How To Get Into Slytherin Common Room

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The Slytherin Common Room was a common room for Slytherin House located in Slytherin Dungeon. In general, it sported several shades of green and the mantle was adorned with a portrait of a serpent (all associated with the house).^[1]

Entrance

There was a door on the right side of the Entrance Hall (if coming down the Marble Staircase facing the front doors of the castle)^[2] that was most frequently used by Slytherin students to get to their common room. Behind the door was a set of stone steps which descended deep into the dungeons.^[1]

Note that this door was different from the entrance to the narrow staircase that led down to Snape's office.

The entrance to the common room was located behind a bare stretch of stone wall in the dungeons of Hogwarts Castle. A password was required to enter it; whereupon a passage was revealed leading to the common room.^[1]

Description

"The Slytherin common room was a long, low underground room with rough stone walls and ceiling, from which round, greenish lamps were hanging on chains. A fire was crackling under an elaborately carved mantelpiece ahead of them, and several Slytherins were silhouetted around it in carved chairs."

— Description^[src]

The common room was a dungeon-like room with greenish lamps and chairs. This dungeon extended partway under the lake, giving the light in the room a green tinge. The common room had lots of low backed black and dark green button-tufted, leather sofas; skulls; and dark wood cupboards.^[1] One of the wooden tables had a Wizard's Chess set on it. It was decorated with tapestries featuring the adventures of famous Medieval Slytherins.^[1] It has quite a grand atmosphere, but also quite a cold one. It was decorated with pumpkins for Hallowe'en at least once in the 1980s.^[3]

The password to the common room changed every fortnight, and it was posted on the noticeboard. Slytherin students were warned never to bring students from other houses into the common room, or to reveal the password. Supposedly, no outsider had entered the common room for more than seven centuries^[4] until Harry and Ron entered Slytherin common room in 1992.^[1]

As of 2016, a portrait of Horace Slughorn had a place in the common room due to his bravery at the Battle of Hogwarts.^[5]

History

Draco Malfoy unknowingly being interrogated by Harry Potter and Ron Weasley

On 25 December, 1992, in Harry Potter's second year, he and Ron Weasley went into the Slytherin common room disguised as Vincent Crabbe and Gregory Goyle with the aid of Polyjuice Potion to attempt to discover the identity of the Heir of Slytherin. The entry password was "Pure-blood" when Draco Malfoy let them in. The Polyjuice Potion's wearing off prompted Harry and Ron to leave after staying nearly an hour, still not finding out the identity of the Heir of Slytherin, but they did learn that Malfoy was not the heir, as they originally thought.^[1]

Appearances

Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone (video game) (Entrance only in GBC version only) ^[6]
Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets (First appearance)
Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets (film)
Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets (video game)
Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (video game) (Entrance only)
Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince (Mentioned only)
Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince (video game) (Entrance only)
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows (Mentioned only)
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2 (Appears in deleted scene(s))
LEGO Harry Potter: Years 1-4
LEGO Harry Potter
Harry Potter Trading Card Game
Pottermore
Harry Potter: Hogwarts Mystery
Harry Potter: Wizards Unite (Mentioned only)
Harry Potter: Magic Awakened

Notes and references

↑ ^1.00 ^1.01 ^1.02 ^1.03 ^1.04 ^1.05 ^1.06 ^1.07 ^1.08 ^1.09 ^1.10 Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, Chapter 12 (The Polyjuice Potion)
↑ Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, Chapter 38 (The Second War Begins)
↑ Harry Potter: Hogwarts Mystery, Year 1, "Howling Hallowe'en" Achievement, shown if Jacob's sibling is in Slytherin.
↑ Pottermore introduction for Slytherins
↑ Short Stories from Hogwarts of Heroism, Hardship and Dangerous Hobbies, Chapter 3 (Horace Slughorn)
↑ The door of the common room is seen magically appearing and disappearing everytime we come across it.