I mentioned a lot of things about the Great Hall,while we were talking about the Sorting Ceremony.This chapter describes those things about the Great Hall that havent been mentioned yet.

The Great Hall is accessible at Hogwarts at all times,and since students of all houses are present here at mealtimes and during occassions though seated separately at the four house tables,the Great Hall is an excellent place for socialisation between the students of all Hogwarts houses.All the professors and the Headmaster/Headmistress are also present here at mealtimes,so you get to see them too.The Great Hall leads out to the main entrance hall which further leads out at the front of the Hogwarts castle to the Black Lake and serves as the main entranceway to the Hogwarts castle.*In HiH you are inevitably part of the Great Hall,irrespective of whether you join in or not,or which groups or clubs you are part of,or which house you are in.You get to see posts on social media from everyone in the Great Hall,irrespective of the same.Explore Around The Castle to find The Great Hall.*The Great Hall has four huge hourglasses,representing each house,and instead of sand,these hourglasses are filled with gems in the house colors of the house they represent.These hourglasses dont tell the time but tell the number of house points(more on what house points are and how to earn them or how they are deducted in the next chapter)each house has acquired until then.Whenever a student from a particular house,or the house as a whole,wins a certain number of house points,the same number of gems in the house colors of the house magically automatically fall from the top chamber of the hourglass representing that house to the bottom chamber.And when a student from the house,or the house as a whole,loses a certain number of house points,the same number of gems move up to the top chamber from the bottom chamber.This means that the bottom chamber of the hourglass represents how many house points that house has acquired until then.At the end of every year at Hogwarts,the number of house points acquired by each house are counted,and the house with the most house points is awarded the Hogwarts house trophy or Hogwarts house cup.Among the other beautiful and fascinating things to see in the Great Hall,are the huge stained glass windows and the enchanted ceiling which I already mentioned in the previous chapter,and also the beautiful magically floating candles floating in the air that adorn the Great Hall after sunset.In the morning during breakfast times,when almost everyone at Hogwarts from students to Professors to the Headmaster/Headmistress is or is supposed to be available in the Great Hall eating breakfast,a flurry of owls with letters and parcels for the ones who recieved them,enter the Great hall to deliver them.This is known as the arrival of the morning owl post.Most students recieve letters and parcels from their families and other places.Now,talking about the food in the Great Hall,it is not manually served,but magically appears on the plates and utensils at Hogwarts,and so does every change of cutlery.If you notice,you will see your professors and other Hogwarts staff who are not heads of houses,sitting on the stage at a long table for the staff,known as the High Table,and thats where their food is served and they eat.The professors who are heads of houses sit at the head of their particular house table to eat.So,where does this food come from?All this food is prepared in the Hogwarts kitchens situated in the basement by an army of elves working at Hogwarts,and they are the ones who make the food magically appear on the tables along with fresh cutlery,and the leftovers and soiled cutlery magically disappear from the tables in the Great Hall.There are three meals served at Hogwarts,breakfast,lunch and dinner/supper.Among the food available to eat as part of regular meals,are the ones enlisted as follows:-

Breakfast:-

Mountains of toast

Tureens of porridge

Plates of kippers

Dishes of eggs(fried or scrambled) and bacon

Fried Sausages

Fried Tomatoes

Mash

Cereal(eg.cornflakes)

Milk

Jam 

Butter

Marmalade

Ketchup

Coffee 

Orange Juice

Pumpkin Juice

Other meals at Hogwarts:-

Meat pies

Tripe 

Stew

Roast beef

Roast chicken 

Beef casserole

French Onion Soup(a recipe popularised in the wizarding world by a house elf called Kreacher)

Sprouts

Shepherd's pie

Lamb chops

Steak and kidney pudding

Black pudding

Cornish pasties

Chips

Soup

Jacket potatoes

Gravy

Peas

Carrots

Pork chops

Mashed potatoes

Turkey sandwiches

Dessert-Treacle tart,Pumpkin Pie,Chocolate éclairs,Mint humbugs,icecream,rice pudding,trifle,eggnog,Christmas pudding,Christmas cake,Fudge flies,Jam doughnuts,custard tart,baked pumpkin,marshmallows,Jelly slugs,Fizzing whizbees,Pumpkin pasties,Pumpkin juice and Orange juice

When visited by other students such as students from the magical school of Beauxbatons,the Hogwarts menu may include foods specific to the cuisine of the visitors such as bouillabaise.

