The House shows the guest what it wants to show, and everything else it shows him too, only later. – Ottilie von Asch
The House receives visitors, rarely and with a role. The Inspector from the Ministry comes the long way round, with an errand he does not quite name; he may see everything and order nothing, and the Prefects know that his report decides next year's budget. The invited guest is a friend of the House or is to become one; he is shown the salon and the conservatory, and whether he is shown the chamber the Director decides by his gaze. The Examiner comes for the examinations; his rank in the room is higher, for the duration of the examination, than that of any Prefect, and he knows, one hopes, what that means. For the guest the rules of the rooms apply as they do for everyone: in the hall he stands, in the salon he stands, unless the Director offers him the second armchair, which does not exist. He enters the chamber only when a Prefect leads him in, and then he does not kneel, for the guest has no colour. The guest book at the gate has one column more than there are guests. The Aspirant ...
From the lore of Das Haus am Kanal.