Hogwarts. Unlike the silence at the third-floor entrance beneath the stairs, where the ugly, massive Stone Gargoyle remained shut and had not split in two, the end of the spiral staircase hidden behind it now held a gleaming oak door with a brass knocker shaped like a griffin. From inside came a noisy jumble of funny little sounds.
In the Headmaster's Office, a spacious, beautiful circular room, many strange silver instruments stood on spindly-legged tables, spinning and puffing out little wisps of smoke. Behind the huge claw-footed headmaster's desk, on the wall by a shelf beside the glass case holding the Sword of Gryffindor, the portraits of former headmasters and headmistresses packed across the walls were complaining with some indignation.
"Merlin above! Albus has only just left, and you've already turned the place into a mess!" complained the portrait of one male headmaster. He wore silver-and-green Slytherin robes, had black hair and dark eyes, sparse eyebrows, and a goatee, and looked like a very clever wizard.
"Quit grumbling, sir!" roared a fat wizard with a red nose, waving his fist. "Neglecting your duties!"
"We have a duty to serve the current master of Hogwarts!" shouted a frail-looking old wizard. Harry recognized him as Dumbledore's predecessor, Armando Dippet. "Don't be embarrassing, Phineas!"
On the massive desk before them, all the personal belongings Dumbledore had once kept there had vanished.
The dusty, battered Sorting Hat sat on a stand at the edge of the desk, watching with great interest as a group of elderly wizards gambled at poker below. "Dilys Derwent! Or whoever! Go deal with that noisy Phineas! He's only angry because his family lost its seat on the Board of Governors! Ha, Owen, you lost again. I told you to play that king of hearts."
"I'll whip him!" In her