Hogwarts

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Harry Potter School
Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry
Motto	Draco dormiens nunquam titillandus (Never Tickle A Sleeping Dragon)
Established	Circa. 1000
School type	Witchcraft and wizardry
Head	Albus Dumbledore [HP1]–[HP6] Minerva McGonagall [HP6]–[HP7] (assumed)
Location	Scotland, United Kingdom
Enrolment	Children with magical abilities are enrolled at birth and sent acceptance letters at age eleven.[1]
Permanent residents	Rubeus Hagrid Firenze Sybill Trelawney Argus Filch Peeves Nearly Headless Nick The Bloody Baron The Grey Lady The Fat Friar Moaning Myrtle
First appearance	Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone

Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry is a fictional school of magic that is the main setting of the Harry Potter series.

Contents 1 Overview 2 Enrollment 3 Arrival 4 Houses 5 Terms and holidays 6 Classes and teachers 6.1 Grading and assessment 6.2 Other staff 7 Student life 7.1 Food 7.2 Discipline 8 Location and grounds 9 History 9.1 Early history 9.2 Middle history 9.3 Recent history 10 Coat of arms, school motto, school song 11 Possible name influences 12 References 13 External links 14 See also

[edit] Overview

Hogwarts is the only known school of magic in the British Isles, training the children of the United Kingdom possessing magical abilities to become fully qualified witches and wizards. Its status is not discussed in great detail in the Harry Potter novels, but it is known to be a co-educational secondary boarding school taking children from ages 11 to 17. J. K. Rowling initially said there are about 1000 students at Hogwarts;^[2] She later suggested around six hundred, while acknowledging that this number was still inconsistent with the small number of people in Harry's year. She further explained that this had resulted from her creating only 40 characters for Harry's year.^[3]

There are two other schools of magic mentioned by name in the Harry Potter novels: one, Beauxbatons Academy of Magic, is located in France, while the Durmstrang Magical Institute is assumed to be located in Northern Europe (since its uniform includes thick furs, and since the students found the British climate more appealing). The name of a possible school, the Salem Witches' Institute, suggests that it may be found in North America. This organisation is in fact only mentioned in relation to a number of middle-aged witches in Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire and J. K. Rowling has not confirmed if it is indeed a school of magic in the United States. Goblet of Fire also mentions an unnamed school in Brazil.

It is also possible for adults to study magic by distance learning, a method attempted by Argus Filch, as Harry inadvertently discovered in his second year that Filch was attempting to teach himself basic magic from a KWIKSPELL correspondence course in beginners' magic. ^[HP2] The pamphlet mentioned only adults: it is unknown if it offers services to children.

Management of the school is undertaken by the Headmaster, assisted by a Deputy Headmaster. The Headmaster is answerable to the twelve-member Board of Governors.

It is unclear how Hogwarts is funded, although there is no suggestion that students pay fees. Students are required to purchase their own textbooks, robes, and other supplies, however. Some financial aid is available for students: in the sixth book of the series, there is mention of a special fund for books or equipment for needy students.

[edit] Enrollment

A magical quill at Hogwarts detects the birth of magical children, and writes their names into a large parchment book.^[4] Every year, a teacher (in recent years, Professor McGonagall) checks this book and sends a letter to the children who will have turned eleven years old by 31 August. Acceptance or declination of a place at Hogwarts must be posted by 31 July. The letter also contains a list of supplies like spell books, uniform, and other things that the student will need. The prospective student is expected to buy all the necessary materials, normally from shops in Diagon Alley, a secret street near Charing Cross in London. Students who cannot afford their supplies can receive financial aid from the school, as was the case with the young orphan Tom Riddle.

Letters to Muggle-born witches and wizards, who may not be aware of their powers and are unfamiliar with the concealed wizarding world, are delivered in person by wizards, who then explain to the parents about magical society, and reassure them regarding this news.

Each student is allowed to have a cat, toad, or an owl. However Ron has a rat so other pets maybe allowed.

[edit] Arrival

Students can travel to Hogwarts and the neighboring all magical village of Hogsmeade in many ways. One such method is the Hogwarts Express that students take at the start of each school year in the books. It is not clear if this is compulsory even though other methods have been used. Harry and Ron arrived by flying car in their second year after missing the train for example. They were however punished for dangerous behaviour and being seen by muggles. Other methods of travel seen included broomsticks, thestrals (flying creatures) a one time connection to the floo network, as well as the knight bus. Apparation is however not possible within the premises of the castle due to protective spells as is stated repeatedly through Hermione.

