Как пишется хогвартс на английском языке

Not to be confused with Hogwort.

Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry
Studio model of Hogwarts at Leavesden Studios
Universe	Wizarding World
First appearance	Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone (1997)
Most recent appearance	Hogwarts Legacy (2023)
In-universe information
Type	Selective school Secondary school Boarding school
Founded	c. 9th/10th century
Location	Scotland
Owner	Ministry of Magic
Purpose	Training for children with magical abilities[1]
Motto	Latin: Draco dormiens nunquam titillandus («Never Tickle a Sleeping Dragon»)[2]

Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry () is a fictional boarding school of magic for students aged eleven to eighteen, and is the primary setting for the first six books in J. K. Rowling’s Harry Potter series and serves as a major setting in the Wizarding World universe.^[3]

History

Establishment

Founded around the 9th century and 10th century by Godric Gryffindor, Rowena Ravenclaw, Helga Hufflepuff and Salazar Slytherin, Hogwarts was established in the Highlands of Scotland to educate young wizards and witches as well as to keep students safe from muggle persecution. Theory has it that Rowena Ravenclaw came up with the name of Hogwarts after dreaming of a warty hog that led her to a cliff by a lake.^[4] Since then, Hogwarts educated most wizarding children with residence in Great Britain and Ireland, keeping its location hidden from other wizarding schools and muggles.

Middle ages

About three hundred years after the school was founded, the Triwizard Tournament was established as an interscholastic competition among the three most prestigious magical schools in Europe: Hogwarts, Beauxbatons, and Durmstrang. The tournament continued for six centuries before being discontinued. An attempt was made in the 1994–1995 school year to revive the tournament, but the consequential death of Cedric Diggory resulted in its permanent discontinuation.^{[citation needed]}

Academics and traditions

Hogwarts is a coeducational, secondary boarding school, taking children from ages eleven to seventeen.^[3] Education at Hogwarts is not compulsory, with some students being home schooled as stated in the seventh book. Rowling initially said there are about one thousand students at Hogwarts.^[5] She later suggested around six hundred, while acknowledging that this number was still inconsistent with the small number of people in Harry’s year. She further explained that this had resulted from her creating only forty characters for Harry’s year.^[6]

Admission

According to the novels, admission to Hogwarts is selective, in that children who show magical ability will automatically gain a place,^[7] and squibs cannot attend the school as students (though they can work there in other roles, as Argus Filch does).^[8] A magical quill at Hogwarts detects the birth of magical children and writes their names into a large parchment book,^[1] but there is no admission test because «you are either magical or you are not.»^[7] Every year, a teacher checks this book and sends a letter to the children who are turning eleven. Acceptance or refusal of a place at Hogwarts must be posted by 31 July. The letter also contains a list of supplies like spell books, uniform, and other things that the student will need. The prospective student is expected to buy all the necessary materials, normally from shops in Diagon Alley, a concealed street near Charing Cross Road in London that can be found behind the wizarding pub, The Leaky Cauldron. Students who cannot afford their supplies can receive financial aid from the school, as happened with the young orphan Tom Riddle.

Letters to Muggle-born witches and wizards, who may not be aware of their powers and are unfamiliar with the concealed wizarding world, are delivered in person by a member of Hogwarts staff, who then explains to the parents or guardians about magical society, and reassures them regarding this news.^[HP7]

Though the school is in Great Britain, its catchment area is the wider British Isles, as Irish students can also attend.

Each student is allowed to bring an owl, a cat or a toad. Along with the acceptance letter, first-year students are sent a list of required equipment which includes a wand, subject books, a standard size 2 pewter cauldron, a set of brass scales, a set of glass or crystal phials, a kit of basic potion ingredients (for Potions), and a telescope (for Astronomy). The Hogwarts uniform consists of plain work robes in black, a plain black hat, a pair of protective gloves, and a black winter cloak with silver fastenings. Each uniform must contain the wearer’s nametag. First years are not allowed a broomstick of their own, though an exception to this rule is made for Harry Potter in his first year after he demonstrates an excellent ability as a Seeker in Quidditch.

Arrival

The primary mode of transport to Hogwarts is the Hogwarts Express that students take at the start of each school year. Students board the train from the also fictional and hidden Platform 9¾ at King’s Cross station in London. The train arrives at Hogsmeade station near Hogwarts, sometime after nightfall.

From there, first-year students are accompanied by the «Keeper of the Keys, Game and Grounds» (which was Hagrid during the first novel) to small boats, which magically sail across the lake and get them near the entrance of Hogwarts. The older students ride up to the castle in carriages pulled by creatures called Thestrals. When the first-year students initially arrive at the castle, they wait in a small chamber off the entrance hall until the older students have taken their seats, and then enter the Great Hall for the Sorting Ceremony to determine their House assignments. As Professor Minerva McGonagall said in Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone, «The Sorting is a very important ceremony because, while you are here, your House will be something like your family within Hogwarts. You will have classes with the rest of your House, sleep in your House dormitory, and spend free time in your House common room.»
After the Sorting Hat sings a song, each student in turn is seated upon the stool in front of the rest of the student body. The Hat is placed on the student’s head, whereupon it examines his or her mind and assigns them to one of the four Houses based on abilities, personality, and preferences. After the Sorting Ceremony, the students and teachers enjoy a feast, prepared by the Hogwarts house-elves. If Dumbledore is feeling cheerful, he will lead the students in singing the school song.^[9]

Houses

Hogwarts is divided into four houses, each bearing the last name of its founder: Godric Gryffindor, Salazar Slytherin, Rowena Ravenclaw and Helga Hufflepuff. Throughout the school year, the houses compete for the House Cup, gaining and losing points based on actions such as performance in class and rule violations. The house with the highest end-of-year total wins and has its colours displayed in the Great Hall for the following school year. Each house also has its own Quidditch team that competes for the Quidditch Cup. These two competitions breed rivalries between the houses. Houses at Hogwarts are living and learning communities for their students. Each house is under the authority of one of the Hogwarts staff members. The Heads of the houses, as they are called, are in charge of giving their students important information, dealing with matters of severe punishment, and responding to emergencies in their houses, among other things. The dormitory and common room of a House are, barring rare exceptions, inaccessible to students belonging to other Houses; however, different houses will share classes as they are based on year group rather than House.

In the early days of Hogwarts, the four founders hand-picked students for their Houses. When the founders worried how students would be selected after their deaths, Godric Gryffindor took his hat off and they each added knowledge to it, allowing the Sorting Hat to choose the students by judging each student’s qualities and placing them in the most appropriate house. The student’s own choices may affect the decision: the clearest example is the Hat telling Harry that he would do well in Slytherin in the first book, but ultimately selecting Gryffindor after Harry asks it not to put him in Slytherin.

The translators of the books’ foreign editions had difficulty translating the «house» concept; in countries where this system does not exist, no word could adequately convey the importance of belonging to a house, the loyalty owed to it, and the pride taken in prizes won by the house.^[10]

Gryffindor

Gryffindor values courage, bravery, nerve, and chivalry. Gryffindor’s mascot is the lion, and its colours are scarlet red and gold (maroon and gold on the ties and scarves). During the books, the Head of this house is the Transfiguration Professor and Deputy Headmistress, Minerva McGonagall until she becomes headmistress, and the house ghost is Sir Nicholas de Mimsy-Porpington, more commonly known as Nearly Headless Nick. According to Rowling, Gryffindor corresponds roughly to the element of fire.^[11] The founder of the house is Godric Gryffindor.

The Gryffindor common room is in one of the castle’s highest towers, and its entrance is on the seventh floor in the east wing of the castle and is guarded by a painting of The Fat Lady, who is garbed in a pink dress. She permits entry only after being given the correct password, as was established in the third book, when Sirius Black tried forcing entry into the tower, only to be blocked by The Fat Lady after he could not give the correct password. In the first book, Neville Longbottom tends to forget the password and must wait near the painting until other Gryffindors arrive to open the way.^[12]

Hufflepuff

Hufflepuff values hard work, patience, justice, and loyalty. The house mascot is the badger, and canary yellow and black (or golden yellow and graphite in the Fantastic Beasts films) are its colours. During the books, the Head of this house is the Herbology Professor Pomona Sprout, and the house ghost is the Fat Friar. According to Rowling, Hufflepuff corresponds roughly to the element of earth.^[11] The founder of this house is Helga Hufflepuff.

The entrance to the Hufflepuff dormitories and common room entrance is concealed in a pile of large barrels in an alcove in the corridor that holds the kitchen. To enter, one must tap the barrel two from the bottom in the middle of the second row in the rhythm of «Helga Hufflepuff». Unlike any other house, the Hufflepuff common room has a repelling device that douses the illegal entrant in vinegar if the wrong lid is tapped or the rhythm is wrong.^[13] The Hufflepuff common room is filled with yellow hangings and fat armchairs and it has little tunnels leading to the dormitories, all of which have perfectly round doors, like barrel tops.^[14]

Ravenclaw

Ravenclaw values intelligence, learning, wisdom and wit.^[HP5][HP7] The house mascot is an eagle and the house colours are blue and bronze (blue and silver in the Harry Potter and Fantastic Beasts films and on the ties and scarves). During the books, the head of this house is the Charms teacher, Professor Filius Flitwick, and the house ghost is the Grey Lady. According to Rowling, Ravenclaw corresponds roughly to the element of air.^[11] The founder of this house is Rowena Ravenclaw.

The dormitories are in Ravenclaw Tower, on the west side of Hogwarts. The common room is round and filled with blue hangings and armchairs, has a domed ceiling painted with stars and features a replica statue of Rowena wearing her diadem. Harry also notes that Ravenclaws «have a spectacular view of the surrounding mountains». A logical riddle must be solved to gain entry, whereas the Gryffindor and Slytherin common rooms only require a password. Professor McGonagall, the head of the Gryffindor House, solves the riddle accurately.

Slytherin

Slytherin values ambition, cunning, leadership, and resourcefulness; the Sorting Hat said in Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone that Slytherins will do anything to get their way. The house mascot of Slytherin is the serpent, and the house colours are green and silver. Throughout the series, until the seventh book, the Head of House is Professor Severus Snape. Then, the previous Head of House Professor Horace Slughorn comes out of retirement, re-assuming authority after Snape becomes headmaster. The ghost of Slytherin house is Bloody Baron.^[15] According to Rowling, Slytherin corresponds roughly to the element of water.^[11] The founder of this house is Salazar Slytherin.

The Slytherin dormitories and common room are reached by speaking a password to a patch of bare stone wall in the dungeons, which causes a hidden door to open. The Slytherin common room is a long, low, dungeon-style room, under the Hogwarts Lake, furnished with green lamps and carved armchairs. The room is described in the second book as having a greenish glow.

The Sorting Hat claims that blood purity is a factor in selecting Slytherins, although this is not mentioned until the fifth book. There is no reason to believe, however, that Muggle-born students are not sorted there, merely that pure-blooded students are more desirable to that house, as there are several examples of half-bloods in the house – such as Snape and Tom Riddle/Voldemort – and Harry himself was only excluded from the house at his own insistence. In Deathly Hallows, a group of Snatchers claim that «not many Mudbloods» are sorted into Slytherin.

When believing Harry to be dead and thinking that he has final victory in his grasp, Voldemort proclaims his intention to abolish the other three houses and force all Hogwarts students into Slytherin. This design is foiled by his defeat and death, after which Slytherin becomes more diluted in its blood purity, no longer remaining the pure-blood bastion it once was.

Subjects and teachers

Being a school of magic, many subjects at Hogwarts differ from the studies of a typical school. Some subjects, such as History of Magic, derive from non-wizard – or muggle – subjects, but many others, such as charms and apparition classes, are unique to the wizarding world.
There are twelve named teachers (referred to as Professors), each specialising in a single subject. All professors are overseen by a school head and deputy head. Transfiguration, Defence Against the Dark Arts, Charms, Potions, Astronomy, History of Magic, and Herbology are compulsory subjects for the first five years, as well as flying lessons. At the end of their second year, students are required to add at least two optional subjects to their syllabus for the start of the third year. The five choices are Arithmancy, Muggle Studies, Divination, Study of Ancient Runes and Care of Magical Creatures. According to J.K. Rowling, «very specialised subjects such as alchemy are sometimes offered in the final two years, if there is sufficient demand.»^[16]

At the end of their fifth year, students take the Ordinary Wizarding Level (O.W.L.) examinations for all subjects in which they are enrolled.^{[citation needed]} Each examination consists of a written knowledge test and, where applicable, a practical demonstration of skills before a panel of proctors from the Ministry of Magic. Students who achieve a high enough O.W.L. grade in a particular subject may take its advanced course for the final two years, in preparation for the Nastily Exhausting Wizarding Tests (N.E.W.T.) given at the end of the seventh year.

Daily life

The day begins at Hogwarts with breakfast in the Great Hall. Students sit at their own House table and can eat and socialise, or finish homework. The Headmaster or Headmistress eats with the professors at the High Table placed at the far end of the hall. During breakfast, owls bring in the students’ post, generally consisting of The Daily Prophet, letters from parents or friends, or packages from home. A bell signals the start of the first class of the morning at 9 am.

There are two long morning classes with a short break in between them for students to get to their next class. After lunch, classes resume at 1 pm, and there is a break around afternoon teatime before another class period. The classes are about one hour in length, with occasional double periods lasting two hours. Classes end around five o’clock. First-year students get Friday afternoons off, while sixth- and seventh-year students have several free periods during the week. In the evening, students eat their dinner in the Great Hall, after which they are expected to be in their common rooms. Astronomy classes take place late at night in the Astronomy Tower.

The four House dormitories have secret entrances, generally known only to members of that house and require a password (Gryffindor and Slytherin), riddle answer (Ravenclaw) or ritual (Hufflepuff) in order to gain entrance. Inside is the common room, which contains armchairs and sofas for the pupils and tables for studying and homework. There are fireplaces to keep the rooms warm, and students either relax here in the evenings or else complete their homework, but may complete their work in the bedroom. There are notice boards in each common room and at other strategic points throughout the school. The students sleep in their House dormitories, which branch off from the common rooms. Each dormitory gets at least two rooms; one for boys and one for girls (an enchantment prevents boys from entering the girls’ area, although there is no spell to prevent the reverse from occurring). Each student sleeps in a large four-poster bed with bed covers and heavy curtains in the House colours, and thick white pillows. There is a bedside table for each bed, and each dormitory has a jug of water and goblets on a tray.

On designated weekends, Hogwarts students in their third year or higher, with a signed permission slip, are permitted to walk to the nearby wizarding village of Hogsmeade, where they can relax and enjoy the pubs, restaurants and shops. There appears to be a good relationship between the school and the village, and the students get on well with the locals. Favourite places in Hogsmeade include Honeydukes Sweetshop, Zonko’s Joke Shop, clothing stores such as Gladrags Wizardwear, the Shrieking Shack (regarded as the most haunted building in Britain), the pubs The Three Broomsticks and The Hog’s Head, and Madam Puddifoot’s coffee shop.

Food

The house-elves at Hogwarts amongst other duties provide all food to students and staff. They cook a wide variety of dishes especially at the feasts. The various dishes are prepared in the kitchens directly below the Great Hall. Within the kitchen are four long tables directly aligned with the house tables in the great hall above. At meal times the food is magically transported up, appearing directly in front of the students.^[17]

Discipline

Apart from losing points from a house, serious misdeeds at Hogwarts are punishable by detention. Whenever a student loses a house point, their house jewels (ruby for Gryffindors, emeralds for Slytherin, sapphires for Ravenclaw, and diamonds for Hufflepuff) are taken away from a glass hourglass located in every classroom. The same goes for adding points to the specific house, although the teacher or prefect must conjure the gems from thin air.

According to the school caretaker, Argus Filch, detention meant subjection to various forms of corporal punishment until recently. Arthur Weasley claimed still to bear physical scars inflicted by Apollyon Pringle, Filch’s predecessor. In present times, however, detention usually involves assisting staff or faculty with tedious tasks. Examples of detention include the one imposed on Harry by Umbridge in Order of the Phoenix. In this case, Harry was forced to write, «I must not tell lies» repeatedly using a magical quill which then carves what is written into the back of the writer’s hand. However, most teachers at the school never use this cruel punishment. In another case, when Snape caught Harry using the Sectumsempra curse on Draco, he was forced to go through over a thousand boxes of files describing wrongdoers at Hogwarts and their punishments. Harry was supposed to order them in alphabetical order, and rewrite the cards whose words were hard to see or otherwise damaged. The Weasley twins Fred and George had a whole drawer of these cards.

For even more serious offences, students may be suspended or even expelled from Hogwarts. Harry and Ron are threatened with expulsion after crashing Ron’s car into the Whomping Willow at the start of their second year, and Harry is expelled before the start of his fifth year (although the sentence is quickly changed to a disciplinary hearing) after he is detected using magic in the presence of Muggles, a serious offence among the wizarding community. Dumbledore argued in Harry’s defence, stating that it was done in self-defence, and that the Ministry has no authority to expel students – such powers are invested in the Headmaster and the Board of Governors. Snape has attempted to have Harry expelled, and he attempted to have Harry’s father, James Potter, expelled when they were at Hogwarts together. The only student known to have been expelled is Hagrid, for the murder of Myrtle with an acromantula believed to be the Monster of Slytherin and for opening the Chamber of Secrets – crimes for which Tom Riddle had framed him.

Professors seem to be able to punish students with relative impunity and can hand out detention, even for unsatisfactory grades. Enforcement of rules outside of class mainly falls to the caretaker, with the assistance of the prefects. A student’s Head of House usually has the final say in disciplinary matters. However, during Umbridge’s tenure at Hogwarts, she quickly obtains the power to have the final say in disciplinary actions, due to an Educational Decree (one of many) passed by Minister for Magic Cornelius Fudge.

In the summer before their fifth year, two fifth year students from each House are picked to be prefects, which grants them privileges and responsibilities and disciplinary responsibilities. The leaders of the student body, the Head Boy and Head Girl, are drawn from the seventh year students. Prefects have the authority to give detentions for infractions.

Castle and grounds

J. K. Rowling says she visualises Hogwarts, in its entirety, to be:

A huge, rambling, quite scary-looking castle, with a jumble of towers and battlements. Like the Weasleys’ house, it isn’t a building that Muggles could build, because it is supported by magic.^[1]

In the novels, Hogwarts is somewhere in Scotland^[18] (the film Prisoner of Azkaban says that Dufftown is near). The school is depicted as having numerous charms and spells on and around it that make it impossible for a Muggle to locate it. Muggles cannot see the school; rather, they see only ruins and several warnings of danger.^[GF Ch.11] The castle’s setting is described as having extensive grounds with sloping lawns, flowerbeds and vegetable patches, a loch (called The Black Lake), a large dense forest (called the Forbidden Forest), several greenhouses and other outbuildings, and a full-size Quidditch pitch. There is also an owlery, which houses all the owls owned by the school and those owned by students. Some rooms in the school tend to «move around», and so do the stairs in the grand staircase.^[19] Witches and wizards cannot Apparate or Disapparate in Hogwarts grounds, except when the Headmaster lifts the enchantment, whether only in certain areas or for the entire campus, so as to make the school less vulnerable when it serves the headmaster to allow Apparition.^[GF Ch.28] Electricity and electronic devices are not found at Hogwarts. Hermione Granger indicates in Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire that due to the high levels of magic, «substitutes for magic (that) Muggles use» such as computers, radar and electricity «go haywire» around Hogwarts. Radios however, make an exception. Rowling explains this by saying that the radios are not powered by electricity but by magic.

Hogwarts is on the shore of a lake, sometimes called the Black Lake. In that lake are merpeople, Grindylows, and a giant squid. The giant squid does not attack humans and sometimes acts as a lifeguard when students are in the lake. The castle and its grounds are home to many secret areas as well as well-known and well-used places.

Hiding place of the Philosopher’s Stone

Accessed by entering a trapdoor in the forbidden corridor on the third floor, and protected by a gauntlet of seven magical challenges set up by the teachers.

• A giant three-headed dog named Fluffy placed specially to guard the trapdoor by Hagrid.
• Devil’s Snare, grown by Professor Sprout.
• A room containing dozens of keys, charmed by Flitwick to sprout wings and fly near the ceiling. One of these keys will unlock the door to the next section. However, in the film adaptation, the keys attack the seeker of the Stone.
• A large chessboard with an army of large chessmen, transfigured by McGonagall. To continue to the door on the opposite side, the person in question must beat the chessmen at a game of wizards’ chess where the player must risk his life if he loses. Ron and Professor Quirrell are the only wizards to win the game of wizards’ chess.
• A room with a large troll inside. This is Quirrell’s challenge. In the book, Quirrell had knocked out his own troll to get to the last room and thus the trio did not have to fight it; in the film, it does not appear, but it appears in the PS1 and Game Boy Color version of the game.
• A series of potions, brewed by Snape. A logical riddle, not magic, has to be solved. There are two doors, blocked by fire. One potion will allow the person to exit the way he or she arrived, another will allow him or her to continue to the next chamber, two are nettle wine, and the other three are poison. This challenge does not appear in the film, but does in the video game adaptation.
• The Mirror of Erised can be found in the final chamber, further enchanted by Dumbledore to bestow the Philosopher’s Stone upon a seeker only hoping to acquire the stone but not use it for selfish means.

Chamber of Secrets

The Chamber of Secrets, which is deep under the school (most likely under the lake),^[20] was home to an ancient Basilisk, intended to be used to purge the school of Muggle-born students. Salazar Slytherin, one of the founders of Hogwarts, built the Chamber before he left the school.

