Passwords are used throughout Hogwarts Castle to restrict entry to certain areas such as house common rooms and teacher offices. The inspirations for these passwords come from specific events and experiences throughout the storyline. Passwords appear to change on a frequent basis.
During Sir Cadogan's period of guarding the Gryffindor common room, he changed passwords so frequently that Neville Longbottom had to write them down. This list was snatched by Crookshanks and was given to Sirius Black/Padfoot, allowing him entrance.
List of Previously Used Passwords
Hogwarts
Gryffindor Common Room
- Abstinence
- Balderdash
- Banana Fritters
- Baubles
- Caput Draconis (latin for "Dragon's Head")
- Dilligrout
- Fairy Lights
- Flibbertigibbet
- Fortuna Major (latin for "bigger luck")
- Mimbulus Mimbletonia
- Oddsbodikins
- Pig Snout
- Quid Agis (latin for "How are you")
- Scurvy Cur
- Tapeworm
- Wattlebird
Ravenclaw Tower
(Instead of a password, a conundrum is posed)
- Which came first, the phoenix or the flame? Answer: A circle has no beginning.
- Where do Vanished objects go? Answer: Into nonbeing, which is to say, everything.
Slytherin Dungeon
Headmaster's Office
- Acid Pops
- Cockroach Clusters
- Fizzing Whizbees
- Sherbet lemon
- Lemon drop
- Toffee Eclairs
- Dumbledore
- Chocolate Frogs
Prefects Bathroom
- Pine fresh
One-Eyed Witch Passage
- Dissendium
Chamber of Secrets and Salazar Slytherin's Locket
- "Open" (spoken in Parseltongue)
Elizabeth Burke's Portrait
- Slytherins are Supreme
- Facta, non verba[1] (latin for Deeds, not words)
Percival Pratt's Portrait
- This Password is Absurd
Basil Fronsac's Portrait
- Studious Success
- Libraries Liberate [2]
Giffard Abbott's Portrait
- Dragon's Egg
- Light against Darkness [2]
Damara Dodderidge's Portrait
- Chops and Gravy
- Dashing Cadogan [2]
Boris the Bewildered's Portrait
- Forget-Me-Never
Old Posh Baron's Portrait
- Fizzy Pop
(Grounds Portrait)
- Catweazle
(Dungeons Portrait
- Wanglewort
(Upper Castle portrait)
- Wolf's Bane