When students travel by Hogwarts express they travel to King's Cross station in London to board the Hogwarts Express from Platform 9¾. The platform is said to be reached by walking through the barrier between Platforms 9 and 10. After a journey beginning at 11:00 am and ending after nightfall, the train arrives at Hogsmeade Station, near to Hogwarts. From there, first year students are accompanied by the Keeper of the Keys and Grounds or other suitable teacher in his absence to small boats, which magically sail across a lake to arrive at a small landing stage near the castle of Hogwarts; from there, they walk up a path to the front doors. The older students travel up to the castle in carriages drawn by Thestrals, winged horse-like creatures which can be seen only by those who have witnessed death. To all other students the carriages are said to appear magically drawn as was the case with Harry up to the start of book 5.

When the first year students first arrive at the castle, they do not go directly to the Great Hall for the start-of-term feast. Instead, they must first undergo the Sorting, a very important ceremony. Students at Hogwarts are divided into four houses, each bearing the name of one of the school's original founders. As Minerva McGonagall said in Philosopher's Stone,

“

The Sorting is a very important ceremony because, while you are here, your House will be something like your family within Hogwarts. You will have classes with the rest of your House, sleep in your House dormitory, and spend free time in your House common room.

”

Following a short speech from the Deputy Headmaster or Headmistress, first-year students line up and wait for names to be called in alphabetical order, by surname. One by one, each student is seated upon a stool in front of the rest of the student body, and a magical hat, The Sorting Hat, is placed on the student's head. The Hat examines the student's mind and assigns the student to one of four Houses based on ability, personality and aspirations. After deciding, the Hat shouts out the name of the House that it has decided, and the student joins his or her Housemates at that House table. While for many students the decision seems to have no input from the students as is seen by almost instant decision, difficult decisions like Harry's in book one, appear to be made in consultation with the student. Dumbledore later confirms the it was Harry's choice that made him different from Lord Voldermort. However students maybe put to houses other than what they aspire to be in depending on what the hat deems them suitable for.

[edit] Houses

Main article: Hogwarts houses

Like schools in many English-speaking countries, Hogwarts uses the House system. The student body of Hogwarts is divided into four Houses, each named after the wizard or witch who founded it. Because students spend nearly all their time at school with fellow members of their own house, this is a very important part of Hogwarts.

• Gryffindor, characterised by valour and courage, founded by Godric Gryffindor;

• Hufflepuff, characterised by loyalty and a hard work ethic, founded by Helga Hufflepuff;

• Ravenclaw, characterised by wit and intellect, founded by Rowena Ravenclaw; and

• Slytherin, characterised by ambition and cunning, founded by Salazar Slytherin.

Each of the school Houses has a Head of House who exercises additional pastoral and disciplinary responsibilities over his or her House. It is not clear how responsibility is distributed however with some some punishments being brought to the attention of the head of house while others are taken by the teachers concerned even when they are not related academic activities. At the beginning of the series, the Heads of House are Minerva McGonagall for Gryffindor, Pomona Sprout for Hufflepuff, Filius Flitwick for Ravenclaw, and Severus Snape for Slytherin.

There are also House ghosts. They are Nearly Headless Nick for Gryffindor, The Fat Friar for Hufflepuff, The Grey Lady for Ravenclaw, and The Bloody Baron for Slytherin.

Throughout the school year, the four houses compete to earn 'house points' and win the house cup at the end of the year. As a form of incentive or punishment, the achievements or failures of each student — academic or disciplinary — cause their respective house to gain or lose points. In book one, Harry Potter, Hermione Granger, and Neville Longbottom find themselves shunned by other Gryffindor students after they are responsible for losing a significant number of house points. Points are recorded in four enchanted hourglasses located in the School's Entrance Hall. For each point or penalty a student earns, a jewel matching the colour of the house (red rubies for Gryffindor, yellow topaz for Hufflepuff, blue sapphires for Ravenclaw, and green emeralds for Slytherin) will rise or fall inside the relevant hourglass. At the end of each school year, the points are added up, and the house with the most points wins the House Cup.

