Chamber of Secrets

[richter_kuymal]

No: HPFGUIDX 150748

 Donna Asks:<snip> entrance to the chamber is a large pipe located 
under a sink complete with water taps.  Now, my question is:  did 
people living over  a thousand years ago have sinks and water taps 
for plumbing?  <snip> If these "modern" conveniences were added 
much, much later  after the chamber was built, when installing the 
new conveniences, why didn't someone investigate the huge pipe and 
check it for leaks, etc?

PAR: yes, there were water plumbing systems that would allow for 
sinks and water fountains --- from the "history channel" site: 
http://www.historychannel.com/exhibits/hometech/toilet.html
King Minos of Crete owned the world's first flushing water closet 
over 2800 years ago. and there is some evidence that the Romans had 
indoor plumbing in many of their structures in England --
http://www.naciente.com/essay55.htm -- the Romans had a system of 
indoor plumbing although it didn't extend to the "flush toilet" 
Additional at  
http://plumbing.1800anytyme.com/info/history_of_plumbing.php.  

The problem is that even so, the best of water systems needs 
periodic upkeep and creating a bathroom complete with faucets (as 
opposed to fountains) and toilets that flushed would have required 
occasional upgrades and modifications. So either some wizard did the 
work who knew about the chamber and put the snake on the tap, the 
upkeep is done by House Elves (who keep the secrets of the 
founders), the castle itself modifies according to need (part of the 
original enchantment) or, possibly the upkeep has been done by 
wizards but the snake on the faucet was done by LV.  
PAR.