The entrance to the Chamber is hidden in the second-floor girls’ lavatory (haunted by Moaning Myrtle). One of the sink taps has a snake scratched into its side; when a command in Parseltongue is spoken, it opens to reveal the mouth of a dark, slimy chute, wide enough to slide down, that gives onto a stone tunnel. There are many skeletons of small animals littering the floor and even a gigantic skin shed by the Basilisk. The tunnel leads to a solid wall, carved with two entwined serpents with emeralds for eyes.^[20] At a command in Parseltongue, the wall opens to expose a long, dim corridor, lined with monumental statues of snakes, including two rows of towering stone pillars with more carved serpents that brace the ceiling. A colossal statue of Salazar Slytherin, looking ancient and monkey-like, is at the centre. The Basilisk rested inside the statue and emerged from its mouth when the Heir of Slytherin, Tom Riddle, summoned it.^[21]
In his second year at Hogwarts, Harry uses Parseltongue to open the chamber and destroys the diary containing the embodied memory of a 16-year-old Tom Riddle from his own days at Hogwarts and also slays the basilisk. It is later revealed that the diary was a Horcrux.
In Deathly Hallows, Ron and Hermione enter the Chamber. Ron opens the door (despite not speaking Parseltongue) by imitating sounds he heard Harry use to open Slytherin’s locket. They pull a basilisk fang from its skeleton to use to destroy the Horcrux made from Helga Hufflepuff’s cup.

When Tom Riddle opened the Chamber, Myrtle was sulking in a stall after being teased by student Olive Hornby. She opened the door, intending to tell him to leave, but died immediately upon meeting the Basilisk’s gaze and decided to become a ghost to get revenge on Hornby.^[20] The bathroom remains operational, but is rarely used by students because of Myrtle’s disagreeable presence and her habit of flooding it when she is distraught.

The film’s depiction of the Chamber has snake heads in place of the pillars and Slytherin’s statue is only his head. Rowling reveals in the book Harry Potter Page to Screen; The Complete Filmmaking Journey that the Chamber has flooded since its creation under unknown circumstances.

As shown in Deathly Hallows, the Chamber of Secrets does not appear on the Marauder’s Map.

Passages

There are usually seven secret passages in and out of the school, and in addition, the series describes the use of twin vanishing cabinets to create another. Filch knows of just four of these, while the Marauders (James Potter, Sirius Black, Remus Lupin and Peter Pettigrew) and the Weasley twins know of all seven, though where some lead is unknown. The Room of Requirement may, on occasion, create an eighth passage out of the school. The only known instance of this occurring is a passage to the Hog’s Head that forms in Deathly Hallows. Due to the nature of the Room of Requirement, it is possible that several passages to different locations could be accessed from the Room. The three passages out of Hogwarts that Filch does not know about are:

• A passage beneath the Whomping Willow, leading to the Shrieking Shack.
• A passage behind a mirror on the fourth floor, which is caved in. It leads to Hogsmeade, but it is not known exactly where.
• A passage beneath the one-eyed witch statue by the stairs to the Defence Against the Dark Arts classroom, leading to the cellar of Honeydukes. Speaking aloud the word ‘Dissendium’ to the witch allows access to this passage; the hump on the statue then opens and reveals the hidden passageway.

A further link between two vanishing cabinets, one in the school and the other in Borgin and Burkes in Knockturn Alley presumably works until Chamber of Secrets when Peeves (persuaded by Nearly Headless Nick) smashes the Hogwarts cabinet. The passage is reopened in Half-Blood Prince when Draco Malfoy fixes the cabinet. This passage is not shown on the Marauder’s Map as it is not part of the castle itself.

Besides passages in and out of the school, there are also numerous short-cuts that lead from one part of the castle to another. These are often concealed in such fashions as a tapestry which hides a hole in the wall.

Room of Requirement

On the seventh floor opposite an enormous tapestry depicting Barnabas the Barmy attempting to train trolls for the ballet, the Room of Requirement appears only when someone is in need of it. To make it appear, one must walk past its hidden entrance three times while concentrating on what is needed. The room will then appear, outfitted with whatever is required. To the Hogwarts house-elves, it is also known as the Come and Go Room.

Dumbledore is the first to mention the room, noting that he discovered it at five-thirty in the morning, filled with chamber pots when he was trying to find a toilet. However, Dumbledore did not appear to know the Room’s secrets. Dobby later told Harry of the Room in detail and admitted to frequently bringing Winky to the room to cure her bouts of Butterbeer-induced drunkenness, finding it full of antidotes and a «nice elf-sized bed.» Filch was said to find cleaning supplies here when he had run out; when Fred and George needed a place to hide, it would appear as a broom cupboard. Trelawney also makes a habit of using it to hide her empty sherry bottles after she is sacked in Order of the Phoenix. It would seem that when one wishes to hide something it produces the same room for everyone: the Room of Hidden Things, which is full of many centuries worth of abandoned objects, such as broken furniture, books, and in one case a dead quintaped (for more information see Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them), which were presumably forgotten by their owners.

Harry learns of the room’s abilities from Dobby in Order of the Phoenix, finding it the perfect location for his Dumbledore’s Army meetings, during which it is filled with bookcases full of Defence Against the Dark Arts volumes, many different kinds of Dark Detectors, and a plethora of floor cushions for practising defensive spells. When the D.A. is betrayed, the room is left open, and Pansy Parkinson is able to retrieve the list of members of the organisation. In Half-Blood Prince Harry uses the Room of Hidden Things to stash his copy of Advanced Potion-Making, describing it as the size of a large cathedral and packed to overflowing with items hidden by Hogwarts inhabitants over the years, such as old potions, clothing, ruined furniture, an old tiara (which happens to be one of Voldemort’s Horcruxes), or books which are «no doubt banned or graffitied or stolen.» He later realises that Draco has been using the room in this state to hide and repair the Vanishing Cabinet to use it to smuggle Death Eaters into Hogwarts. Ironically, while Harry tries many times to get into the Room of Requirement to see what Draco is doing, the only time he succeeds to get into the room (and he is not thinking about Draco), he gains access to the room where Malfoy has been working.

In Deathly Hallows, the students who need a place to hide from the Carrows, two Death Eater professors, use the room. It is also revealed that the Room of Requirement’s current version can change while still occupied, though should a completely different version be required (e.g. the Room of Hidden Things instead of DA Headquarters) the room must be empty. The Room can also answer to the desire of the wizard within the room, such as providing Harry with a whistle when he needed one during a Dumbledore’s Army meeting, or creating a passage to the Hog’s Head (as the room cannot produce food). Later, Ravenclaw’s diadem is found to be one of Voldemort’s Horcruxes and has been hidden in the Room of Hidden Things by Voldemort. Harry, Ron, and Hermione enter the Room, with Harry knowing that he must look for a place to hide things, and find the tiara; but they are ambushed by Draco, Crabbe and Goyle. The diadem is finally destroyed when Crabbe fills this version of the Room with what Hermione believes to have been Fiendfyre; a destructive magical fire. It is not known if the room continues to function after the events of Deathly Hallows; Ron expresses concern that it may have been ruined in all of its forms by the cursed fire.

Due to the Room of Requirement not being in a fixed location, it is one of the select locations in Hogwarts that does not appear on the Marauder’s Map.

Forbidden Forest

The Forbidden Forest is a large, dark enchanted forest in the boundaries of the school grounds. It is usually referred to simply as «the Forest» and in the film series as the «Dark Forest». It is strictly forbidden to all students, except during Care of Magical Creatures lessons and, on rare occasions, detentions.

Among the plant species within the Forest are trees such as beech, oak, pine, sycamore, yew and knotgrass and thorn undergrowth. Though the Forest is vastly dense and wild, there are a few paths and clearings. Hagrid, who frequently travels into the Forest for various reasons, mostly makes these trails. The Forest is also home to an assortment of creatures, many of them dangerous.

In 2017, a Forbidden Forest expansion was added to the Warner Bros. Studio Tour London — The Making of Harry Potter, enabling fans to explore it for the first time.^[22]

Hogwarts Express

Hogwarts Express
Legend
King’s Cross London King’s Cross railway station   Hogsmeade Station   Hogsmeade

The Hogwarts Express is a train that carries pupils non-stop from Platform 9+3⁄4 at King’s Cross station in London to Hogsmeade Station, near Hogwarts. Prefects of the school ride in a separate carriage near the front of the train. The compartments on the train appear to be lettered; in Half-Blood Prince, the «Slug Club» meets in compartment C.

The train began use in the 1850s. Before that, pupils used to reach Hogwarts on brooms or enchanted carriages.^[23]

The steam engine used in the film adaptations is the GWR 4900 Class 5972 Olton Hall, but it was not the first locomotive to be disguised as the Hogwarts Express. To promote the books, the Southern Railway locomotive 34027 Taw Valley was repainted and renamed temporarily, but was rejected by director Chris Columbus as looking ‘too modern’ for the film. Filming locations for the Hogwarts Express sequences include Goathland on the North Yorkshire Moors Railway, Kings Cross railway station and the route of the Jacobite Express which follows the West Highland Line from Fort William to Mallaig in Scotland, as it crosses the Glenfinnan Viaduct.^[24]

Several model trains have been made of the Hogwarts Express. An 00 gauge is produced by Hornby, though this is of a Castle Class locomotive rather than the Hall Class used in the films. A three-rail H0 gauge model is produced by Märklin, and a two-rail H0/00 was produced in the early 2000s by Bachmann. Several now-discontinued L gauge models have been produced by LEGO. Lionel has released an O gauge set in their 2007 catalogue and a G gauge set for 2008.^[25][26]

A completely functioning full-scale replica of the Hogwarts Express was created for The Wizarding World of Harry Potter’s expansion at Universal Orlando Resort connecting King’s Cross Station at the Diagon Alley expansion in Universal Studios Florida to the Hogsmeade station at Islands of Adventure,^[27] manufactured by Doppelmayr Garaventa Group in the form of a funicular railway people mover.^[28] The Hogwarts Express King’s Cross Station features a wall between Platforms 9 and 10, where guests can «walk through» to get to Platform 9+3⁄4, as in the first film.

• 

  Crowds of people around 5972 in York, which had worked an enthusiast special from Manchester in June 2014.

Creation for books and films

Rowling has suggested that she may have inadvertently taken the name from the hogwort plant (Croton capitatus), which she had seen at Kew Gardens some time before writing the series,^[29] although the names «The Hogwarts» and «Hoggwart» appear in the 1954 Nigel Molesworth book How to Be Topp by Geoffrey Willans.^[30][31] The name «Hogwart» also appears in the 1986 Labyrinth fantasy film.^[32]

Most exterior scenes were shot on location at Alnwick Castle, but views of the exterior of the entire school were created from shots of Durham Cathedral with a digital spire added to the towers. Durham Cathedral also served as a set for Hogwarts interiors.

A scale model was created for exterior shots of the entire school. Models of Alnwick Castle and Durham Cathedral were also built to create more integration between the model and on location shots. It took a team of 86 artists and crew members 74 years worth of man hours to complete the model.^[33]

Popularity

Hogwarts school was voted as the 36th-best Scottish educational establishment in a 2008 online ranking, outranking Edinburgh’s Loretto School. According to a director of the Independent Schools Network Rankings, it was added to the schools listing «for fun» and was then voted on.^[34]

In translation

Most translations keep the name ‘Hogwarts’, transcribing it if necessary. For example, in Arabic it is transcribed as هوغوورتس = Hūghwūrts, in Russian as Хогвартс = Khogvarts, in Japanese as ホグワーツ = Hoguwātsu, in Bengali as হগওয়ার্টস = Hogowarts, in Greek as Χόγκουαρτς = Hóguarts, and in simplified Chinese as 霍格沃茨 = Huògéwòcí.^[35]

However, some translations translate or otherwise adapt the name: French Poudlard (lard = «bacon»),^[35] Latvian Cūkkārpas shortened from cūka = «pig» + kārpas = «warts», Dutch Zweinstein modified from zwijnsteen = «pig rock»,^[35] Norwegian Bokmål Galtvort (galt = boar, vort = wart) (Nynorsk keeps «Hogwarts«), Finnish Tylypahka (pahka = «wart»), Hungarian Roxfort (playing with the name of Oxford in tribute to Harry Potter’s home country),^[35] Slovenian Bradavičarka (bradavice = «warts»)), Czech Bradavice means simply «warts».^[35] The Ancient Greek translation of the school is «Ὑογοήτου Παιδευτήριον τὸ τῆς Γοητείας καὶ Μαγείας», loosely translating to «Hogwizard’s School of Wizardry and Magic», Ὑογοήτου replacing «Hogwarts» and derived from the ancient Greek words ὑo- (hog) and γοητής (wizard).

See also

• Albus Dumbledore
• Loch Shiel

References

External links

• Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry on Harry Potter Wiki, an external wiki
• Hogwarts Castle on Harry Potter Wiki, an external wiki
• The Harry Potter Lexicon’s Hogwarts Atlas featuring numerous images of Hogwarts. hplex.info.
• The Marauder’s Map from the Warner Bros website, harrypotter.warnerbros.co.uk

Not to be confused with Hogwort.

Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry
Studio model of Hogwarts at Leavesden Studios
Universe	Wizarding World
First appearance	Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone (1997)
Most recent appearance	Hogwarts Legacy (2023)
In-universe information
Type	Selective school Secondary school Boarding school
Founded	c. 9th/10th century
Location	Scotland
Owner	Ministry of Magic
Purpose	Training for children with magical abilities[1]
Motto	Latin: Draco dormiens nunquam titillandus («Never Tickle a Sleeping Dragon»)[2]

Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry () is a fictional boarding school of magic for students aged eleven to eighteen, and is the primary setting for the first six books in J. K. Rowling’s Harry Potter series and serves as a major setting in the Wizarding World universe.^[3]

History

Establishment

Founded around the 9th century and 10th century by Godric Gryffindor, Rowena Ravenclaw, Helga Hufflepuff and Salazar Slytherin, Hogwarts was established in the Highlands of Scotland to educate young wizards and witches as well as to keep students safe from muggle persecution. Theory has it that Rowena Ravenclaw came up with the name of Hogwarts after dreaming of a warty hog that led her to a cliff by a lake.^[4] Since then, Hogwarts educated most wizarding children with residence in Great Britain and Ireland, keeping its location hidden from other wizarding schools and muggles.

Middle ages

About three hundred years after the school was founded, the Triwizard Tournament was established as an interscholastic competition among the three most prestigious magical schools in Europe: Hogwarts, Beauxbatons, and Durmstrang. The tournament continued for six centuries before being discontinued. An attempt was made in the 1994–1995 school year to revive the tournament, but the consequential death of Cedric Diggory resulted in its permanent discontinuation.^{[citation needed]}

Academics and traditions

Hogwarts is a coeducational, secondary boarding school, taking children from ages eleven to seventeen.^[3] Education at Hogwarts is not compulsory, with some students being home schooled as stated in the seventh book. Rowling initially said there are about one thousand students at Hogwarts.^[5] She later suggested around six hundred, while acknowledging that this number was still inconsistent with the small number of people in Harry’s year. She further explained that this had resulted from her creating only forty characters for Harry’s year.^[6]

Admission

According to the novels, admission to Hogwarts is selective, in that children who show magical ability will automatically gain a place,^[7] and squibs cannot attend the school as students (though they can work there in other roles, as Argus Filch does).^[8] A magical quill at Hogwarts detects the birth of magical children and writes their names into a large parchment book,^[1] but there is no admission test because «you are either magical or you are not.»^[7] Every year, a teacher checks this book and sends a letter to the children who are turning eleven. Acceptance or refusal of a place at Hogwarts must be posted by 31 July. The letter also contains a list of supplies like spell books, uniform, and other things that the student will need. The prospective student is expected to buy all the necessary materials, normally from shops in Diagon Alley, a concealed street near Charing Cross Road in London that can be found behind the wizarding pub, The Leaky Cauldron. Students who cannot afford their supplies can receive financial aid from the school, as happened with the young orphan Tom Riddle.

Letters to Muggle-born witches and wizards, who may not be aware of their powers and are unfamiliar with the concealed wizarding world, are delivered in person by a member of Hogwarts staff, who then explains to the parents or guardians about magical society, and reassures them regarding this news.^[HP7]

Though the school is in Great Britain, its catchment area is the wider British Isles, as Irish students can also attend.

Each student is allowed to bring an owl, a cat or a toad. Along with the acceptance letter, first-year students are sent a list of required equipment which includes a wand, subject books, a standard size 2 pewter cauldron, a set of brass scales, a set of glass or crystal phials, a kit of basic potion ingredients (for Potions), and a telescope (for Astronomy). The Hogwarts uniform consists of plain work robes in black, a plain black hat, a pair of protective gloves, and a black winter cloak with silver fastenings. Each uniform must contain the wearer’s nametag. First years are not allowed a broomstick of their own, though an exception to this rule is made for Harry Potter in his first year after he demonstrates an excellent ability as a Seeker in Quidditch.

Arrival

The primary mode of transport to Hogwarts is the Hogwarts Express that students take at the start of each school year. Students board the train from the also fictional and hidden Platform 9¾ at King’s Cross station in London. The train arrives at Hogsmeade station near Hogwarts, sometime after nightfall.

From there, first-year students are accompanied by the «Keeper of the Keys, Game and Grounds» (which was Hagrid during the first novel) to small boats, which magically sail across the lake and get them near the entrance of Hogwarts. The older students ride up to the castle in carriages pulled by creatures called Thestrals. When the first-year students initially arrive at the castle, they wait in a small chamber off the entrance hall until the older students have taken their seats, and then enter the Great Hall for the Sorting Ceremony to determine their House assignments. As Professor Minerva McGonagall said in Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone, «The Sorting is a very important ceremony because, while you are here, your House will be something like your family within Hogwarts. You will have classes with the rest of your House, sleep in your House dormitory, and spend free time in your House common room.»
After the Sorting Hat sings a song, each student in turn is seated upon the stool in front of the rest of the student body. The Hat is placed on the student’s head, whereupon it examines his or her mind and assigns them to one of the four Houses based on abilities, personality, and preferences. After the Sorting Ceremony, the students and teachers enjoy a feast, prepared by the Hogwarts house-elves. If Dumbledore is feeling cheerful, he will lead the students in singing the school song.^[9]

Houses

Hogwarts is divided into four houses, each bearing the last name of its founder: Godric Gryffindor, Salazar Slytherin, Rowena Ravenclaw and Helga Hufflepuff. Throughout the school year, the houses compete for the House Cup, gaining and losing points based on actions such as performance in class and rule violations. The house with the highest end-of-year total wins and has its colours displayed in the Great Hall for the following school year. Each house also has its own Quidditch team that competes for the Quidditch Cup. These two competitions breed rivalries between the houses. Houses at Hogwarts are living and learning communities for their students. Each house is under the authority of one of the Hogwarts staff members. The Heads of the houses, as they are called, are in charge of giving their students important information, dealing with matters of severe punishment, and responding to emergencies in their houses, among other things. The dormitory and common room of a House are, barring rare exceptions, inaccessible to students belonging to other Houses; however, different houses will share classes as they are based on year group rather than House.

In the early days of Hogwarts, the four founders hand-picked students for their Houses. When the founders worried how students would be selected after their deaths, Godric Gryffindor took his hat off and they each added knowledge to it, allowing the Sorting Hat to choose the students by judging each student’s qualities and placing them in the most appropriate house. The student’s own choices may affect the decision: the clearest example is the Hat telling Harry that he would do well in Slytherin in the first book, but ultimately selecting Gryffindor after Harry asks it not to put him in Slytherin.

The translators of the books’ foreign editions had difficulty translating the «house» concept; in countries where this system does not exist, no word could adequately convey the importance of belonging to a house, the loyalty owed to it, and the pride taken in prizes won by the house.^[10]

Gryffindor

Gryffindor values courage, bravery, nerve, and chivalry. Gryffindor’s mascot is the lion, and its colours are scarlet red and gold (maroon and gold on the ties and scarves). During the books, the Head of this house is the Transfiguration Professor and Deputy Headmistress, Minerva McGonagall until she becomes headmistress, and the house ghost is Sir Nicholas de Mimsy-Porpington, more commonly known as Nearly Headless Nick. According to Rowling, Gryffindor corresponds roughly to the element of fire.^[11] The founder of the house is Godric Gryffindor.

The Gryffindor common room is in one of the castle’s highest towers, and its entrance is on the seventh floor in the east wing of the castle and is guarded by a painting of The Fat Lady, who is garbed in a pink dress. She permits entry only after being given the correct password, as was established in the third book, when Sirius Black tried forcing entry into the tower, only to be blocked by The Fat Lady after he could not give the correct password. In the first book, Neville Longbottom tends to forget the password and must wait near the painting until other Gryffindors arrive to open the way.^[12]

Hufflepuff

Hufflepuff values hard work, patience, justice, and loyalty. The house mascot is the badger, and canary yellow and black (or golden yellow and graphite in the Fantastic Beasts films) are its colours. During the books, the Head of this house is the Herbology Professor Pomona Sprout, and the house ghost is the Fat Friar. According to Rowling, Hufflepuff corresponds roughly to the element of earth.^[11] The founder of this house is Helga Hufflepuff.

The entrance to the Hufflepuff dormitories and common room entrance is concealed in a pile of large barrels in an alcove in the corridor that holds the kitchen. To enter, one must tap the barrel two from the bottom in the middle of the second row in the rhythm of «Helga Hufflepuff». Unlike any other house, the Hufflepuff common room has a repelling device that douses the illegal entrant in vinegar if the wrong lid is tapped or the rhythm is wrong.^[13] The Hufflepuff common room is filled with yellow hangings and fat armchairs and it has little tunnels leading to the dormitories, all of which have perfectly round doors, like barrel tops.^[14]

Ravenclaw

Ravenclaw values intelligence, learning, wisdom and wit.^[HP5][HP7] The house mascot is an eagle and the house colours are blue and bronze (blue and silver in the Harry Potter and Fantastic Beasts films and on the ties and scarves). During the books, the head of this house is the Charms teacher, Professor Filius Flitwick, and the house ghost is the Grey Lady. According to Rowling, Ravenclaw corresponds roughly to the element of air.^[11] The founder of this house is Rowena Ravenclaw.

The dormitories are in Ravenclaw Tower, on the west side of Hogwarts. The common room is round and filled with blue hangings and armchairs, has a domed ceiling painted with stars and features a replica statue of Rowena wearing her diadem. Harry also notes that Ravenclaws «have a spectacular view of the surrounding mountains». A logical riddle must be solved to gain entry, whereas the Gryffindor and Slytherin common rooms only require a password. Professor McGonagall, the head of the Gryffindor House, solves the riddle accurately.

