It really annoys me ...

[anne_t_squires]

No: HPFGUIDX 163861

--- In HPforGrownups at yahoogroups.com, Bart Lidofsky <bartl at ...> wrote:
>
> Anne Squires:
> > Just how big are Hogwarts' pipes anyway?
> > A Basilisk seems to go unimpeded through them.  Huh?  Also, access to
> >the Chamber which is a thousand years old is by means of a modern
> >plumbing system.  It seems to me that when the castle was renovated to
> >include said plumbing system then whoever installed it would have
> >noticed that their new pipes led to an underground Chamber.  It makes
> >no sense whatsoever that Salazar Slytherin had anything to do with
> >installing a modern bathroom, yet through this bathroom one gains
> >direct access to his "hidden" Chamber.  It makes no sense at all.  
> 
> Bart: 
> Check out the etymology of the word, "plumbing". It's a lot more
ancient than you might realize. The problem was twofold; the first was
that plumbing (as the name would imply) was originally lead pipes,
which Muggles have found to be poisonous (and, according to some
theories, helped to cause the fall of the Roman Empire). The second
was that the need for plumbing is greater in cities, and, after the
fall of Rome, many civilized places became ruralized. 
 

<snip>


Anne Squires replies:

Actually, Bart, I am aware that plumbing in general is rather ancient.
 I am aware of the ancient Roman baths having seen some in person.  I
suppose that instead of using the term "modern plumbing" I should have
said "modern toilet."  

According to a website called The History of Plumbing - Roman and
English Legacy http://www.theplumber.com/eng.html the first toilet
ever built on English soil was constructed by Sir John Harington for
his godmother, Queen Elizabeth I, in 1596 and installed  for her use
in Richmond Palace. Although the Queen did use it, the toilet and
Harington were subject to ridicule and derision. Harington never made
another. It would be another 200 years before the idea took hold
again. The first patent for a "modern" toilet belongs to Alexander
Cumming, who invented the "S" trap in 1775.  Three years later, Joseph
Bramah, a locksmith and engineer, patented an improved version with
two hinged valves.  In 1848, England passed the national Public Health
Act, which would become a model plumbing code for the world to follow.
It mandated some kind of sanitary arrangement in every house. The site
goes on to document various improvements and innovations that were
made to the design of the toilet throughout the nineteenth and
twentieth centuries.   

Given the history of the "modern toilet"  I do not believe that
Salazar Slytherin, wizard or no, had anything to do with the
construction of a girls' bathroom.  As I stated in my previous post,
Hogwarts must have undergone a renovation at some point to have
bathrooms and accompanying piping installed.  It makes absolutely no
sense to me that those who were responsible for these renovations did
not notice that their pipes led to a secret chamber.  I still maintain
that it is a plot hole.  It is canon that Slytherin and the founders
built Hogwarts a thousand years ago.  No where in the UK were there
indoor toilets like the one in CoS at this time.  Assuming CoS takes
place in 1992-93 the toilet had been around for a little less than
four hundred years at the most. (1992 - 1596 = 396)  The Wizarding
World is not known for being very quick to follow Muggle technology
and trends; so, I really think it wasn't until at least the 1800's
before Hogwarts had the girls' bathroom in question installed, well
after Salazar Slytherin's time.


Having said all that, I feel I must qualify my observations by stating
that this is really only a minor irritation.  It doesn't bother me all
that much.  I am one of those people who is able to "suspend
disbelief" quite willingly when I read something like Harry Potter. 
However, I do not forget all history I am aware of that pertains to
the Real World.  Inge had asked in her original post if we had noticed
any inconsistencies. This is something I had noticed when I read CoS.
 I dismissed it at the time by saying to myself, "Well, the rooms and
stairs rearrange themselves, after all.  Perhaps the castle magically
built itself a series of bathrooms."  Given what we later were to
learn about the Room Of Requirement, I don't think this was an
illogical conclusion on my part.


Anne Squires