Entrance Hall

Warning!

At least some content in this article is derived from information featured in: Harry Potter: Hogwarts Mystery & Harry Potter: Magic Awakened.
As such, spoilers will be present within the article.

"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^[src]

The Entrance Hall, also known as the Front Hall,^[1] was located on the ground floor of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, with a wide marble staircase opposite the oak doors. The entrance hall had a flagstone floor.^[2]^[3] Double doors to the right led into the Great Hall^[4] 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.

History[]

B3C21M1 House Point Hourglasses — House point hourglasses

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[]

Entrance-Hall-hp4 — The Entrance Hall during the Yule Ball

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 The Wizarding World of Harry Potter.
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 Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2, where its length was decreased. It is not clear how Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (video game) and Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince (video game) 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 Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2, 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 Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, a large portion of the Entrance Hall's roof was blown away by spells.

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.

Entrance Hall and the corridor
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.

Video game renditions[]

The Entrance Hall does not appear in the Goblet of Fire and Deathly Hallows: Part 1 video games.

Appearances[]

Notes and references[]

↑ Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets (video game) - PS1 version
↑ Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, Chapter 27 (The Lightning-Struck Tower)
↑ Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Chapter 33 (The Prince's Tale)
↑ Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone

Ground floor of Hogwarts Castle
Bathrooms
Boys' toilets · Haunted Toilets
Classrooms
Classroom Eleven · Classroom 1B · Temporary Defence Against the Dark Arts classroom · Transfiguration department
Corridors & Bridges
Corridor off the Entrance Hall · Courtyard corridor · Great Hall balcony · Ground-floor corridor · Herbology corridor · Musical corridor · Owl Corridor · Oxford Corridor · Quad balcony · Staffroom passage · Suspension Bridge · Terrace · Tracery Hall · Viaduct
Courtyards
Astronomy Tower courtyard · Central tower courtyard · Courtyard · Middle Courtyard · Northern Courtyard · Northern Courtyard Annex · North Tower courtyard · Paved grounds · The Quad · Storeroom courtyard · Viaduct Courtyard · West Tower courtyard
Halls and rooms
Bean Bonus Room · Bell Tower Entrance Hall · Central Hall · Chamber off the Great Hall · Chamber of Reception · Duelling Club room · Entrance Hall · Great Foyer · Great Hall · Ground-floor green room · Hall of Herodiana · House Point Ceremony chamber · Link Building · Out Of Bounds · Portrait Room · Resting chamber of Lord Voldemort · Side chamber · Staffroom · Suspension Bridge entrance · Training Grounds Entrance · Viaduct Entrance · Suspension Bridge foyer
Offices
Room 234-00
Other locations
Bridge Outskirts · Keep Out! · Secret student sweetshop · Viaduct Courtyard Gatehouses · West Well
Portraits, statues, and other artwork
Architect of Hogwarts · Brian Gagwilde · Broken Broom · Circe · First Headmaster of Hogwarts · Gargoyles at the staff room entrance · George von Rheticus · Giffard Abbott · Girl with flowers · Glanmore Peakes · Godric Gryffindor · Google Stump · Greta Catchlove · Heath Heatherton · Henry Bumblepuft · Jocunda Sykes · Kelpie Statue · Lonely Male Gargoyle · Lonely Male Gargoyle's friend · Medieval couple · Merwyn the Malicious · Mirabella Plunkett · Miserable Female Gargoyle · Norvel Twonk · Pangur Donn · Old Posh Baron · People watching Quidditch · Sarcastic Male Gargoyle · Staring Portrait · Statue symbolising heartbreak · Professor Swoopstikes · Sylvia Pembroke · Temeritus Shanks · Three Sisters Bells · Timothy the Timid · Violet · Wizard with a walrus moustache · Wyvern Fountain · The Yawning Gargoyle
Staircases
Boathouse Steps · Faculty Tower staircase · Grand Staircase · Marble Staircase · Slughorn's Stairs · Staircase to the Entrance Dungeon · Staircase to the Serpentine corridor · Staircase to the second-floor corridor · Staircase to the third-floor corridor · Turris Magnus staircase
Storerooms
Artefact Room · Broom cupboard (Entrance Hall) · Broom cupboard (ground floor) · Herbology Store · Storage Cupboard · Storeroom

[1] Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets (video game) - PS1 version

[2] Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, Chapter 27 (The Lightning-Struck Tower)

[3] Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Chapter 33 (The Prince's Tale)

[PS-4] Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone

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