Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry is a British wizarding boarding school teaching the magical arts, located in Scotland inside Hogwarts Castle. The castle is in the mountains near a loch. The precise location of the school can never be uncovered because it has been rendered Unplottable. Similarly, most wizarding schools locations are 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 9th or 10th century, Hogwarts is considered to be one of the finest magical institutions in the wizarding world, though other notable schools include Beauxbatons Academy of Magic and the Durmstrang Institute. Children with magical abilities may be enrolled at birth, and acceptance is confirmed by owl post at age eleven.
The school's motto is Draco Dormiens Nunquam Titillandus and is in Latin, which translates to "Never tickle a sleeping dragon".
LOCATION
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.
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.
HISTORY
Early history
Hogwarts was founded around 990 A.D. by two wizards and two witches: 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. However, shortly after founding the school, Slytherin had a falling out with the other founders about blood purity. Slytherin wanted to admit only pure-blood students, but the other three founders disagreed. Slytherin left the school, but not before secretly building the Chamber of Secrets. When his own true heir, the Heir of Slytherin, (the heir of Slytherin is Tom Riddle/Voldemort) returned to the school, he or she would be able to open the Chamber and unleash a murderous basilisk to purge the school of all Muggle-born students.
Middle history
About three hundred years after the school was founded, the Triwizard Tournament began between the three most prestigious magical schools in Europe: Hogwarts, The Beauxbatons, and Durmstrang. 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, and the tournament was discontinued.
