"The Fat Friar told me that Umbridge tried to get back into [Dumbledore's] office last night...Couldn't get past the gargoyle. The Head's office has sealed itself against her."
-- Ernie Macmillan (OP28)
The headmaster/mistress of Hogwarts has an office in one of the towers of the castle.
The entrance to this office at Hogwarts is behind a statue of a gargoyle on the seventh floor, although it seems to move around since this entrance was found on the second floor on one occasion (GF28) and the fifth on another (CS11). When given the proper password, the gargoyle will leap aside, and the wall behind it will split in two to reveal a spiral stone staircase that moves like an escalator (CS12, GF30, OP22). Dumbledore’s password for the gargoyle always seems to have been the name of a sweet, and to have been known to the various staff members though not to the student body at large. McGonagall as Deputy Headmistress knew the password (CS12), but so did Hagrid (CS13), Snape (GF28), and even Umbridge (OP27). However, the office can be sealed so that none can enter save the rightful Headmaster or Headmistress (OP28), and also can be sealed so that someone already inside cannot leave without the Head’s permission (OP37).
Once in the door, visitors ride on a spiral stone staircase that moves slowly upward as the gargoyle’s entrance closes behind them. The staircase leads to a highly polished oak door with a brass knocker in the shape of a griffin. The door is not sound-proof; a visitor standing on the staircase can hear anyone speaking in the room inside, although not necessarily distinctly unless the speakers’ voices are raised (GF30).
The oak door opens into a large and beautiful circular room with windows, at least one of which faces east with a view of some of the mountains surrounding the castle (OP37). The windows also afford a view of the Quidditch pitch. Although the windows had curtains back in Armando Dippet’s day, Dumbledore does not seem to have ever been in the habit of drawing them. HBP20 refers to window ledges, and Harry’s visit after Aragog’s burial (HBP23) mentions of multiple windows. By day the office is sunlit, while at night it is illuminated by candlelight (OP22) and lamplight.
The walls of the office are covered with portraits of previous Headmasters and Headmistresses. The wall immediately behind the Headmaster’s desk has a shelf holding the Sorting Hat. Gryffindor’s sword is kept in a glass case beside the Sorting Hat. Another wall of the office holds a fireplace that can be connected to the Floo Network when needed.
The Headmaster’s desk is an enormous, claw-footed affair that apparently goes with the room, since it was in use in Armando Dippet’s day. The surface is highly polished, though naturally it is sometimes covered with papers. Dumbledore also kept a silver ink pot with a handsome scarlet quill (possibly a phoenix feather) on the desk. The desk faces the door leading up from the gargoyle; a visitor standing with his back to the Headmaster’s chair (which is particularly high-backed) will find himself or herself staring out at the Quidditch pitch. The Headmaster keeps a visitor’s chair but sometimes has to conjure more when several visitors arrive suddenly.
In Dumbledore’s day (although not in Armando Dippet’s), the office contained a number of spindly-legged tables supporting various “curious silver instruments” (CS12), the function of which Harry did not know as of his sixth year, that seem to whir and emit little puffs of smoke day and night regardless of whether the Headmaster was actively consulting them, present, or even in residence.
Behind the door in Dumbledore’s day (though again, not in Armando Dippet’s) a golden perch for Fawkes stood. Beside the perch was a black cabinet which Dumbledore at one time used as a drinks cabinet (HBP20), although by Harry’s time at Hogwarts the Headmaster kept a Pensieve there instead.
After Dumbledore’s death, a large portrait of him hung directly behind the desk (DH36). This portrait hid a secret chamber where the Sword of Gryffindor was kept until Snape returned it to Harry (DH33).
In the Head's office are the portraits of the previous Heads. These portraits are honor-bound to advise and serve the current Head. Some of the portraits are of Dilys Derwent, Everard, a gimlet-eyed witch with a stout birch-rod-like wand, Dexter Fortescue, Phineas Nigellus, and Armando Dippet. When called upon, they can visit their portraits in other wizarding institutions and locations and deliver messages, act as lookouts, and so on (OP22). These portraits apparently spend their days snoozing in the Headmaster's office (CS12). In fact, often they are faking sleep and listening to everything that goes on.
Known passwords for the Head's office:
Commentary
Notes
There is contradictory evidence for the location of Dumbledore's office. In GF28, the entrance is on the second floor, but in HBP, it is on the seventh floor. In CS11, the entrance is apparently on the fifth floor.
The film set of the Head's office is filled with books. The books are aged and weathered and are scattered over most flat surfaces. They are also shelved around the walls by category, and within each section the same selection of invented titles are duplicated over and over. For example, one section is devoted to Magical Law. -SVA
From the Web
Harry Potter Music & Ambience: Dumbledore's Office Sounds for Sleep, Study, Relaxing from Ambient Worlds on YouTube