Slytherin

Slytherin values ambition, cunning, leadership, and resourcefulness; the Sorting Hat said in Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone that Slytherins will do anything to get their way. The house mascot of Slytherin is the serpent, and the house colours are green and silver. Throughout the series, until the seventh book, the Head of House is Professor Severus Snape. Then, the previous Head of House Professor Horace Slughorn comes out of retirement, re-assuming authority after Snape becomes headmaster. The ghost of Slytherin house is Bloody Baron.^[15] According to Rowling, Slytherin corresponds roughly to the element of water.^[11] The founder of this house is Salazar Slytherin.

The Slytherin dormitories and common room are reached by speaking a password to a patch of bare stone wall in the dungeons, which causes a hidden door to open. The Slytherin common room is a long, low, dungeon-style room, under the Hogwarts Lake, furnished with green lamps and carved armchairs. The room is described in the second book as having a greenish glow.

The Sorting Hat claims that blood purity is a factor in selecting Slytherins, although this is not mentioned until the fifth book. There is no reason to believe, however, that Muggle-born students are not sorted there, merely that pure-blooded students are more desirable to that house, as there are several examples of half-bloods in the house – such as Snape and Tom Riddle/Voldemort – and Harry himself was only excluded from the house at his own insistence. In Deathly Hallows, a group of Snatchers claim that «not many Mudbloods» are sorted into Slytherin.

When believing Harry to be dead and thinking that he has final victory in his grasp, Voldemort proclaims his intention to abolish the other three houses and force all Hogwarts students into Slytherin. This design is foiled by his defeat and death, after which Slytherin becomes more diluted in its blood purity, no longer remaining the pure-blood bastion it once was.

Subjects and teachers

Being a school of magic, many subjects at Hogwarts differ from the studies of a typical school. Some subjects, such as History of Magic, derive from non-wizard – or muggle – subjects, but many others, such as charms and apparition classes, are unique to the wizarding world.
There are twelve named teachers (referred to as Professors), each specialising in a single subject. All professors are overseen by a school head and deputy head. Transfiguration, Defence Against the Dark Arts, Charms, Potions, Astronomy, History of Magic, and Herbology are compulsory subjects for the first five years, as well as flying lessons. At the end of their second year, students are required to add at least two optional subjects to their syllabus for the start of the third year. The five choices are Arithmancy, Muggle Studies, Divination, Study of Ancient Runes and Care of Magical Creatures. According to J.K. Rowling, «very specialised subjects such as alchemy are sometimes offered in the final two years, if there is sufficient demand.»^[16]

At the end of their fifth year, students take the Ordinary Wizarding Level (O.W.L.) examinations for all subjects in which they are enrolled.^{[citation needed]} Each examination consists of a written knowledge test and, where applicable, a practical demonstration of skills before a panel of proctors from the Ministry of Magic. Students who achieve a high enough O.W.L. grade in a particular subject may take its advanced course for the final two years, in preparation for the Nastily Exhausting Wizarding Tests (N.E.W.T.) given at the end of the seventh year.

Daily life

The day begins at Hogwarts with breakfast in the Great Hall. Students sit at their own House table and can eat and socialise, or finish homework. The Headmaster or Headmistress eats with the professors at the High Table placed at the far end of the hall. During breakfast, owls bring in the students’ post, generally consisting of The Daily Prophet, letters from parents or friends, or packages from home. A bell signals the start of the first class of the morning at 9 am.

There are two long morning classes with a short break in between them for students to get to their next class. After lunch, classes resume at 1 pm, and there is a break around afternoon teatime before another class period. The classes are about one hour in length, with occasional double periods lasting two hours. Classes end around five o’clock. First-year students get Friday afternoons off, while sixth- and seventh-year students have several free periods during the week. In the evening, students eat their dinner in the Great Hall, after which they are expected to be in their common rooms. Astronomy classes take place late at night in the Astronomy Tower.

The four House dormitories have secret entrances, generally known only to members of that house and require a password (Gryffindor and Slytherin), riddle answer (Ravenclaw) or ritual (Hufflepuff) in order to gain entrance. Inside is the common room, which contains armchairs and sofas for the pupils and tables for studying and homework. There are fireplaces to keep the rooms warm, and students either relax here in the evenings or else complete their homework, but may complete their work in the bedroom. There are notice boards in each common room and at other strategic points throughout the school. The students sleep in their House dormitories, which branch off from the common rooms. Each dormitory gets at least two rooms; one for boys and one for girls (an enchantment prevents boys from entering the girls’ area, although there is no spell to prevent the reverse from occurring). Each student sleeps in a large four-poster bed with bed covers and heavy curtains in the House colours, and thick white pillows. There is a bedside table for each bed, and each dormitory has a jug of water and goblets on a tray.

On designated weekends, Hogwarts students in their third year or higher, with a signed permission slip, are permitted to walk to the nearby wizarding village of Hogsmeade, where they can relax and enjoy the pubs, restaurants and shops. There appears to be a good relationship between the school and the village, and the students get on well with the locals. Favourite places in Hogsmeade include Honeydukes Sweetshop, Zonko’s Joke Shop, clothing stores such as Gladrags Wizardwear, the Shrieking Shack (regarded as the most haunted building in Britain), the pubs The Three Broomsticks and The Hog’s Head, and Madam Puddifoot’s coffee shop.

Food

The house-elves at Hogwarts amongst other duties provide all food to students and staff. They cook a wide variety of dishes especially at the feasts. The various dishes are prepared in the kitchens directly below the Great Hall. Within the kitchen are four long tables directly aligned with the house tables in the great hall above. At meal times the food is magically transported up, appearing directly in front of the students.^[17]

Discipline

Apart from losing points from a house, serious misdeeds at Hogwarts are punishable by detention. Whenever a student loses a house point, their house jewels (ruby for Gryffindors, emeralds for Slytherin, sapphires for Ravenclaw, and diamonds for Hufflepuff) are taken away from a glass hourglass located in every classroom. The same goes for adding points to the specific house, although the teacher or prefect must conjure the gems from thin air.

According to the school caretaker, Argus Filch, detention meant subjection to various forms of corporal punishment until recently. Arthur Weasley claimed still to bear physical scars inflicted by Apollyon Pringle, Filch’s predecessor. In present times, however, detention usually involves assisting staff or faculty with tedious tasks. Examples of detention include the one imposed on Harry by Umbridge in Order of the Phoenix. In this case, Harry was forced to write, «I must not tell lies» repeatedly using a magical quill which then carves what is written into the back of the writer’s hand. However, most teachers at the school never use this cruel punishment. In another case, when Snape caught Harry using the Sectumsempra curse on Draco, he was forced to go through over a thousand boxes of files describing wrongdoers at Hogwarts and their punishments. Harry was supposed to order them in alphabetical order, and rewrite the cards whose words were hard to see or otherwise damaged. The Weasley twins Fred and George had a whole drawer of these cards.

For even more serious offences, students may be suspended or even expelled from Hogwarts. Harry and Ron are threatened with expulsion after crashing Ron’s car into the Whomping Willow at the start of their second year, and Harry is expelled before the start of his fifth year (although the sentence is quickly changed to a disciplinary hearing) after he is detected using magic in the presence of Muggles, a serious offence among the wizarding community. Dumbledore argued in Harry’s defence, stating that it was done in self-defence, and that the Ministry has no authority to expel students – such powers are invested in the Headmaster and the Board of Governors. Snape has attempted to have Harry expelled, and he attempted to have Harry’s father, James Potter, expelled when they were at Hogwarts together. The only student known to have been expelled is Hagrid, for the murder of Myrtle with an acromantula believed to be the Monster of Slytherin and for opening the Chamber of Secrets – crimes for which Tom Riddle had framed him.

Professors seem to be able to punish students with relative impunity and can hand out detention, even for unsatisfactory grades. Enforcement of rules outside of class mainly falls to the caretaker, with the assistance of the prefects. A student’s Head of House usually has the final say in disciplinary matters. However, during Umbridge’s tenure at Hogwarts, she quickly obtains the power to have the final say in disciplinary actions, due to an Educational Decree (one of many) passed by Minister for Magic Cornelius Fudge.

In the summer before their fifth year, two fifth year students from each House are picked to be prefects, which grants them privileges and responsibilities and disciplinary responsibilities. The leaders of the student body, the Head Boy and Head Girl, are drawn from the seventh year students. Prefects have the authority to give detentions for infractions.

Castle and grounds

J. K. Rowling says she visualises Hogwarts, in its entirety, to be:

A huge, rambling, quite scary-looking castle, with a jumble of towers and battlements. Like the Weasleys’ house, it isn’t a building that Muggles could build, because it is supported by magic.^[1]

In the novels, Hogwarts is somewhere in Scotland^[18] (the film Prisoner of Azkaban says that Dufftown is near). The school is depicted as having numerous charms and spells on and around it that make it impossible for a Muggle to locate it. Muggles cannot see the school; rather, they see only ruins and several warnings of danger.^[GF Ch.11] The castle’s setting is described as having extensive grounds with sloping lawns, flowerbeds and vegetable patches, a loch (called The Black Lake), a large dense forest (called the Forbidden Forest), several greenhouses and other outbuildings, and a full-size Quidditch pitch. There is also an owlery, which houses all the owls owned by the school and those owned by students. Some rooms in the school tend to «move around», and so do the stairs in the grand staircase.^[19] Witches and wizards cannot Apparate or Disapparate in Hogwarts grounds, except when the Headmaster lifts the enchantment, whether only in certain areas or for the entire campus, so as to make the school less vulnerable when it serves the headmaster to allow Apparition.^[GF Ch.28] Electricity and electronic devices are not found at Hogwarts. Hermione Granger indicates in Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire that due to the high levels of magic, «substitutes for magic (that) Muggles use» such as computers, radar and electricity «go haywire» around Hogwarts. Radios however, make an exception. Rowling explains this by saying that the radios are not powered by electricity but by magic.

Hogwarts is on the shore of a lake, sometimes called the Black Lake. In that lake are merpeople, Grindylows, and a giant squid. The giant squid does not attack humans and sometimes acts as a lifeguard when students are in the lake. The castle and its grounds are home to many secret areas as well as well-known and well-used places.

Hiding place of the Philosopher’s Stone

Accessed by entering a trapdoor in the forbidden corridor on the third floor, and protected by a gauntlet of seven magical challenges set up by the teachers.

• A giant three-headed dog named Fluffy placed specially to guard the trapdoor by Hagrid.
• Devil’s Snare, grown by Professor Sprout.
• A room containing dozens of keys, charmed by Flitwick to sprout wings and fly near the ceiling. One of these keys will unlock the door to the next section. However, in the film adaptation, the keys attack the seeker of the Stone.
• A large chessboard with an army of large chessmen, transfigured by McGonagall. To continue to the door on the opposite side, the person in question must beat the chessmen at a game of wizards’ chess where the player must risk his life if he loses. Ron and Professor Quirrell are the only wizards to win the game of wizards’ chess.
• A room with a large troll inside. This is Quirrell’s challenge. In the book, Quirrell had knocked out his own troll to get to the last room and thus the trio did not have to fight it; in the film, it does not appear, but it appears in the PS1 and Game Boy Color version of the game.
• A series of potions, brewed by Snape. A logical riddle, not magic, has to be solved. There are two doors, blocked by fire. One potion will allow the person to exit the way he or she arrived, another will allow him or her to continue to the next chamber, two are nettle wine, and the other three are poison. This challenge does not appear in the film, but does in the video game adaptation.
• The Mirror of Erised can be found in the final chamber, further enchanted by Dumbledore to bestow the Philosopher’s Stone upon a seeker only hoping to acquire the stone but not use it for selfish means.

Chamber of Secrets

The Chamber of Secrets, which is deep under the school (most likely under the lake),^[20] was home to an ancient Basilisk, intended to be used to purge the school of Muggle-born students. Salazar Slytherin, one of the founders of Hogwarts, built the Chamber before he left the school.

The entrance to the Chamber is hidden in the second-floor girls’ lavatory (haunted by Moaning Myrtle). One of the sink taps has a snake scratched into its side; when a command in Parseltongue is spoken, it opens to reveal the mouth of a dark, slimy chute, wide enough to slide down, that gives onto a stone tunnel. There are many skeletons of small animals littering the floor and even a gigantic skin shed by the Basilisk. The tunnel leads to a solid wall, carved with two entwined serpents with emeralds for eyes.^[20] At a command in Parseltongue, the wall opens to expose a long, dim corridor, lined with monumental statues of snakes, including two rows of towering stone pillars with more carved serpents that brace the ceiling. A colossal statue of Salazar Slytherin, looking ancient and monkey-like, is at the centre. The Basilisk rested inside the statue and emerged from its mouth when the Heir of Slytherin, Tom Riddle, summoned it.^[21]
In his second year at Hogwarts, Harry uses Parseltongue to open the chamber and destroys the diary containing the embodied memory of a 16-year-old Tom Riddle from his own days at Hogwarts and also slays the basilisk. It is later revealed that the diary was a Horcrux.
In Deathly Hallows, Ron and Hermione enter the Chamber. Ron opens the door (despite not speaking Parseltongue) by imitating sounds he heard Harry use to open Slytherin’s locket. They pull a basilisk fang from its skeleton to use to destroy the Horcrux made from Helga Hufflepuff’s cup.

When Tom Riddle opened the Chamber, Myrtle was sulking in a stall after being teased by student Olive Hornby. She opened the door, intending to tell him to leave, but died immediately upon meeting the Basilisk’s gaze and decided to become a ghost to get revenge on Hornby.^[20] The bathroom remains operational, but is rarely used by students because of Myrtle’s disagreeable presence and her habit of flooding it when she is distraught.

The film’s depiction of the Chamber has snake heads in place of the pillars and Slytherin’s statue is only his head. Rowling reveals in the book Harry Potter Page to Screen; The Complete Filmmaking Journey that the Chamber has flooded since its creation under unknown circumstances.

As shown in Deathly Hallows, the Chamber of Secrets does not appear on the Marauder’s Map.

Passages

There are usually seven secret passages in and out of the school, and in addition, the series describes the use of twin vanishing cabinets to create another. Filch knows of just four of these, while the Marauders (James Potter, Sirius Black, Remus Lupin and Peter Pettigrew) and the Weasley twins know of all seven, though where some lead is unknown. The Room of Requirement may, on occasion, create an eighth passage out of the school. The only known instance of this occurring is a passage to the Hog’s Head that forms in Deathly Hallows. Due to the nature of the Room of Requirement, it is possible that several passages to different locations could be accessed from the Room. The three passages out of Hogwarts that Filch does not know about are:

• A passage beneath the Whomping Willow, leading to the Shrieking Shack.
• A passage behind a mirror on the fourth floor, which is caved in. It leads to Hogsmeade, but it is not known exactly where.
• A passage beneath the one-eyed witch statue by the stairs to the Defence Against the Dark Arts classroom, leading to the cellar of Honeydukes. Speaking aloud the word ‘Dissendium’ to the witch allows access to this passage; the hump on the statue then opens and reveals the hidden passageway.

A further link between two vanishing cabinets, one in the school and the other in Borgin and Burkes in Knockturn Alley presumably works until Chamber of Secrets when Peeves (persuaded by Nearly Headless Nick) smashes the Hogwarts cabinet. The passage is reopened in Half-Blood Prince when Draco Malfoy fixes the cabinet. This passage is not shown on the Marauder’s Map as it is not part of the castle itself.

Besides passages in and out of the school, there are also numerous short-cuts that lead from one part of the castle to another. These are often concealed in such fashions as a tapestry which hides a hole in the wall.

Room of Requirement

On the seventh floor opposite an enormous tapestry depicting Barnabas the Barmy attempting to train trolls for the ballet, the Room of Requirement appears only when someone is in need of it. To make it appear, one must walk past its hidden entrance three times while concentrating on what is needed. The room will then appear, outfitted with whatever is required. To the Hogwarts house-elves, it is also known as the Come and Go Room.

Dumbledore is the first to mention the room, noting that he discovered it at five-thirty in the morning, filled with chamber pots when he was trying to find a toilet. However, Dumbledore did not appear to know the Room’s secrets. Dobby later told Harry of the Room in detail and admitted to frequently bringing Winky to the room to cure her bouts of Butterbeer-induced drunkenness, finding it full of antidotes and a «nice elf-sized bed.» Filch was said to find cleaning supplies here when he had run out; when Fred and George needed a place to hide, it would appear as a broom cupboard. Trelawney also makes a habit of using it to hide her empty sherry bottles after she is sacked in Order of the Phoenix. It would seem that when one wishes to hide something it produces the same room for everyone: the Room of Hidden Things, which is full of many centuries worth of abandoned objects, such as broken furniture, books, and in one case a dead quintaped (for more information see Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them), which were presumably forgotten by their owners.

Harry learns of the room’s abilities from Dobby in Order of the Phoenix, finding it the perfect location for his Dumbledore’s Army meetings, during which it is filled with bookcases full of Defence Against the Dark Arts volumes, many different kinds of Dark Detectors, and a plethora of floor cushions for practising defensive spells. When the D.A. is betrayed, the room is left open, and Pansy Parkinson is able to retrieve the list of members of the organisation. In Half-Blood Prince Harry uses the Room of Hidden Things to stash his copy of Advanced Potion-Making, describing it as the size of a large cathedral and packed to overflowing with items hidden by Hogwarts inhabitants over the years, such as old potions, clothing, ruined furniture, an old tiara (which happens to be one of Voldemort’s Horcruxes), or books which are «no doubt banned or graffitied or stolen.» He later realises that Draco has been using the room in this state to hide and repair the Vanishing Cabinet to use it to smuggle Death Eaters into Hogwarts. Ironically, while Harry tries many times to get into the Room of Requirement to see what Draco is doing, the only time he succeeds to get into the room (and he is not thinking about Draco), he gains access to the room where Malfoy has been working.

In Deathly Hallows, the students who need a place to hide from the Carrows, two Death Eater professors, use the room. It is also revealed that the Room of Requirement’s current version can change while still occupied, though should a completely different version be required (e.g. the Room of Hidden Things instead of DA Headquarters) the room must be empty. The Room can also answer to the desire of the wizard within the room, such as providing Harry with a whistle when he needed one during a Dumbledore’s Army meeting, or creating a passage to the Hog’s Head (as the room cannot produce food). Later, Ravenclaw’s diadem is found to be one of Voldemort’s Horcruxes and has been hidden in the Room of Hidden Things by Voldemort. Harry, Ron, and Hermione enter the Room, with Harry knowing that he must look for a place to hide things, and find the tiara; but they are ambushed by Draco, Crabbe and Goyle. The diadem is finally destroyed when Crabbe fills this version of the Room with what Hermione believes to have been Fiendfyre; a destructive magical fire. It is not known if the room continues to function after the events of Deathly Hallows; Ron expresses concern that it may have been ruined in all of its forms by the cursed fire.

Due to the Room of Requirement not being in a fixed location, it is one of the select locations in Hogwarts that does not appear on the Marauder’s Map.

Forbidden Forest

The Forbidden Forest is a large, dark enchanted forest in the boundaries of the school grounds. It is usually referred to simply as «the Forest» and in the film series as the «Dark Forest». It is strictly forbidden to all students, except during Care of Magical Creatures lessons and, on rare occasions, detentions.

Among the plant species within the Forest are trees such as beech, oak, pine, sycamore, yew and knotgrass and thorn undergrowth. Though the Forest is vastly dense and wild, there are a few paths and clearings. Hagrid, who frequently travels into the Forest for various reasons, mostly makes these trails. The Forest is also home to an assortment of creatures, many of them dangerous.

In 2017, a Forbidden Forest expansion was added to the Warner Bros. Studio Tour London — The Making of Harry Potter, enabling fans to explore it for the first time.^[22]

Hogwarts Express

Hogwarts Express
Legend
King’s Cross London King’s Cross railway station   Hogsmeade Station   Hogsmeade

The Hogwarts Express is a train that carries pupils non-stop from Platform 9+3⁄4 at King’s Cross station in London to Hogsmeade Station, near Hogwarts. Prefects of the school ride in a separate carriage near the front of the train. The compartments on the train appear to be lettered; in Half-Blood Prince, the «Slug Club» meets in compartment C.

The train began use in the 1850s. Before that, pupils used to reach Hogwarts on brooms or enchanted carriages.^[23]

The steam engine used in the film adaptations is the GWR 4900 Class 5972 Olton Hall, but it was not the first locomotive to be disguised as the Hogwarts Express. To promote the books, the Southern Railway locomotive 34027 Taw Valley was repainted and renamed temporarily, but was rejected by director Chris Columbus as looking ‘too modern’ for the film. Filming locations for the Hogwarts Express sequences include Goathland on the North Yorkshire Moors Railway, Kings Cross railway station and the route of the Jacobite Express which follows the West Highland Line from Fort William to Mallaig in Scotland, as it crosses the Glenfinnan Viaduct.^[24]

Several model trains have been made of the Hogwarts Express. An 00 gauge is produced by Hornby, though this is of a Castle Class locomotive rather than the Hall Class used in the films. A three-rail H0 gauge model is produced by Märklin, and a two-rail H0/00 was produced in the early 2000s by Bachmann. Several now-discontinued L gauge models have been produced by LEGO. Lionel has released an O gauge set in their 2007 catalogue and a G gauge set for 2008.^[25][26]

A completely functioning full-scale replica of the Hogwarts Express was created for The Wizarding World of Harry Potter’s expansion at Universal Orlando Resort connecting King’s Cross Station at the Diagon Alley expansion in Universal Studios Florida to the Hogsmeade station at Islands of Adventure,^[27] manufactured by Doppelmayr Garaventa Group in the form of a funicular railway people mover.^[28] The Hogwarts Express King’s Cross Station features a wall between Platforms 9 and 10, where guests can «walk through» to get to Platform 9+3⁄4, as in the first film.

• 

  Crowds of people around 5972 in York, which had worked an enthusiast special from Manchester in June 2014.

