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ALL ABOUT HOGWARTS

OVERVIEW

The Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry is the United Kingdom's premier school for the training of young sorcerers. It is a private boarding school housed within a centuries-old, enchanted castle somewhere in Scotland. Students enter the school at age 11 and attend for seven academic years, graduating at age 17 or 18. About 1,000 students are enrolled there.

The current headmaster is Albus Dumbledore, a powerful wizard known for defeat of the dark wizard Grindelwald in 1945; discovering 12 uses for dragon’s blood; and for his work in alchemy with Nicolas Flamel. He also holds the designations of Order of Merlin, First Class; Grand Sorcerer; Chief Warlock; Supreme Mudwump; and member, International Confederation of Wizards.

The school has four houses, named after its founders. They are as follows:

• Gryffindor – symbol, lion; school colors, red and yellow; Quidditch robe color, red.
• Slytherin – symbol, snake; school colors, silver and green; Quidditch robe color, green.
• Ravenclaw – symbol, eagle; school colors, royal blue and gold; Quidditch robe color, royal blue.
• Hufflepuff – symbol, badger; school colors, yellow and black; Quidditch robe color, yellow.

Students are assigned to a house in their first years during the Sorting Ceremony (see section below).

Each house has its own crest, bearing the name and symbolic animal. The crests are used on school uniforms.**

The main Hogwarts crest features a large capital “H,” the four animals of the four houses and the Latin motto, Draco dormiens nunquam titallandus. In English this means "Never tickle a sleeping dragon"!

The school song goes like this:

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.

HISTORY

Hogwarts School was founded between 800 and 1000 A.D./C.E. by the four greatest sorcerers of England at the time. They were Godric Gryffindor, Salazar Slytherin, Rowena Ravenclaw and Helga Hufflepuff. This was in the midst of the Middle Ages (500-1500 A.D./C.E.), a time when magic was often feared and misunderstood by Muggles (non-magical people). The founding wizards and witches recognized that children with magical talent needed a remote place where they could pursue their arts in peace and to the greatest extent of their abilities.

All children with magical skills were invited to attend the school and study such courses as divination, runes, potions and charms. Initially there was harmony among the Hogwarts faculty as youngsters from varied backgrounds came to the school and learned sorcery. Girls and women were designated as witches, and boys and men as wizards.

There was conflict over who should be admitted to Hogwart when Salazar Slytherin suggested that only children from pure wizarding families be admitted to the school. The other professors, however, believed that all magical children, no matter their parentage, should be allowed to attend. When the other three instructors would not agree to Slytherin’s viewpoint, he departed from the school.

This disagreement over what constitutes a witch or wizard continues to this day. The term pureblood refers to a sorcerer born to magical parents who also have only magical ancestors. Many of these "old wizarding" families have very high-minded and exclusive attitudes, especially toward children from the lower classes, Muggles in general, and witches and wizards born to Muggle parents. Purebloods are usually sorted into Slytherin House. The derogatory term mudblood is aimed at sorcerers with one or two Muggle parents. A Squib is a person with no magical powers born into a wizarding family.

Hogwarts evolved as a great castle, which was disguised from prying Muggle eyes with special spells that made it appear as just a dangerous ruin when they came near it.

The Chamber of Secrets

After he left, a legend grew that Salazar Slytherin had built a secret chamber or large room at Hogwarts where he could practice the Dark Arts. This room, the Chamber of Secrets, was sealed and not to be opened until the Heir of Slytherin arrived at Hogwarts. The chamber was thought to be a myth until Tom Riddle, Slytherin's last descendant – and, by extension, the heir mentioned in the legends – discovered how to open the Chamber of Secrets in 1943.

He discovered its secret entrance was in a room on the second floor of Hogwarts, which by the 20th century was being used as a girls' bathroom. A engraved picture of a snake by the sink marked the Chamber's entrance, which could be opened by saying "open" in Parseltongue, the language of snakes.

The Chamber contained a hollow statue of Salazar Slytherin. The Basilisk, a terrible, large snake, dwelled inside and remained dormant until the Chamber was reopened. Riddle unleashed this Basilisk, whose gaze could stun people into a coma-like state. Only mandrake could reverse this curse. Riddle, who held deep resentment for the Muggle father of the same name who abandoned his mother, a witch, later dropped his birth name and became the infamous Lord Voldemort.