The award or deduction of points is automatically detected by magical means, and adjustments are made to the display in the relevant hourglass. It would appear that for an authority figure to deduct points, they must announce the deduction aloud, otherwise no points are removed. For example, when Inquisitorial Squad member Montague tried to dock points from Fred and George Weasley, they pushed him into the vanishing cabinet before he could say the words, and thus the points were not deducted.

There appear to be no fixed numbers of points attached to specific actions; this number is decided by a teacher on the spot and may vary greatly. For example in book one, Hermione is punished by only 5 points for (as she claimed) risking her life by seeking a fight with a troll, while later Harry, Hermione, and Neville lose 50 points each for simply being out of the dormitory at night. Houses also receive points based on their performances in Quidditch, such as in Harry's second and third years.

The level of importance placed on the point system was very high in Harry Potter's first few years of school. Much of the books focus on winning the house cup, even when faced with greater threats, such as the return of Lord Voldemort. Later on, the points decline in importance, and in book 5 it is made pointless by abuse. In book six the school year does not end with the awarding of the house cup.

[edit] Terms and holidays

Hogwarts' school year is structured in a similar way to other Muggle (non-magic) schools and colleges in the UK, with a three-term year punctuated by holidays at Christmas and Easter and bounded by the long summer holiday. Students may optionally stay at Hogwarts for the Christmas and Easter holidays. Those who choose to stay at the castle do not have lessons and attend a feast on Christmas Day. Students also do not have classes on the week of Easter, but this is much less enjoyable for the students due to the large amounts of work that the teachers assign to their students beforehand.

Other than summer, Easter and Christmas, and weekends, students do not as a rule get days off for holidays. There are normally four feasts per year, the start-of-term feast at the beginning of the school year and end-of-term feast at the end of the school year, as well as feasts at Halloween and Christmas. In Harry's fourth year, there was a fifth feast to celebrate the beginning of the Triwizard Tournament. Also, in Harry Potter's second year, Professor Lockhart decided to celebrate Valentine's Day, much to the dislike of the rest of the staff and a number of (mostly male) students.

[edit] Classes and teachers

Main articles: Hogwarts subjects and Hogwarts teachers

As Hogwarts is a school of magic, students are not taught ordinary subjects such as mathematics and English: in the case of some subjects, students are assumed to have been taught a basic level and are not expected to need any more; in the case of others, students simply never learn them. Before attending Hogwarts, most wizard-born children are home-educated by parents or others; muggle-borns or those in exceptional circumstances (such as Harry Potter) attend Muggle schools.

First and second year students all learn the same subjects:

• Herbology, taught by Professor Sprout as of book 6, which teaches students how to properly care for and understand magical plants.
• Potions, taught by Professor Snape through book 5, and by Professor Slughorn before and then again after, which teaches students the art of potion-making.
• Transfiguration, taught by Professor McGonagall as of book 6, which teaches students about changing the properties of objects.
• Charms, taught by Professor Flitwick as of book 6, which teaches students about those spells which do not "fundamentally alter the properties of the subject of the spell, but adds, or changes, properties": for example, making tea-cups dance [1].
• Defence Against the Dark Arts, which teaches students how to properly defend themselves against the Dark Arts, including Dark wizards and creatures, although the subject matter varies greatly from year to year. No teacher of this class has ever held this post for more than a year since 1957, due to Lord Voldemort leaving a powerful jinx on the position when he applied for the job and was declined the post by Albus Dumbledore.
• History of Magic, taught by the ghost of Professor Binns as of book 6, which teaches students about historical events in the wizarding world.
• Astronomy, taught by Professor Sinistra as of book 6, which teaches students about stars, planets, etc.

In addition to these, first year students take flying lessons, taught by Madam Hooch.

In their third year, students must choose at least two additional subjects to take. These can include:

• Muggle Studies, where students learn about Muggles (the wizarding term for non-magic people).
• Care of Magical Creatures, taught by Professor Hagrid starting in book 3, and is substituted by Professor Grubby-Plank in book 5, which teaches students all about magical creatures.
• Divination, taught by Professor Trelawney and the centaur Firenze as of book 6, which teaches students the methods of predicting future events.
• Ancient Runes, which teaches students about runic scripts.
• Arithmancy, taught by Professor Vector as of book 6, which teaches students about the magical properties of numbers.

