Ravenclaw Tower

Ravenclaw Tower
Location information
Location	Hogwarts Castle, Scotland, Great Britain
Owner(s)	Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry
Permanent residents	Ravenclaw students (as long as in school)
Affiliation	Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry Ravenclaw

"Our emblem is the eagle, which soars where others cannot climb; our house colours are blue and bronze, and our common room is found at the top of Ravenclaw Tower, behind a door with an enchanted knocker. The arched windows set into the walls of our circular common room look down at the school grounds: the lake, the Forbidden Forest, the Quidditch pitch and the Herbology gardens. No other house in the school has such stunning views."

— Description of the tower

Ravenclaw Tower was a tower in Hogwarts Castle that served as the common room and dormitories for the students of Ravenclaw House at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. In general, it sported several shades of blue with bronze (all associated with the house). It was also the airiest of the four common rooms.

Ravenclaw Tower was one of the three tallest towers of Hogwarts Castle, alongside Gryffindor Tower and the Astronomy Tower.

History

Harry and Luna in Ravenclaw Tower

On 1 May 1998, Harry Potter and Luna Lovegood ventured into Ravenclaw Tower in the hopes of locating the legendary Ravenclaw's Diadem. However, they were ambushed by the Death Eater Alecto Carrow, who then attempted to summon Lord Voldemort to Harry with her dark mark. Luna quickly knocked her unconscious to the floor with a non-verbal Stunning Spell.

Following the commotion, Alecto's brother Amycus and Minerva McGonagall arrived to see what was going on. Amycus suggested that Ravenclaw students would be blamed for having attacked Alecto, with him spitting in McGonagall's face after she protested. Harry Potter then assaulted him with the Cruciatus Curse (under his invisibilty cloak), knocking him unconscious, with him explaining to McGonagall the reasons for his presence in the school. Minerva then placed Amycus under the Imperius Curse and had him drag his sister's unconscious body into Ravenclaw tower, with her then tying them both to the ceiling, rendering them unable to participate in the Battle of Hogwarts which soon commenced.

Entrance

A view of the entrance to the Ravenclaw common room

The entrance to the common room was located on the west side of Hogwarts at the top of a spiral staircase located on the fifth floor, and was a door without a doorknob or keyhole, but a bronze knocker in the shape of an eagle.

Placed on a mantle halfway up the staircase was a marble bust made to honour an unknown Ravenclaw wizard and Ravenclaw house overall.

In order to enter the room, a person must answer a riddle asked by the eagle knocker; if they answered incorrectly, they must wait for someone else who got it right.

Common room

The Common Room's interior

The Ravenclaw common room had a large eagle statue mounted on the wall and two sets of stairs on the left and right. The two staircases formed a circle and therefore both led to the same place.

The Ravenclaw common room was one of the airiest rooms at Hogwarts. It was a wide, circular room with arched windows hung with blue and bronze silks and a midnight blue carpet covered in stars, which was reflected onto the domed ceiling. The room was furnished with tables, chairs, and bookcases; and by the door leading up to the dormitories stood a tall statue of Rowena Ravenclaw made of white marble.

On the second floor of the common room, there was a spiral staircase that led to a rooftop terrace.

According to Prefect Robert Hilliard, the sound of wind whistling around the windows of the tower was relaxing while going to sleep.

During the day, Ravenclaw students had an excellent view of the school grounds, including the lake, Forbidden Forest, Quidditch pitch, Herbology gardens and the surrounding mountains.

Dormitories

The entrance to the Ravenclaw boys and girls' dormitories were also located in the Tower, beside a statue of Rowena Ravenclaw. In the dormitory, four-poster beds were covered in sky blue silk eiderdowns on platforms and the sound of the wind whistling around the windows was very relaxing. A wall was decorated with the Ravenclaw crest and the windows had blue curtains. There was also a desk and stacks of books.

The four-poster beds were covered in blue eiderdowns with navy blue curtains, a wooden nightstand next to it and their school trunk at the foot of the bed. The four poster beds had two shelves at the back of the bed, an owl perch on one side, a small carpet next to the bed and a wooden nightstand at the end of the bed on one side.

Known riddles

Question: "Which came first, the phoenix, or the flame?"

Answer: "A circle has no beginning."

— Luna Lovegood

Question: "Where do Vanished objects go?"

Answer: "Into non-being, which is to say, everything."

— Minerva McGonagall

Question: "Who lived longer, the ghost or the poltergeist?"

Answer: "A non-being can never have been."

— Unidentified Hogwarts student

Behind the scenes

Ravenclaw Tower as depicted in LEGO Harry Potter: Years 1-4

• Since the entrance to Ravenclaw Tower requires an answer to a riddle, rather than a password, it may be easier for some members of other Houses to enter the common room if they are intelligent enough. For example, Minerva McGonagall, Head of Gryffindor House, successfully answered the riddle and entered the tower shortly before the Battle of Hogwarts; however, Amycus Carrow, Deputy Headmaster, failed to answer correctly and was unable to enter despite numerous attempts to force the door open or break it down. According to Hermione Granger when she was solving the riddle Severus Snape placed, most wizards rely on their magical abilities rather than logic, so being able to solve the riddle may be unusual for non-Ravenclaws. Professor McGonagall, who managed it with ease, was almost Sorted into Ravenclaw on her first day at school, being a Hatstall.
• The only confirmed location of the Ravenclaw Tower is in the Lookout Tower in Hogwarts Legacy, although this tower was significantly altered in comparison to the films. Other possible locations include the Central Tower or, less likely, the Astronomy Tower.
• In Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2, it is strange that Harry knows where the common room is despite not going there in previous films. In the novel, Luna Lovegood takes him to the Tower, although he could have found where the common room was by examining the Marauder's Map.
• The statue of Rowena Ravenclaw inside the tower may have been constructed by someone other than Ravenclaw herself, as, according to Pottermore, Salazar Slytherin was the only founder to make a giant statue of themselves. Though it is it is said that Ravenclaw's statue was tall, Harry was able to climb onto its plinth to read the engravings on the diadem sculpted at its top, which means the statue is close to human-height. As such, it is not an especially large statue, and therefore possible that Ravenclaw did create it.
• In Hogwarts Legacy, Ravenclaw Tower is located in the position of the Lookout Tower. This cannot be considered canonical as the film series are a higher source of canon than the video games.

Appearances

• Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (First mentioned)
• Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince (Mentioned only)
• Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows (First appearance)
• Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2
• Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald (Exterior shots)
• LEGO Harry Potter: Years 1-4
• LEGO Harry Potter: Years 5-7 (Appears in a glimpse)
• Pottermore
• Harry Potter (website)
• Harry Potter: Hogwarts Mystery
• Harry Potter: Magic Awakened
• Hogwarts Legacy
• The Harry Potter Wizarding Almanac

See also

• Gryffindor Tower
• Hufflepuff Basement
• Slytherin Dungeon