Fifty years later, during the 1992-93 school year at Hogwarts, Riddle’s magic diary came into the hands of Ginny Weasley, a member of an all-wizard family and first year student. Ginny, a lonely and insecure girl, wrote notes to the diary version of Tom, who told her about the chamber and how to enter and use it. Ginny inadvertently released the Basilisk, which stunned a number of faculty, students, animals and ghosts at Hogwarts. Harry Potter initially was blamed for the stunnings, in part because people found out he could speak Parseltongue.

Harry and Ginny's brother, Ron, successfully entered the Chamber of Secrets. The diary projection of Tom Riddle tried to kill Harry using the Basilisk, but Dumbledore had sent Harry his trusted pet phoenix, Fawkes, and the Sorting Hat. The sword of Godric Gryffindor fell out of the hat, and Harry used the sword to slay the Basilisk by putting the blade through its mouth. Harry was injured by one of the serpent’s fangs, but Fawkes cried and let some of his tears drop on Harry’s arm, healing it. He used the basilisk's fang to stab the diary, which destroyed the projected Tom Riddle.

THE ADMISSIONS PROCESS

When a magical child is born, his or her name is automatically recorded by a magic quill on a parchment paper book kept at the school. The Hogwarts founders created this device in their lifetimes to be able to track the births of all magical children in the United Kingdom.

When the magical boy or girl turns 11, his or her parents receives a letter delivered by an owl announcing their admission into the school, along with a request for a response. The second “owl post” provides a list of books, magic materials and clothing the student and parents must purchase.

Students are transported to Hogwarts via the Hogwarts Express, a scarlet-colored steam train that originates at King’s Cross Station in north central London. The Express is boarded at the magically hidden Platform 9 3/4. The entrance to this platform is concealed between Platforms 9 and 10 and resembles a solid wall. Children and parents enter it with their luggage carts by concentrating upon the wall and casually walking toward it. If they move toward it in the right frame of mind, they don’t hit the wall, but pass right through it and come out at 9 3/4, which is an open-air platform.

Departure for is promptly at 11 a.m. every Sept. 1. The train returns to Hogwarts to pick up children at Christmas and take them home, and again leaves King's Cross to bring them back for winter and spring classes. A final run in June takes them home.

Hogwarts is located in Scotland, so it is usually dusk when the train finally arrives at the school's own platform. First year students are placed into rowboats by Rubeus Hagrid, the school's Keeper of the Keys and head gameskeeper. They journey across Hogwarts Lake, a huge body of water that contains magical creatures, such as grindylows (type of water demon) and a giant squid.

Students in second through seventh years ride to Hogwarts in special horseless carriages that move by themselves, with no need for horses. (The term "horseless carriage" is a kind of pun or joke. In the early 20th century, when the first Muggle automobiles appeared, they were given this name.)

THE SORTING

One artist's vision of the Sorting Hat.

The next step for the first years upon arrival is the Sorting. They are led into the Great Hall, the castle’s largest room. The Great Hall is an awesome place, larger than many single-floor Muggle buildings and featuring a ceiling that exactly reflects the conditions of the sky outside. There is one long main table where Dumbledore, othe professors and special guests use, and four other tables where students of each Hogwarts house sit.

Minerva McGonagall, deputy headmistress, places a three- or four-legged stool on the floor in front of the staff table. She puts an ancient, frayed, patched wizard’s hat upon the stood. This is the Sorting Hat. This old headgear once belonged to Godric Gryffindor. To determine what house each child was to enter, he took his hat off and gave it life and intelligence. At the start of each academic year, the hat recites a new, peppy song; his mouth is a hole in the side. He describes the four houses and invites the first years to try him on.

If required, the hat can telepathically communicate with the children and discuss their wishes and worries over the house into which they should be sorted. Sometimes the hat knows without question and instantly what house the pupil should join. Once the hat and the first year have agreed, the hat yells out the selected house. The child then joins the older students at the pertinent house table.

FACULTY

The faculty at Hogwarts School represent some of the best wizards and witches in the UK. The professors and their specialties are listed below.

