Hogwarts
Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry is as well as Beauxbatons and Durmstrang one of the three most important schools of magic in the world. It was founded by Godric Gryffindor, Salazar Slytherin, Helga Hufflepuff and Rowena Ravenclaw whose heraldic animals are part of the coat of arms of Hogwarts: Lion, Serpent, Badger and Eagle. The school’s motto reads “Draco dormiens nunquam titillandus”. (Never tickle a sleeping dragon.)
The School Song is always sung by everyone on a melody one chooses for himself:
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.On the location it can only be said that Hogwarts is situated in Scotland. So that the castle and its grounds are not entered by a Muggle, Hogwarts has been made “unlocateable”. If one ever found his way there, the castle would be camouflaged – he would only see a ruin and a sign saying “Danger, keep out, danger of collapse!”
Moreover Apparition is impossible on the grounds. Thus one can only reach Hogwarts via the Floo Network or one goes by Hogwarts Express starting at King’s Cross Station and ending at Hogsmeade, the neighbouring town. This way every student arrives at the beginning of term.
Apart from the first years who cross the lake in boats the students are brought from the Station to the castle by carriages pulled by Thestrals. To many the Thestrals are not visible so that the carriages seem to drive by themselves.
Behind the gigantic gate made of oak there is the entrance hall in which could easily fit a whole house. It is lighted by torches and the walls are so high that you cannot make out the ceiling. Starting here big marble stairs lead to the upper floors, and the Great Hall lays to the right of the entrance.
The Great Hall is the central place in Hogwarts where everyone meets. It is both lounge and dining room and contains four long tables, one for each House (from left to right Gryffindor, Ravenclaw, Slytherin, Hufflepuff), and a table for the staff. The high ceiling can show different weather situations. Otherwise the Hall is lit by numerous candles hovering above the tables.
Still, compared to the rest of the castle the Great Hall is but a small part. Across seven floors, many towers and cellars classrooms as well as the common rooms and dormitories of the individual houses are spread. There is one tower for the subject Astronomy, in another the lessons of Divination take place and only Potions is taught in the cellars.
Moreover Hogwarts has a grand Library with ten thousands of books, thousands of bookcases and hundreds of narrow rows of shelves, which every student can use; only to the Restricted Section which also contains books on Black Magic one needs a teacher’s permission.
It is not only the size of the castle, though, that makes it very difficult to make oneself a map of Hogwarts. Apart from the huge amount of partly much unknown secret Passages that are often protected by portraits and statues with a password, the castle is also making it more difficult, because the stairs are moving frequently and one way may appear a bit different the next day. Sometimes steps are disappearing as well. On such wrong tracks the talking figures in the paintings unfortunately are rarely helping either.
Still this has the advantage that the castle always holds some surprises, so that even after many years spent in Hogwarts you may like Dumbledore still find new fascinating rooms and passages.
Now we want to present some parts of Hogwarts in closer detail to you.
