[HPforGrownups] Where's the bathroom?

[Shaun Hately]

No: HPFGUIDX 45454

On 17 Oct 2002 at 2:22, Steve wrote:

> I'm winging it from memory here, although I am in the process of
> reading CoS again. I hope I don't mess this up.

I'm going off my map of Hogwarts and notes here - I should point out my map 
(which is based on canon) at best represents only a possible configuration of 
Hogwarts based on all the information I can find in the books. I only have one of my 
notebooks here at the moment, so I can't necessairly cite all my references.
 
> Hermione said Moaning Myrtle's bathroom is on the first floor. I
> assume that's the British first floor which is the American second
> floor. It's the floor above the ground floor.
>
> Next when Harry comes up from the dungeon (CS: death day party) and
> hears the Basilisk, he runs up from the dungeon then up the marble
> staircase. This puts him on the British first floor/American second
> floor. This should be the level that Moaning Myrtle's bathroom is on.
> Then they run up another staircase following the voice and down to the
> end of a hallway. Here they see the writing on the wall and the dead
> cat. All this is outside of Moaning Myrtle's bathroom.
> 
> So is that bathroom on the ground floor, second floor, or third floor?

I had to place Moaning Myrtle's bathroom on the second floor (when counting 
'Ground, First, Second, etc.'), despite what Hermione said at the Death Day Party 
(and much as I hate to consider Hermione wrong).

We have apparently contradictory information here (page numbers refer to 
Australian printings, which, AFAIK, use the same text and page numbers as the 
British). COS, page 101, has Hermione stating Moaning Myrtles toilet is on the first 
floor.

However, Goblet of Fire, page 345, says that Myrtle's toilet is on the second floor.

You've already mentioned the run from the dungeon (COS, page 104-106), which 
specifically mentions stairs to the entrance hall, stairs to the first floor (and says that 
when on the first floor, Harry can hear the voices on the floor above) and then stairs 
to the second floor and Harry 'hurtling' around that floor before finding the walls.

Another reference - Cedric directs Harry to the Prefects bathroom on the fifth floor 
(GoF, p 375) and when he is in that room (GoF, p400) it is mentioned that Myrtle 
haunts a toilet, three floors below.

We have a lot more evidence for the second floor than the first - which is based on 
Hermione, discussing a room she tries to avoid anyway.

It could have moved, I guess, but the second floor is where I place it.

> Next, I brought this up before in another thread, but no one seemed
> interested. I'll bring it up again and let the chips fall where they may.
> 
> When the feast ended, why did all the students go down that particular
> hall? A hallway that appears to be on the third floor. (British:second
> floor; American:Third floor. Up two flights of stairs from ground level.)
> 
> The Slytherins, for example, go DOWN to the dungeons from the main
> entryway. I think, Ravenclaw, and Hufflepuff also go down from the
> main entryway to get to their dorms. So why did they all go up two
> flights of stairs and down those hallways? They seemed to come from
> two directions; coming from two directions seems to imply that
> Harry/Ron/Hermione were at the end of the building or wing, and the
> students came down two parallel hallways. So where were they all
> going? Why would the whole student body go down a hallway that doesn't
> really go anywhere?

I certainly can't explain (from my, possibly highly inaccurate, map) why anybody 
would be in that corridor - but Ravenclaw doesn't go down from the main entryway 
to get to their dorms - it seems Hufflepuff might - but I'm unsure.

It seems to be Dumbledore would have at least some idea of where the dormitories 
are - and in GOF, p247, when talking to Cedric and Harry in the small room off the 
Great Hall, where the Triwizard Champions went after selection, he tells Harry and 
Cedric to go 'up' to their dormitories.

On page 248, Cedric heads downstairs from the Entrance Hall, and he's supposed 
to be going to his dormitory - but really, for all we know he could be off somewhere 
else - he's a prefect and they seem to move around a lot more than others (or 
maybe he wanted to get some food from the kitchens - like Fred and George have).

GOF, p477, also mentions Cedric coming up from the Hufflepuff common room into 
the Entrance Chamber - but that's from Harry's perspective and he could be making 
an assumption based on p248, perhaps - after all, exactly where the Common 
Rooms are seems to be secret... perhaps Cedric (being a prefect, and possibly 
intent on the rules) is deliberately misleading Harry as to its location...

Balance of probabilities, I think the entrance to Hufflepuff Common Room is 
probably downstairs from the Entrance Hall - but I'm not sure the evidence for that 
is incredibly firm. Anyone got evidence I am missing here.

Ravenclaw however - as far as I know, we have no indication of where the RC 
commonroom is (on my map, I stuck it on the fourth floor because I had a lot of 
empty space there (-8).

Yours Without Wax, Dreadnought
Shaun Hately |webpage: http://www.alphalink.com.au/~drednort/thelab.html
(ISTJ)       |email: drednort at alphalink.com.au | ICQ: 6898200
"You know the very powerful and the very stupid have one thing in
common. They don't alter their views to fit the facts. They alter
the facts to fit the views. Which can be uncomfortable if you happen
to be one of the facts that need altering." The Doctor - Doctor Who:
The Face of Evil | Where am I: Frankston, Victoria, Australia