[edit] Grading and assessment

During their first four years, students need only to pass each of their subjects before advancing to the next level the following year. Regular exams and lessons usually seem to be graded on a numerical scale from 0 (bottom marks) to 100 (full marks) although some students routinely get higher than perfect scores. If a student fails their year, they need to repeat it in the following school year.

To qualify as a registered practitioner of magic, students must study for the compulsory Ordinary Wizarding Level (O.W.L.) examinations over their Third to Fifth years, being examined at the end of the Fifth Year. If passed, a student may proceed to the Nastily Exhausting Wizarding Test (N.E.W.T.) level, a more advanced exam regimen covering fewer subjects but in more depth, which takes place over the Sixth and Seventh Years, and is examined at the end of the Seventh Year.

Subjects are graded on the following scale:

Passing Grades

• O = Outstanding
• E = Exceeds Expectations
• A = Acceptable

Failing Grades

• P = Poor
• D = Dreadful
• T = Troll

The O.W.L.s roughly corresponds to the O(rdinary)-level (now replaced by GCSE), and the N.E.W.T.s to the A-level examinations used in the English state school system. In order to proceed to a N.E.W.T., a student usually needs to have achieved at least an E in the O.W.L. of the same subject, although some professors (e.g. Professor Snape) insist upon a grade of O. Students who fail their exams or who do not achieve high enough grades continue to take O.W.L. classes in their sixth and seventh years.^[HP6]

At the beginning of their sixth year, students speak briefly with their head of house and decide which classes to continue in depending on their O.W.L. scores and their goals after school. The classes they decide to continue are considerably more advanced.

Due to the fact that they dropped one or more classes, students in their sixth and seventh year may get several class sessions off per week; because of the heavy workload that each of their classes assign them, they usually spend these studying and doing homework. At the end of their seventh and final year, students take the N.E.W.T. exams, which test what the student has learned over the past two years. Many professions require high grades in these tests, meaning that students must work very hard to ensure that they pass.

[edit] Other staff

Aside from the teachers, Hogwarts has a large number of support staff, including:

• Madam Pomfrey, who is in charge of the castle's hospital wing.
• Rubeus Hagrid, while also a teacher, is the school's groundskeeper.
• Argus Filch, the school's caretaker assisted by his cat, Mrs Norris.
• Madam Pince, the school's librarian.
• Madam Hooch, who looks over the Quidditch matches held at Hogwarts and teaches first-year students how to fly on broomsticks.
• Over a hundred house-elves, including Dobby, Winky and Kreacher, who handle the cooking and much of the cleaning.

[edit] Student life

The day begins at Hogwarts with breakfast in the Great Hall. Students sit at their own House table and can eat, socialise, and finish homework at the last minute. At the High Table, at the far end of the hall, the headmaster eats with the professors. During breakfast, owls (student owned or school owned) bring in post for the students: this could be the morning issue of The Daily Prophet, letters from parents or friends, sweets from home, etc. A bell signals the start of the first class of the morning at 9 a.m.

There are two long morning classes with a short ten minute break in between them for students to get to their next class (the castle is enormous and it is common for students, especially first years, to get lost). After lunch in the Great Hall, classes resume at 1 p.m., and there is a break around teatime before another class period. First year students sometimes get Friday afternoons off. In the evening students eat their dinner in the Great Hall, after which they are expected to be in their common rooms for studying and socialising.

The four House common rooms are guarded by paintings or hidden behind walls that require a password to gain entrance. Inside is the common room, in which are armchairs and sofas for the pupils, as well as tables for studying. There are fireplaces to keep the rooms warm, and students relax here in the evenings, or else complete their homework. There are notice boards in each common room too, as well as at other strategic points throughout the school. The students stay in their House dormitories while school is in session, which branch off from the various common rooms. Each year gets two rooms; one for boys and one for girls. Each student sleeps in a large four poster bed with bed covers and heavy curtains in the House colours, and thick white pillows. There is a bedside table for each bed, and each dormitory has a jug of cool water and glasses on a tray.

On designated weekends, Hogwarts students in their third year or higher, with a signed permission slip, are permitted to walk to the nearby wizarding village of Hogsmeade, where they can relax and enjoy the pubs, restaurants and shops. There appears to be a good relationship between the school and the village, and the students get along well with the locals. Favourite places in Hogsmeade include Honeydukes Sweetshop, Zonko's Joke Shop (now closed), clothing stores such as Gladrags Wizardwear, the Shrieking Shack (which is rumoured to be the most haunted building in Britain, making it a tourist attraction) and the pubs The Three Broomsticks and The Hog's Head.

