The Slytherin common room lies deep within the dungeons with its tall, stony walls bathed in an otherworldly green glow from a combination of the lamps and the lake above. Low-backed black and emerald, button-tufted leather sofas cluster around dark wood tables and cupboards, while skulls and rich tapestries depicting the exploits of medieval Slytherins line the walls. Wizard’s Chess sets wait on a few tables while the air carries a chill that the grand fireplace - which was carved to look like intertwined snakes - cannot entirely dispel. The hearth burns with emerald embers that never fade.

Dim at first entry, the room reveals more details as your eyes adjust. The green-hued lamps hovering along the perimeter, snake-like carvings slithering around the walls, and the watchful portraits of Horace Slughorn and Severus Snape that hung there. Leather chairs and armchairs are arranged in intimate groups near the fires, while dark wooden tables offer space to study, read, or plot your next clever prank. On special occasions, Halloween for example, the room is dressed with pumpkins. Overall, the atmosphere remains one of austere grandeur, touched always with a sense of the deep and secretive.