Creation for books and films

Rowling has suggested that she may have inadvertently taken the name from the hogwort plant (Croton capitatus), which she had seen at Kew Gardens some time before writing the series,^[29] although the names «The Hogwarts» and «Hoggwart» appear in the 1954 Nigel Molesworth book How to Be Topp by Geoffrey Willans.^[30][31] The name «Hogwart» also appears in the 1986 Labyrinth fantasy film.^[32]

Most exterior scenes were shot on location at Alnwick Castle, but views of the exterior of the entire school were created from shots of Durham Cathedral with a digital spire added to the towers. Durham Cathedral also served as a set for Hogwarts interiors.

A scale model was created for exterior shots of the entire school. Models of Alnwick Castle and Durham Cathedral were also built to create more integration between the model and on location shots. It took a team of 86 artists and crew members 74 years worth of man hours to complete the model.^[33]

Popularity

Hogwarts school was voted as the 36th-best Scottish educational establishment in a 2008 online ranking, outranking Edinburgh’s Loretto School. According to a director of the Independent Schools Network Rankings, it was added to the schools listing «for fun» and was then voted on.^[34]

In translation

Most translations keep the name ‘Hogwarts’, transcribing it if necessary. For example, in Arabic it is transcribed as هوغوورتس = Hūghwūrts, in Russian as Хогвартс = Khogvarts, in Japanese as ホグワーツ = Hoguwātsu, in Bengali as হগওয়ার্টস = Hogowarts, in Greek as Χόγκουαρτς = Hóguarts, and in simplified Chinese as 霍格沃茨 = Huògéwòcí.^[35]

However, some translations translate or otherwise adapt the name: French Poudlard (lard = «bacon»),^[35] Latvian Cūkkārpas shortened from cūka = «pig» + kārpas = «warts», Dutch Zweinstein modified from zwijnsteen = «pig rock»,^[35] Norwegian Bokmål Galtvort (galt = boar, vort = wart) (Nynorsk keeps «Hogwarts«), Finnish Tylypahka (pahka = «wart»), Hungarian Roxfort (playing with the name of Oxford in tribute to Harry Potter’s home country),^[35] Slovenian Bradavičarka (bradavice = «warts»)), Czech Bradavice means simply «warts».^[35] The Ancient Greek translation of the school is «Ὑογοήτου Παιδευτήριον τὸ τῆς Γοητείας καὶ Μαγείας», loosely translating to «Hogwizard’s School of Wizardry and Magic», Ὑογοήτου replacing «Hogwarts» and derived from the ancient Greek words ὑo- (hog) and γοητής (wizard).

See also

• Albus Dumbledore
• Loch Shiel

References

External links

• Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry on Harry Potter Wiki, an external wiki
• Hogwarts Castle on Harry Potter Wiki, an external wiki
• The Harry Potter Lexicon’s Hogwarts Atlas featuring numerous images of Hogwarts. hplex.info.
• The Marauder’s Map from the Warner Bros website, harrypotter.warnerbros.co.uk

Not to be confused with Hogwort.

Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry
Studio model of Hogwarts at Leavesden Studios
Universe	Wizarding World
First appearance	Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone (1997)
Most recent appearance	Hogwarts Legacy (2023)
In-universe information
Type	Selective school Secondary school Boarding school
Founded	c. 9th/10th century
Location	Scotland
Owner	Ministry of Magic
Purpose	Training for children with magical abilities[1]
Motto	Latin: Draco dormiens nunquam titillandus («Never Tickle a Sleeping Dragon»)[2]

Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry () is a fictional boarding school of magic for students aged eleven to eighteen, and is the primary setting for the first six books in J. K. Rowling’s Harry Potter series and serves as a major setting in the Wizarding World universe.^[3]

History

Establishment

Founded around the 9th century and 10th century by Godric Gryffindor, Rowena Ravenclaw, Helga Hufflepuff and Salazar Slytherin, Hogwarts was established in the Highlands of Scotland to educate young wizards and witches as well as to keep students safe from muggle persecution. Theory has it that Rowena Ravenclaw came up with the name of Hogwarts after dreaming of a warty hog that led her to a cliff by a lake.^[4] Since then, Hogwarts educated most wizarding children with residence in Great Britain and Ireland, keeping its location hidden from other wizarding schools and muggles.

Middle ages

About three hundred years after the school was founded, the Triwizard Tournament was established as an interscholastic competition among the three most prestigious magical schools in Europe: Hogwarts, Beauxbatons, and Durmstrang. The tournament continued for six centuries before being discontinued. An attempt was made in the 1994–1995 school year to revive the tournament, but the consequential death of Cedric Diggory resulted in its permanent discontinuation.^{[citation needed]}

Academics and traditions

Hogwarts is a coeducational, secondary boarding school, taking children from ages eleven to seventeen.^[3] Education at Hogwarts is not compulsory, with some students being home schooled as stated in the seventh book. Rowling initially said there are about one thousand students at Hogwarts.^[5] She later suggested around six hundred, while acknowledging that this number was still inconsistent with the small number of people in Harry’s year. She further explained that this had resulted from her creating only forty characters for Harry’s year.^[6]

Admission

According to the novels, admission to Hogwarts is selective, in that children who show magical ability will automatically gain a place,^[7] and squibs cannot attend the school as students (though they can work there in other roles, as Argus Filch does).^[8] A magical quill at Hogwarts detects the birth of magical children and writes their names into a large parchment book,^[1] but there is no admission test because «you are either magical or you are not.»^[7] Every year, a teacher checks this book and sends a letter to the children who are turning eleven. Acceptance or refusal of a place at Hogwarts must be posted by 31 July. The letter also contains a list of supplies like spell books, uniform, and other things that the student will need. The prospective student is expected to buy all the necessary materials, normally from shops in Diagon Alley, a concealed street near Charing Cross Road in London that can be found behind the wizarding pub, The Leaky Cauldron. Students who cannot afford their supplies can receive financial aid from the school, as happened with the young orphan Tom Riddle.

Letters to Muggle-born witches and wizards, who may not be aware of their powers and are unfamiliar with the concealed wizarding world, are delivered in person by a member of Hogwarts staff, who then explains to the parents or guardians about magical society, and reassures them regarding this news.^[HP7]

Though the school is in Great Britain, its catchment area is the wider British Isles, as Irish students can also attend.

Each student is allowed to bring an owl, a cat or a toad. Along with the acceptance letter, first-year students are sent a list of required equipment which includes a wand, subject books, a standard size 2 pewter cauldron, a set of brass scales, a set of glass or crystal phials, a kit of basic potion ingredients (for Potions), and a telescope (for Astronomy). The Hogwarts uniform consists of plain work robes in black, a plain black hat, a pair of protective gloves, and a black winter cloak with silver fastenings. Each uniform must contain the wearer’s nametag. First years are not allowed a broomstick of their own, though an exception to this rule is made for Harry Potter in his first year after he demonstrates an excellent ability as a Seeker in Quidditch.

Arrival

The primary mode of transport to Hogwarts is the Hogwarts Express that students take at the start of each school year. Students board the train from the also fictional and hidden Platform 9¾ at King’s Cross station in London. The train arrives at Hogsmeade station near Hogwarts, sometime after nightfall.

From there, first-year students are accompanied by the «Keeper of the Keys, Game and Grounds» (which was Hagrid during the first novel) to small boats, which magically sail across the lake and get them near the entrance of Hogwarts. The older students ride up to the castle in carriages pulled by creatures called Thestrals. When the first-year students initially arrive at the castle, they wait in a small chamber off the entrance hall until the older students have taken their seats, and then enter the Great Hall for the Sorting Ceremony to determine their House assignments. As Professor Minerva McGonagall said in Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone, «The Sorting is a very important ceremony because, while you are here, your House will be something like your family within Hogwarts. You will have classes with the rest of your House, sleep in your House dormitory, and spend free time in your House common room.»
After the Sorting Hat sings a song, each student in turn is seated upon the stool in front of the rest of the student body. The Hat is placed on the student’s head, whereupon it examines his or her mind and assigns them to one of the four Houses based on abilities, personality, and preferences. After the Sorting Ceremony, the students and teachers enjoy a feast, prepared by the Hogwarts house-elves. If Dumbledore is feeling cheerful, he will lead the students in singing the school song.^[9]

Houses

Hogwarts is divided into four houses, each bearing the last name of its founder: Godric Gryffindor, Salazar Slytherin, Rowena Ravenclaw and Helga Hufflepuff. Throughout the school year, the houses compete for the House Cup, gaining and losing points based on actions such as performance in class and rule violations. The house with the highest end-of-year total wins and has its colours displayed in the Great Hall for the following school year. Each house also has its own Quidditch team that competes for the Quidditch Cup. These two competitions breed rivalries between the houses. Houses at Hogwarts are living and learning communities for their students. Each house is under the authority of one of the Hogwarts staff members. The Heads of the houses, as they are called, are in charge of giving their students important information, dealing with matters of severe punishment, and responding to emergencies in their houses, among other things. The dormitory and common room of a House are, barring rare exceptions, inaccessible to students belonging to other Houses; however, different houses will share classes as they are based on year group rather than House.

In the early days of Hogwarts, the four founders hand-picked students for their Houses. When the founders worried how students would be selected after their deaths, Godric Gryffindor took his hat off and they each added knowledge to it, allowing the Sorting Hat to choose the students by judging each student’s qualities and placing them in the most appropriate house. The student’s own choices may affect the decision: the clearest example is the Hat telling Harry that he would do well in Slytherin in the first book, but ultimately selecting Gryffindor after Harry asks it not to put him in Slytherin.

The translators of the books’ foreign editions had difficulty translating the «house» concept; in countries where this system does not exist, no word could adequately convey the importance of belonging to a house, the loyalty owed to it, and the pride taken in prizes won by the house.^[10]

Gryffindor

Gryffindor values courage, bravery, nerve, and chivalry. Gryffindor’s mascot is the lion, and its colours are scarlet red and gold (maroon and gold on the ties and scarves). During the books, the Head of this house is the Transfiguration Professor and Deputy Headmistress, Minerva McGonagall until she becomes headmistress, and the house ghost is Sir Nicholas de Mimsy-Porpington, more commonly known as Nearly Headless Nick. According to Rowling, Gryffindor corresponds roughly to the element of fire.^[11] The founder of the house is Godric Gryffindor.

The Gryffindor common room is in one of the castle’s highest towers, and its entrance is on the seventh floor in the east wing of the castle and is guarded by a painting of The Fat Lady, who is garbed in a pink dress. She permits entry only after being given the correct password, as was established in the third book, when Sirius Black tried forcing entry into the tower, only to be blocked by The Fat Lady after he could not give the correct password. In the first book, Neville Longbottom tends to forget the password and must wait near the painting until other Gryffindors arrive to open the way.^[12]

Hufflepuff

Hufflepuff values hard work, patience, justice, and loyalty. The house mascot is the badger, and canary yellow and black (or golden yellow and graphite in the Fantastic Beasts films) are its colours. During the books, the Head of this house is the Herbology Professor Pomona Sprout, and the house ghost is the Fat Friar. According to Rowling, Hufflepuff corresponds roughly to the element of earth.^[11] The founder of this house is Helga Hufflepuff.

The entrance to the Hufflepuff dormitories and common room entrance is concealed in a pile of large barrels in an alcove in the corridor that holds the kitchen. To enter, one must tap the barrel two from the bottom in the middle of the second row in the rhythm of «Helga Hufflepuff». Unlike any other house, the Hufflepuff common room has a repelling device that douses the illegal entrant in vinegar if the wrong lid is tapped or the rhythm is wrong.^[13] The Hufflepuff common room is filled with yellow hangings and fat armchairs and it has little tunnels leading to the dormitories, all of which have perfectly round doors, like barrel tops.^[14]

Ravenclaw

Ravenclaw values intelligence, learning, wisdom and wit.^[HP5][HP7] The house mascot is an eagle and the house colours are blue and bronze (blue and silver in the Harry Potter and Fantastic Beasts films and on the ties and scarves). During the books, the head of this house is the Charms teacher, Professor Filius Flitwick, and the house ghost is the Grey Lady. According to Rowling, Ravenclaw corresponds roughly to the element of air.^[11] The founder of this house is Rowena Ravenclaw.

The dormitories are in Ravenclaw Tower, on the west side of Hogwarts. The common room is round and filled with blue hangings and armchairs, has a domed ceiling painted with stars and features a replica statue of Rowena wearing her diadem. Harry also notes that Ravenclaws «have a spectacular view of the surrounding mountains». A logical riddle must be solved to gain entry, whereas the Gryffindor and Slytherin common rooms only require a password. Professor McGonagall, the head of the Gryffindor House, solves the riddle accurately.

Slytherin

Slytherin values ambition, cunning, leadership, and resourcefulness; the Sorting Hat said in Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone that Slytherins will do anything to get their way. The house mascot of Slytherin is the serpent, and the house colours are green and silver. Throughout the series, until the seventh book, the Head of House is Professor Severus Snape. Then, the previous Head of House Professor Horace Slughorn comes out of retirement, re-assuming authority after Snape becomes headmaster. The ghost of Slytherin house is Bloody Baron.^[15] According to Rowling, Slytherin corresponds roughly to the element of water.^[11] The founder of this house is Salazar Slytherin.

The Slytherin dormitories and common room are reached by speaking a password to a patch of bare stone wall in the dungeons, which causes a hidden door to open. The Slytherin common room is a long, low, dungeon-style room, under the Hogwarts Lake, furnished with green lamps and carved armchairs. The room is described in the second book as having a greenish glow.

The Sorting Hat claims that blood purity is a factor in selecting Slytherins, although this is not mentioned until the fifth book. There is no reason to believe, however, that Muggle-born students are not sorted there, merely that pure-blooded students are more desirable to that house, as there are several examples of half-bloods in the house – such as Snape and Tom Riddle/Voldemort – and Harry himself was only excluded from the house at his own insistence. In Deathly Hallows, a group of Snatchers claim that «not many Mudbloods» are sorted into Slytherin.

When believing Harry to be dead and thinking that he has final victory in his grasp, Voldemort proclaims his intention to abolish the other three houses and force all Hogwarts students into Slytherin. This design is foiled by his defeat and death, after which Slytherin becomes more diluted in its blood purity, no longer remaining the pure-blood bastion it once was.

Subjects and teachers

Being a school of magic, many subjects at Hogwarts differ from the studies of a typical school. Some subjects, such as History of Magic, derive from non-wizard – or muggle – subjects, but many others, such as charms and apparition classes, are unique to the wizarding world.
There are twelve named teachers (referred to as Professors), each specialising in a single subject. All professors are overseen by a school head and deputy head. Transfiguration, Defence Against the Dark Arts, Charms, Potions, Astronomy, History of Magic, and Herbology are compulsory subjects for the first five years, as well as flying lessons. At the end of their second year, students are required to add at least two optional subjects to their syllabus for the start of the third year. The five choices are Arithmancy, Muggle Studies, Divination, Study of Ancient Runes and Care of Magical Creatures. According to J.K. Rowling, «very specialised subjects such as alchemy are sometimes offered in the final two years, if there is sufficient demand.»^[16]

At the end of their fifth year, students take the Ordinary Wizarding Level (O.W.L.) examinations for all subjects in which they are enrolled.^{[citation needed]} Each examination consists of a written knowledge test and, where applicable, a practical demonstration of skills before a panel of proctors from the Ministry of Magic. Students who achieve a high enough O.W.L. grade in a particular subject may take its advanced course for the final two years, in preparation for the Nastily Exhausting Wizarding Tests (N.E.W.T.) given at the end of the seventh year.

Daily life

The day begins at Hogwarts with breakfast in the Great Hall. Students sit at their own House table and can eat and socialise, or finish homework. The Headmaster or Headmistress eats with the professors at the High Table placed at the far end of the hall. During breakfast, owls bring in the students’ post, generally consisting of The Daily Prophet, letters from parents or friends, or packages from home. A bell signals the start of the first class of the morning at 9 am.

There are two long morning classes with a short break in between them for students to get to their next class. After lunch, classes resume at 1 pm, and there is a break around afternoon teatime before another class period. The classes are about one hour in length, with occasional double periods lasting two hours. Classes end around five o’clock. First-year students get Friday afternoons off, while sixth- and seventh-year students have several free periods during the week. In the evening, students eat their dinner in the Great Hall, after which they are expected to be in their common rooms. Astronomy classes take place late at night in the Astronomy Tower.

The four House dormitories have secret entrances, generally known only to members of that house and require a password (Gryffindor and Slytherin), riddle answer (Ravenclaw) or ritual (Hufflepuff) in order to gain entrance. Inside is the common room, which contains armchairs and sofas for the pupils and tables for studying and homework. There are fireplaces to keep the rooms warm, and students either relax here in the evenings or else complete their homework, but may complete their work in the bedroom. There are notice boards in each common room and at other strategic points throughout the school. The students sleep in their House dormitories, which branch off from the common rooms. Each dormitory gets at least two rooms; one for boys and one for girls (an enchantment prevents boys from entering the girls’ area, although there is no spell to prevent the reverse from occurring). Each student sleeps in a large four-poster bed with bed covers and heavy curtains in the House colours, and thick white pillows. There is a bedside table for each bed, and each dormitory has a jug of water and goblets on a tray.

On designated weekends, Hogwarts students in their third year or higher, with a signed permission slip, are permitted to walk to the nearby wizarding village of Hogsmeade, where they can relax and enjoy the pubs, restaurants and shops. There appears to be a good relationship between the school and the village, and the students get on well with the locals. Favourite places in Hogsmeade include Honeydukes Sweetshop, Zonko’s Joke Shop, clothing stores such as Gladrags Wizardwear, the Shrieking Shack (regarded as the most haunted building in Britain), the pubs The Three Broomsticks and The Hog’s Head, and Madam Puddifoot’s coffee shop.

Food

The house-elves at Hogwarts amongst other duties provide all food to students and staff. They cook a wide variety of dishes especially at the feasts. The various dishes are prepared in the kitchens directly below the Great Hall. Within the kitchen are four long tables directly aligned with the house tables in the great hall above. At meal times the food is magically transported up, appearing directly in front of the students.^[17]

Discipline

Apart from losing points from a house, serious misdeeds at Hogwarts are punishable by detention. Whenever a student loses a house point, their house jewels (ruby for Gryffindors, emeralds for Slytherin, sapphires for Ravenclaw, and diamonds for Hufflepuff) are taken away from a glass hourglass located in every classroom. The same goes for adding points to the specific house, although the teacher or prefect must conjure the gems from thin air.

According to the school caretaker, Argus Filch, detention meant subjection to various forms of corporal punishment until recently. Arthur Weasley claimed still to bear physical scars inflicted by Apollyon Pringle, Filch’s predecessor. In present times, however, detention usually involves assisting staff or faculty with tedious tasks. Examples of detention include the one imposed on Harry by Umbridge in Order of the Phoenix. In this case, Harry was forced to write, «I must not tell lies» repeatedly using a magical quill which then carves what is written into the back of the writer’s hand. However, most teachers at the school never use this cruel punishment. In another case, when Snape caught Harry using the Sectumsempra curse on Draco, he was forced to go through over a thousand boxes of files describing wrongdoers at Hogwarts and their punishments. Harry was supposed to order them in alphabetical order, and rewrite the cards whose words were hard to see or otherwise damaged. The Weasley twins Fred and George had a whole drawer of these cards.

For even more serious offences, students may be suspended or even expelled from Hogwarts. Harry and Ron are threatened with expulsion after crashing Ron’s car into the Whomping Willow at the start of their second year, and Harry is expelled before the start of his fifth year (although the sentence is quickly changed to a disciplinary hearing) after he is detected using magic in the presence of Muggles, a serious offence among the wizarding community. Dumbledore argued in Harry’s defence, stating that it was done in self-defence, and that the Ministry has no authority to expel students – such powers are invested in the Headmaster and the Board of Governors. Snape has attempted to have Harry expelled, and he attempted to have Harry’s father, James Potter, expelled when they were at Hogwarts together. The only student known to have been expelled is Hagrid, for the murder of Myrtle with an acromantula believed to be the Monster of Slytherin and for opening the Chamber of Secrets – crimes for which Tom Riddle had framed him.

Professors seem to be able to punish students with relative impunity and can hand out detention, even for unsatisfactory grades. Enforcement of rules outside of class mainly falls to the caretaker, with the assistance of the prefects. A student’s Head of House usually has the final say in disciplinary matters. However, during Umbridge’s tenure at Hogwarts, she quickly obtains the power to have the final say in disciplinary actions, due to an Educational Decree (one of many) passed by Minister for Magic Cornelius Fudge.

In the summer before their fifth year, two fifth year students from each House are picked to be prefects, which grants them privileges and responsibilities and disciplinary responsibilities. The leaders of the student body, the Head Boy and Head Girl, are drawn from the seventh year students. Prefects have the authority to give detentions for infractions.

Castle and grounds

J. K. Rowling says she visualises Hogwarts, in its entirety, to be:

A huge, rambling, quite scary-looking castle, with a jumble of towers and battlements. Like the Weasleys’ house, it isn’t a building that Muggles could build, because it is supported by magic.^[1]

In the novels, Hogwarts is somewhere in Scotland^[18] (the film Prisoner of Azkaban says that Dufftown is near). The school is depicted as having numerous charms and spells on and around it that make it impossible for a Muggle to locate it. Muggles cannot see the school; rather, they see only ruins and several warnings of danger.^[GF Ch.11] The castle’s setting is described as having extensive grounds with sloping lawns, flowerbeds and vegetable patches, a loch (called The Black Lake), a large dense forest (called the Forbidden Forest), several greenhouses and other outbuildings, and a full-size Quidditch pitch. There is also an owlery, which houses all the owls owned by the school and those owned by students. Some rooms in the school tend to «move around», and so do the stairs in the grand staircase.^[19] Witches and wizards cannot Apparate or Disapparate in Hogwarts grounds, except when the Headmaster lifts the enchantment, whether only in certain areas or for the entire campus, so as to make the school less vulnerable when it serves the headmaster to allow Apparition.^[GF Ch.28] Electricity and electronic devices are not found at Hogwarts. Hermione Granger indicates in Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire that due to the high levels of magic, «substitutes for magic (that) Muggles use» such as computers, radar and electricity «go haywire» around Hogwarts. Radios however, make an exception. Rowling explains this by saying that the radios are not powered by electricity but by magic.

