If your school had particularly disgusting bathrooms, think yourself lucky – at least you had toilets.
That was not a luxury afforded to the young students at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry for a decent portion of its history.
Hogwarts didn't always have bathrooms. Before adopting Muggle plumbing methods in the eighteenth century, witches and wizards simply relieved themselves wherever they stood, and vanished the evidence. #NationalTriviaDay
— Pottermore (@pottermore) January 4, 2019
Thanks to a tweet from Pottermore, the digital presence of JK Rowling’s wizarding world, we now know – whether we want to or not – that before Muggle plumbing was adopted “witches and wizards simply relieved themselves wherever they stood, and vanished the evidence”.
Fans of the Harry Potter books immediately had questions.
Vanishing is taught in year 4 so what did they do with younger students/childs? 🤔
— Felice 💙 (@RiceChii) January 4, 2019
Omg that no underage magic. Being 16 like “mom, I pooped again come clean me up” I just CANT.
— Jenifer 🔮🎀 (@xsupernova_girl) January 4, 2019
Did they aguamenti their butts after?
Also if vanished objects go into nonbeing which is, to say, everything…
— 💗Mimi💗PINK CLASS💗 (@MimiChama) January 4, 2019
And people were quick to point out that there were plenty of solutions available before plumbing was invented.
I'm not sure which makes me angrier: that no Wizard had thought up a basic outhouse before the eighteenth century, or that I am currently thinking about wizard defecation habits in the pre-Victorian era.
— Choose Your Own Username Adventure (@thomdunn) January 4, 2019
Houses without plumbing had chamberpots.
— Matt Barbot (@BarbotRobot) January 4, 2019
Some people straight up refused to accept it.
I refuse to accept this as canon. Medieval castles had toilets. It was a hole in the wall with a piece of wood over it with a hole cut in it. The waste would fall down into a room that a servant would shovel out. I 100% believe Hogwarts had bathrooms and this is what they had.
— Mychal Sanders 💙 (@MyaWritesThings) January 4, 2019
— David Goecke (@David_Goecke) January 4, 2019
But mostly people just found it really, really disgusting.
I was an adult when Harry Potter came out, yet you've still somehow managed to ruin my childhood.
— Dovil (@Dovil) January 5, 2019
should jk rowling just stop talking
100% yes ▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇
0% no
8,967,156,284 votes • final
— SHORT KING (@Dancantsin) January 5, 2019
Wingardium Levi-gross-a.
— Aubrey Massey (@AubsMcgobbs) January 5, 2019
Probably best just to try not to think about it.
