fly out of the windows of the Headmaster's Office and into the window of the Gryffindor Girls' Dormitory where she stood. This suggests that at least one window of the Headmaster's Tower has a clear view of the part of Gryffindor Tower where the dormitories are located.
* The paintings used for the films in the headmaster's office set are mostly paintings of the crew members dressed up and changed slightly in appearance so that they look like wizards or witches.
* All the books found in Headmaster's office in the films are just the Yellow Pages re-bound to look like old magic books.
* ***Alfonso Cuaron***, the director of Template:POA, has stated that the set for the Headmaster's office was among his favourite sets, even though the office does not appear in that film.
* At the time of its construction, the set for the office was the most expensive to produce (it would be surpassed by the Ministry of Magic set) and at one point director ***Chris Columbus*** and production designer ***Stuart Craig*** were told that the set would be too expensive to construct. The producers ultimately were able to secure the funds needed to build the set.
* The set for the office, though quite grandiose, was relatively cramped and in order for the cameras to be able to shoot from various angles it was necessary to have removable "wild walls" concealed behind the various shelves and cabinets.
* Outside of the storyline, players of Template:MA can only enter the Headmistress's office by drinking the ***Invisibility Potion***. McGonagall would be in the office and greet players if they choose to speak to her, telling them to cherish their time there.

### In the films

* From Template:COS onwards, the Stairwell Gargoyle in the films was depicted as golden and resembling a ***Griffin*** (possibly in allusion to the name Gryffindor, etymologically derived from the French for "golden griffin", or a simpler pun between the name Gryffindor and being a "griffin door" to the Office).
* The office as shown in the films is divided into three main areas as well as a loft. The first area of the office contains the Headmaster's portraits as well as cabinets, and tables filled with Dumbledore's instruments. There is also a fireplace. The second area contains the Headmaster's desk and chair and is surrounded by bookcases. The third area is a small sitting room behind the desk. The loft, accessed by flights of steps on both sides of the desk area, contains Dumbledore's telescope. There is also another small flight of steps on the loft that lead even higher up, providing a bird's eye view of the office.
* Although the overall layout of the office remained unchanged throughout the films, the set received minor modifications in nearly every film:
* The curio cabinets in the office were modified between the second and fourth films. In the second film the cabinets were had grilles in the doors, in the fourth and subsequent films the grilles have been removed and replaced by glass. The Penseive cabinet is also added in the fourth film.
* Also in the fourth film, the paintings on the walls are slightly re-arranged from their position in the second film, most notably the large painting of the wizard sleeping while leaning against a chair has been removed.
* In the fifth film, the portraits of ***Everard*** and ***Phineas Nigellus Black*** are added, and Fawkes's perch has been moved from beside the desk to the upper level next to the telescope.
* In the sixth film a decorative plaster detail has been added to the underside of the loft.

## Appearances

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* Template:COS
* Template:COS Template:1st
* Template:POA Template:Comment
* Template:GOF
* Template:OOTP
* Template:HBP
* Template:DH
* Template:DH Template:Flashback
* Template:DH
* Template:SOD
* Template:HPPU
* Template:WWHP
* Template:HPK
* Template:TCG
* Template:PM
* Template:WW
* Template:HPV
* Template:HPV Template:Mention
* Template:HM
* Template:WU
* Template:PAS Template:Mention
* Template:MA
* Template:HL

## Notes and references

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1. ↑ Template:OOTP
2. ↑ Template:MA
3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 Template:COS
4. ↑ Harry Potter Glossary at the ***Bloomsbury Harry Potter website***
5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 Template:COS
6. ↑ 6.0 6.1 Cite error: Invalid `<ref>` tag; no text was provided for refs named `COSf12`
7. ↑ 7.0 7.1 Template:COS
8. ↑ Template:GOF
9. ↑ Template:DH
10. ↑ Template:COS
11. ↑ 11.0 11.1 Template:OOTP
12. ↑ Template:HBP
13. ↑ Template:HBP
14. ↑ Template:HBP
15. ↑ Template:HBP
16. ↑ Template:HBP
17. ↑ Template:HBP
18. ↑ 18.0 18.1 Template:DH
19. ↑ 19.0 19.1 19.2 Template:DH
20. ↑ Template:OOTP
21. ↑ Cite error: Invalid `<ref>` tag; no text was provided for refs named `COSF12`