Hogwarts is on the shore of a lake, sometimes called the Black Lake. In that lake are merpeople, Grindylows, and a giant squid. The giant squid does not attack humans and sometimes acts as a lifeguard when students are in the lake. The castle and its grounds are home to many secret areas as well as well-known and well-used places.

Hiding place of the Philosopher’s Stone

Accessed by entering a trapdoor in the forbidden corridor on the third floor, and protected by a gauntlet of seven magical challenges set up by the teachers.

• A giant three-headed dog named Fluffy placed specially to guard the trapdoor by Hagrid.
• Devil’s Snare, grown by Professor Sprout.
• A room containing dozens of keys, charmed by Flitwick to sprout wings and fly near the ceiling. One of these keys will unlock the door to the next section. However, in the film adaptation, the keys attack the seeker of the Stone.
• A large chessboard with an army of large chessmen, transfigured by McGonagall. To continue to the door on the opposite side, the person in question must beat the chessmen at a game of wizards’ chess where the player must risk his life if he loses. Ron and Professor Quirrell are the only wizards to win the game of wizards’ chess.
• A room with a large troll inside. This is Quirrell’s challenge. In the book, Quirrell had knocked out his own troll to get to the last room and thus the trio did not have to fight it; in the film, it does not appear, but it appears in the PS1 and Game Boy Color version of the game.
• A series of potions, brewed by Snape. A logical riddle, not magic, has to be solved. There are two doors, blocked by fire. One potion will allow the person to exit the way he or she arrived, another will allow him or her to continue to the next chamber, two are nettle wine, and the other three are poison. This challenge does not appear in the film, but does in the video game adaptation.
• The Mirror of Erised can be found in the final chamber, further enchanted by Dumbledore to bestow the Philosopher’s Stone upon a seeker only hoping to acquire the stone but not use it for selfish means.

Chamber of Secrets

The Chamber of Secrets, which is deep under the school (most likely under the lake),^[20] was home to an ancient Basilisk, intended to be used to purge the school of Muggle-born students. Salazar Slytherin, one of the founders of Hogwarts, built the Chamber before he left the school.

The entrance to the Chamber is hidden in the second-floor girls’ lavatory (haunted by Moaning Myrtle). One of the sink taps has a snake scratched into its side; when a command in Parseltongue is spoken, it opens to reveal the mouth of a dark, slimy chute, wide enough to slide down, that gives onto a stone tunnel. There are many skeletons of small animals littering the floor and even a gigantic skin shed by the Basilisk. The tunnel leads to a solid wall, carved with two entwined serpents with emeralds for eyes.^[20] At a command in Parseltongue, the wall opens to expose a long, dim corridor, lined with monumental statues of snakes, including two rows of towering stone pillars with more carved serpents that brace the ceiling. A colossal statue of Salazar Slytherin, looking ancient and monkey-like, is at the centre. The Basilisk rested inside the statue and emerged from its mouth when the Heir of Slytherin, Tom Riddle, summoned it.^[21]
In his second year at Hogwarts, Harry uses Parseltongue to open the chamber and destroys the diary containing the embodied memory of a 16-year-old Tom Riddle from his own days at Hogwarts and also slays the basilisk. It is later revealed that the diary was a Horcrux.
In Deathly Hallows, Ron and Hermione enter the Chamber. Ron opens the door (despite not speaking Parseltongue) by imitating sounds he heard Harry use to open Slytherin’s locket. They pull a basilisk fang from its skeleton to use to destroy the Horcrux made from Helga Hufflepuff’s cup.

When Tom Riddle opened the Chamber, Myrtle was sulking in a stall after being teased by student Olive Hornby. She opened the door, intending to tell him to leave, but died immediately upon meeting the Basilisk’s gaze and decided to become a ghost to get revenge on Hornby.^[20] The bathroom remains operational, but is rarely used by students because of Myrtle’s disagreeable presence and her habit of flooding it when she is distraught.

The film’s depiction of the Chamber has snake heads in place of the pillars and Slytherin’s statue is only his head. Rowling reveals in the book Harry Potter Page to Screen; The Complete Filmmaking Journey that the Chamber has flooded since its creation under unknown circumstances.

As shown in Deathly Hallows, the Chamber of Secrets does not appear on the Marauder’s Map.

Passages

There are usually seven secret passages in and out of the school, and in addition, the series describes the use of twin vanishing cabinets to create another. Filch knows of just four of these, while the Marauders (James Potter, Sirius Black, Remus Lupin and Peter Pettigrew) and the Weasley twins know of all seven, though where some lead is unknown. The Room of Requirement may, on occasion, create an eighth passage out of the school. The only known instance of this occurring is a passage to the Hog’s Head that forms in Deathly Hallows. Due to the nature of the Room of Requirement, it is possible that several passages to different locations could be accessed from the Room. The three passages out of Hogwarts that Filch does not know about are:

• A passage beneath the Whomping Willow, leading to the Shrieking Shack.
• A passage behind a mirror on the fourth floor, which is caved in. It leads to Hogsmeade, but it is not known exactly where.
• A passage beneath the one-eyed witch statue by the stairs to the Defence Against the Dark Arts classroom, leading to the cellar of Honeydukes. Speaking aloud the word ‘Dissendium’ to the witch allows access to this passage; the hump on the statue then opens and reveals the hidden passageway.

A further link between two vanishing cabinets, one in the school and the other in Borgin and Burkes in Knockturn Alley presumably works until Chamber of Secrets when Peeves (persuaded by Nearly Headless Nick) smashes the Hogwarts cabinet. The passage is reopened in Half-Blood Prince when Draco Malfoy fixes the cabinet. This passage is not shown on the Marauder’s Map as it is not part of the castle itself.

Besides passages in and out of the school, there are also numerous short-cuts that lead from one part of the castle to another. These are often concealed in such fashions as a tapestry which hides a hole in the wall.

Room of Requirement

On the seventh floor opposite an enormous tapestry depicting Barnabas the Barmy attempting to train trolls for the ballet, the Room of Requirement appears only when someone is in need of it. To make it appear, one must walk past its hidden entrance three times while concentrating on what is needed. The room will then appear, outfitted with whatever is required. To the Hogwarts house-elves, it is also known as the Come and Go Room.

Dumbledore is the first to mention the room, noting that he discovered it at five-thirty in the morning, filled with chamber pots when he was trying to find a toilet. However, Dumbledore did not appear to know the Room’s secrets. Dobby later told Harry of the Room in detail and admitted to frequently bringing Winky to the room to cure her bouts of Butterbeer-induced drunkenness, finding it full of antidotes and a «nice elf-sized bed.» Filch was said to find cleaning supplies here when he had run out; when Fred and George needed a place to hide, it would appear as a broom cupboard. Trelawney also makes a habit of using it to hide her empty sherry bottles after she is sacked in Order of the Phoenix. It would seem that when one wishes to hide something it produces the same room for everyone: the Room of Hidden Things, which is full of many centuries worth of abandoned objects, such as broken furniture, books, and in one case a dead quintaped (for more information see Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them), which were presumably forgotten by their owners.

Harry learns of the room’s abilities from Dobby in Order of the Phoenix, finding it the perfect location for his Dumbledore’s Army meetings, during which it is filled with bookcases full of Defence Against the Dark Arts volumes, many different kinds of Dark Detectors, and a plethora of floor cushions for practising defensive spells. When the D.A. is betrayed, the room is left open, and Pansy Parkinson is able to retrieve the list of members of the organisation. In Half-Blood Prince Harry uses the Room of Hidden Things to stash his copy of Advanced Potion-Making, describing it as the size of a large cathedral and packed to overflowing with items hidden by Hogwarts inhabitants over the years, such as old potions, clothing, ruined furniture, an old tiara (which happens to be one of Voldemort’s Horcruxes), or books which are «no doubt banned or graffitied or stolen.» He later realises that Draco has been using the room in this state to hide and repair the Vanishing Cabinet to use it to smuggle Death Eaters into Hogwarts. Ironically, while Harry tries many times to get into the Room of Requirement to see what Draco is doing, the only time he succeeds to get into the room (and he is not thinking about Draco), he gains access to the room where Malfoy has been working.

In Deathly Hallows, the students who need a place to hide from the Carrows, two Death Eater professors, use the room. It is also revealed that the Room of Requirement’s current version can change while still occupied, though should a completely different version be required (e.g. the Room of Hidden Things instead of DA Headquarters) the room must be empty. The Room can also answer to the desire of the wizard within the room, such as providing Harry with a whistle when he needed one during a Dumbledore’s Army meeting, or creating a passage to the Hog’s Head (as the room cannot produce food). Later, Ravenclaw’s diadem is found to be one of Voldemort’s Horcruxes and has been hidden in the Room of Hidden Things by Voldemort. Harry, Ron, and Hermione enter the Room, with Harry knowing that he must look for a place to hide things, and find the tiara; but they are ambushed by Draco, Crabbe and Goyle. The diadem is finally destroyed when Crabbe fills this version of the Room with what Hermione believes to have been Fiendfyre; a destructive magical fire. It is not known if the room continues to function after the events of Deathly Hallows; Ron expresses concern that it may have been ruined in all of its forms by the cursed fire.

Due to the Room of Requirement not being in a fixed location, it is one of the select locations in Hogwarts that does not appear on the Marauder’s Map.

Forbidden Forest

The Forbidden Forest is a large, dark enchanted forest in the boundaries of the school grounds. It is usually referred to simply as «the Forest» and in the film series as the «Dark Forest». It is strictly forbidden to all students, except during Care of Magical Creatures lessons and, on rare occasions, detentions.

Among the plant species within the Forest are trees such as beech, oak, pine, sycamore, yew and knotgrass and thorn undergrowth. Though the Forest is vastly dense and wild, there are a few paths and clearings. Hagrid, who frequently travels into the Forest for various reasons, mostly makes these trails. The Forest is also home to an assortment of creatures, many of them dangerous.

In 2017, a Forbidden Forest expansion was added to the Warner Bros. Studio Tour London — The Making of Harry Potter, enabling fans to explore it for the first time.^[22]

Hogwarts Express

Hogwarts Express
Legend
King’s Cross London King’s Cross railway station   Hogsmeade Station   Hogsmeade

The Hogwarts Express is a train that carries pupils non-stop from Platform 9+3⁄4 at King’s Cross station in London to Hogsmeade Station, near Hogwarts. Prefects of the school ride in a separate carriage near the front of the train. The compartments on the train appear to be lettered; in Half-Blood Prince, the «Slug Club» meets in compartment C.

The train began use in the 1850s. Before that, pupils used to reach Hogwarts on brooms or enchanted carriages.^[23]

The steam engine used in the film adaptations is the GWR 4900 Class 5972 Olton Hall, but it was not the first locomotive to be disguised as the Hogwarts Express. To promote the books, the Southern Railway locomotive 34027 Taw Valley was repainted and renamed temporarily, but was rejected by director Chris Columbus as looking ‘too modern’ for the film. Filming locations for the Hogwarts Express sequences include Goathland on the North Yorkshire Moors Railway, Kings Cross railway station and the route of the Jacobite Express which follows the West Highland Line from Fort William to Mallaig in Scotland, as it crosses the Glenfinnan Viaduct.^[24]

Several model trains have been made of the Hogwarts Express. An 00 gauge is produced by Hornby, though this is of a Castle Class locomotive rather than the Hall Class used in the films. A three-rail H0 gauge model is produced by Märklin, and a two-rail H0/00 was produced in the early 2000s by Bachmann. Several now-discontinued L gauge models have been produced by LEGO. Lionel has released an O gauge set in their 2007 catalogue and a G gauge set for 2008.^[25][26]

A completely functioning full-scale replica of the Hogwarts Express was created for The Wizarding World of Harry Potter’s expansion at Universal Orlando Resort connecting King’s Cross Station at the Diagon Alley expansion in Universal Studios Florida to the Hogsmeade station at Islands of Adventure,^[27] manufactured by Doppelmayr Garaventa Group in the form of a funicular railway people mover.^[28] The Hogwarts Express King’s Cross Station features a wall between Platforms 9 and 10, where guests can «walk through» to get to Platform 9+3⁄4, as in the first film.

• 

  Crowds of people around 5972 in York, which had worked an enthusiast special from Manchester in June 2014.

Creation for books and films

Rowling has suggested that she may have inadvertently taken the name from the hogwort plant (Croton capitatus), which she had seen at Kew Gardens some time before writing the series,^[29] although the names «The Hogwarts» and «Hoggwart» appear in the 1954 Nigel Molesworth book How to Be Topp by Geoffrey Willans.^[30][31] The name «Hogwart» also appears in the 1986 Labyrinth fantasy film.^[32]

Most exterior scenes were shot on location at Alnwick Castle, but views of the exterior of the entire school were created from shots of Durham Cathedral with a digital spire added to the towers. Durham Cathedral also served as a set for Hogwarts interiors.

A scale model was created for exterior shots of the entire school. Models of Alnwick Castle and Durham Cathedral were also built to create more integration between the model and on location shots. It took a team of 86 artists and crew members 74 years worth of man hours to complete the model.^[33]

Popularity

Hogwarts school was voted as the 36th-best Scottish educational establishment in a 2008 online ranking, outranking Edinburgh’s Loretto School. According to a director of the Independent Schools Network Rankings, it was added to the schools listing «for fun» and was then voted on.^[34]

In translation

Most translations keep the name ‘Hogwarts’, transcribing it if necessary. For example, in Arabic it is transcribed as هوغوورتس = Hūghwūrts, in Russian as Хогвартс = Khogvarts, in Japanese as ホグワーツ = Hoguwātsu, in Bengali as হগওয়ার্টস = Hogowarts, in Greek as Χόγκουαρτς = Hóguarts, and in simplified Chinese as 霍格沃茨 = Huògéwòcí.^[35]

However, some translations translate or otherwise adapt the name: French Poudlard (lard = «bacon»),^[35] Latvian Cūkkārpas shortened from cūka = «pig» + kārpas = «warts», Dutch Zweinstein modified from zwijnsteen = «pig rock»,^[35] Norwegian Bokmål Galtvort (galt = boar, vort = wart) (Nynorsk keeps «Hogwarts«), Finnish Tylypahka (pahka = «wart»), Hungarian Roxfort (playing with the name of Oxford in tribute to Harry Potter’s home country),^[35] Slovenian Bradavičarka (bradavice = «warts»)), Czech Bradavice means simply «warts».^[35] The Ancient Greek translation of the school is «Ὑογοήτου Παιδευτήριον τὸ τῆς Γοητείας καὶ Μαγείας», loosely translating to «Hogwizard’s School of Wizardry and Magic», Ὑογοήτου replacing «Hogwarts» and derived from the ancient Greek words ὑo- (hog) and γοητής (wizard).

See also

• Albus Dumbledore
• Loch Shiel

References

External links

• Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry on Harry Potter Wiki, an external wiki
• Hogwarts Castle on Harry Potter Wiki, an external wiki
• The Harry Potter Lexicon’s Hogwarts Atlas featuring numerous images of Hogwarts. hplex.info.
• The Marauder’s Map from the Warner Bros website, harrypotter.warnerbros.co.uk

Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, often shortened to Hogwarts, was a Scottish wizarding school located in the Scottish Highlands.^[6][7] It accepted any magical student residing in the islands of Great Britain and Ireland at the age of eleven years old at the start of the incoming term for enrolment.^[8][9] It was a state-owned school, funded by the Ministry of Magic.^[10]

The precise location of the school could never be uncovered because it was rendered Unplottable. To Muggles, the school appeared to be an old, abandoned castle. Similarly, most wizarding schools’ locations were protected in order to prevent their ways of teaching being revealed, as well as protect the students and schools themselves from any harm.^[4]

Established around the 10th century, Hogwarts was considered to be one of the finest magical institutions in the wizarding world, though other notable schools included Beauxbatons Academy of Magic in France, the Durmstrang Institute implied to be in northern Europe, and Ilvermorny School of Witchcraft and Wizardry in the United States.^[4]

British and Irish children with magical abilities were enrolled at birth by the Quill of Acceptance and Book of Admittance,^[11] and acceptance was confirmed by owl post at age eleven. However, if the child in question was a Muggle-born or a half-blood like Harry Potter with no knowledge of the wizarding world, a special messenger from the school visited the child and his or her family in order to inform them of their magical heritage and the existence of the wizarding world.^[12] It was possible for students to transfer to the school as well.

The school’s motto was Draco Dormiens Nunquam Titillandus (Draco Dormiens Nvnqvam Titillandvs), which, translated from Latin, means «Never tickle a sleeping dragon».

Description

Hogwarts School, located somewhere in the Highlands of Scotland, consisted of the large Hogwarts Castle and extensive school grounds surrounding it, which included sloping lawns, flowerbeds, vegetable patches, as well as a loch (called the Black Lake), a large dense forest (called the Forbidden Forest), several greenhouses and other outbuildings, and a full-size Quidditch Pitch. One of the castle’s towers held an owlery, which housed all the owls owned by the school and by students.

The castle was set upon huge rocks above the Black Lake. Its three highest towers were the Astronomy, Ravenclaw, and Gryffindor Towers. The castle’s 142 staircases were known to change position. The castle was known for its many updates and changes in layout throughout the years. It should be noted that some rooms in the school tended to «move around», as did the steps on the Grand Staircase. Albus Dumbledore once noted that even he did not know all of Hogwarts’ secrets. The castle had been around for centuries, and consequently had a long history of ancient magic.

The school had numerous ancient charms and spells on and around it to safeguard it from danger. In addition to the fact that there were enchantments that prevented people from entering by stealth, it was also impossible for a Muggle to see it, as the school was bewitched so that when they looked at it, all they saw were some old ruins and several warnings of danger. Witches and wizards could not Apparate or Disapparate in Hogwarts grounds, except for when the Headmaster lifted the enchantment, whether only in certain areas or for the entire campus, so as to make the school less vulnerable when it served the headmaster to allow Apparition. Electricity and electronic devices were not found at Hogwarts. Due to the high levels of magic, Muggle substitutes for magic, such as computers, radar and electricity, «went haywire» around Hogwarts. Radios, however, were an exception as they were not powered by electricity, but by magic.

History

Early history

Hogwarts was founded around 990 A.D. by four of the greatest wizards and witches of the age: Godric Gryffindor, Helga Hufflepuff, Rowena Ravenclaw, and Salazar Slytherin.^[13] They each represented an aspect of personality that they wanted to bring out in new students.^[14] They also placed certain protective enchantments in place to ensure the well-being of their students, for which reason the castle and grounds had both always been protected with Anti-Apparition Charms.^[7] Around the same time, the four founders employed the school’s first Caretaker, Hankerton Humble, who would often clash with Peeves, the resident Poltergeist, which he would have in common with every successive caretaker after him in the history of Hogwarts.^[15]

Although the four founders cooperated well for a time, however, shortly after founding the school, Slytherin had a falling out with the other founders about blood purity, and wanted to admit only pure-blood students. He felt pure-blooded students deserved to learn magic, and those of other ancestry such as Muggle-borns and half-bloods, were unworthy. The other three founders all disagreed, especially Gryffindor. Slytherin left the school, but not before secretly building the Chamber of Secrets. He foretold that only his own heir would be able to open it once they arrived at the school, and the heir would unleash a murderous basilisk living inside to purge the school of all Muggle-born students.^[13] Despite the fact that the founders of Hogwarts were effectively in charge of the school during their time, none of them held the title of headmaster or headmistress of the school,^[16] as that was only used sometime after Slytherin’s departure, and held by another wizard, who was the first person to be entrusted the stewardship of Hogwarts Castle and the surrounding grounds after the three remaining founders passed away.^[17]

Middle history

According to the eventual Gryffindor House ghost, Sir Nicholas de Mimsy-Porpington, because Hogwarts Castle was always intended as a safe place, the school had historically shouldered the responsibility of protecting «dangerous things» from falling into the wrong hands, and carrying the burden of the job remarkably well despite the fact that subsequent heads of the school and members of the faculty came to recognise how it compromised the security of the castle.^[18] Indeed: Albus Dumbledore would reiterate this truth to Harry Potter years later during their private lessons into the history of Lord Voldemort, when the then headmaster described Hogwarts Castle as «a stronghold of ancient magic», and explained that his refusal to employ him as a teacher stemmed in part from the suspicion that the Dark wizard would unravel more of its mysteries and take advantage of untapped stores of magic within the school for his own, nefarious purposes.^[19]

About three hundred years after the school was founded, the Triwizard Tournament was established as an interscholastic competition between three of the most prestigious magical schools in Europe: Hogwarts, Beauxbatons (France), and Durmstrang (An undetermined Northern European country). This tournament was considered the best way for wizards and witches of different nationalities to meet and socialise. The tournament continued for six centuries, until the death toll became too high. The tournament was discontinued until 1994.^[20]

At some point 13th century, following the invention of Floo Powder by Ignatia Wildsmith and the subsequent development of the Floo Network, a long line of Heads of the school refused to permit the school’s fireplaces to be accessible this way, for fear of the castle’s security could be breached.^[21]

During the 1700s, there was a proposal to install an elaborate plumbing system in the castle. This threatened the secrecy of the Chamber of Secrets, forcing Corvinus Gaunt, a Slytherin student, descendant of Salazar Slytherin and Parselmouth, to protect the entrance to the Chamber by having it concealed behind plumbing fixtures and sinks in second floor girls’ bathroom, so only future heirs of Slytherin would know how to open the Chamber.^[22]

In 1876, then caretaker Rancorous Carpe made a spectacularly unsuccessful attempt to rid the school of Peeves by trying to bait him into a trap involving a wide variety of Muggle weapons and a vast, enchanted bell jar reinforced with various Containment Charms, which resulted in the evacuation of the castle and a three-day standoff between the vengeful poltergeist and then Headmistress Eupraxia Mole. In the end, the good Professor agreed to sign a contract promising him additional privileges, including weekly swim in the boys’ toilets on the ground floor, pickings of stale bread from the kitchen for throwing purposes and a new hat — to be custom-made by the Parisian witch Madame Bonhabille. After this, Carpe went into early retirement for «health reasons«, and the faculty left the poltergeist in peace.^[23]

