Phoenix Statue in CoS

[erisedstraeh2002]

Greicy de los Santos wrote:

> Has anyone else noticed that the statue that leads Harry to 
> Dumbledore's office is a Phoenix?  
 
and Amy (Quidditchmom) responded:

> I always thought it was a griffin.  But you're right, a phoenix is 
> *much* more interesting!  Does anyone out there know for sure?

Now me:

I'm fairly sure it's a griffin.  It looks like it has the head of an 
eagle and the body of a lion, which is how a griffin is defined in 
mythology.

In the book, the brass knocker on Dumbledore's office door is in the 
shape of a griffin, so I think the movie-makers decided to make the 
staircase into the shape of a griffin so it would be more obvious to 
us Muggles.

I, however, liked the subtlety in the book a lot better.  The movie 
seems to scream "notice the griffin!" while the book lets you choose 
whether or not to notice it (it took me until my second reading to 
notice it).

I think the door knocker is one of the many clues that support the 
theory that Dumbledore's office was once Gryffindor's office (since 
there are various objects in Dumbledore's office that once belonged 
to Gryffindor - the sword, the hat and (IMO) the phoenix).

~Phyllis