Hogwarts Library

## Location information

### Location

Library corridor, first-floor, Training Grounds Tower, Hogwarts Castle, Scotland

### Owner(s)

Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry

### Permanent residents

* Termeritus Shanks's portrait (1995-1996)
* Valeria Myriadd's portrait (1992-1993)

### Affiliation

* Hogwarts School
* Irma Pince

"*The trouble was, it was very hard to know where to begin, not knowing what Flamel might have done to get himself into a book. He wasn't in* Great Wizards of the Twentieth Century*, or* Notable Magical Names of Our Time*; he was missing, too, from* Important Modern Magical Discoveries*, and* A Study of Recent Developments in Wizardry*. And then, of course, there was the sheer size of the library; tens of thousands of books; thousands of shelves; hundreds of narrow rows.*"
—Description

The **Hogwarts Library** is located off of a corridor on the first-floor of Hogwarts Castle and contains tens of thousands of books on thousands of shelves. Overseen by Madam Irma Pince, the library is where students can go to peruse or borrow books to supplement their studies (or for personal enjoyment). The library closes at 8:00 pm.

## Overview

Madam Pince is the kind of librarian who sees herself as the guardian and protector of the books, at odds with the students who try to use them. Her demeanour does not suggest that she would be very helpful.

Research is very difficult in the Hogwarts library, thus making homework assignments that require additional infomration unnecessarily tedious. As with a helpful librarian, students would not have to spend verious hours simply searching for the information, but using the information that could have been found quickly in the their homework, leaving for time for studying.

## Security

"*A warning: If you rip, tear, shred, bend, fold, deface, disfigure, smear, smudge, throw, drop, or in any other manner damage, mistreat, or show lack of respect towards this book, the consequences will be as awful as it it within my power to make them.*"
—Warning on the inside of a library book

The library books have various spells on them to prevent students from defacing or stealing them. Hermione Granger tore a page out of a library book about magical creatures without being cursed, jinxed, or hexed by the book. How she did this is unknown. Chocolate and (presumably) other food is forbidden in the library. Harry Potter also showed signs of breaking the security of the library in his first year, when he entered the Restricted Section under his Invisibility cloak.

### Taking out books

Students and teachers may take out books from the library, with the librarian’s permission. Books from the Restricted Section require a signed note from a teacher to be checked out. Students seem to be able to place books on hold — during the 1992–1993 school year the book *Hogwarts, A History* had a two-week waiting list.

Professor Dumbledore removed the books pertaining to the subject of Horcruxes, due to the fact that they involve such Dark Magic

#### Overdue

There are overdue records on the library due date sheet.

## Sections

Included in its many sections are:

* An *Invisibility Section*
* A *Dragon Section*
* A *Reference Section*
* A *Legal Section*
* A *Restricted Section*

1. ↑ In Chapter 11 of *Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets*, Harry leaves the **library**, walks along this corridor, walks up a staircase, and is then in a corridor around the corner from the headmaster's office. The headmaster's office is, in Chapter 28 of *Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire*, said to be on the second-floor, placing the library on the first-floor. Additionally, in Chapter 8 of *Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban*, Harry heads towards the library, changes his mind, ascends a staircase and is then on the second-floor corridor, outside of Lupin's office.
2. ↑ *Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (video game)*