Forbidden Forest

The **Forbidden Forest** is a dark forest on the edge of the grounds in Hogwarts Castle. It is ancient and dangerous and home to many creatures including dark creatures. For that reason, it is out-of-bounds for students of the Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry to enter. It appears throughout the *Harry Potter book series*.

## About

The Forbidden Forest is huge and dense but it has a few spacious parts. At the very edge of the Forest near Hagrid's Hut is a narrow, earthy path that fades from view into thick, black trees. It leads to a fork in the path that travels in separate directions. It is easy to get lost in the Forest and it is best to stay on the main path. It has many kinds of thick trees including beech, oak, pine, sycamore and yew.[*source?*]

It is the home of many creatures in the Forest. Friendlier creatures include a herd of centaurs who prefer to be kept out of wizard affairs. Rubeus Hagrid has a Hippogriff paddock and a domesticated Thestral paddock. Hagrid is the gamekeeper of the school and he lives in a Hut on the very edge of the Forest. A dangerous Acromantula colony lives in the heart of the Forest in a sloping hollow. Every tree in the hollow is cut down and their leader lives in the center. A feral Ford Anglia eventually takes up residence in the Forest too.

## History

### Earlier history

In c. 1943, an Acromantula colony was founded by Aragog. The existence of it was secret and never verified in the wizarding world.

In their first two years at Hogwarts, Fred and George Weasley kept trying to get into the Forbidden Forest. Rubeus Hagrid joked about how he spent half the time chasing them away. In September 1991, Professor Dumbledore warned them in front of the school at the Start-of-Term Feast that it was out-of-bounds to everyone. The same September, Neville Longbottom lost control of a broomstick during a Flying lesson. He fell off the broom, which continued to fly on its own right into the Forbidden Forest.

### Missing unicorn

By the spring of 1992, a dying Quirinus Quirrell, possessed by Voldemort, began going into the Forest to drink the blood of unicorns. Hagrid found a dead unicorn and then discovered a second had disappeared. Professor McGonagall helped organise a search party for it by sending Harry Potter, Hermione Granger, Neville Longbottom and Draco Malfoy to spend detention helping him.

Hagrid warned them to stay on the path and put them into two groups. Hagrid, Harry and Hermione were in the one party, and Draco, Neville and Fang in the other. If they found the unicorn, they had to send green sparks into the sky. The groups were eventually changed, with Draco and Harry finding the unicorn dead. Quirrell was drinking the unicorn's blood. Draco run away, while Harry was saved by Firenze.

In 1992 to 1993, spiders fled Hogwarts Castle into the Forbidden Forest to escape a Basilisk, the Serpent of Slytherin. In May, Hagrid told Harry and Ron to follow the spiders to find out the truth about the Chamber of Secrets. They were fleeing to an Acromantula colony in the heart of the Forest.

In 1993 to 1994, Sirius Black lived in the Forest when he escaped Azkaban and had to go into hiding.

## Behind the scenes

* Draco heard that werewolves lived in the Forest but no evidence of it was ever found.

## Notes and sources

1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 *Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone*, Chapter 15
2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 *Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone*, Chapter 9
3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 *Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets*, Chapter 15
4. ↑ Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them: An A-Z of Fantastic Beasts
5. ↑ *Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone*, Chapter 7
6. ↑ *Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban*, Chapter 19