Durmstrang Institute

**Durmstrang Institute** (Cyrillic: Дурмстранг) was one of the three largest wizarding schools in Europe (the other two being Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry and Beauxbatons Academy of Magic). Located in the far north of the continent, the school was willing to accept international students from as far afield as Bulgaria.

Having existed since at least 1294, Durmstrang was one of the three schools that competed in the Triwizard Tournament, and was notorious for prominently featuring the Dark Arts in its curriculum. Durmstrang did not admit Muggle-borns, but certain students might not necessarily have shared this prejudice — in 1994, Viktor Krum attended the Yule Ball with Hermione Granger, who was Muggle-born and would not have been admitted at Durmstrang.

## Location

Durmstrang, much like Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, was a castle, though Durmstrang Castle was not quite as big as Hogwarts Castle. The castle was four storeys tall, and fires were only lit for magical purposes. It had very extensive grounds however, larger than Hogwarts, and was surrounded by lakes and mountains.

The school was unplottable; Durmstrang concealed its whereabouts from plain sight. The institute was said to be situated in the far north of Europe.

## History

Durmstrang was founded during the Middle Ages by the great Bulgarian witch Nerida Vulchanova, who served as the first head of the school. She was succeeded after her mysterious death by Professor Harfang Munter, who established Durmstrang's reputation for emphasising martial magic and duelling as an impressive part of its curriculum.

Around 1294, the Triwizard Tournament was established as a friendly competition between Durmstrang Institute, Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry and Beauxbatons Academy of Magic. But in 1792, a Cockatrice went on a rampage and injured the Heads of all the schools. The Triwizard Tournament was then suspended indefinitely, only restarting in 1994.

In the 1880s or 1890s, Gellert Grindelwald was accepted into Durmstrang Institute. Although the school was oriented towards the Dark Arts, Grindelwald's experiments in dark magic were considered too dangerous for the students. After a certain amount of time, Durmstrang could no longer ignore Grindelwald's dangerous studies, and expelled him.

Before Grindelwald was expelled, he carved the calling card of his obsession, the mark of the Deathly Hallows, on a wall of the school; this mark stayed there long after his defeat, so, considering the opposition to Grindelwald in the school, it can be assumed he magically embued the mark so that it could not be removed. Grindelwald was marked as the best student in the school's history.

At some point after 1981, Igor Karkaroff, after being acquitted as a Death Eater by betraying information to the British Ministry of Magic, rose to the position of Headmaster of Durmstrang and became immensely unpopular in this position, and several students were removed from the school by their parents for his ruthlessness. He insisted on an environment ruled by fear and intimidation from his students, leading many to view him as egotistical and unprincipled. During his time as the school administrator, some students copied Grindelwald's symbol onto their books and bags to impress others, but were "taught a lesson" (presumably in the form of retribution) by those who lost family members to the Dark Wizard.

### 1994-1995 Triwizard Tournament

The Durmstrang delegation arrived at Hogwarts for the Triwizard Tournament by ship, an enormous vessel in which they slept during their stay in Scotland. The Dumstrang students sat at the Slytherin table during their meals in the Great Hall.

Bulgarian Quidditch Seeker, Viktor Krum, attended Durmstrang, and was still in school during the 1994 Quidditch World Cup. That same year, the school participated in the recommenced Triwizard Tournament. Karkaroff brought twelve students with him to Hogwarts to put their name into the Goblet of Fire. However, it was Krum who was chosen as the Durmstrang representative. Karkaroff full-heartedly supported Krum with tremendous amounts of bias, both as a judge towards the champions and as headmaster to the students.

As Krum was a celebrity, he was often followed by Draco Malfoy and other students who wanted autographs and the prestige of being close with him. Krum mostly ignored these advances, but formed a close friendship with Hermione Granger, who was a Gryffindor student. They continued communication after the Tournament through letters.

Karkaroff fled after Lord Voldemort rose again. It is not known who took over, or whether the school's reputation improved or worsened due to this. However, none of the students appeared to be too concerned by this, as Karkaroff was unpopular among the school, especially when he had his students row the ship while he rested in the cabin during their arrival.

## Reputation

Durmstrang was notorious for its acceptance of the Dark Arts, and was known to have educated (and later expelled) Gellert Grindelwald before his ascension as one of history's most dangerous Dark wizards. Professor Igor Karkaroff, a former Headmaster, was in the service of Lord Voldemort as a Death Eater, but managed to escape punishment in Azkaban by providing the Ministry of Magic with the names of his co-conspirators.

Lucius Malfoy, another Death Eater, considered sending his son Draco to Durmstrang (likely because its prejudiced attitude towards Muggle-borns coupled with its sympathetic attitude towards the Dark Arts appealed to the Death Eater), but his mother did not like the idea of him going to school so far away. It was during Karkaroff's reign as Headmaster that the school's reputation worsened, as his insistence of letting an atmosphere of fear and intimidation rule over the school led even parents to withdraw their children from the institute.

It was possible that Durmstrang students were proficient in transfiguration, as Minerva McGonagall told Neville Longbottom not to let anyone from said school see that he was unable to perform a basic Switching Spell. Viktor Krum was also able to turn himself into a shark during the Second Task in the Great Lake (although badly).

## Administration

### Heads of Durmstrang

 Harfang Munter
 Headteacher of Durmstrang Institute during 1792
 Igor Karkaroff

## Subjects

The Dark Arts was one of the subjects taught at Durmstrang Institute.

## Uniform

The students at the school wore fur cloaks, fur hats, and blood-red robes.

## Known students

* Gellert Grindelwald
* Viktor Krum
* Gruffyd Wellnelly
* Baglan Wellnelly
* Poliakoff
* Durmstrang girl
* Unidentified Durmstrang students

## Etymology

* The pronunciation of Durmstrang is "Doorm - strang".
* "Durmstrang" seems to be a spoonerism for *Sturm und Drang*, a borrowed German expression meaning "turmoil, ferment" deriving from the name of a highly emotionally driven German artistic movement of the late 1700s, precursor of Romanticism. "Sturm und Drang" literally translates as "tempest and urge" or "charge and rush" but was anglicised as "storm and stress".