Secrets of Hogwarts

This is the second in a series of secrets about Hogwarts that you wouldn't know unless you stumbled upon them. I will try to go into as much detail about each place as possible, so in case you ever come across, or go looking for, these things, you will be prepared, although there might be a few I don't suggest you go looking for. When these come up, I will make sure to tell you.

If any readers know more facts about the place I cover, feel free to owl it to us at the Daily Prophet.

Room of Dark Arts
We couldn't tell you where this room was, even if we knew. You see, if it was easily accessible, it would be off-limits. There is even a law that says that you would be sent to Azkaban if you find this room. This is a room that even aurors have been looking for it for centuries (to destroy, of course), without much luck. Every time the room is found, it becomes lost again.

It is unknown exactly how, but if you, by chance, find this room and enter it . . . well, you get lost. It is believed by aurors and those who study the Dark Arts that the room itself somehow confuses you before it sends you out in a different part of the castle. One auror who found it was lost for three weeks before he was found in a flooded sewer beneath the castle. He did not remember much but what we've already told you.

But why was the roomed named the Room of Dark Arts? There is one book, handwritten, which describes some details of the room. We have not been able to persuade the Ministry of Magic to release the book, but one reliable source, whom has chosen to be unnamed, read it and gave us as many details as the source remembered.

The room, which was not an original part of the castle, is said to have been created by a very gifted student as a project for her seventh year defense against the dark arts project, but it got out of control. According to our source, the room was designed to help students learn to fight against Dark Arts without anyone having to cast a Dark Arts spell. This was probably at a time where the Dark Arts were first starting to be looked down upon, and those who were able to cast it were looked at as lower witches and wizards.

The room is very overprotective, and probably moves constantly, which is most likely why it is so hard to find. The book which we were unable to get explains that if there is a witch or wizard in the castle that the room bonds with, that person would be able to enter the room whenever he or she wished.

Which is why it is illegal to find the room unless you are told to do so by the Ministry. The room is said to bond to those whose Dark power is as strong as the room's. The two together would be extremely dangerous to all.

Thankfully, there has only been one known case of the Dark power of the room and a Dark witch getting out of control. The name of the witch was Aldora Dalany. Although she retained all memory of the room, she refused to speak, even under Veritaserum. Four years after she graduated Hogwarts, she because the Defense professor and kept the position for eight years before she was caught by aurors using pieces of students souls for Dark Magic. She was given the Dementor's Kiss, but as this seemed to not affect her as it was supposed to, she was banished to a cell that sucked the magic from her. She died there three weeks later.

It is not suggested that anyone goes looking for this room. In fact, we are required to report anyone who has any significant information on the room to the Ministry, so we don't suggest you send in any information along with your name, either. Actually, we suggest that you just forget about the room entirely. Perhaps even a memory charm on this article . . .

This article was about the side effects of a room called ‘Hillbury Iale', named after a man who died there rather . . . abruptly.