Broom Closets (Re: The Magical Room Hiden in Hogwarts)

[prefectmarcus]

No: HPFGUIDX 42913

--- In HPforGrownups at y..., "psychic_serpent" <psychic_serpent at y...> 
wrote:
> --- In HPforGrownups at y..., "prefectmarcus" <prefectmarcus at y...> 
> wrote:
> > There are actually three rooms first mentioned in GoF.  They are:
> > (1) The Prefect's Bathroom
> > (2) The Chamberpot room.
> > (3) The anteroom off the Great Hall.
> 
> Actually, there is another, although it's debatable whether it 
> qualifies for "room" status: the broom closet in which Rita Skeeter 
> conducts an "interview" with Harry prior to the wand-weighing.
>  

In point of fact, I can remember three broom closets.  The one you 
mentioned, the one off the main entrance, and the one that Peeves was 
plugging the keyhole up with gum.  Any others?


> > We also get to see the kitchens for the first time, though they 
> > are mentioned before.
> > 
> > You will also note that JKR did NOT say, "mentioned for the first 
> > time in book four."  
> 
> No, but I don't believe she would have specified that the room was 
> mentioned in book four if it were also mentioned in any other 
book.  
> This would rule out the kitchens and leave the chamberpot room, the 
> anteroom, the broom closet and the prefect's bathroom.  
> 
> The other important thing may be that she used the 
word "mentioned," 
> rather than saying that Harry WENT to the room in question in book 
> four.  This is true for the anteroom, the broom closet and the 
> prefect's bathroom.  However, only the chamber pot room was merely 
> MENTIONED and is never actually seen by Harry or anyone else other 
> than Dumbledore.  This room best fits the description of a 
> place "mentioned" in book four.  But for the life of me, I can't 
> imagine what magical properties it might have.  
> --Barb

I think we have been Potter-starved too long if we are arguing over 
what JKR meant when she used the word "mentioned" in an off-the-cuff 
interview.  "Mentioned" can mean anything from "briefly referred to 
in passing only once and never heard about again," to "described in 
excruciating detail in all of the four books."  I do think it safe to 
say that she meant it as "touched upon in book 4."  Beyond that, I do 
not think we can make any conclusions.

Marcus