Summary - Hogwarts castle, grounds and lake

[katzefan at yahoo.com]

No: HPFGUIDX 29516

PS/SS

Harry's first glimpse of Hogwarts is at night, as they come to the 
edge of the lake. He sees 'a vast castle with many turrets and 
towers.' They enter the castle via a wide opening in the cliff face, 
screened by ivy. The entrance hall is huge, lit with flaming 
torches, an immensely high ceiling and a flagged stone floor. 
The Great Hall is also high-ceilinged, but here the ceiling has 
been bewitched to look like the night sky (this changes - the 
ceiling usually mimicks whatever the weather and time of day 
actually is). The Great Hall is lit by thousands of candles floating 
in mid-air. On special holidays it is decorated with a relevant 
theme (Halloween, Christmas).
When the first-years are led to their dormitory, it seems to be 
miles away, through a variety of doors - some hidden - and up 
numerous staircases. Over their first few weeks the stairs and 
the doors are a nuisance: some doors won't open unless they're 
tickled in just the right place or receive a polite requests; some of 
the staircases lead to different places on Fridays; some have a 
trick step that you have to remember to jump over. In fact, it's 
hard to find anything, because 'it all seems to move around a lot.' 
The people in the portraits often go to visit each other, and Harry 
is sure the suits of armor can walk.
Hogwarts is also home to numerous ghosts, including the four 
House Ghosts: Nearly Headless Nick, of Gryffindor; the Grey 
Lady, of Ravenclaw; the Bloody Baron, of Slytherin; and the Fat 
Friar, of Hufflepuff. It also houses Peeves, a poltergeist, who 
sneaks up on the students and drops wastebaskets on their 
heads, yanks rugs from under their feet, or grabs their noses. In 
fact, Peeves doesn't listen to anyone - including the caretaker 
Filch - except the Bloody Baron.
Outside the school is the Quidditch Pitch, a stadium with 
hundreds of raised seats and, at either end, three vertical golden 
poles with hoops at the tops.
Hagrid's house is also on the Hogwarts grounds. It's a large 
one-room cottage made of wood.
As well, there is the lake the students crossed upon arriving at 
Hogwarts; it's home to a giant squid. Not far away is the 
Forbidden Forest, which Dumbledore warns, at the start-of-term 
banquet, is forbidden to all students. The Forbidden Forest 
houses unicorns and centaurs, and Draco says he's heard there 
are also werewolves there.
The village of Hogsmeade is some distance away from the 
school, although within walking distance.

Questions

1. What else might be in Hogwarts, apart from classrooms, 
dormitories and common rooms, and staff offices?

2) Why aren't the students given official notice of trick staircases 
and other oddities, when someone could get seriously hurt on 
them?

3) Why is Peeves allowed to stay, when he's such a menace?

4) Do the official House Ghosts ever change, or have these four 
got their positions for all of eternity?