Entrance Hall

From UnknowableWiki

The Entrance Hall is the main hall in Hogwarts. It is the first space anyone sees when they enter the school through its main entrance. The Entrance Hall has double oak front doors that open to the west (PA21). It is a large room, lit by torches, with a flagstone floor and a ceiling so high that it is barely visible (HBP28).

A set of double doors on the right leads to the Great Hall, where the members of the school eat their meals and where all feasts are held. A big marble staircase opposite the front door leads up to the first floor. On the east side of the Entrance Hall, flanking the staircase, there are two doors. North of the staircase is a door leading down to the first dungeon level; at the south end of the hall, a door leads to the kitchens and the Hufflepuff common room. On the north wall, there is a door that leads to a small chamber where first years wait to be Sorted and another door that leads to the Slytherin common room (CS12).

Four enormous hourglasses (one for Hufflepuff, one for Gryffindor, one for Slytherin and one for Ravenclaw) stand in niches in the corner opposite the main doors. Each of these hourglasses is filled with gemstones instead of sand, with each gemstone in the lower bulb representing one of the House Points currently held by the House. Ravenclaw's hourglass contains sapphires; Slytherin's, emeralds; and Gryffindor's, rubies (OP28, OP38). Hufflepuff's hourglass presumably contains a yellow stone such as topaz.