Hogwarts school

"*The finest school of witchcraft and wizardry in the world.*"
— Rubeus Hagrid's praising of Hogwarts[src]

**Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry**, often shortened to **Hogwarts**, was a Scottish wizarding school located in the Scottish Highlands. 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. It was a state-owned school, funded by the British Ministry of Magic.

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.

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.

British and Irish children with magical abilities were enrolled at birth by the Quill of Acceptance and Book of Admittance, 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. 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".

## Contents

* 1Description
* 2History
	+ 2.1Early history
	+ 2.2Middle history
	+ 2.3Recent history
		- 2.3.11910s
		- 2.3.21920s
		- 2.3.31930s
		- 2.3.41942–1943 school year
		- 2.3.51970s
		- 2.3.61980s
		- 2.3.71991–1992 school year
		- 2.3.81992–1993 school year
		- 2.3.91993–1994 school year
		- 2.3.101994–1995 school year
		- 2.3.111995–1996 school year
		- 2.3.121996–1997 school year
		- 2.3.131997–1998 school year
		- 2.3.14Battle of Hogwarts
		- 2.3.15Late 2000s and early 2010s
		- 2.3.16Late 2010s and early 2020s
* 3Typical school year
* 4School spirit
	+ 4.1Coat of Arms
	+ 4.2School song
* 5Houses
* 6House ghosts
* 7Administration
	+ 7.1Heads of Hogwarts
	+ 7.2Deputy Heads
	+ 7.3Heads of House
	+ 7.4Support staff
	+ 7.5Kitchen staff
* 8Subjects and teachers
	+ 8.1Core classes
	+ 8.2Electives
	+ 8.3Extra-curricular subjects
* 9Extra-curricular activity
* 10Counselling
* 11Grading system
* 12Examinations
	+ 12.1End of year exams
		- 12.1.11992 first year exams
		- 12.1.21993 second year exams
		- 12.1.31994 third year exams
		- 12.1.41995 fourth year exams
	+ 12.2Ordinary Wizarding Level
	+ 12.3Nastily Exhausting Wizarding Test
* 13Student years
* 14Daily routine
* 15Recruitment
	+ 15.1Before school term
	+ 15.2Quidditch
* 16Holidays
* 17Uniform
* 18See also
* 19Etymology
* 20Behind the scenes
* 21External links
* 22Appearances
* 23Notes and references

## 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

"*We'll teach just those whose ancestry's purest.*"
— Professor Slytherin's opinion on the running of Hogwarts[src]

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. They each represented an aspect of personality that they wanted to bring out in new students. 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. 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.

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. 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, 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.

### 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. 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.

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 unknown 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.

At some point in the 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. However, by the 19th century, a network of Floo Flames had been set up that allowed students to quickly travel both within the castle, or between the inside and outside.

In the Tudor period, four professors of the school, Percival Rackham, Charles Rookwood, Niamh Fitzgerald and San Bakar, formed the Keepers dedicated to keeping the secrets of ancient magic away from dangerous forces. They welcomed Isidora Morganach to the school as a new student who started unconventionally as a fifth-year and learnt that she had the rare abilities of detecting and harnessing ancient magic. Professor Rackham, a wizard with similar abilities, mentored her to wield and master this power, but after becoming the Defence Against the Dark Arts professor, she ultimately went down a different path in which she used her abilities to extract pain from others, sometimes even without their permission, till the point where she ridded her father of all emotions, creating an ancient magic repository stored in the Keepers' Caverns. The Keepers disapproved of her actions and faced her in a duel, ending in Professor Bakar eliminating Isidora with the Killing Curse. They then constructed a path leading to their portraits in the Map Chamber which might only be followed by another with abilities of ancient magic, and set up trials around the castle to make sure that their successor would be worthy of the power and make the right choices.

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.

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 was succeeded by Gladwin Moon. The faculty didn't attempt to evict the poltergeist again, though he still had a strained relationship with them, notably Madam Agnes Scribner, the librarian, who had Peeves as her "*sworn nemesis*", and Professor Phineas Nigellus Black, who at some point had taken over as the least popular Headmaster the school had seen and was often tormented by Peeves.

In 1889, Mudiwa Onai travelled from Uagadou to Hogwarts to teach Divination, bringing her daughter Natsai Onai to the school. The spring of 1890 saw the injury of a pure-blood student during the Quidditch final, leading to Professor Black banning Quidditch in the next school year.

That year, a new student would arrive at the school who, like Isidora Morganach, would begin as a fifth-year. Professor Black and the Deputy Headmistress Matilda Weasley worked with the Ministry to devise a plan for the student to ensure their success. They were personally mentored by Professor Eleazar Fig to hone their magical skills, and, through their unexpected detour while travelling to Hogwarts, showed abilities of ancient magic. After enrolling, they successfully reached the Map Chamber, whereupon they completed all four of the Keepers' trials. Their time at Hogwarts coincided with the goblin Ranrok's pursuit of the power within the ancient magic repositories, during which an uneasy alliance was formed between Ranrok and the Dark wizard Victor Rookwood. After vanquishing Rookwood, the student faced Ranrok in a final battle in the Keepers' Caverns aided by the faculty, and ended his rebellion. However, it also saw the death of Professor Fig, for whom the school held a memorial ceremony. During this time, the student also joined their classmates Natsai Onai and Poppy Sweeting in taking down Theophilus Harlow, Rookwood's right-hand man, and thwarting the plots of poachers, respectively. The student also helped Sebastian Sallow with finding a cure for his sister Anne Sallow, which ended in failure.

### 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.

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.