• Minerva McGonagall – deputy headmistress, head of Gryffindor House, and professor of Transfiguration, the art of changing objects from one form into another. A serious, strict teacher with a soft heart deep down, and well known for her square-lensed glasses.
• Severus Snape – professor of Potions and head of Slytherin House. Snape is a former Dark Wizard who served Lord Voldemort but has permanently joined the "good guys." A tall, gaunt man with shoulder length, greasy black hair and dark eyes. He is known for extreme favoritism of his Slytherin students and taking points from the other houses.
• Sybill Trelawney – professor of Divination, or the art of seeing into the future. Trelawney, like many fortune tellers, wears head scarves, flowing clothing and tons of bracelets and necklaces. She likes to talk in overly dramatic words and predict people's deaths over and over and over...
• Professor Sprout – professor of Herbology and head of Hufflepuff House.
• Rubeus Hagrid – professor of the Care of Magical Creatures. Dumbledor made the head gamekeeper and Keeper of the Keys a teacher in the 1993-94 academic year. He temporarily lost his job when he was falsely accused of letting student Draco Malfoy be injured by a hippogriff, a cross between an eagle and a horse. Malfoy actually had provoked the animal by insulting him. Hagrid returned to his job in 1994-95, but took a brief hiatus after he was devastated by a nasty story by Daily Prophet reporter Rita Skeeter, which revealed that his mother was Fridwulfa the Giantess. Hagrid has since returned to the staff.
• Professor Binns – professor of the History of Magic. The only ghost on the faculty. He once fell asleep at his desk and died. Totally unaware of his death, he continued to give long, boring lectures as he did in life.
• Madam Hooch – professor of broom flying. She also helps train and coach Hogwarts' Quidditch teams. She is a former member of Britain’s national Quidditch team. A short, stocky woman with gray, short hair.
• Professor Filius* Flitwick – professor of Charms, spells that cause effects or changes on objects, such as levitating them. Also head of Ravenclaw House. He is a small, wizened man who must stand on a pile of books to instruct the children.
• Professor Sinistra – professor of Astronomy.
• Professor Vector – professor of Arithmancy, a type of divination that uses number values to tell fortunes.
• Professor Kettleburn – former professor of Care of Magical Creatures before Hagrid.
• Muggle Studies – the professor's name for this class is currently unknown.

Dumbledore has had great trouble in filling this professorship for more than one school year. In 1991-92, Harry Potter's first year at the school, Professor Quirrell held the job. But Quirrell had been possessed by a weakened Lord Voldemort while Quirrell was on a research trip in Albania. Voldemort had hoped to trap Harry to use him for his regeneration. Quirrell died in a showdown with Albus Dumbledore, and Voldemort escaped. In 1992-93, the egotistical Gildedroy Lockhart was hired. He seemed to be the right man, as he wrote of his many adventures combating monsters, such as Gadding With Ghouls. Lockhart was revealed to be a fraud when Harry Potter and other students discovered his books were fiction, and he could not control monsters brought into the classroom. He was hit by a Confundus spell from a defective wand, which erased his memory and left him very confused.

In 1993-94, Remus J. Lupin took the post and was well-regarded and popular with his students, providing detailed lectures and introducing many new creatures to them. However, Lupin turned out to be a werewolf who got downright vicious when he did not take his antidotes brewed by Snape. In 1994-95, Alastor "Mad-Eye" Moody was hired. Moody was supposed to be one of the most legendary of the Aurors, wizards who hunted down and destroyed those who had joined the Dark Side. Moody was very big on teaching defenses against spells, such as the Unforgivable Curses. In the end, he turned out to not be Moody at all, but Bartemius Crouch Jr. He was one of Voldemort’s most loyal servants, who had kidnapped the real Moody, held him prisoner in his own trunk and assumed his likeness by constantly drinking Polyjuice Potion from a hip flask.

Other Staff

Argus Filch – The Hogwarts caretaker and a very strict, severe man with little sense of humor. Filch's darkest secret is that he is a Squib, or a person born into a wizarding family with no magical powers. He has a pet cat, Mrs. Norris, that acts as a second pair of eyes to watch students and make sure none of them cause trouble.

Madam Poppy Pomfrey – The school nurse and head of the hospital wing. She has some remarkable remedies for injuries, such as Skele-Gro, which can totally regrow bones.

Madam Irma* Pince – Head librarian. She is very strict about book returns. She has been known to put potent charms and curses on volumes that cause nasty effects if they are not taken back on time.