Recent history

1910s

Leta Lestrange was bullied at Hogwarts due to the gossip about her being an unwanted child and the tragic death of her half-brother. She encountered Newt Scamander while searching for a place to hide from her pursuers, whom she had used the dark charm Oscausi on in retaliation for their malicious gossip. Newt and Leta developed a remarkably close bond, spending much time together over the holidays caring for an injured baby raven.^[24]

At one point, when Albus Dumbledore was teaching students how to defend against Boggarts in Defence Against the Dark Arts class, Newt was asked to step forward and was revealed that he was scared of ending up stuck with a tedious office job. Leta went soon after and showed that her boggart was her half-brother drowning to death. Leta was later comforted by Newt near the Great Lake, when she was upset by her own Boggart. He show her one of the Bowtruckles he had befriended on the school grounds, because he was the only one they would not hide from.^[24]

1920s

On 29 November 1926, the Daily Prophet reported that security had to be increased at Hogwarts in response to the growing threat of Gellert Grindelwald’s impact on the Global wizarding war. Measures included Headmaster Armando Dippet holding an emergency meeting with worried parents and students being sent home early.^[25]

Torquil Travers and Theseus Scamander came here to seek out the current Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher, Albus Dumbledore and talk to him about Grindelwald and his plans. Leta soon after walks around Hogwarts and reminisces on the past. Dumbledore finds her and they talk about their shared trauma of losing their siblings.^[24]

Newton Scamander, Porpentina Goldstein, Theseus Scamander, Torquil Travers, Rudolph Spielman, Nagini, Jacob Kowalski, Yusuf Kama, and an unidentified Ministry man came back to talk to Albus Dumbledore about Grindelwald’s rally and the blood pact Grindelwald made with Dumbledore.^[24]

1930s

Even during the global wizarding war, Hogwarts was kept open and live, running, and allowing students to attend.^[26]

1942–1943 school year

The existence of the school was threatened twice when the Chamber of Secrets was opened. The first time it was opened was in 1942, when Tom Riddle, the Heir of Slytherin and the man who would become Lord Voldemort, opened the Chamber in his fifth year.^[27]

When a girl named Myrtle Warren was killed, the Ministry of Magic threatened to close the school. As Riddle spent his time away from Hogwarts in a Muggle orphanage, he did not want the school closed. His request to remain in school over the holidays was denied due to the situation he created. Upset with himself, he framed Rubeus Hagrid, and although Albus Dumbledore still suspected Riddle, Hagrid was expelled, and Riddle got off without punishment. However, in 1992, the Chamber was reopened, and it was discovered that Hagrid was innocent and Riddle was guilty.^[27]

1970s

Throughout the entirety of the First Wizarding War, which lasted for eleven long years and caused much distress among the students, Hogwarts Castle was perhaps the only safe haven in wizarding Britain, due to the presence of Albus Dumbledore. Dumbledore had risen to the post of Headmaster, and was the only one whom Voldemort was ever afraid of.^[28]

During that time, Severus Snape, Remus Lupin, Sirius Black, Peter Pettigrew, as well as Lily Potter and James Potter attended Hogwarts and four of them were part of the infamous Marauders, who often bullied Snape frequently,^[29] until they graduated in 1978.

While war waged outside the ancient walls of the school and it remained safe from Dark Forces outside the castle, the existence of ancient threats hidden deep within it began to stir when a student by the name of Jacob became intrigued with and began to search for the fabled Cursed Vaults, five secret rooms of ambiguous origins somewhere within the castle said to house ancient magical treasures older even than the school itself.

Jacob grew increasingly obsessed with his quest to prove the existence of the Cursed Vaults throughout his school career and broke several school rules in his effort to locate them. The situation escalated further as when the pupil finally found it, he examined the outer chamber leading to the vault and, as a result of tampering with magic he did not understand, he inadvertently unleashed a curse that threatened to encase the entire castle in ice, injuring several students in the process.

By that point, Jacob’s quests for the vaults were no secret. Rumours began spreading among the student body that he unleashed several curses upon the school, and even was cursed himself and that he eventually went mad. Ultimately, however, Jacob managed to break into the vault itself, causing the ice to vanish. Despite his part in ending the threat, however, he was found to have endangered the school, as he unleashed the threat in the first place. Jacob’s resultant expulsion from Hogwarts was covered in the Daily Prophet.^[30]

With the cursed ice gone from the halls of Hogwarts and his students once more safe from it, Dumbledore and the rest of the school staff did their best to dim the rumours that Jacob had actually located one of the vaults, treating it as an isolated incident that had more to do with Jacob’s search for the Cursed Vaults rather than the vaults themselves. They hoped to discourage others from looking for them and maintain the common view that they were just a myth. This worked so effectively that while people still spoke of it a long time afterwards, no one, not even Jacob’s own mother, believed that the Cursed Vaults actually existed.

By the end of the 1970s, Lord Voldemort’s ascendancy was almost complete. While the Ministry of Magic did their best to both put up a fight and keep wizardkind a secret, a true resistance to him was being concentrated in the underground organisation founded by Dumbledore himself called the Order of the Phoenix. Several former students at the school went on to join the order.

1980s

On Hallowe’en of the 1981–1982 school year, news would have reached the school of the fall of Lord Voldemort and his failed attempt at murdering the infant Harry Potter, after which students and staff alike would have celebrated the fall of the Dark Lord.

The effects of the Cursed Vaults also resurfaced around Hogwarts. It first started with the cursed ice reappearing in Hogwarts castle during the 1984–1985 school year. By that time, Jacob’s younger sibling had enrolled, and it took two years for they and their friends to locate and break into the Vault of Ice and stop the ice from further spreading.^[31] The rest of the Cursed Vaults had subsequently all been tampered with, contaminating the school respectively with Boggarts,^[32] the sleepwalking curse^[33] and the portrait curse,^[34] but thanks to Jacob’s sibling and their continually growing circle of friends, the next three Vaults were successfully infiltrated in three consecutive school years.^[35][36][37]

During this time, it was gradually revealed to Jacob’s sibling and their friends that a secret dark organisation known as R existed and had also been trying to find the Cursed Vaults for the supposed treasures. At the start of Jacob’s sibling’s fourth year, the 1987–1988 school year, Patricia Rakepick arrived at Hogwarts apparently to help Albus Dumbledore deal with the Cursed Vaults,^[33] while in fact being a Dark witch from R who sought to continue her unfinished business with the Vaults. She became the Defence Against the Dark Arts professor the next year and trained several students, including Jacob’s sibling, to be her curse-breaking assistants. Arriving again outside the Buried Vault, she revealed her true nature to the students and attempted to go in before them, but was magically choked by Jacob’s sibling and fled.^[37]

Rakepick’s ability to teach students to defend against the Dark Arts, ironically, turned out to have been a lot more competent than the professor who succeeded her in the next school year. With Dumbledore’s permission, the fresh graduate Bill Weasley returned to the school to teach this subject after regular classes.^[38] During the school year, yet another curse spread around Hogwarts, continuing to Petrify students, indicating the activity of the final Cursed Vault.^[39] While working towards investigating R, the students encountered Rakepick in the Forest Grove, who attempted to kill Ben Copper, leading to the sacrifice of Rowan Khanna.^[40]

The school staff held a memorial ceremony and suspended the lessons,^[41] and the tragedy prompted the vengeful Jacob’s sibling, Ben Copper and Merula Snyde to form a secret organisation of their own, the Circle of Khanna, to fight R and race them in locating the final Cursed Vault.^[42] It was found to be under the Great Lake, and they had a final showdown with Rakepick outside. She was once again defeated before Jacob’s sibling decided to seal the Vault for good to prevent the ancient statue curse from being unleashed again.^[43]

1991–1992 school year

On 1 September 1991, Harry Potter began his career as a student at Hogwarts. Already famous for being believed to be responsible for vanquishing Lord Voldemort at the age of one, he soon began, with the help of his friends Ron Weasley and Hermione Granger, to unravel the secret of the Philosopher’s Stone being kept at the school. Harry discovered that the Defence Against the Dark Arts Professor, Quirinus Quirrell, was a host body for the barely-alive Voldemort, who wanted to use the Stone to restore himself back to his former glory and gain everlasting life.^[1]

Harry, Ron, and Hermione suffered a series of difficult challenges down in the Underground Chambers, in an attempt to stop the Philosopher’s Stone being stolen by Severus Snape. The three believed Snape was trying to steal the stone, when in reality, Quirrell was. Harry discovered Quirrell in the chambers and was able to defeat him, thwarting Voldemort in his attempt to get the Stone and restoring his body. Harry managed this after realising that Quirrell’s skin burned whenever he made contact with Harry. Dumbledore stated that Lily’s self sacrifice left a mark of love in Harry and that Quirrell was so full of hatred, greed, and ambition that he could not bear to touch a person marked by something so good.^[1]

1992–1993 school year

In 1992, the Chamber of Secrets was re-opened by Ron’s younger sister Ginny, under the influence of a diary written by Tom Riddle. The diary allowed Riddle’s memory to possess Ginny and act through her to open the Chamber for a second time. She left threatening messages on the school walls twice, which were known as the Writing on the Wall. Several students were Petrified due to meeting the Serpent of Slytherin’s gaze indirectly. Quidditch matches were largely cancelled. Towards the end of the school year, the situation at the school was so severe that it was possible for the school to be shut down completely.^[27]

Desiring to see Lord Voldemort return to power, Lucius Malfoy had slipped the diary into her bundle of school books, taking advantage of her ignorance that it was a Horcrux. His ulterior motive was to ruin the reputations of several great wizards, including Dumbledore and the Weasley children’s father Arthur Weasley, the latter of whom played a big role in the enactment of the Muggle Protection Act. However, Harry discovered the truth and destroyed the diary and the Basilisk, thus bringing an end to these dark plots.^[27]

1993–1994 school year

In 1993, Harry’s notorious godfather Sirius Black escaped from Azkaban. Sirius had been convicted of murdering twelve Muggles and Peter Pettigrew with the Blasting Curse. He also betrayed James, Lily, and Harry Potter’s whereabouts to Voldemort in his duty as their Secret-Keeper. Because of the charges against him, he spent twelve years in a high-security cell in Azkaban. The Ministry of Magic also believed that Black was after Harry, as they heard Black murmur «he’s at Hogwarts» in his sleep. As a result, Black was thought to believe that killing Harry would bring Voldemort back to full power.^[44]

Black broke into the school twice: one time almost ripping the Fat Lady to shreds, and another time getting close to Ron’s «rat», Scabbers. During the second break-in, Ron awoke, which resulted in him screaming in fright, as Black loomed over him with a knife. His screams woke the whole tower and alerted McGonagall to the incident. After this incident, security measures were further heightened. Harry, Ron, and Hermione met Black in the Shrieking Shack, along with Remus Lupin. Lupin had been a friend of Black as well as Harry’s parents and Pettigrew during the time they attended Hogwarts as a students.^[44]

Black revealed the truth to them. He was innocent, and it was Pettigrew who had done the things Sirius had been convicted of. To frame Sirius, he had chopped off one of his fingers as a red herring, turned into his Animagus form (the rat, Scabbers), and scurried off. Sirius had come back to kill Pettigrew, and now that Lupin had heard his story, he believed him and set out to help.^[44]

However, Harry persuaded them to give Pettigrew to the Ministry and let the Dementors have him. As they took Pettigrew back to the castle, Pettigrew escaped and returned to Voldemort to help him return to power. With the use of a time-turner, Harry and Hermione later helped Sirius escape on Buckbeak the Hippogriff while Ron was in the Hospital Wing, saving both Sirius’ and Buckbeak’s lives.^[44]

1994–1995 school year

In 1994, Hogwarts played host to the infamous Triwizard Tournament, this time with more powerful safety measures in place. It had been many years since the last tournament had been held, but in the light of the advent of advanced safety measures, the tournament was deemed «safe». However, more dark plots were being hatched. Barty Crouch Jnr, disguised as Alastor «Mad-Eye» Moody, managed to enter Harry in the Tournament by putting his name in the Goblet of Fire under the name of a fourth school, which ensured he would be chosen by the Goblet.^[20]

Harry’s forced involvement in this plot caused him great misery at Hogwarts, as the representatives for Beauxbatons and Durmstrang, as well as many Hogwarts students, believed he hoodwinked the goblet and entered himself in the tournament. It was because of Crouch Jnr and his influence over certain house-elves that Harry ended up surviving until the end of the tournament and reaching the goal of the Third Task, along with fellow Hogwarts student Cedric Diggory. On Voldemort’s orders, Diggory was killed by Pettigrew, and Harry was surrounded by Death Eaters in Little Hangleton graveyard. Voldemort was brought back to his physical form using Harry’s blood.^[20]

Voldemort attempted to torture and humiliate Harry by means of the Unforgivable Curses. He used the Cruciatus Curse twice on Harry and the Imperius Curse once; Harry was able to resist the latter. Harry escaped and succeeded in alerting all of Voldemort’s enemies, Dumbledore in particular, that he had returned. Dumbledore reestablished the Order of the Phoenix one hour after he was alerted. However, many, including Minister for Magic Cornelius Fudge, chose not to believe him.^[20]

1995–1996 school year

Hogwarts was further threatened when the Ministry of Magic began implementing «Educational Decrees» in 1995, as part of a conspiracy to discredit and ruin Dumbledore and Harry. Dolores Umbridge, the new Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher and Minister Fudge’s Undersecretary, was the centre of this plan. By way of these Educational Decrees, she slowly took control of Hogwarts, eventually replacing Dumbledore as Headmistress. However, it was through the cunning of Hermione and the other members of Dumbledore’s Army, which was founded by her, Ron, and Harry, that Umbridge was overthrown. The Ministry had no choice but to accept that Voldemort had returned. Umbridge was then removed from Hogwarts and Dumbledore was reinstated.^[45]

1996–1997 school year

Through the 1996–1997 school year, the new Minister for Magic Rufus Scrimgeour ordered Aurors to guard Hogwarts for protection from Dark forces, along with the castle’s defences being fortified in many ways. In 1997, Hogwarts was attacked by a mob of Death Eaters. Lucius Malfoy’s son Draco was forced into the service of Lord Voldemort for fear of his and his family’s lives. As a result, Headmaster Dumbledore’s safety was compromised, and he was killed by Severus Snape, in a secret coup de grace arranged in advance between them. Following this «horrible» tragedy, Professor Minerva McGonagall was appointed acting Headmistress, though the security of the school hung by a thread. There was no certainty that Hogwarts would remain open. The faculty agreed to follow «established procedures» and let the school governors ultimately decide what to do.

Throughout the year students were taken out of school by their families for safety and fear reasons, such as Eloise Midgen and Hannah Abbott, while two of Draco’s botched attempts to assassinate Dumbledore ended up dangerously harming Katie Bell and Ronald Weasley, which only served in increasing the anxiety in the atmosphere. However, when Draco succeeded in allowing the Death Eaters entrance, the full effect came to be when many parents rushed their children home, fearing that even Hogwarts, reputably the safest location in the wizarding world, was no longer safe from Voldemort.^[28]

1997–1998 school year

Regardless of the school governors’ decision, with the takeover of the Ministry by Voldemort, attendance at Hogwarts was mandatory for all eligible children. New, militaristic requirements were established, such as requiring students to provide proof of blood status. This enabled Voldemort to keep an eye on the entire wizarding world from a young age and identify Muggle-borns, including eleven-year old children who have no knowledge of their magical nature before their forced identification. Such youngsters faced the possibility of never entering Hogwarts nor returning to their homes ever again.^[46]

Academic instruction at Hogwarts became corrupted. Muggle Studies became a required subject, and instruction in it took a new tack with an anti-Muggle bias, while Defence Against the Dark Arts had simply become Dark Arts. Students were taught illegal curses outright, with older students being instructed to practise curses on underclassmen. Snape was appointed Headmaster, and Alecto and Amycus Carrow, teachers of Muggle Studies and Dark Arts, respectively, had been assigned as his deputies. It was a time of great terror in which no one could be certain who was friend or foe.^[46]

Battle of Hogwarts

In May 1998, the Battle of Hogwarts took place as one of its most infamous alumni, Tom Riddle, better known by then as Lord Voldemort, returned to attack the school and subdue or destroy its defenders. Voldemort claimed he had no desire to harm the school or its students, but he and his Death Eaters spared no one who opposed them and recklessly damaged the school during their assault.^[46]

Numerous students, staff, parents, graduates, and friends of Hogwarts rose to the school’s defence in its hour of need, including the notorious poltergeist Peeves. Thanks to Harry Potter, Lord Voldemort was permanently destroyed and his Death Eaters disbanded forever. Minerva McGonagall became the Headmistress of the school. Harry was celebrated as a true hero.^[46]

Hogwarts sustained extensive damage during the battle. Multiple areas of the main building and adjacent areas were set on fire or blown up, and the Quidditch pitch was largely destroyed by fire.^[46]

After the battle, Hogwarts was repaired. Some students, such as Hermione Granger, returned to the school in 1998 to complete their education.

Late 2000s and early 2010s

Ten years after the Battle of Hogwarts,^[47] normal school life had resumed with Minerva McGonagall still as Headmistress and Rubeus Hagrid still as the Care of Magical Creatures professor and Keeper of Keys and Grounds, and Neville Longbottom had become the Herbology professor and the Head of Gryffindor House.^[48]

In 2009, Jakub Gorski came to the school as the visiting History of Magic professor with his lemur «assistant» Bly, who later turned out to be an Animagus who had bewitched Gorski with the Imperius Curse as a part of his search of the Turner family heirloom. A group of students, including Lottie Turner herself, found out the truth during the school year and foiled Bly’s attempt to use Lottie to obtain the heirloom.^[48]

During the 2010–2011 school year, Elspeth MacGillony was appointed the subtitute Study of Ancient Runes professor while Clodagh Dromgoole was on leave. Her real motive in returning to the school, however, was to find the crown of courage in the Great Lake, and she used the Imperius Curse on several students to make them find it for her. This was discovered by Headmistress McGonagall in time, and MacGillony was sacked and arrested.^[48]

In the time that followed, Dementors attacked Hogwarts. At first there were minor-scale attacks, which the staff handled in time, but things took a turn for the worse when the Dementors summoned other dark creatures to fight for them. Headmistress McGonagall assembled the staff and put a magical shield around the castle to block the creatures. They managed to breach the shield regardless, which then led to a big battle.^[48]

Late 2010s and early 2020s

By 2017, many descendants of previous students were now coming to Hogwarts as new pupils, such as Albus Potter, Scorpius Malfoy and Rose Granger-Weasley. In their fourth year in 2020, Albus and Scorpius illegally used a Time-Turner to travel back in time and caused the timeline to deviate, therefore witnessing several alternate versions of Hogwarts in the early 2020s, including a version with only minor differences from the original one, and versions in which Dolores Umbridge was the Head in a world where Voldemort had won the Battle of Hogwarts. Nevertheless, they were eventually successful in correcting the timeline and restoring peace to Hogwarts.^[5]

Typical school year

Term began on 1 September. Students usually reached Hogwarts via the Hogwarts Express, which left Platform 9¾ of London’s King’s Cross Station at 11 a.m. sharp.^[1] There seemed to be other ways of entering the school, such as via broomsticks or Floo Powder, or simply Apparating to a nearby location such as Hogsmeade. Missing the Hogwarts Express for any reason was a very serious problem, but would not cost the student points as long as they got there before the term had officially started.^[27] The Hogwarts Express brought the students to Hogsmeade station. First years traditionally crossed the Black Lake in boats with the gamekeeper, travelling under an opening in the rocks upon which Hogwarts was built, through a curtain of ivy, and finally into an underground harbour.^[1]

Older students travelled on the road in carriages pulled by Thestrals (invisible to any that hadn’t witnessed death) to the castle.^[45] The Start-of-Term Feast took place in the Great Hall. This feast included the Sorting Ceremony, followed by a few words from the current Headmaster or Headmistress. The banquet started after this, including large quantities of food and drink. The feast was closed with a few more words from the Headmaster or headmistress, including the usual «start-of-term notices».^[1]

After dinner, students were led to their house common room by a prefect. This was a special time for new students to get comfortable with their surroundings, because the next day classes would begin. The class schedules were handed out during breakfast by the Heads of House. After two weeks of classes, the Quidditch team trials and flying lessons for the first years usually occured.^[1]

Homework was usually assigned to students at the end of classes or at the end of the school term. It was usually completed by students in the Study Hall, Study Area, library, Gryffindor Tower reading room or another common room. A homework planner could be used to help students to keep track of all their homework assignments. Some magical planners also told the students to complete the homework when it was opened. If a student failed to complete the homework or was late in handing it in, they could be given a detention as a punishment.^[1]

Hogwarts’s school year was structured in a similar way to other non-magical schools and colleges in the UK, with a three-term year punctuated by holidays at Christmas and Easter and bounded by the long summer holiday of nine weeks. Students had the option of staying at Hogwarts for the winter and spring holidays. Those who chose to stay at the castle during the Christmas holidays did not have lessons and attended a feast on Christmas Day. Students also did not have classes the week of Easter, but this was much less enjoyable due to the large amount of work the teachers usually assigned students at this time in preparation for final exams.^[1]

Other than the breaks and weekends, students did not receive holidays. However, students in the third year and above were allowed to visit Hogsmeade, the local village, occasionally.^[44] There were normally four feasts per year: the Start-of-Term Feast at the beginning of the school year, End-of-Term Feast at the end of the school year, and feasts at Hallowe’en and Christmas.^[1] Feasts were also called to mark special occasions, such as the beginning of the Triwizard Tournament.^[20]