[edit] Food

The food served at Hogwarts is, according to the students, very good. The house-elves at Hogwarts are skilled chefs, and cook a wide variety of dishes for every meal. The food served at the school is fresh and grown locally; the school has vegetable patches by the greenhouses. The meats and other condiments are probably bought in Hogsmeade village, and the various dishes are prepared in the kitchens directly below the Great Hall and, at meal times, magically transported up so that they appear before the students. Hogwarts food is typically British, although the school sometimes makes exceptions (during the Triwizard Tournament, foreign dishes were served in honour of the visiting schools). The usual drinks (apart from water) are tea, coffee, and pumpkin juice.

[edit] Discipline

Apart from losing points from a house, serious misdeeds at Hogwarts are punishable by detention.

According to the school caretaker, Argus Filch, detention meant subjection to various forms of torture until relatively recently, but in present times usually involves assisting staff or faculty with tedious or perilous tasks. Ironically, when, students are caught wandering around the castle at night in book one, for their "detention" they are sent to the even more dangerous Forbidden Forest to help Rubeus Hagrid.

For even more serious offences, students may be expelled from Hogwarts. Harry Potter comes under threat of expulsion by the Ministry of Magic at the beginning of his fifth year at Hogwarts after he is detected using magic in the presence of Muggles, a serious offence among the wizarding community. The Headmaster Albus Dumbledore argued in Harry's defence, stating that besides the fact that it was done in self-defence, the Ministry has no authority to expel students – such powers are invested in the Headmaster and the Board of Governors. The only student known to have been actually expelled is Rubeus Hagrid, for possessing an acromantula believed to be the Monster of Slytherin, and for opening the Chamber of Secrets (a crime for which he had actually been framed).

Professors seem to be able to punish students with relative impunity and can hand out detention, even for unsatisfactory grades. Enforcement of rules outside of class mainly falls to the caretaker, with the assistance of the prefects. A student's Head of House usually has the final say in disciplinary matters.

In the summer before their fifth year, two fifth year students from each House are picked to be prefects, which grants them extra privileges and disciplinary responsibilities; they remain Prefects, unless appointed Head Boy or Girl or stripped of their position, for the rest of their school career. There are at most six prefects per house, all from the fifth, sixth, and seventh year students: if one of them has been appointed Head Boy or Head Girl, they are not replaced as Prefects. The leaders of the student body, the Head Boy and Head Girl, are drawn from the seventh year students. Thus far, there is little indication that a student can hold this honour without first being a Prefect (although James Potter, who according to Hagrid was Head Boy, was not a Prefect - his friend Remus Lupin held the position). Prefects have the authority to deduct points from other students for infractions, though they cannot take points from fellow prefects. They may also give detentions.

[edit] Location and grounds

Main article: Hogwarts layout

J. K. Rowling says she visualises Hogwarts, in its entirety, to be:^[1]

“

A huge, rambling, quite scary-looking castle, with a jumble of towers and battlements. Like the Weasleys' house, it isn't a building that Muggles could build, because it is supported by magic.

”

Hogwarts is supposed by the author to be located in a mountainous and secluded region in Scotland, near a wizarding village named Hogsmeade.^[5] The castle has extensive grounds with sloping lawns, flower beds and vegetable patches, a loch, a large and dense forest (called the Forbidden Forest), a number of greenhouses and other outbuildings, and a full-size Quidditch pitch. There is also an Owlery, which houses all of the owls owned by the school and those owned by students.

The village of Hogsmeade is used as a commercial centre by students, and as lodging by visitors to the school. Hogsmeade is the only remaining exclusively magical community in Britain, and is famous for Honeydukes Sweetshop, a well-known magical joke shop Zonko's and pubs The Hog's Head and The Three Broomsticks. It is popular with Hogwarts students, who visit it from school on certain weekends. The Hogwarts station (Hogsmeade Station), though not at all near to the village, nonetheless takes its name from the settlement. On a map drawn by Rowling for the film crew, the station appears to be south-east of the school, while the village of Hogsmeade appears to be north-west. The station is reached by the Hogwarts Express, a train service solely for the use of the students.

