General Feel
A warm, bustling tavern in Hogsmeade with two floors, creaky rafters, and the scent of butterbeer and woodsmoke clinging to everything. The atmosphere is cozy but a little chaotic, a crossroads where gossip, travelers, and secrets meet.
Ground Floor
- Main Bar: Polished oak counter, always stacked with tankards, enchanted cleaning cloths, and a brass butterbeer tap that refills itself.
- Fireplace Nook: A wide stone hearth with a fire that never dies, flanked by mismatched armchairs (one patched with animated fabric that wriggles occasionally).
- Common Tables: Long, scarred tables engraved with initials of Hogwarts students past. A few glow faintly where charms were carved.
- Side Alcove: Small booths with privacy charms (half-broken, so eavesdroppers can sometimes catch snippets).
Second Floor
- Guest Rooms: Simple but comfortable; patchwork quilts, steaming kettles that refill with hot water, enchanted lamps.
- The Large Suite: A two-room corner suite with a balcony overlooking High Street. Often rented to important visitors. Features:
- A writing desk littered with quills, receipts, and the occasional owl feather.
- A freestanding wardrobe carved with frolicking satyrs (actually a minor vanishing cabinet, long since broken).
- A trunk of spare linens with a faint whiff of amortentia clinging to it.
- A small round table with three crystal glasses that refill with cold water when set down.
Set Dressing / Items for Clues or Hooks
- An empty vial tucked under a bench (the Polyjuice clue).
- A discarded pamphlet from the Sable Wand movement beneath a chair.
- A delivery owl’s perch near the bar, piled with unopened letters and wax seals.
- A half-finished game of Exploding Snap abandoned on a table.
- A chalkboard notice listing “Rooms available” but with one room mysteriously crossed out and rewritten three times.
Tone
The tavern is equal parts sanctuary and rumor mill. Students feel grown-up here, but the undercurrent of danger—the political murmurs, strange pamphlets, and overheard conversations—makes the warmth of the butterbeer feel just slightly uneasy.