Circular Chamber

From UnknowableWiki

The circular chamber is a room in the Department of Mysteries, located behind a plain black door on level nine of the Ministry of Magic building (OP7). The room is the antechamber that leads to all other rooms in the Department.

The chamber is comprised of twelve identical, unmarked, handleless doors set at regular intervals on its circular walls. The floor is made of black marble, black also being the colour of the ceiling, the walls and the doors themselves. The only source of light in the room are blue flames that come from branches of candles set between the doors.

The circular chamber's walls rotate when one closes any of the twelve doors, making it impossible for a given person to know which room he or she emerged from, or the location of the other chambers (OP34). One possible solution for one to figure out which door to open is to simply ask the chamber itself. When trying to get to leave the Department of Mysteries, Harry Potter desperately shouts "Where's the exit? (...) Where's the way out?". The correct door then opens, allowing the boy to go through (OP36). It is unknown whether asking only works when it comes to finding the exit. It is, however, arguable the solution could function regarding every room, since the Death Eaters seem to find their way around the Department easily (OP35).

The chamber is the first room the Trio, Neville Longbottom, Luna Lovegood and Ginny Weasley acess when entering the Department of Mysteries. At Harry's request, Neville closes the door through which they had entered, activating the room's rotation mechanism.

The Hogwarts students then proceed to try to find the "room that glitters", that, according to Harry, would lead to the Hall of Prophecy. On their first attempt, the teenagers try the door to the Brain Room. When returing to the circular chamber, Hermione Granger first uses Flagrate to mark the doors through which they had passed, as way of not losing track of the rooms they had already entered (OP34).

Later on, during the Battle of the Department of Mysteries, the DA members enter the circular chamber several times, eventually being led to the Time, Brain, Planet and Death rooms (OP35).