Welcome to the Gryffindor Common Room
You made it up the moving staircases, remembered which corridor to take and found the portrait guarding the entrance. Give the Fat Lady the correct password and climb through: beyond her frame is one of Hogwarts’ warmest places to end a long day of lessons.
You’ve Found Gryffindor Tower
The Gryffindor common room is hidden high in one of Hogwarts Castle’s towers. Its entrance is concealed behind the portrait of the Fat Lady, who admits Gryffindor students only after they give her the current password.
Inside, the room is warm, crowded and unmistakably lived in. Comfortable chairs fill the space, students gather to finish homework, and the common room regularly becomes the setting for everything from whispered conversations to full-house celebrations.
Staircases lead from the common room to the Gryffindor dormitories, making this the center of daily life for members of the house.
Inside the Common Room
You will spend a lot of time here over the next seven years. Best learn your way around.
The Fireplace
The heart of the room, particularly once the Scottish weather turns cold. It is equally useful for warming up after Quidditch practice and providing somewhere to stare when you should be writing an essay.
Armchairs & Sofas
Gryffindors gather in comfortable chairs scattered around the room. Some are used for studying. Others have almost certainly witnessed far more gossip than homework.
The Dormitory Stairs
Staircases lead upward from the common room to the students’ dormitories. Your four-poster bed and trunk await — assuming you eventually decide to call it a night.
The Noticeboard
Announcements, reminders and assorted pieces of parchment accumulate here throughout the year. Check it occasionally. One of them might actually be important.
Gryffindor Notices
A few things every student in the tower should probably remember.
Prefect’s Reading List
Someone has helpfully left a few recommended volumes beside the noticeboard. Your professors may or may not consider them required reading.
The Common Room Has Seen a Lot
Generations of Gryffindors have studied, celebrated, argued and occasionally caused complete chaos here. Open a memory from the room’s history.
Quidditch victories become house-wide celebrations
Gryffindor takes Quidditch seriously, and major wins have sent students pouring back into the tower for celebrations. The common room can quickly turn from study space to party headquarters when the team gives the house something to celebrate.
Sirius Black once tried to get past the Fat Lady
During Harry Potter’s third year, Sirius Black attempted to enter Gryffindor Tower. When the Fat Lady refused to admit him without a password, her portrait was attacked, sending Hogwarts into a heightened state of alarm.
Christmas mornings begin upstairs
Gryffindors who remain at Hogwarts over the holidays wake in their dormitories before heading downstairs and out into a castle transformed for Christmas — usually after inspecting whatever has appeared at the foot of their beds.
Some very important plans began here
For Harry, Ron and Hermione, the common room became far more than a place to finish schoolwork. Conversations held here regularly turned into theories, discoveries and plans that carried them far beyond Gryffindor Tower.
Gryffindors Who Called It Home
The couches may have changed over the years, but plenty of familiar witches and wizards have passed through the portrait hole.
What Kind of House Is This?
Gryffindor has a reputation for students who are willing to act when something matters — sometimes before they have completely considered what happens next. Courage is prized here, but Gryffindor life is also shaped by loyalty, conviction and a strong instinct to stand beside other people when things become difficult.
Keep Exploring
Before you head back into the castle, there are a few more pieces of wizarding reading worth picking up.
Gryffindor Traits: What It Truly Means to Be Brave
Look beyond the stereotype and explore what courage, nerve and determination actually mean for Gryffindor.
Read the guide
Sirius Black: The Full Story of His Imprisonment and Escape
Follow the former Gryffindor from the fall of the Potters through 12 years in Azkaban and his extraordinary escape.
Read the story
MuggleNet’s Free Printable Wizarding Activity Book
Print a collection of wizarding activities and bring a little Hogwarts fun away from the screen.
Get the activity bookReady to Head Back Into the Castle?
There is much more of Hogwarts to explore. Leave Gryffindor Tower and continue through classrooms, corridors, grounds, secret passages and the rest of our guide to the castle.
Explore Hogwarts
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