GHOSTS

Hogwarts has its share of mostly friendly ghosts who live at the school. The main specters are as follows:

• Sir Nicholas de Mimsy-Porpington, or “Nearly Headless Nick.” The official ghost of Gryffindor. On 31 March 1492, this nobleman wizard was beheaded. However, the ax did not go totally through his neck, so his ghostly head still hangs by a small section when it falls off. He keeps it in place usually with a high, ruffed collar that was the fashion in his living years. Nick is very good friends with Harry Potter, Ron Weasley and Hermione Granger.
• Bloody Baron. The stern, scary looking noble and official ghost of Slytherin House. He got his nickname from the blood stains that still appear on his spiritual form.
• Fat Friar. A jolly, chubby monk who is the official ghost of Hufflepuff.
• Gray Lady. A mysterious female apparition who is the official ghost of Ravenclaw.
• Peeves the Poltergeist. A stubby little man resembling a kind of demented jester. He likes to throw things at people, sing naughty songs, and harass and ridicule Hogwarts staff and students. No one ever knows when he will appear and start bothering them.
• Moaning Myrtle. The spirit of a student who haunts the second floor girls' restroom at Hogwarts. She was killed in 1943 by Tom Riddle, who let the Basilisk into the restroom through a secret entrance by the sink and had it stun her. Her nickname comes from her tendency to cry great floods of tears and for feeling sorry for herself.

CLASSES AND SUPPLIES

Every year, students take a core of required classes at Hogwarts. The Owl Post brings them a list of textbooks that will be required. Many purchase their texts at Flourish & Blotts in Diagon Alley.

Students are required to have three black robes and one pointed black hat for daily wear to classes. The robes have patches of their house crests. They also wear uniforms, consisting of gray pants or skirt; a gray sweater with house crest and stripes at the V-neck in house colors; white shirt; and striped tie in house colors. The pupils also wear black cloaks with silver fastenings, and scarves that like the ties have stripes in their two house colors.**

Students in the UK often go to Ollivander's in Diagon Alley to buy their wands. Many spells are cast with a wand, which is a unique item that must be custom selected with Mr. Ollivander's help for each child. Wands are usually some kind of hardwood with a magical core, such as a phoenix feather or tail hair from a unicorn.

Lecture notes, homework and any other writing is done with old-fashioned equipment – a feather quill and parchment paper. All students also must have a cauldron, a large, round pewter pot used for boiling liquids, such as potions. Dragonhide gloves also are a must, as they protect the hands from burns and injury when handling dangerous animals or substances.

First year students must buy the wand, cauldron, dragonhide gloves and the following items:

• 1 set glass or crystal phials (small bottles for holding liquids)
• 1 telescope
• 1 set of brass scales

First year students must have the following books:

• The Standard Book of Spells (Grade 1) by Miranda Goshawk
• A History of Magic by Bathilda Bagshot
• Magical Theory by Adalbert Waffling
• A Beginners' Guide to Transfiguration by Emeric Switch
• One Thousand Magical Herbs and Fungi by Phyllida Spore
• Magical Drafts and Potions by Arsenius Jigger
• Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them, by Newt Scamander (Obscurus Books).
• The Dark Forces: A Guide to Self-Protection, by Quentin Trimble

First years also may have pets, limited to a cat, owl or a toad. One exception was Scabbers, Ron Weasley's rat, which may have been a special permission item.

In their second year, pupils are allowed to buy their own broomsticks, used for both general flying and playing Quidditch. Among the different models were the older Clean Sweep, succeeded years later by the Nimbus 2000. The latest and fastest model is the meticulously crafted Firebolt.

The second year students (in the 1992-93 school year) had to have the following books:

• The Standard Book of Spells (Grade 2) by Miranda Goshawk
• The Dark Forces: A Guide to Self-Protection.*
• A History of Magic.
• Magical Drafts and Potions.
• A Beginner's Guide to Transfiguration.

* In the 1992-93 school year, the Trimble text was pushed aside for Gilderoy Lockhart's books, Break with a Banshee, Gadding with Ghouls, Holidays with Hags, Travels with Trolls, Voyages with Vampires, Wanderings with Werewolves and Year with the Yeti. After Lockhart's failure, Trimble’s book on Dark Arts defenses was restored.

Third years must have the following books:

• Unfogging the Future, by Cassandra Vablatsky, for Divination.
• The Standard Book of Spells (Grade 3), by Miranda Goshawk.
• Intermediate Transfiguration, by Emeric Switch.
• A History of Magic.
• Magical Drafts and Potions.
• The Dark Forces: A Guide to Self-Protection.
• The Monster Book of Monsters. This vicious, biting little book has a mouth full of sharp, pointed teeth, glaring eyes, and is dangerous to students if they do not know how to tame it. The flustered employees at Flourish and Blotts reported in late summer 1993 that the books had to be kept in a cage and ripped each other apart. Hagrid ordered this as the text for Care of Magical Creatures. The book calms down and can be easily handled if it is gently petted along its spine. Until they learned this, Hogwarts pupils usually tied theirs shut with belts, ropes or anything they could find.

