Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry

LOCATION

Hogwarts Castle.

Hogwarts School is located in Hogwarts Castle, a large castle somewhere in Scotland. The castle has extensive grounds with sloping lawns, flowerbeds and vegetable patches, 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. There is also an owlery, which houses all the owls owned by the school and those owned by students.

The three highest towers are the Astronomy Tower, the Ravenclaw Tower, and the Gryffindor Tower. There are 142 staircases, which are known to move, in the massive castle, which is set upon huge rocks above a magnificent lake. The castle is known for its many updates and changes in layout throughout the years, such as regenerating itself after the Battle of Hogwarts.

The coat of arms of Hogwarts shows each house's mascot and house colours. Clockwise from top left: the Gryffindor lion, theSlytherin serpent, the Ravenclaweagle, and the Hufflepuff badger.

It should be noted that some rooms in the school tend to "move around," and so do the steps on the grand staircase. Albus Dumbledore once stated that he did not know all of Hogwarts' secrets, as the castle has a long history and has witnessed centuries of ancient magic.

The school has numerous charms and spells on and around it that make it impossible for a Muggle to locate it. Such people cannot see the school; rather, they see only ruins and several warnings of danger. Witches and wizards cannot Apparate or Disapparate in Hogwarts grounds, except when the Headmaster lifts the enchantment, whether only in certain areas or for the entire campus, so as to make the school less vulnerable when it serves the headmaster to allow Apparition. Electricity and electronic devices are not found at Hogwarts. Hermione Granger indicates that due to the high levels of magic, substitutes for magic used by Muggles, such as computers, radar and electricity "go haywire" around Hogwarts. Radios, however, make an exception. Rowling explains this by saying that the radios are not powered by electricity, but by magic.