Shrieking Shack

• Type: Building
• Location: On a hill on the outskirts of Hogsmeade, Scotland
• Owner/Residents: Ostensibly abandoned; historically used by Remus Lupin
• Key Features: Reputedly the most haunted building in Britain; connected to the Hogwarts grounds via a secret passage under the Whomping Willow

The Shrieking Shack is a derelict and isolated two-story house located just outside the village of Hogsmeade. It has a famously sinister reputation, with boarded-up windows, an overgrown and wild garden, and peeling paint, all contributing to its forbidding appearance. The interior is equally dilapidated, filled with dust, cobwebs, and broken, battered furniture. Many surfaces, including the wallpaper and furniture, bear deep scratch and claw marks. Despite its reputation, the Shrieking Shack is not actually haunted. It was constructed around 1971, the year Remus Lupin, a werewolf, began his education at Hogwarts. Albus Dumbledore commissioned its construction to provide a secure and remote location for Lupin to undergo his dangerous monthly transformations. A secret tunnel, with its entrance concealed at the roots of the violent Whomping Willow on the Hogwarts grounds, was created to allow Lupin to travel to the shack unseen. The terrifying screams and howls that emanated from the building during Lupin's transformations were overheard by Hogsmeade residents. This gave rise to the legend that the shack was inhabited by violent spirits, earning it the name “Shrieking Shack.” Dumbledore encouraged this rumour as it effectively kept curious visitors away, ensuring Lupin's secret and safety.

The Shrieking Shack is a pivotal location in the Harry Potter series, serving as the setting for major revelations and events. In Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, the shack is the destination where Sirius Black, in his dog Animagus form, drags Ron Weasley. Harry Potter and Hermione Granger follow them through the secret passage. The climactic confrontation of the book takes place within its walls, where Harry learns the truth about Sirius Black's innocence and the betrayal of Peter Pettigrew, who had been hiding for twelve years as Ron's pet rat, Scabbers. It is also revealed that Remus Lupin is a werewolf and that he, Sirius, James Potter, and Pettigrew—the Marauders—used the shack as their secret headquarters during their Hogwarts years. In Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, the Shrieking Shack is used by Lord Voldemort as a temporary headquarters during the Battle of Hogwarts. It is here that Voldemort, mistakenly believing Severus Snape to be the master of the Elder Wand, commands his snake Nagini to kill him. Harry, Ron, and Hermione, hidden under the Invisibility Cloak, witness the murder from the secret passage and are able to retrieve Snape's crucial memories just before he dies.

• Downstairs Room: The main room upon entering through the secret passage's trapdoor. It is described as dusty and disorderly, with peeling wallpaper and destroyed furniture, including a wrecked grand piano.
• Upstairs Bedroom: A room at the top of a rickety staircase, containing a large four-poster bed with moth-eaten hangings. The furniture here is heavily scratched and broken from Lupin's werewolf transformations.
• Secret Passage Entrance: A trapdoor in the floor of the downstairs room, which opens into a long, earthy tunnel leading directly to the base of the Whomping Willow.

• J.K. Rowling has stated in a web chat that while she considers the Shrieking Shack to be “slightly creepy,” she finds locations like the Chamber of Secrets to be far more frightening. (J.K. Rowling interview)
• In the film adaptation of *Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban*, the interior of the shack is depicted as a much larger, more cavernous, and structurally precarious space than the book describes. (film)
• A significant change was made in the film adaptation of *Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 2*, where Severus Snape's death is moved from the Shrieking Shack to the Hogwarts Boathouse for cinematic purposes. (film)