Since Apparition is not possible within the school or the school grounds, due to magical security charms, the Hogwarts Express is the primary means of transportation to and from Hogwarts. It is possible to arrive by means other than the school train however: by using broomsticks, Apparating or taking the Knight Bus to a location outside the grounds and walking through the gates, or using other magical means of travelling such as Floo powder,

and portkeys. The school still has a network of protective charms and magical barriers, however. The school also owns a number of carriages, drawn by Thestrals, which bring students around the lake from Hogsmeade station up to the school entrance. First-year students, after arriving at the Hogsmeade station by the Hogwarts Express, traditionally cross the lake by boat to reach the castle, while the rest of the students are taken by the Thestral-drawn carriages. The carriages pass through enormous gates flanked by winged boars, and then ramble up a curving drive to the main entrance of the castle, passing the loch on their way. After the students have entered the grounds, the gates are locked and stringent security measures are reinstalled, as Harry found when he arrived late in book six.

The school is enchanted to repel Muggles (non-magical people), to whom Hogwarts appears to be "a mouldering old ruin with a sign over the entrance saying DANGER, DO NOT ENTER, UNSAFE".^GF Ch. 11 Electronic devices go haywire and do not work around Hogwarts because there is too much magic in the air. Witches and wizards can not Apparate or Disapparate in Hogwarts grounds.^GF Ch. 28

[edit] History

[edit] Early history

Hogwarts was founded over a thousand years ago by two wizards and two witches: Godric Gryffindor, Salazar Slytherin, Rowena Ravenclaw, and Helga Hufflepuff. These four were among the most celebrated European wizards and witches of the age, and they personally trained all their students. As time went on Hogwarts grew in size as more and more students enrolled.

Slowly, cracks began to appear among the four founders. All four founders selected their students according to strict criteria (much of which was opposed to that of the other houses). Slytherin, however, sought greater forms of selection, desiring to limit school admissions only to students born to magical parents (he distrusted those born to non-magical parents); this desire brought him into conflict with the other founders, in particular Gryffindor. Tension also developed between the other Founders: the once-great friendship of Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff failed as disastrously as that of Gryffindor and Slytherin, and, divided, the four founders and their houses sought to control the school, bringing the castle into fighting and chaos. Slytherin eventually fled the school; the other three founders, diminished by their loss, then re-established peace.

At some point before Slytherin departed, he had constructed the Chamber of Secrets, concealing within it a basilisk. According to legend, he left this for his progeny, so that, when an eventual successor (the Heir of Slytherin) returned to the school, he or she would be able to open the Chamber, unleash the monstrous Basilisk within, and purge the school of all muggle-born students. The only descendant known to have discovered the Chamber is Tom Marvolo Riddle, who later came to be known as Lord Voldemort.

[edit] Middle history

Little information is given in the Harry Potter novels about the history of Hogwarts after its foundation, at least prior to the 1940s.

About three hundred years after the school was founded, the Triwizard Tournament began between the three most prestigious magical schools in Europe: Hogwarts, Beauxbatons, and Durmstrang. This Tournament was considered the best way for wizards of different nationalities to meet and socialise. The Tournament continued for six centuries, until the death toll became too high, and it was discontinued until 1994.

[edit] Recent history

The school's existence was threatened twice when the Chamber of Secrets was opened. The first was in 1943, when Tom Riddle, the self-styled Heir of Slytherin and the future Lord Voldemort, opened the Chamber in his fifth year. When a student named Myrtle was killed, the Ministry of Magic threatened to close the school. Because Riddle spent his time away from Hogwarts in a Muggle orphanage, he did not want the school closed. He framed Rubeus Hagrid for the deed, using Hagrid's possession of a dangerous acromantula (a giant spider-like creature) within the school. Hagrid, damned by this undeniable fact, was expelled and Hogwarts remained open.

In Harry Potter's second year, the Chamber was opened by Ginny Weasley, who was influenced by Riddle's old diary (one of Lord Voldemort's Horcruxes). Lucius Malfoy had secretly planted the diary among her schoolbooks, with the hope that she would be caught, thus ending Arthur Weasley's Muggle Protection Act, as well as purging Hogwarts of Muggle-born witches and wizards. The diary allowed Riddle's memory to possess Ginny, enabling him to act through her to open the Chamber a second time. However, Harry discovered the truth, destroyed the diary, and killed the basilisk that was living in the Chamber.