If you intend to thank the house elves for their delicious food and excellent service,trust me you will have many moments when you will want to,you can go to the basement where the kitchens are located,and locate a painting of still-life with fruits in it,and tickle the pear on it until it begins to laugh loudly,and that will open the entrance of the Hogwarts kitchens for you.The house elves are proud creatures,and do not accept thanks or money,but are proud of the service they provide to the witches or wizards,whom they call masters or mistresses.The occassional word of appreciation will light their faces up though.They are quite friendly and you can visit them often,and occassionally get extra treats and food from them.A house elf is a short,ugly creature with orb like eyes,pointed ears and long fingers,averagely three feet high.They often work as un-salaried household help for magical people,and consider themselves slaves and are fiercely loyal servants to their masters and mistresses.They often punish themselves for not being able to fulfil their master's or mistress's orders or for breaking their loyalty to their households.They do not wear clothes,but drape themselves with tea towels or old tablecloths and such things,wearing them like a toga.A sock given to the house elves by their masters or mistresses indicates that the house elf is free.A house elf called Dobby once got freed and set an example,he worked at Hogwarts with a salary after being accidentally freed by his initial master and wore clothes,symbolizing his freedom.He died fighting for his hero,Harry Potter,though.

From the Great Hall,let us move on to talking about the common rooms and the dorms.As I mentioned in the previous chapter,the students sorted into different houses live separately in their designated areas in the castle.

The Gryffindors live in Gryffindor Tower,where at the end of a spiral staircase on a lavish Gryffindor landing,is the portrait of the Fat Lady,that has long since concealed the entrance to the Gryffindor Common Room and just like the nature of a Gryffindor,fiercely and bravely protected it with passwords that are changed from time to time.To enter the Gryffindor Common Room,one must speak the correct password to the Fat Lady in the portrait,upon which the portrait swings open revealing the round hole like entrance.I must mention all photographs and portraits in the magical world are able to move and talk.The portrait of the Fat Lady can also do the same.The Gryffindor common room is a large cosy round room with many squashy armchairs,tables,bookcases and a bulletin board.It is furnished and decorated in the house colors of Gryffindor house.It has many windows showing great views of the Hogwarts castle grounds,and a large fireplace with a roaring fire,fire being the closest natural element to the Gryffindors.The mantle of the fireplace is adorned with a portrait of a lion and many books.The walls are decorated with scarlet tapestries depicting witches,wizards and animals.The Gryffindor common rooms are places to have a chat,relax or do homework after class.Nowadays,in Hogwarts,students from any house can enter the Gryffindor common room,but students from other houses cant permanently live in the Gryffindor tower.There's a winding mahogany staircase decorated with crimson and gold,that leads to the dormitories for the Gryffindors from the Gryffindor common room.There are separate dormitories for boys and girls and boys are repelled by quite nasty magic if they try to enter the girls' dormitories.The dormitories have four poster beds with thick scarlet blankets embroidered in gold for students of Gryffindor house to sleep in.However,nowadays at Hogwarts,dormitories can be entered and left at leisure.While only Gryffindors can sleep on the four poster beds and permanently live in the dorms,students from any house can now enter and visit these dorms.These dormitories,or dorms,now,have names given to them by students,like Gryffindorm etc.,and this applies to the dormitories of any house now at Hogwarts.These are places for resting and having a nice long chat,and also the Hogwarts residences and bedrooms of Gryffindors.With some or no help or permission from a Gryffindor,you can easily visit these places,even if you are from a different house.

The Ravenclaws live in Ravenclaw tower,which houses the Ravenclaw common room and the dorms for the Ravenclaws.At the top of a spiral staircase on the fifth floor,is a door with a bronze eagle shaped knocker.There is no other doorknob or keyhole.The eagle shaped knocker can speak and respects wit and wisdom just like the Ravenclaws and asks you a riddle,if you are trying to enter the Ravenclaw common room.Only the ones who answer correctly(which indicates that they are true Ravenclaws depicting intelligence,wit and wisdom) can enter,others must wait to be let in by someone who can answer the riddle correctly.The Ravenclaw common room is the airiest common room in Hogwarts,and is wide,circular with a domed ceiling which reflects the stars covering the midnight blue carpet on the floor,air and the blue sky being the closest natural elements to the Ravenclaws.It has arched windows,hung with blue and bronze silk curtains,showing breathtaking views of the surrounding mountains and the Hogwarts castle grounds.You may always hear a relaxing whistling sound near the windows,which may help Ravenclaws go to sleep.The room is furnished with tables,chairs,bookcases and a marble statue of Rowena Ravenclaw,beside which the door leading to the Ravenclaw dorms is situated.The Ravenclaws also have separate boys and girls' dorms for sleeping,and each dorm has four poster beds covered with sky blue silk eiderdowns on platforms with navy blue curtains,desks,stacks of books,a wall depicting the Ravenclaw house crest and windows with blue curtains.Each bed also has two shelves at the back and an owl perch on one side,and there is a small carpet next to each bed and a wooden nightstand at the end of each bed.Just like the Gryffindor common rooms and dorms,while only Ravenclaws can reside in and sleep in the Ravenclaw dorms and common room,students from any house can now enter and visit these places at leisure.These are places to chat and relax and study or complete assignments after class.You may sometimes need the help or permission of a Ravenclaw to enter,though,if you are from a different house.

