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"Are you a wizard, or what?"
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- "'I wonder if Hermione's seen this yet?' Harry said, looking around at the door to the girls' dormitories. 'Let's go and tell her, said Ron. He bounded forward, pulled open the door, and set off up the spiral staircase. He was on the sixth stair when it happened. There was a loud, wailing, klaxonlike sound and the steps melted together to make a long, smooth stone slide. There was a brief moment when Ron tried to keep running, arms working madly like windmills, then he toppled over backward and shot down the newly created slide, coming to rest on his back at Harry's feet. 'Er — I don’t think we're allowed in the girls' dormitories,' said Harry [...]"
- — Harry and Ron attempting to ascend the staircase to the girls' dorms in Gryffindor house[src]
The staircase to the Gryffindor Girls' Dormitory was accessible from the Gryffindor common room. It was enchanted by Godric Gryffindor to turn into a slide should any boy attempt to enter it.
History[]
Back in the era of the Hogwarts founders, a common belief was that girls were more trustworthy than boys, and as such, Godric Gryffindor enchanted the girls' staircase to turn into a slide should a boy set foot upon it, but not vice versa.
During the 1995–1996 school year, the staircase turned on Ron Weasley and Harry Potter, who had been trying enter the girls dormitory to contact Hermione Granger. The stairs turned into the magnificent slide and Ron fell. Hermione herself came down moments later, following a pair of laughing girls.[1]
Behind the scenes[]
- It is never stated explicitly if the enchantment on the staircase, or something similar, is in place on the entrances to the girls' dormitories in the other houses. It is highly likely though, as Hermione cites the founders collectively when explaining why boys can't enter the girls' dormitories but not the other way around.
- In the film adaptations (and the video games that modelled the Gryffindor common room after the film set), the Gryffindor boys' and girls' dormitories are accessed up the same staircase. For this reason, in the film continuity, the charm on the stairs would make no sense.
Appearances[]
- Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (video game)
- Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (First appearance)
Notes and references[]
- ↑ Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, Chapter 17 (Educational Decree Number Twenty-Four)