Classes would proceed normally and the next notable event occurred on the evening of 31 October: the Hallowe’en feast. Decorations included giant pumpkins and flocks of hundreds of bats flying across the halls. The served foods included pumpkin treats, tarts, cakes and all sorts of magical sweets. The Quidditch season started usually with the first Quidditch match in the first weeks of November. In the second week of December, the Deputy Head would take names of those who would stay at Hogwarts over the Christmas holidays. The first term usually ended about a week before Christmas, and most of the students and some of the teachers went home by the school train.^[1]

In the Triwizard Tournament years, the Yule Ball occurred on the evening of Christmas Day, ending at midnight.^[20] On 25 December, a Christmas feast was held in the Great Hall. Shortly after 6 January (Epiphany aka Twelfth Night), the Hogwarts Express returned to Hogsmeade; the second term would begin. The exact dates of the beginning of the Easter holidays varied every year. During these holidays, the students could go home. The final exams were held the first week of June and the results came out on the second week. In the evening before the Hogwarts Express went back to London, the End-of-Term Feast was held. The Hogwarts Express returned to London during the third week of June. Some staff and all of the students left Hogwarts for summer holidays.^[1]

School spirit

Hogwarts’ motto was: «Draco dormiens nunquam titillandus«, translated as: Never tickle a sleeping dragon. Quidditch was possibly the most popular sport at the school, with most of the student body turning out to watch each match.^[1] Hogwarts also had a Frog Choir which sang at special occasions.^[49][50][51]

Coat of Arms

See also: Heraldry

The blazon of the Hogwarts Coat of Arms clockwise from top left: the Gryffindor lion, the Slytherin serpent, the Ravenclaw eagle, and the Hufflepuff badger, all circling the letter ‘H’. The motto, «draco dormiens nunquam titillandus», carried in an escroll beneath the shield. The way that the house mascots are arranged makes the centre line divide the houses with warm colours and mammalian mascots from the houses with cold colours and saurian mascots.^[1]

School song

There was an official school song, though it was only sung when the headmaster was in a particularly good mood and deemed it appropriate (which is therefore why it was only known to have been commissioned once from 1991 to 1998).^[3] It didn’t seem to conform to the strict opinions of older headmasters and headmistresses, such as Armando Dippet. As such it may have been an invention of the relaxed Albus Dumbledore, and certainly sounded like it was of his invention.^[52] There was no standard rhythm to the song. Everyone could sing it how they like, as such the Weasley twins preferred a slow and deep style. The lyrics are shown below:

«Hogwarts, Hogwarts, Hoggy Warty Hogwarts,

Teach us something please,

Whether we be old and bald,

Or young with scabby knees,

Our heads could do with filling,

With some interesting stuff,

For now they’re bare and full of air,

Dead flies and bits of fluff,

So teach us things worth knowing,

Bring back what we’ve forgot,

Just do your best, we’ll do the rest,

And learn until our brains all rot.» ^[3]

Houses

Hogwarts students were divided into four houses:

Hogwarts Houses

Name/Crest	Gryffindor	Hufflepuff	Ravenclaw	Slytherin
Founded by	Godric Gryffindor[13]	Helga Hufflepuff[13]	Rowena Ravenclaw[13]	Salazar Slytherin[13]
House ghost	Nearly Headless Nick[3][53]	Fat Friar[3][53]	The Grey Lady[3][53]	The Bloody Baron[3][53]
House symbol	Lion[54]	Badger[54]	Eagle[54]	Serpent[54]
House colours	Deep red and gold[55]	Yellow and black[55]	Blue and bronze[55]	Green and silver[55]
Description	Well known for courage, bravery, daring, nerve, and chivalry.[3]	Well known for loyalty, patience, hard work, fair-play, honesty, and tolerance.[3]	Values intelligence, wit, cleverness, creativity, and wisdom.[3]	Values ambition, leadership, cunning, determination, and resourcefulness.[3]
Common room	The entrance to the common room was on the seventh floor hidden behind a portrait of the Fat Lady. To enter, the correct password must be provided.[3]	Located near the kitchens. To enter, one must tap a fake barrel in the rhythm «Helga Hufflepuff.» It was the only common room to have a way to keep students from other houses out (by dumping vinegar on them).[56]	Located in a high tower, and the interior was decorated with blue and bronze. To enter, one must answer a riddle from an eagle door knocker.[57]	Located in the dungeons, underneath the Black Lake, and hidden behind a stone wall. To enter, the correct password must be provided.[58]
Notable members	Harry Potter, Ron Weasley, Hermione Granger, Ginny Weasley, Neville Longbottom, Albus Dumbledore, Minerva McGonagall, Rubeus Hagrid, James and Lily Potter, Sirius Black, Remus Lupin, Peter Pettigrew, Lavender Brown, Parvati Patil, Seamus Finnigan, Dean Thomas, Lee Jordan, Fred Weasley, George Weasley, Bill Weasley, Charlie Weasley, Percy Weasley, Katie Bell, Angelina Johnson, Alicia Spinnet, Oliver Wood, Colin Creevey, James Sirius Potter, Rose Granger-Weasley, Angelica Cole, Ben Copper, Patricia Rakepick, Jae Kim, Emily Tyler, Thorin	Nymphadora Tonks, Pomona Sprout, Newton Scamander, Theseus Scamander, Cedric Diggory, Justin Finch-Fletchley, Zacharias Smith, Hannah Abbott, Ernie Macmillan, Susan Bones, Leanne, Teddy Lupin, Silvanus Kettleburn, Penny Haywood, Beatrice Haywood, Jane Court, Diego Caplan, Chiara Lobosca, Philip, Chauncy	Luna Lovegood, Myrtle Warren, Penelope Clearwater, Cho Chang, Roger Davies, Michael Corner, Padma Patil, Anthony Goldstein, Terry Boot, Gilderoy Lockhart, Filius Flitwick, Quirinus Quirrell, Marietta Edgecombe, Marcus Belby, Sybill Trelawney, Garrick Ollivander, Ignatia Wildsmith, Chester Davies, Eliza, Tulip Karasu, Andre Egwu, Talbott Winger, Badeea Ali	Tom Riddle, Draco Malfoy, Vincent Crabbe, Gregory Goyle, Pansy Parkinson, Theodore Nott, Merlin, Lucius and Narcissa Malfoy, Rodolphus and Bellatrix Lestrange, Regulus Black, Horace Slughorn, Severus Snape, Blaise Zabini, Millicent Bulstrode, Graham Montague, Bloody Baron, Marcus Flint, Albus Potter, Scorpius Malfoy, Leta Lestrange, Felix Rosier, Merula Snyde, Barnaby Lee, Ismelda Murk, Liz Tuttle, Duncan Ashe

House ghosts

Hogwarts was the most heavily haunted dwelling place in Britain (and this was against stiff competition, as there were more reported ghost sightings/sensings on these damp islands than anywhere else in the world). The castle was a congenial place for ghosts, because the living inhabitants treated their dead friends with tolerance and even affection, no matter how many times they had heard the same old reminiscences. Each of the four Hogwarts houses had its own ghost.^[53]

Slytherin boasted the Bloody Baron, who was covered in silver bloodstains. He was well known for being extremely unsocial and many students, including those of his own House, were known to be slightly afraid of him. While alive, he was a hot-tempered man. The least talkative of the house ghosts was the Grey Lady, who was long-haired and beautiful.^[53] She was the daughter of Rowena Ravenclaw, making her the only house ghost who was directly related to one of the four Hogwarts founders.^[59]

Hufflepuff house was haunted by the Fat Friar, who was executed because senior churchmen grew suspicious of his ability to cure the pox merely by poking peasants with a stick, and his ill-advised habit of pulling rabbits out of the communion cup. Though a genial character in general, the Fat Friar still resented the fact that he was never made a cardinal.^[53] He also frequently suggested that Peeves be given a second chance, whether or not he deserved it.^[3]

Gryffindor house was home to Nearly Headless Nick, who in life was Sir Nicholas de Mimsy-Porpington. Something of a snob, and a less accomplished wizard than he believed, Sir Nicholas lounged around the court of Henry VII in life, until his foolish attempt to beautify a lady-in-waiting by magic caused the unfortunate woman to sprout tusks. Sir Nicholas was stripped of his wand and inexpertly executed, leaving his head hanging off by a single flap of skin and sinew. His ghost retained a feeling of inadequacy with regard to truly headless ghosts.^[53]

Another notable Hogwarts ghost was Moaning Myrtle, who haunted an unpopular girls’ toilet. Myrtle was a student in Ravenclaw house at Hogwarts when she died, and she chose to return to school in perpetuity, with the short-term aim of haunting her arch-rival and bully, Olive Hornby. As the decades rolled by, Myrtle had made a name for herself as the most miserable ghost in school, and was usually found to be lurking inside one of the toilets and filling the tiled space with her moans and howls.^[53]

Administration

The highest position of staff at Hogwarts was the Headmaster or Headmistress. There was also a Deputy Headmaster or Headmistress, who would take over responsibilities of the Headmaster should the circumstances demand it.^[27][28]

Heads of Hogwarts

The Headmaster or Headmistress was appointed by the Hogwarts Board of Governors^[60] to oversee the safety and the day-to-day functioning of the school, and had the power to override any decision made by any other authoritative facilitator at the school.

Professor(s)	Time	Status
Unidentified Headmaster	11th century	Permanent
Phyllida Spore	pre 1408
Edessa Sakndenberg	pre 1503
Fytherley Undercliffe	pre 1531
Vindictus Viridian[61]	pre 1703
Amrose Swott[62]	pre 1724
Dilys Derwent	1741–1768
Unidentified Headmaster	1792
Eupraxia Mole	1870s
Phineas Nigellus Black	?–1925
Armando Dippet[63]	20th century–c. 1965 to 1971
Albus Dumbledore	1965 to 1971[63]–June, 1997
Minerva McGonagall	8 May, 1993–30 May, 1993	Interim
Dolores Umbridge	April, 1996–17 June, 1996	Permanent; considered illegitimate and thus shut out of headmaster’s office
Minerva McGonagall	June, 1997–1 September, 1997	Interim
Severus Snape	1 September, 1997–2 May, 1998	Permanent
Minerva McGonagall	2 May, 1998–21st century
Unidentified Headmaster	Unknown
Unidentified Headmistress
Unidentified Headmaster
Unidentified Headmaster
Dexter Fortescue
Everard
Vulpus[62]
Heliotrope Wilkins[62]
Quentin Trimble
Walter Aragon
Wizard Chess Champions

Deputy Heads

The Deputy Headmaster or Deputy Headmistress (depending on gender) assisted the headmaster or headmistress in his or her duties. In the event of a headmaster or headmistress’ incapacitation, the deputy also served as temporary head until the Board of Governors could select a new, permanent one.^[28]

Wizard(s)	Time
Professor Matilda Weasley	Professor Phineas Nigellus Black’s tenure as Headmaster
Professor Minerva McGonagall	Professor Albus Dumbledore’s tenure as Headmaster
Professor Alecto Carrow	Professor Severus Snape’s tenure as Headmaster
Professor Amycus Carrow

Heads of House

Head of House was the title held by a Professor at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry who was responsible for looking after the students in one of the four Houses: Gryffindor, Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw or Slytherin. It was possible for a Head of House to serve concurrently as Deputy Head, but not as Headmaster/Headmistress.^[1]

House	Head	Term of office
Gryffindor	Godric Gryffindor	Medieval times[13]
Unidentified Gryffindor lady	?–pre 1970s
Unidentified Gryffindor seeker
Unidentified Gryffindor man (II)
Unidentified Gryffindor man (III)
Unidentified Gryffindor man (IV)
Muldoon Cragg
Uric Oapley
Podric Piles
Tobias Stump
Valeria Myriadd
Minerva McGonagall	1970s–1998[64]
Neville Longbottom	By 2008[65]
Hufflepuff	Helga Hufflepuff	Medieval times[13]
Pomona Sprout	?–pre 2017[66]
Ravenclaw	Rowena Ravenclaw	Medieval times[13]
Filius Flitwick[67]	?
Slytherin	Salazar Slytherin	Medieval times[13]
Horace Slughorn	?–1981[68]
Severus Snape	1981–1997[64]
Horace Slughorn	1997–?[67]
Unknown house	Prendergast[69]	1900s-?

Support staff

Position	Wizard(s)	Circa
Caretaker	Argus Filch	fl. 1970s to 1990s
Apollyon Pringle	fl. 1960s
Matron/Healer	Poppy Pomfrey	fl. 1970s to 1990s
Nurse Wainscott	fl. 1990s
Gamekeeper	Rubeus Hagrid	1943 to present
Ogg	fl. 1940s to 1960s
Chief Attendant of Witchcraft Provisions	Lucinda Thomsonicle-Pocus	fl. 1990s
Referee and Flight Instructor	Rolanda Hooch
Librarian	Irma Pince
	Unidentified Hogwarts employees
Keeper of the Keys	Rubeus Hagrid

Kitchen staff

A veritable legion of house-elves were enlisted by Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. They worked the kitchens, preparing feasts for the entire school. They also moved trunks and baggage to and from rooms, cleaned dormitories, and presumably other areas of the castle as well.

In 1994, they became angry with Hermione as she made attempts to free them. Dobby and Winky, who were under Hogwarts’ employ at the time, were considered disgraces to the rest of their colleagues due to Dobby being paid and receiving a vacation, while Winky constantly became drunk out of self-pity.^[20]

During the Battle of Hogwarts, the house-elves fought against the Death Eaters with Kreacher leading them. They defended their masters by using kitchen knives to stab at the attackers’ ankles.^[46]

Subjects and teachers

Hogwarts had in its faculty an abundance of wise and talented professors. Each specialised in a specific subject.^[64][70] Other staff positions included that of a school nurse, caretaker, librarian, and Keeper of the Keys and Grounds of Hogwarts. There were a variety of classes taught at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.^[64][70] These included both the core curriculum and the electives, available from third year forward. Some classes could be dropped in the sixth year.^[70]

Numerous lessons were described, instructing the students in various branches of magic. Transfiguration, Defence Against the Dark Arts, Charms, Potions, Astronomy, History of Magic, and Herbology were compulsory subjects for the first five years.^[70][71][64] At the end of their second year, students were required to add at least two optional subjects to their syllabus for the start of the third year. Five of the choices were Arithmancy, Study of Ancient Runes, Divination, Care of Magical Creatures, and Muggle Studies.^[72][73]

In addition, Horcruxes were a banned subject at Hogwarts, due to their extremely dark and inhumane nature.^[74]

Core classes

Class	Professor	Year
Astronomy	Satyavati Shah
Aurora Sinistra	c. 1985–?
Charms	Filius Flitwick	c. 1976–?[64]
Dark Arts (1997–1998 school year only)	Amycus Carrow	1997–1998[46]
Defence Against the Dark Arts (discontinued for the 1997–1998 school year)	Albus Dumbledore	c. 1910s–1927[24]
Galatea Merrythought	?–1945[28]
Patricia Rakepick	1988–1989[75]
Olivia Green	1990–1991[76]
Quirinus Quirrell	1991–1992[1]
Gilderoy Lockhart	1992–1993[27]
Remus Lupin	1993–1994[44]
Barty Crouch Jnr	(impersonating Alastor Moody) 1994–1995[20]
Dolores Umbridge	1995–1996[45]
Severus Snape	1996–1997[28]
Brindlemore	Early 21st century[48]
Flying (first-years only, optional for older students)	Chiyo Kogawa
Rolanda Hooch[77]
Herbology	Herbert Beery	?–Early 20th century[78]
Pomona Sprout	Early 20th century–Early 21st century[64]
Neville Longbottom	Early 21st century–?[79][48]
History of Magic	Cuthbert Binns	17th or 18th century–?
Jakub Gorski	2009–2010[48]
Muggle Studies (1997–1998 school year only)	Alecto Carrow	1997–1998
Potions	Horace Slughorn	?–1981
1996–?
Severus Snape	(1981–1996)
Transfiguration	Albus Dumbledore	?
Minerva McGonagall	?–1998

Electives

When	Class	Professor	Year
Third year on	Arithmancy	Septima Vector	c. 1991–?
Care of Magical Creatures	Silvanus Kettleburn	Early 20th century–1992
Rubeus Hagrid	1993–?
Wilhelmina Grubbly-Plank	1995
Divination	Sybill Trelawney[73]	1980–1995
1996–?
Firenze[80]	1996–1998
Muggle Studies (Core class in the 1997–1998 school year)	Quirinus Quirrell	?–1990
Arif Sikander	1990–1991[81]
Male professor	?
Charity Burbage[82]	?-1997
Concordia Rowle	Early 21st century[48]
Study of Ancient Runes	Bathsheda Babbling	c. 1991–?
Clodagh Dromgoole	Early 21st century[48]
Elspeth MacGillony	Substitute teacher in 2010–2011[48]
Sixth and seventh year (with sufficient demand)	Advanced Arithmancy Studies
Alchemy
Ancient Studies
Apparition	Wilkie Twycross

• Art
• Ghoul Studies
• Magical Theory
• Muggle Art
• Muggle Music
• Music
• Xylomancy

Art Club for Gryffindor[83] Astronomy Club[84] Charms Club[85] Duelling Club[86][87] Frog Choir[49] Conductor: Filius Flitwick[49] Hogwarts Ancient Runes Club[88] Hogwarts Gobstone Club[89]

Hogwarts orchestra Magical Creatures (club)[90] Potions Club[87] Rat Race Club[91] Slugs and Bugs Club[92][50] Slug Club[93] Wizard Card Collectors’ Club[94] Dragon Club[95] Sphinx Club[96] Hippogriff Club[96]

Counselling

Hogwarts students received career advice from their Heads of House in their O.W.L. year, some weeks prior to the examinations, to help establish what subjects the students needed to concentrate on to achieve the required O.W.L. and N.E.W.T. scores for their chosen occupations.^[45]

In fifth year, the students would get career advice, which would help students choose their N.E.W.T. subjects. Bill Weasley told his younger brother Ron about it. Before their examination (during the Easter break) the students would receive a batch of leaflets, advertising different jobs available to Hogwarts students and the N.E.W.T.s required for them. Examples were: Healing, Muggle relations, Wizard banking, Training Security trolls, and working at the Department of Magical Accidents and Catastrophes.^[45]

During the first week of summer term, the students discussed their future careers with the Head of Houses during a careers appointment. Harry Potter discussed his wish to become an Auror with McGonagall, who described it as a difficult career path to take. The requirements were high: five N.E.W.T.s. and passing of character and aptitude tests. Auror training then took another three years of study.^[45]

Percy Weasley was still reading about his future career possibilities after his careers advice. In Diagon Alley, he read about the later careers of Hogwarts prefects, just before he started his sixth year.^[27]

Harry first thought of his career after Hogwarts when he discussed it with Bartemius Crouch Junior (disguised as Alastor Moody) in his fourth year. Crouch suggested that he (and Hermione Granger) would be suitable to become Aurors.^[20]

Oddly enough, the students of Hogwarts did not appear to receive similar counselling at the end of their second year, when they chose the elective subjects that could determine their future careers.

Grading system

Grading on routine homework seemed to be along the same lines as that for Muggle students. Hogwarts students also had more difficult exams as they progressed higher in the system. O.W.L.s (Ordinary Wizarding Levels) were a set of standardised tests for fifth year students, which determined what courses a student could continue to study in their final years at Hogwarts. They were the wizarding equivalent of Muggle O-levels.^[45]

N.E.W.T.s (Nastily Exhausting Wizarding Tests) were optional levels of education for exceptional students, much like A-levels for Muggle students. To progress to N.E.W.T.-level, students had to receive certain high marks on O.W.L. exams, otherwise the student would not be able to cope with the increasingly difficult subject matter. N.E.W.T. tests occurred at the end of the seventh year and could not be retaken.^[45][28]

Ordinary Wizarding Level Grading System:

Pass grades: O — Outstanding (Pass, always continue to N.E.W.T.) E — Exceeds Expectations (Pass, usually continues to N.E.W.T.) A — Acceptable (Pass, rarely continues to N.E.W.T)

Fail grades: P — Poor (Fail, may repeat subject) D — Dreadful (Fail, may not receive O.W.L. credit) T — Troll (Fail, with distinction. More than one T may mean refusal into other N.E.W.T.s)

This grading system was also used on W.O.M.B.A.T.s (optional tests taken outside Hogwarts), and was most likely used on N.E.W.T.s also, making this the universal exam grading system in wizarding Britain.^[45]

Examinations

End of year exams

All students at Hogwarts were required to complete a set of examinations to get into the next year of schooling. There was one exam for each subject. In fifth year, instead of end of the year exams, students sat their O.W.L.s (Ordinary Wizarding Levels); the score they achieved on these was what allowed them to progress to N.E.W.T.-level. In order to progress to N.E.W.T., a student had to score either an ‘Outstanding’ or an ‘Exceeds Expectations’ on their O.W.L.^[45]

1992 first year exams

The Charms exam consisted of attributing animation to an otherwise inanimate object. In 1992, the students had to make a pineapple dance across Filius Flitwick’s desk.^[1]

The Transfiguration exam consisted of transfiguring a being into an object. In 1992, the students had to turn a mouse into a snuff box. Extra points were given for how pretty the snuffbox was, while points were taken off if it still had whiskers.^[1]

The Potions exam consisted of brewing a potion from memory. In 1992, and in keeping with Severus Snape’s unpleasant sense of humour, the students had to produce a Forgetfulness Potion.^[1]

In the 1992 History of Magic exam, the test lasted for one hour and the students were required to answer questions about the invention of the Self-Stirring Cauldron by Gaspard Shingleton.^[1]

1993 second year exams

These exams were not set in place due to Dumbledore’s decision to cancel them due to the events in the Chamber of Secrets that year.^[27]

1994 third year exams

The Charms exam required students to perform the Cheering Charm, Freezing Spell,^[97] and others. A separate room stood at the ready, if a student overdid their Cheering Charm.^[44]

The Transfiguration exam was said to contain difficult tasks, as when finished students emerged «limp and ashen-faced.» The exam included turning a teapot into a tortoise. Some students’ tortoises still had tails, could breathe steam, and had willow-patterned shells.^[44]

The Potions exam was to brew a Confusing Concoction. Points were taken off if students could not get their batch to thicken, as was required.^[44]

The History of Magic exam may have included questions on Witch Hunts, as students were required to complete homework on the subject.^[44]

The Defence Against the Dark Arts exam consisted of an obstacle course. It contained dark creatures, which included wading across a deep paddling pool containing a Grindylow, a series of potholes full of Red Caps, squishing your way across a patch of marsh while ignoring the misleading directions of a Hinkypunk, then climbing into an old trunk in order to battle a Boggart.^[44]

The Divination exam included looking into a crystal ball and being able to distinguish what could be seen. Both Harry Potter and Ronald Weasley chose to simply make something up. Harry’s prediction, of a hippogriff flying away, turned out to be accurate. As nobody was mentioned as having failed the exam despite several students admitting they were just making things up, it is likely that anyone who at least pretended to see something would have been given a pass.^[44]

1995 fourth year exams

The History of Magic exam involved testing the students on their knowledge of Goblin rebellions.^[20]

Ordinary Wizarding Level

An Ordinary Wizarding Level (often abbreviated O.W.L.) was a subject-specific test taken during Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry students’ fifth year. These exams were administrated by the Wizarding Examinations Authority. The score made by a student on a particular O.W.L. determined whether or not he or she would be allowed to continue taking that subject in subsequent school years, and whether they might be successful in obtaining a particular job.^[45]

Each exam had a written and practical assessment, so students could demonstrate both their practical and theoretical knowledge. The exams were taken over a two week period.^[45]

Nastily Exhausting Wizarding Test

A Nastily Exhausting Wizarding Test (often abbreviated N.E.W.T.) was a subject-specific exam that seventh year witches and wizards at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry took to help them pursue certain careers after their graduation. For instance, the Ministry of Magic only accepted Auror applicants with at least five N.E.W.T.s with top grades of either ‘Outstanding’ or ‘Exceeds Expectations’.^[45]

Not much was known about these exams. Some students did not take these exams at all, as some careers in the Wizarding World did not require N.E.W.T.s.

