Order of the Phoenix: Room of Spells

PURPOSE OF THE ROOM:
Contains the spells that deal with protection of Hogwarts Castle from dark wizards. The spells are carved into stone to provide strength and long life that might not otherwise be had. (explained more in nature of magic)

LOCATION OF THE ROOM:
Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, school castle, under the headmaster’s tower.

ENTRANCE TO THE ROOM:
In though the door and room guarded by the stone gargoyle that is the entrance to the headmaster’s tower. The entrance to the room of spells is reached by saying another password (or command) that reverses the direction of the staircase. Where once it was going up, after the password is said, it goes down. The staircase leads to a small landing. On the landing, set into the stones of the floor, is a kind of portkey that takes whoever is standing on the stone to the room of spells, granted they are truly allowed access to the room. If they are not allowed to enter the room, the stone does nothing.

The magic that dictates who is allowed to enter the room is carved (in latin words) into the stone in a circular fashion. The rules cannot be easily (if at all) changed. Officially, only the headmaster is allowed to enter and interact with the room, but those who hold the blood of the founders are able to enter as well.

It is possible that there are other rooms along the stairway going down and that the landing is somewhere in-between. It is also possible that someone that isn’t being observent would miss the landing. It might be hard to see from the stairs. Only someone who is looking for it, or, less likely, stumbles upon it, will find the landing.

DIMENTIONS/DISCRIPTION OF THE ROOM:
20ft in width
30ft in length
10ft in height
The room is rectangular and built from light-colored tan stone blocks. The stones are cut straight and fit tightly together with no signs of wear. The stone on the walls and ceiling are of medium size, rectangles of about 3ft by 2ft. The stones on the floor are made in various sizes and arranged in a pattern. It is one of these stone that acts as the entrance and exit portkey. The room contains no doors or windows. The floor stone is the only entrance to the room, there are no others.
Near the walls (about 3 ft from them) the ceiling drops down about 1-1.5 ft. Round columns (with a radius of about 1/2 ft) exist around the edges of the lowered ceiling. Each if the columns is about 5 ft apart. There is room enough to walk behind the columns. One of the light sources for the room shines down from between the columns and the wall (with no obvious source).
On the wall, between the columns, is the space for the spells. They are carved into the wall and glow with a faint light.
The light from the ceiling and the glow from the spells are the only light sources in the room. This leaves the center of the room slightly dark. This darkness draws attention to the spells on the wall.
The room is very clean and gives no impression of age.

HISTORY OF THE ROOM:
When the castle was first bulit, the location that was to become the hall of spells was part of the headmaster’s quarters and sat at the bottom of the spiral staircase.
It was not secret, but had a door and was entered by just reversing the stairs and walking down them. While we know that it wasn’t a room made to contain spells, we are unsure of what the headmaster did actually use the room for. That knowledge was lost.
When Slytherin split from the other founders, the entrence to the room was closed and the bottom of the stairs raised (so as to hide the knowledge of the room). The stone portkey was put in place, with all its magic, as the new entrence to the room and a password was placed on the stairs so that they were not easily reversed. The spells were then etched into the stone of the room and the castle was made safe from attack from dark wizards.
From the point of Slytherin’s split from the school to the present day, the room has served as a protection from dark magic.

The room was converted because of the new need for the protection from dark magic that existed after Slytherin split from the school. The school was founded as a haven against muggle persecution not as a haven against dark wizards. The spells placed on the school at its founding would have reflected this fact. While it is true that there were dark wizards before, and there was probably some protection against them, the real threat facing the wizarding world was from non-magic folk. Slytherin was another matter. He was a strong wizard (one of the strongest of that time) and held a grudge against the school and its founders. Stronger protection for the students, especially those with muggle blood, against him and those like him was needed. Thus, the room of spells.

SECRETS OF THE ROOM:
At the splitting of the founders, a prophecy was made by one of the remaining three in response to a threat of Slytherins. It spoke of the conflict that would come out of the split and the challenges they would fact in years to come.
When the remaining founders created the room of spells (or turned it into what it presently is), they recorded the works and occasion of the prophecy into the stones.
If activated, the letters of the spells rearrange themselves into the words of the prophecy. While this happens, a ghostly reenactment of the giving of the prophecy plays out in the room. This is the only whole or complete record of this prophecy. (explained more in Gryffindor vs. Slytherin)
The recording is most likely activated by certain words or a phrase.

NOTES:
[Saturday, June 18, 2005]
I am yet unsure what place this room of spells will play in the story. I know that it will be where the complete prophesy is discovered again, but how the prophecy fits into the main storyline I have yet to figure out. Hopefully I will figure all this out soon.