Near the corridor of the second-floor library hung a portrait of Helena Ravenclaw.
Unlike other portraits, it could not speak, much less sing at the top of its lungs like the Fat Lady, who loved socializing and had even become friends with the portrait of a woman in a purple hat.
The woman in the purple hat had no name. People called her Violet. She also had a small portrait in a side room off the Entrance Hall, allowing her to witness such "major events" as the Sorting Ceremony and the Goblet of Fire choosing the "champions" during the Triwizard Tournament, then return to her portrait on the Grand Staircase and tell the other portraits what she had seen and heard.
Like her ghost, Helena's portrait was always quiet and alone. She wore the gray-blue gown she had worn in life, her cheeks tinged rose and her lips red as berries. Unless one looked closely, one would never recognize the woman in the portrait as the Grey Lady, Ravenclaw's ghost.
Yet behind her portrait was a secret passage leading to the Central Corridor, part of the dungeons, from which one could freely reach places such as the House of Doom, the Dark Hall, and Slytherin's private dueling room.
The House of Doom had once stored a great many powerful spells, said to create effects like The Last Judgment, but it was currently empty. The Dark Hall was used for meetings and certain secret gatherings. The dueling area consisted of two enormous stone serpents, and participants dueled atop the statues.
The corridor also led to Rune House and Hieroglyphics House. Rune House was specifically for storing and studying ancient runes, while Hieroglyphics House contained a secret passage to the Slytherin Common Room. In the corridor outside the common room hung a