Purpose
The divine figure known as the Architect created the House to record, without intervening on any behalf, all that happened in the Secondary Realms (that is, the Universe at large). Most Denizens of the House believe that the House was created first, but this is only true of the Incomparable Gardens. Having created House, Realms, and a Law that would prevent Denizens from intervening in the actions of mortal creatures, the Architect vanished and is not shown again. The Law is not binding however (although in 'Grim Tuesday', Arthur repels two agents from the House by invoking the Original Law, along with his latent power gained from the use of the First Key); it can be broken, as all of the Architect's Trustees have done at one time or another, making themselves the villains of the story. A Trustee can only enter the Secondary Realms on their "day", i.e. Mister Monday can only enter the Secondary Realms on a Monday. Furthermore, the Superior Denizens (Dawn, Noon, and Dusk) of each day can only enter the Secondary Realms on the hour of their name (a Noon, for example, can only enter during the hour from 12:00pm to 1:00pm).
House Time is constant, while time in the Secondary Realms is malleable; it is even able to flow backwards if a sufficient power, such as a Key to the Kingdom, is used upon it. Thus, a day may pass on Earth while half a year will pass in the House. This inconsistency in time allows Arthur to spend large amounts of time in the House whilst 'Local Earth Arthur time' remains still. This occurs because the Front Door (the main method of transit between the House and the Secondary Realms) takes note of important people's travel (e.g. Arthur's passage through the Door) and alters the time it allows passage back accordingly. The system is not infallible; while Leaf is in the House, time continues as normal in the Realms (Sneezer states that the Door did not consider Leaf noteworthy enough to account for). This temporal system is not dissimilar to that used in the Chronicles of Narnia, wherein lengthy adventures or even lifetimes can be spent in Narnia's world while only seconds pass in ours.
Read more about this topic: The House (The Keys To The Kingdom)
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