Art of the Octangle (10)

Moving eastwards from our last stop we find ourselves in another quaint corner of the inner square of the octagon:

Here, at the northeast corner of the University's ancient clock tower, the Octangle stretches all around.  A matching octagonal area of cobbles surrounds the tower, and paths lead from it eastwards to the gates and westwards to the Great Hall.  A time-worn statue of a plump wizard, ornately curled wig visible beneath the carved Archchancellor's Hat, stands proudly in a niche set into the tower itself.

Looking into the niche for more detail on the statue gives some nice details:

l statue

Archchancellor Riggmorton "Weatherman" Weatherby spent his academic life studying freak precipitation patterns and trying to work out just what brought on a rain of fish, furniture, or footwear rather than water.  His book, "Six Days in Pine Dressers", is required reading for all students taking the Envirothaumic Phenomena course, and it has been checked out of the library a record-breaking seventeen times.  One stone hand grasps a cloud thoughtfully.

l hat 

The hat has been set with real octarines, twinkling in any available light above the curled stone ringlets.

l ringlets

The hair of the statue is clearly a wig; no Archchancellor could possibly have sufficient patience to keep his curls that neat.

l cloud

Some decades ago, a waggish prankster enchanted the statue's cloud to rain illusory phenomena down onto the ground below.  It is currently dumping haddock upon the long-suffering cobbles.

l haddock

The haddock emanating from the cloud seem to vanish just before hitting the ground.

After I while I saw it turn to polished oak wardrobes, so I imagine you can also enjoy shoes if you wait long enough...