Fourth year students must have the following books:

• The Standard Book of Spells, (Grade 4) by Miranda Goshawk.
• Unfogging the Future.
• Intermediate Transfiguration.
• A History of Magic.
• Magical Drafts and Potions.
• The Dark Forces: A Guide to Self-Protection.
• The Monster Book of Monsters.

CASTLE GEOGRAPHY

To draw a map of Hogwarts Castle would prove to be a fruitless task, as the whole structure is magical and tends to change around. The building has at least seven floors and four towers. There also are secret passageways and turrets, which are smaller tower-type structures. The books say there are 142 staircases, doors that have no rooms behind them, solid walls that are actually entrances.

Rooms move, appear and disappear at will. Dumbledore doesn't even know all of them. He reported that one morning he discovered a room full of elaborate chamber pots, which are porcelain bowls and the forerunners of toilets. When he went back to check out the room in greater detail, it had vanished.

These rooms and sections are known for sure:

• Front Hall. The main entranceway seen as students, staff and visitors enter the great double doors. The hall’s most prominent feature is a large, sweeping staircase with an intricately carved banister. The floor is composed of stone tiles. The books describe it as large enough to hold a house.
• Great Hall. As previously described (see Sorting Ceremony) this is the largest and most majestic of the school’s rooms. Students eat all meals, and all special events, such as the Yule Ball, are here. The room is often decorated to reflect the most important seasons, such as Halloween or Christmas. Twelve trees are a tradition at Yuletide, as are live bats every Halloween.
• Classrooms. These usually stay the same, but these rooms also may move around.
• Dungeon. It isn't likely to be used for prisoners anymore, but is Professor Snape's place for Potions classes. A dark, foreboding place, much like Snape himself. Argus Filch's office also is in the basement.
• Owlery. Located in the North Tower, this is the roosting place and home for owls belonging to students, staff and the school. Students are permitted to enter the Owlery to visit their birds or to attach messages to their legs for delivery.
• Student Housing. Each house has its own sleeping quarters, divided into boys' and girls' bedrooms and a large common room with soft armchairs, study tables and chairs, and a large fireplace.
• Hospital Wing. A room full of beds, storage of magical potions, creams, salves, etc., and the office of Madam Poppy Pomfrey, the school nurse.
• Kitchen. The house elves on staff work here to prepare regular meals and special feasts for the Hogwarts residences. The kitchen is reached through a hallway featuring paintings of food. The door is covered by a painting of a bowl of fruit, opened by tickling the pear.

The Grounds

The great Hogwarts Lake lies in front of the castle. Many exotic creatures live there, such as merpeople and the giant squid. The Forbidden Forest is also nearby, home to other unusual things, such as the Whomping Willow, the huge family of Aragog the spider, and a community of very scholarly and philosophical centaurs. The main grounds are nicely landscaped in shrubs, trees, flowers and large green lawns.

There also is a field for broomstick flying practice and instruction, and a Quidditch stadium where students play for the school cup and practice for games.

Security is tight at Hogwarts, with spells to keep away Muggles and to prevent people from Apparating (disappearing) and Disapparating (reappearing). In the past, Dumbledore has used a three-headed dog named Fluffy and the dementors of Azkaban as kinds of "security guards."

MISCELLANEOUS INFO

Third year students are permitted to visit the village of Hogsmeade on selected weekends, as long as their permission slips have been signed by their parents or guardians. Hogsmeade is the only all-wizard town in England.

Students earn or lose points from their houses at the whim or decision of professors. These points are accumulated throughout the year. The house that receives the most points receives the House Cup.

*The first name of "Filius" for Professor Flitwick appears in Wizards of the Coast's Harry Potter Trading Card Game. Madam Pince's first name is given at the beginning of Quidditch Through the Ages.

**The uniform descriptions are based in part on the costumes in the Warner Bros. movie Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone.

A note about the dates in this essay: In The Chamber of Secrets, Harry attends Nearly Headless Nick's "Death Day" party, marking the 500th anniversary of his death. This 500th year was 1992, meaning that Harry's second year was 1992-93. The dates used are built around this stated fact that Nick's Death Day was in 1992.