Located in the Headmaster's Tower, the Headmaster's office is where all the headmasters stay while at Hogwarts. Like the Hogwarts Houses, the Headmaster's tower requires a Password from anyone who wishes to gain entry to the room; The tower is guarded by a large and ugly stone gargoyle which rarely talks, but is capable of doing so. The headmaster's office itself is a large circular room with many windows and many portraits of old headmasters and headmistresses. The portrait of the immediate predecessor of the current headmaster or headmistress hangs behind the head's desk; It is suggested that this is the largest of the paintings in the room, which, in turn, suggests that the paintings shrink by some degree once it is no longer the portrait of the immediate predecessor of the current headmaster or headmistress.