The Quad

The Quad
Location information
Location	Ground floor, Hogwarts Castle, Scotland, Great Britain
Permanent residents	Talking Gargoyle

The Quad (also known as the Paved Courtyard) was a courtyard located on the Hogwarts Castle exterior area. It was connected to the Viaduct and the Boathouse. Four towers were located at either corner of this courtyard: The Grand Staircase Tower, Gryffindor Tower, North Tower and Stone Bridge Tower; and the Hospital tower and Suspension Bridge Towers were located in the middle of two different sides.

The fourth, fifth, sixth, and seventh-floor corridors passed right next to this courtyard. A balcony was known to circulate this courtyard.

History

Gobstones players usually came into this courtyard to play "Snake Pit", and it was home to a talking gargoyle. This courtyard was also home to the Slytherin Duelling Club.

In 1996, one of the Weasley twins' Portable Swamps was released here.

During this year, the Slytherin Duelling Club was based here.

The Quad battlements were at the top of the Paved Courtyard. When Severus Snape was Headmaster, he watched from the battlements as students marched across the Viaduct Courtyard.

Later on there were heavy battles going on here between Hogwartians, students and teachers, and Death Eaters. Most of the area was destroyed, including pieces of the battlements above that crashed down in the Quad.

Behind the scenes

• The courtyard changes significantly between the film adaptations of Prisoner of Azkaban and the Goblet of Fire.

The Quad in the film Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2

• In first three films, the courtyard is a grassy cloister similar to the Middle Courtyard, but with walkway paved in a cross pattern similar to the Viaduct Courtyard, with a fountain in the centre. It is clearly shown only once in the second film, and possibly, first film.
  • But there's an unnamed cloister that often mistaken as the Middle Courtyard. It is also grassy but with different windows. It can be seen near the empty classroom where the Mirror of Erised is stored and Professor Quirrell's classroom.
• The courtyard is never shown in the Order of the Phoenix or the Half-Blood Prince film adaptations, but it is seen partially in the Goblet of Fire. It can also be seen in the Hogwarts Castle replica. In the replica, neither the cloister nor the grassy area are seen. Furthermore, the courtyard has two main entrances now (one leading to the Viaduct and the other leading to a new path to the Boathouse) and the Hospital tower is added from the third film adaptation. It is assumed that the new courtyard remains the same in the subsequent film adaptations. In the final one, the courtyard can be seen as it was in the replica.

• The portrayal in the video games is slightly different.

The courtyard as seen in the video game adaptations of Order of the Phoenix and Half-Blood Prince

• In the video game adaptations of Philosopher's Stone and Chamber of Secrets, there is no cloister or grass.
• In the video game adaptation of Prisoner of Azkaban, the Hospital tower is added. Also a new entrance to the Middle Courtyard (connected by the Suspension Bridge) is added.
• In the video game adaptations of Order of the Phoenix and Half-Blood Prince, the new entrances and a cloister are added. Also, in the video game adaptation of Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, a passage is added that goes from the courtyard down to the dungeon level, down a hallway and to the basement level of the Grand Staircase.

Appearances

• Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone (film) (First appearance) (briefly)
• Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone (video game)
• Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets (film)
• Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets (video game)
• Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (film) (briefly)
• Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (video game)
• Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire (film) (briefly)
• Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (film) (briefly)
• Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (video game)
• Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince (film) (briefly)
• Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince (video game)
• Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2
• Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2 (video game)
• LEGO Harry Potter: Years 1-4 (Briefly in Start Menu)
• LEGO Harry Potter: Years 5-7
• The Wizarding World of Harry Potter (Name appears on a tapestry) (First identified as The Quad)
• Hogwarts Legacy
• The Art and Making of Hogwarts Legacy