The Slytherins live in the dungeon(yes,you read it right) and if compared by depths,the Slytherin common room is situated underground and is partly under the Black Lake,which is why the light in the room has a green tinge,a close salute to water and grass, being the natural habitat of snakes,and also water being the closest natural element to the Slytherins.It is a lowly lit,long,low room with rough stone walls and greenish lamps hanging on chains from the rough ceiling.It sports many carved chairs,tables,low backed black and dark green button-tufted leather sofas,skulls,dark wooden cupboards and a fireplace with an elaborately carved mantelpiece,and has a cold,grand atmosphere,in accordance with the house's reputation for being the most closely associated with the Dark Arts.It also has tapestries depicting Slytherin witches and wizards from history,and a noticeboard which depicts the password to the Slytherin common room,and this password changes every fortnight,just like the Slytherins' flaky nature.The Slytherin dorms,being very much protected and kept secret by the Slytherins,are unknown to me,and hence I cant describe.While you can now enter and visit any common room or dorm at Hogwarts,you can still be sure not many Slytherins will be happy to see you if you are not from their house or arent cunning and ambitious like them.Of course,only Slytherins get to reside and live in the dungeon.But if you are from a different house,you can chat,study and relax with them after class in their common room or dungeon,if they let you in that is(even Slytherins may sometimes leave their common rooms and dorm doors open and unprotected,welcoming anyone in,so it wont hurt to try getting in,anyway).

The Hufflepuffs live in the basement,closely connected to the ground,being most closely connected to the natural element,earth.They live right beside the Hogwarts kitchens,and may be quite often found badgering for food in the kitchens,trying to sneak in supplies into their burrow like common room and dorms at Hogwarts.Just like badgers,the entrance to their residence is sneakily tucked away behind a pile of large barrels containing kitchen items stacked under a shadowy stone recess on the right hand side of the corridor,just beside the painting of still-life depicting fruits which actually protects the entrance to the kitchens of Hogwarts castle.To enter the Hufflepuff common room,you must tap in the rhythm of "Helga Hufflepuff" barrel two from bottom,middle of second row,but be careful,as if tapped in the wrong rhythm or on tapping the wrong barrel,the lid of an adjoining barrel may suddenly burst open and drench you in vinegar.The Hufflepuffs stick to the same protection for the entrance of their common room for years,owing to their loyal,reliable and trustworthy nature and being friendly and kind,they dont mind even if their entrance is figured out.If you tap correctly on the correct barrel,it reveals an earthy passage burrowed upwards towards a cosy low-ceilinged room which looks like a badger's sett.It is decorated in yellow and black with highly polished honey-colored wood tables,for the Hufflepuffs,somewhat reminiscent of a beehive full of,hardworking and social,worker bees storing honey.The common room also depicts the nature loving nature of the Hufflepuffs and their closeness to the natural element,earth,by being full of various cacti in wooden circular shelves curved to fit the walls.These cacti are friendly just like the Hufflepuffs and wave and dance at passersby in the common room,and tendrils of ferns and ivies from copper-bottomed plant holders dangling amid the ceiling,caress and brush the hair of passersby in the common room,just like the caring Hufflepuffs.Honey-colored wood round doors lead to the boys' and girls' dormitories,which are full of comfortable wooden bedsteads with patchwork quilts.Anyone can easily enter the Hufflepuff common rooms and dorms as they are not fussy about it,and anyone can chat with them,study and relax after class,but only Hufflepuffs can sleep and reside in these quarters.The occassional Hufflepuff may try to have some privacy,so you will still have to be careful though and may occassionally find yourself requiring permission from a Hufflepuff to enter.

*In HiH you can enter the common rooms of any of the houses,by joining the students of that house in their common room from the student groups listed under the Groups and Clubs section.If the common room is protected by a password,you may have to wait to be let in,or if the door is left open by the inhabitants and you find you are already welcome,you can just enter.The same applies to the dorms as well.Once you join the dormitory you want to permanently reside in,or join dormitories to frequently visit them,the one you choose to permanently reside in will be found as your dormitory,listed under your exploration of Hogwarts,Around The Castle.The remaining dormitories you join will be found listed under your Groups and Clubs in the Groups and Clubs section.The Groups and Clubs section is always found on exploration Around The Castle.*