In Harry's fourth year, the dangerous Triwizard Tournament is revived, although with new safety measures. Death Eater Barty Crouch Jr, disguised as Professor Alastor Moody, cunningly enters Harry's name in the Goblet of Fire under a nonexistent fourth school, ensuring he is chosen by the Goblet, an impartial judge. Consequently, Harry becomes a Tri-Wizard champion, although many believe he cheated to enter. Crouch secretly helps Harry through each challenge, ensuring he will reach the Triwizard Cup. The cup is actually a Portkey that transports Harry to Little Hangleton graveyard where Lord Voldemort and Wormtail (Peter Pettigrew) await. Harry escapes, but Voldemort succeeds in using Wormtail to collect Harry's blood and use it in a complex potion that allows Voldemort to regain his bodily form and overcome some of Harry's magical protections.

At the end of Harry's sixth year, headmaster Albus Dumbledore is murdered by Severus Snape, a professor at the school. Following his death, Professor Minerva McGonagall is appointed acting Headmistress, although, it is unclear if the school will remain open. The faculty agree to follow "established procedures" and let the school governors ultimately decide. The final book in the series, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, will determine Hogwarts' fate. During a 1999 interview, Rowling said that one of Harry's classmates would eventually become a teacher at Hogwarts;^[6] this implies that Hogwarts will remain open, or, if it does close, reopen eventually.

[edit] Coat of arms, school motto, school song

Blazon

• Shield renaissance, Quarterly, I gules a lion salient to sinister Or, II vert a serpent argent, III Or a badger reguardant proper, IV azure an eagle displayed Or, in fesse couped Or scroll with letter H sable, top riband for the name Hogwarts, base riband for the motto "draco dormiens nunquam titillandus".

The motto of Hogwarts is "Draco dormiens nunquam titillandus," which in Latin means "A sleeping dragon [is] never to be tickled/poked." Creator J.K. Rowling said she wanted a practical motto for Hogwarts, since so many schools have vague ones such as "Reach for the stars" — approximately "Continge astris" in Latin.

The school song is sung only once in the series, in Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone at Harry's first meal in the Great Hall. Its lyrics are as follows:

Hogwarts, Hogwarts, Hoggy Warty Hogwarts,

Teach us something, please,

Whether we be old and bald

Or young with scabby knees,

Our heads could do with filling

With some interesting stuff,

For now they're bare and full of air,

Dead flies and bits of fluff,

So teach us things worth knowing,

Bring back what we've forgot,

Just do your best, we'll do the rest,

And learn until our brains all rot.

The song does not have a set tune; everyone sings the lyrics to a tune and time of their choosing. The matter of the song not being sung every year was addressed by J. K. Rowling on her web site.^[7] She cites the decline in the singing in recent years to the darker times in the wizarding world. "Should Dumbledore ever suggest a rousing encore, you may assume that he is on top form once more," she wrote.

[edit] Possible name influences

In interviews [2] [3], Rowling has intimated that the name "Hogwarts" derives from the hogwort plant (Croton capitatus), which she had seen at Kew Gardens some time before writing the Harry Potter series. The substitution of the letter a (in Hogwarts) for the second o (in Hogwort) suggests deliberate wordplay in the style of Diagon Alley: a spoonerism of warthog.

By coincidence, the name Hogwarts also features in the Molesworth books. The Hogwarts is the title of one of Molesworth's imitation Latin plays, and Hoggwart is also the name of the Headmaster of Porridge Court, a rival of St Custard's, Molesworth's terrible prep school.

In the 1986 film Labyrinth, Sarah mistakenly refers to the character Hoggle as "Hogwart".

[edit] References

[edit] External links

• The Harry Potter Lexicon's Hogwarts Atlas featuring numerous images of Hogwarts
• The Marauder's Map from the Warner Bros website
• Floorplans of the castle
• How Many Students Are There At Hogwarts?, by Steve Vander Ark.
• Hogwarts on the Harry Potter Wiki

[edit] See also

• Hogsmeade
• Hogwarts Houses
• Portraits in Hogwarts
• Beauxbatons Academy of Magic
• Durmstrang Institute for Magical Study

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