Student years

A first year was a student at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry who was new to Hogwarts and in their first year of magical education. First years were typically eleven to twelve years of age. First years arrived at the castle by crossing the lake with the Keeper of the Keys in boats separate from the older students. They were not allowed to own a broomstick or be on one unless they were attending Flying class. An exception had been made for Harry because he joined the Gryffindor house team due to his exceptional skills with a broomstick.

First year classes consisted of: Potions, Herbology, Defence Against the Dark Arts, Transfiguration, History of Magic, Astronomy, Charms, and Flying.^[1]

A second year was a student at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry who was in their second year of magical education. Second years were typically twelve to thirteen years of age unless a student had to repeat the second form. The second year was the first year in which students were allowed to go with the rest of the school in the school carriages pulled by Thestrals up to the castle.

Second year classes consisted of: Potions, Herbology, Defence Against the Dark Arts, Transfiguration, History of Magic, Astronomy, and Charms. Unlike first years, the second-years’ timetable did not include Flying class, although they were allowed to bring their own broomsticks. At the end of the year, second-year students chose two or more classes they wished to study as electives the following year.^[27]

A third year was a student at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry who was in their third year of magical education. Third years were typically thirteen to fourteen years of age. Third years were permitted to go to Hogsmeade during certain weekends if they had a signed permission form from their parent/guardian.^[44]

The third year was an important one for students, as it was the first year that they are permitted to sit elective courses. Third year classes consisted of: Potions, Herbology, Defence Against the Dark Arts, Transfiguration, History of Magic, Astronomy, Charms, and the two or more electives the student chose the previous year.

A fourth year was a student at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry who was in their fourth year of magical education. Fourth years were typically fourteen to fifteen years of age. The fourth form was almost identical in its structure to the third; students sat two or more elective courses in addition to the core classes, and were allowed into Hogsmeade during selected weekends.

Fourth year classes consisted of: Potions, Herbology, Defence Against the Dark Arts, Transfiguration, History of Magic, Astronomy, Charms, and two or more electives. However, fourth years typically got more work than third years, so as to prepare for their O.W.L.s.^[20]

A fifth year was a student at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry who was in their fifth year of magical education. Fifth years were typically fifteen to sixteen years of age. The fifth year was enormously important for students, due to the fact that it was the year in which they must sit their O.W.L. exams, which would determine what N.E.W.T. courses they would be permitted to take later on in their education. O.W.L.s determine what jobs they could apply for in their future careers.^[45]

The fifth year was also the year in which students received career counselling from their Heads of House. It was during this meeting that they would be advised as to what N.E.W.T.-level classes they should take in order to qualify for their desired career. Fifth year classes consisted of: Potions, Herbology, Defence Against the Dark Arts, Transfiguration, History of Magic, Astronomy, Charms, and two or more electives. Before the beginning of the year, one boy and one girl were selected by the Headmaster from each house to become Prefects.^[45]

A sixth year was a student who was in his or her sixth year of magical education at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Sixth years were typically sixteen to seventeen years of age, although some could be older, if they have had to repeat a year like Marcus Flint did. The sixth year was the first year in which students sat N.E.W.T.-level classes. Sixth years could also elect to take part in Apparition lessons for a fee of twelve Galleons.^[28]

Based on students’ O.W.L. scores, and depending on the minimum requirements of the professor teaching the subject at the time, students were allowed to sit any number of classes as long as they met said requirements. If the student didn’t meet those requirements, they could not attend the N.E.W.T.-level classes, having to repeat the O.W.L.-level classes and the fifth year exams. While students did have the opportunity to choose whether they wished to continue in particular subjects, those who began studying N.E.W.T.-level subjects in their sixth year were expected to carry on with the subject into the seventh year and sit the N.E.W.T. exam in that subject. Sixth year students were initially excited to have more free time, but this extra time was intended to help them study and do homework, as many, if not all, teachers assigned more homework and gave more difficult lessons in their N.E.W.T.-level classes.^[28]

A seventh year was a student at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry who was in their seventh and final year of formal magical education. Seventh years were typically seventeen to eighteen years of age, although some may be older if they have had to repeat a year. The seventh year contained the most important exams given at Hogwarts — the N.E.W.T.s.^[28]

Students concluded their N.E.W.T.-level studies in the seventh year, at the end of which they sat the N.E.W.T. exam pertaining to each of their subjects. A student in the seventh year would have the same schedule he or she had in the sixth year, and would sit only those classes in which they received O.W.L.s meeting the minimum requirement of the professor for that subject. However, not all students would take N.E.W.T.s, as some occupations required only O.W.L.s.^[28]

Every year, a male and female seventh year were appointed Head Boy and Head Girl. In most cases, the Headmaster selected the Head students from the seventh year Prefects. However, students that had never been prefects, for example Harry’s father James Potter, could still be selected.^[1] The graduation would have the students ride the boats out from the boat dock under Hogwarts onto the black sea and land at Hogsmeade station and ride the Hogwarts Express back to Kings Cross^[98]

Daily routine

The day would begin at 7:30 a.m. with breakfast in the Great Hall. During breakfast, the mail arrived in a flurry of hundreds of owls. A bell chime signalled the start of the first class at 9 a.m. The bell chimed again in one hour to signal the start of the next class.^[1]

There were two class periods before lunch, scheduled according to house, though N.E.W.T. students could have breaks during some of these. After lunch, there was another break and two more classes. If there was a heavy snowstorm in between periods, certain lessons that took place outside (such as Care of Magical Creatures) could be cancelled, since it would be difficult for students to traverse from the castle to the outside.^[27]

Dinner was served in the Great Hall towards the evening, after which the students were expected to be in their house common rooms for studying and socialising.^[1]

There were Astronomy classes at night on Wednesdays every week (usually midnight).^[1]

The students had to be in bed or in the common rooms by a certain time, after which was called ‘after hours’.^[1] The times were different for different years (for example, fifth years were allowed to be in the halls until 9:00 p.m.)^[20]

Recruitment

Before school term

Each year, the Hogwarts Deputy Headmaster sent letters to eligible witches and wizards who would be eleven years old at the start of the incoming term. These letters invited the children to be students at Hogwarts. If for any reason a letter did not reach its intended recipient, owls would continue delivering letters until the person received one (as was Harry Potter’s experience when he turned eleven). The letter contained a list of needed supplies, signed by the Chief Attendant of Witchcraft Provisions, Lucinda Thomsonicle-Pocus, which included uniform clothing, spell books, and cauldrons. Letters were also sent to existing students to inform them of the new supplies needed. Students usually obtained school supplies at Diagon Alley in London.^[1]

Letters to Muggle-born witches and wizards, such as Hermione and Harry’s mother Lily Evans, as well as Tom Marvolo Riddle (Voldemort) and Harry (half-bloods who lived with Muggles and knew nothing of the wizarding world), who may not have been aware of their powers and were unfamiliar with the concealed wizarding world, were delivered in person by a member of Hogwarts staff, who then explained to the parents/guardians about magical society, and reassured them regarding this news. They also assisted the family in regards to buying supplies and gaining access to Diagon Alley.^[27]

Harry’s letter was sent via normal owl delivery, since Professor Dumbledore had presumed that the Dursleys had explained to Harry about Hogwarts and the wizarding world. When no response came from the first, several more letters, each reflecting Harry’s new location, were sent. Ultimately, Hagrid was dispatched to hand-deliver Harry’s final letter. Once he found Harry, who was with the Dursleys in their vain attempt to keep all wizarding knowledge from Harry, Hagrid explained all about Harry’s parents and what had really happened the night they died.^[1]

While Remus Lupin’s father was a wizard, Dumbledore personally visited the family to invite the boy to Hogwarts given the fact that Remus had been afflicted by lycanthropy. Remus noted that it was only after Dumbledore became headmaster that he could have been accepted at Hogwarts.^[63]

Students were allowed to bring a cat, an owl or a toad,^[1] but exceptions such as rats and Pygmy Puffs were made. Moreover, students did not have to pay tuition fee, because the British Ministry of Magic covered the cost of all students’ magical education.^[28][99]

While most wizards and witches in Great Britain and Ireland were educated in Hogwarts, they were not obligated to attend if they did not wish to, as some parents were noted to have home-educated their children (as Lyall Lupin originally intended to do for his son due to his condition) or send them abroad (as Lucius originally intended for his son Draco to Durmstrang Institute). This was temporarily changed in the 1997–1998 school year, in which the new Voldemort-installed regime mandated all eligible children to attend in order to weed out Muggle-borns from the school.^[46]

Quidditch

Tryouts for House Quidditch teams happened at the very beginning of the school year. The Heads of house had a list of applicants, which they would pass on to the team captain, so the captain could schedule tryouts at their leisure. First years were usually prohibited from joining a Quidditch team, because they were usually inexperienced with brooms and were forbidden to own them in the first place.^[1]

However, exceptions had been made on both counts. Harry Potter was a noticeable exception, he was allowed to join the team in his first year and was the youngest Seeker in a century. Teams had different reputations; before Harry joined in 1991, the Gryffindor team was noted by McGonagall to be on a losing streak and that she could not bear any more of Severus Snape’s boasting.^[1]

The Slytherin team was considered to have no qualms with cheating and unsportsmanlike conduct. It was noted that the Slytherin team recruited players of brute strength, rather then skill.^{[1][27][44][45][28]}

Hogwarts Quidditch Teams

Houses	Gryffindor Quidditch team	Hufflepuff Quidditch team	Ravenclaw Quidditch team	Slytherin Quidditch team
Mascot	Lion	Badger	Eagle	Serpent
Robe colour(s)	Scarlet and Gold	Yellow and Black	Blue and Bronze	Green and Silver
Known captains of the 1990s	Charles Weasley	Cedric Diggory	Roger Davies	Marcus Flint
Oliver Wood	Graham Montague
Angelina Johnson	Urquhart
Harry Potter

Holidays

Students could go home for certain holidays such as Christmas and Easter. The students who chose to remain were treated to a feast along with some of the faculty.^[1]

When Christmas holidays ended, classes would begin again. In Harry Potter’s second year, Gilderoy Lockhart organised a Valentine’s Day celebration which was not continued after he left the school.^[27]

The Easter holidays were not as enjoyable as the Christmas ones, as students were overloaded with homework in preparation for their exams, which were taken at the end of the year. Students were not allowed to use magic over the summer holidays until they turned seventeen; magic was also banned in corridors.^[1]

Uniform

The students at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry were required to wear a uniform. The uniform consisted of a black robe and a black pointed hat (occasionally), as well as coloured lapels and ties that distinguished different houses, along with the house logo on their chest. Students wore their own socks and shoes. Students had to wear their uniforms during all lessons, and while eating meals or studying in the Great Hall. Students were allowed to wear their own clothes after lessons in their House dormitory and during the holidays.

Most students were seen still wearing their uniforms in their house dormitory, most probably because they would need to change into their pyjamas to sleep before they go to bed, so they may feel that it is troublesome to change into their own clothes, then change again into their pyjamas.^[1]

See also

• Hogwarts Castle
• Hogsmeade
• Hogwarts Houses
• Headmaster
• Headmaster portraits
• Secret passages at Hogwarts
• Discipline at Hogwarts
• Beauxbatons Academy of Magic
• Durmstrang Institute

Etymology

J. K. Rowling speculated that she might have subconsciously produced the name Hogwarts from the Hogwort plant she saw when walking round Kew Gardens.^[100]
In the film Labyrinth, Sarah, acted by Jennifer Connelly, meets a goblin outside the gates of the Labyrinth who introduces himself as Hoggle. As they depart, she calls him «Hogwart» instead of his proper name, Hoggle. Also in the film Labyrinth, Jareth the Goblin King, acted by David Bowie, often calls his goblins by the wrong names and at one point he incorrectly calls Hoggle «Hogwart.» It is, of course, possible that the name may have derived from the word «Warthog», but simply reversed.

Behind the scenes

• The school’s full name suggests that there must be a difference between witchcraft and wizardry, which are otherwise known simply as magic. It can be assumed that witchcraft is magic when performed by females and wizardry by males.
• According to Remus Lupin, attendance at Hogwarts by British students is not mandatory; they may be home schooled by their parents, or sent to another magical school;^[101] (this rule was changed during the 1997–1998 school year, but was presumably restored after the demise of Voldemort.) It is likely this extended to Lucius Malfoy’s also expressed interest in his son attending the Durmstrang Institute.^[20]
• There are two Headmasters known to have held the title more than once; they were Minerva McGonagall and Albus Dumbledore.

• J. K. Rowling revealed that Hogwarts is a state school, and the Ministry of Magic shoulders all of the school’s financial needs.^[10]
• There may be an exchange programme for Hogwarts and Ilvermorny. The Damen Blue Line Subway Station in Chicago, Illinois, is, according to J.K. Rowling, where students make the exchange.^[102]
• J. K. Rowling said she wanted a humorous motto for Hogwarts since so many schools have less pragmatic ones such as «Reach for the stars».
• Subjects in Hogwarts had different names in Rowling’s earliest notes: Herbology was called «Herbalism» and Transfiguration was called «Transfiguration/Metamorphosis.» Core subjects were also different, with Divination, Alchemy, and a subject called simply «Beasts» all being compulsory from the first year.
• The school song is only sung in the first book, and partially by Hermione and Hagrid in the fourth film. However, the song is sung completely in the deleted scenes as a welcoming to the students of Beauxbatons and Durmstrang, which can be credited to one of the many eccentricities of Albus Dumbledore.
• A board game called Destination Hogwarts is based on the school and castle.
• In the Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone video game, a Muggle Studies Classroom is featured on the fifth floor, and an Ancient Runes Classroom is on the sixth floor.
• In Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, Dumbledore believes that Hogwarts is the place Tom Riddle felt was his real home. Ironically, this is also how Harry Potter felt about Hogwarts which is why it was stated that Harry’s stomach lurched when Dumbledore told him this.
• J. K. Rowling said in an interview that there are about one thousand students attending Hogwarts at any given time. Assuming that the number of students is divided equally according to House, gender and year, there would be 250 students per House, 125 boys and 125 girls. In a given House and in each year at the school, there would be around 36 students (250 divided by 7 equals 35.7), or 18 boys and 18 girls.
  • However, the books mention no more than five students of the same gender, House and year. For example, no other Gryffindor boys in Harry’s year besides Ron, Neville, Seamus and Dean are known. Assuming an equal division, that means there are 10 students per year in one House, 70 per House and 280 in the whole school. The films also show, approximately, this number of students.
  • Rowling’s statement is supported by the fact that, when Harry sees his father doing his O.W.L. (in the Pensieve in Snape’s office), there are over 150 students. Secondly, during a Quidditch match, everybody was supporting Gryffindor except around 200 Slytherins supporting their own. It is also possible that there are more dormitories that don’t appear in the books and films. The only ones mentioned in the books are the ones that house the students who are actually in the book, e.g. Harry, Ron, Neville, Hermione.
  • Another theory is that Harry’s year was an unusually small intake, due to the fact that the time at which those students would’ve been conceived was during the height of the First Wizarding War and many wizarding families may have been reluctant to bring children into the world at such a dangerous time.
• It is rumoured that on the W.O.M.B.A.T. test, Rowena Ravenclaw had a dream that a warty hog was leading her to a lake and that’s how Hogwarts got its name.
• J.K. Rowling has said in an interview that Hogwarts is a multi-faith school,^[103] and later confirmed that every «religion/belief/non-belief system» is represented at Hogwarts other than Wicca,^[104] as she felt this was a «different concept of magic» as compared to that taught at Hogwarts.^[105]
• In Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2, the Anti-Disapparition Jinx was lifted in 1998 as Draco Malfoy could apparate to Blaise Zabini and Gregory Goyle. OBS: This is only shown in the films, and the films are known to take liberties with the rules established in the books, often in the interest of dramatic effect or convenience.
• On the subject of house-elves, J. K. Rowling believed Helga Hufflepuff did what was the most moral thing to do at that time.^[106]
• The Hogwarts uniform worn in the books consists of a black robe and a black pointed hat. The robes bear no marks to distinguish between the houses. Students wear their own socks and shoes.
• The uniform portrayed in the films consists of a white collared, long sleeved shirt, a tie of their house colours (getting more sophisticated each year), a grey jumper vest, black slacks for males and a black, knee length skirt for females paired with black or grey socks. Both genders wear black comfortable shoes. Each student wears a cloak that bears their house crest on the front, right side and has a lining of their house color: green for Slytherin, red for Gryffindor, blue for Ravenclaw, and yellow for Hufflepuff. During the winter months, a grey jumper replaces the jumper vest for comfort and a scarf bearing their two house colours is worn for warmth. A black pointed hat is provided but is only worn for special occasions such as the opening ceremony, special dinners, house cup ceremony etc.

External links

• The Harry Potter Lexicon’s Hogwarts Atlas featuring numerous images of Hogwarts
• The Marauder’s Map from the Warner Bros website
• How Many Students Are There At Hogwarts?, by Steve Vander Ark.
• The Collinsport Ghost Society A Muggle’s Look of the School and Ghosts
• Hogwarts Floor Plan, most accurate from the films, by Randwulf

Appearances

• Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone (First appearance)
• Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone (film)
• Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone (video game)
• Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets
• Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets (film)
• Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets (video game)
• Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban
• Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (film)
• Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (video game)
• Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire
• Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire (film)
• Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire (video game)
• Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix
• Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (film)
• Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (video game)
• Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince
• Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince (film)
• Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince (video game)
• Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows
• Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1 (Mentioned only)
• Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2
• Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2 (video game)
• Harry Potter and the Cursed Child
• Harry Potter and the Cursed Child (play)
• Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them (Mentioned only)
• Quidditch Through the Ages (Mentioned only)
• The Tales of Beedle the Bard (Mentioned only)
• Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them: The Original Screenplay (Mentioned only)
• Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them (film) (Appears in photographs)
• Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald — The Original Screenplay
• Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald
• Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore — The Complete Screenplay
• Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore
• Pottermore
• Wizarding World
• J. K. Rowling’s official site (Mentioned only)
• J. K. Rowling: A Year in the Life (Mentioned only)
• The Road to Hogwarts Sweepstakes
• The Art of Harry Potter Mini Book of Graphic Design
• Harry Potter: The Wand Collection (Mentioned only)
• Harry Potter Official Site
• The Wizarding World of Harry Potter
• Harry Potter: The Character Vault
• Harry Potter: The Creature Vault
• Harry Potter Trading Card Game
• Harry Potter: Quidditch World Cup
• Harry Potter for Kinect
• Wonderbook: Book of Spells
• Wonderbook: Book of Potions
• LEGO Harry Potter
• LEGO Harry Potter: Building the Magical World
• LEGO Harry Potter
• LEGO Creator: Harry Potter
• Creator: Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets
• LEGO Harry Potter: Years 1-4
• LEGO Harry Potter: Years 5-7
• LEGO Dimensions
• Harry Potter: Hogwarts Mystery
• Harry Potter: Wizards Unite
• Harry Potter: Magic Awakened
• Harry Potter: Puzzles & Spells
• Hogwarts Legacy

Notes and references

Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry
Hogwarts Houses
Namesake Founders Godric Gryffindor · Helga Hufflepuff · Rowena Ravenclaw · Salazar Slytherin
Heads of House Minerva McGonagall · Pomona Sprout · Filius Flitwick · Horace Slughorn
House Ghosts Nearly Headless Nick · Fat Friar · Grey Lady · Bloody Baron

Wizarding education
The eleven schools
Beauxbatons · Castelobruxo · Durmstrang · Hogwarts · Ilvermorny · Koldovstoretz · Mahoutokoro · Uagadou
Specialised schools
Academy of Broom Flying · Charm School · Euro-Glyph School of Extraordinary Languages · Merge School of Under-Water Spellage · The Naaszcademy of Magizoology · Wizarding Academy of Dramatic Arts The Triwizard Tournament Objects & Locations: Goblet of Fire • Casket • Golden egg • Hedge Maze • Triwizard Cup Schools: Beauxbatons • Durmstrang • Hogwarts 1994-1995 Triwizard Champions: Fleur Delacour • Viktor Krum • Cedric Diggory • Harry Potter