Charms Corridor

• Type: School Corridor
• Location: Third Floor, Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry
• Owner/Residents: Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry; frequented by Charms students and Professor Filius Flitwick.
• Key Features: During the 1991-1992 school year, it was forbidden to students and contained a locked room housing Fluffy, the three-headed dog, who guarded a trapdoor.

The Charms Corridor is a passageway located on the third floor of Hogwarts Castle. It is named as such presumably due to the proximity of the Charms classroom, taught by Professor Filius Flitwick. For the duration of the 1991-1992 school year, this corridor gained notoriety after Headmaster Albus Dumbledore declared it to be out-of-bounds. At the start-of-term feast, he announced, “The third-floor corridor on the right-hand side is out of bounds to everyone who does not wish to die a very painful death.” This measure was put in place to protect the Philosopher's Stone, which had been moved to Hogwarts for safekeeping from Lord Voldemort and his followers. The end of the corridor contained a locked door. Behind this door was Fluffy, a monstrous three-headed dog belonging to Rubeus Hagrid, who served as the first line of defence for the Stone. The dog was placed directly on top of a trapdoor, which provided the only entrance to a series of magical chambers and obstacles protecting the artifact. Following the destruction of the Philosopher's Stone at the end of the school year, the corridor was presumably reopened to students, and Fluffy was removed from the castle.

The Charms Corridor is a central location in Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone, serving as the focal point for much of the trio's investigation.

• After Harry Potter's scheduled midnight duel with Draco Malfoy turns out to be a trap, he, Ron Weasley, Hermione Granger, and Neville Longbottom flee from Argus Filch and his cat, Mrs Norris. They accidentally run into the forbidden corridor and burst through the locked door, where they come face-to-face with Fluffy. They manage to escape before the beast can attack them.
• Hermione later deduces that Fluffy must be guarding something, as evidenced by his position on a trapdoor.
• Harry and Ron observe Professor Severus Snape limping away from the corridor, which, combined with a bite mark on his leg, leads them to incorrectly suspect that he is trying to get past Fluffy to steal what lies beneath.
• Harry, Ron, and Hermione learn from Hagrid that music soothes Fluffy and puts him to sleep, a critical piece of information they later use.
• In the book's climax, the trio enters the corridor, intending to stop Snape from stealing the Philosopher's Stone. They find the door ajar and an enchanted harp playing by itself, indicating that someone (Professor Quirinus Quirrell, as it turns out) has already passed Fluffy. Using a flute given to him by Hagrid, Harry keeps the dog asleep while they descend through the trapdoor to face the challenges below.

• Room Guarded by Fluffy: A locked room at the end of the corridor that, during the 1991-1992 school year, housed the giant three-headed dog, Fluffy.
• The Trapdoor: A wooden trapdoor in the floor of the room, concealed beneath Fluffy. It was the entrance to the underground chambers that protected the Philosopher's Stone.

• In the film adaptation of Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone, the corridor and the initial encounter with Fluffy are depicted very similarly to the novel, becoming a memorable scene (film).
• The corridor and the challenge of getting past Fluffy also feature prominently as a level in the video game adaptations of the first story (video game).
• Albus Dumbledore's very specific and dramatic warning about the corridor serves as an obvious plot device to pique Harry's curiosity, a tactic in line with the Headmaster's often cryptic methods of guiding his young protégé.