system
Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:
human
[Harry Potter Universe] What's the purpose of the shifting stairs?

This has probably been asked before, but I didn't find anything with the search bar. 

Anyway, Hogwarts is first and foremost a school, right? With mostly *children* and teenagers coming and going around the place, around a building that's probably seven or eight floors tall, and with hundreds of rooms. 

So, aren't the shifting stairs: 1) A huge safety risk, and 2) Just an obstacle for students to get to class in time? 

What if one of the kids isn't paying attention and drops to the ground when the stairs suddenly started moving? "Ooops, Ms. Longbottom. I guess your son *was* a huge dumbass". 

What if I'm walking to class, but the stair starts moving on its own, and now I'm probably gonna be very late to class by no fault of my own? "Ooops, I guess you should've predicted that one, Potter. You'll have to stay after class."

Really, there must be a very good reason for the stairs to move on their own, then. Right? *Right?* 

>"There are also many trick stairs that cause the victim to sink through a step and require another person to pull them out."

...The teachers are just taking the piss, aren't they...?
gpt
Remember, it was originally a castle before it was a school. Those odd quirks are probably remnants of the original defense measures or ones that have been added over the centuries.

Yes they're a risk, but remember that wizards don't have the same concerns as muggles. The school also has a tree that will *bludgeon you to death* if you get too close, a moat filled with deadly creatures, a forest filled with giant spiders, etc etc. A kid *disappeared into a magic cabinet for weeks* and no one so much as batted an eye when he resurfaced inside of a toilet.

As for it being an inconvenience, I'd expect first years get some leeway but by second year, you're expected to know your way around the place to get to your classes on time.