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Puzzle Three - Detention - Solution Page
Mrs. Norris came across four students (Erin, Martin, Sabine, and Trevor) making too much noise in the second floor corridor, and naturally within minutes Filch was there to give them all detention. Since the students were all friends, they were not allowed to serve their detentions at the same time. Filch assigned them to clean some of the Hogwarts rooms, and since there were eight rooms to be cleaned, he assigned two to each student. The eight rooms to be cleaned consisted of four classrooms (Arithmancy, Charms, Transfiguration, and Potions), two bathrooms (the boys and the girls), and two offices (Professor Paracelsus and Professor Elrond). Can you tell which student was assigned to clean which rooms, and the order in which they served their detentions?
1. Martin was assigned to clean Professor Elrond's office and one of the classrooms.
2. The girls' bathroom had already been cleaned by the time Sabine served her detention.
3. As Trevor was being led to detention, he noticed that the Potions classroom had not yet been cleaned - but he was not assigned to clean it.
4. The Transfiguration classroom was cleaned before the Charms classroom.
5. The first person to serve detention had to choose between cleaning two classrooms or no classrooms at all.
6. Sabine was assigned to clean the Arithmancy classroom sometime before Trevor had to clean the boys' bathroom.
Solution:
The first student to serve detention was not Martin (clues 1 and 5 - first person had to clean two classrooms or no classrooms, but Martin did a classroom and an office). The first person was also not Sabine (clue 2), nor was it Trevor (clue 6). So the first person to serve detention must have been Erin.
The fourth student to serve detention wasn't Trevor (clue 3 - someone had to have been assigned the Potions classroom after him). Nor was it Sabine (clue 6), and we've already figured out Erin was first. So the fourth student to serve detention must have been Martin.
If Erin was first and Marin was fourth, Trevor and Sabine must have been in the middle. Since we know Sabine had detention before Trevor (clue 6), Sabine must have served detention second, and Trevor third.
Since Trevor was third, and the Potions classroom was cleaned after he'd served his detention (clue 3), the Potions classroom must have been cleaned by Martin who was fourth. This means the two rooms Martin cleaned were the Potions classroom and Professor Elrond's office (clue 1).
Since Sabine was second, and the girls' bathroom had to have been cleaned before she served her detention (clue 2), the girls' bathroom had to have been cleaned be Erin who served detention first.
We know Sabine had to clean the Arithmancy classroom, and Trevor the boys' bathroom (clue 6). This means we've accounted for Arithmancy and Potions classrooms, both bathrooms, and Professor Elrond's office, leaving the Charms and Transfiguration classrooms and Professor Paracelsus' office unaccounted for. Since Erin was first, and one of the rooms she cleaned was the girls' bathroom, and the first person had to either clean two classrooms or no classrooms (clue 5), the other room she cleaned could not have been a classroom and thus must have been Professor Paracelsus' office.
This leaves the Charms and Transfiguration classrooms. If Erin was first and cleaned the girls' bathroom and Professor Paracelsus' office, and Martin was last and cleaned the Potions classroom and Professor Elrond's office, that means that Charms and Transfiguration had to have been second or third. Transfiguration had to have been cleaned before Charms (clue 4), so Transfiguration must have been second (and cleaned by Sabine), and Charms third (cleaned by Trevor).
So:
| Student | Order of Detention | One Room Cleaned | Other Room Cleaned |
| Erin | First | Girls' Bathroom | Paraclesus' Office |
| Sabine | Second | Arithmancy Classroom | Tranfiguration Classroom |
| Trevor | Third | Charms Classroom | Boys' Bathroom |
| Martin | Fourth | Potions Classroom | Elrond's Office |
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