Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry

• Type: Wizarding School
• Location: Scottish Highlands, Scotland
• Owner/Residents: Founded by Godric Gryffindor, Helga Hufflepuff, Rowena Ravenclaw, and Salazar Slytherin. Subsequently managed by a Board of Governors and a series of Headmasters and Headmistresses, including Albus Dumbledore and Minerva McGonagall. Its residents include staff, students, house-elves, numerous ghosts (such as Nearly Headless Nick and the Bloody Baron), and Peeves the Poltergeist.
• Key Features: A vast, seven-story stone castle protected by numerous powerful enchantments. The castle and its grounds are Unplottable, making them impossible to locate on a Muggle map. To any Muggle who might stumble upon it, the castle appears to be an old, mouldering ruin with a “Keep Out: Dangerous” sign. Its interior is famous for its one hundred and forty-two ever-changing staircases, talking portraits, and enchanted ceilings.

Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry is the premier British school of Magic, and is considered to be one of the finest magical institutions in the wizarding world. Founded over a thousand years ago, circa 993 A.D., by the four greatest witches and wizards of the age: Godric Gryffindor, Helga Hufflepuff, Rowena Ravenclaw, and Salazar Slytherin. They built the castle together, far from prying Muggle eyes, with the shared dream of creating a safe haven where young magical individuals could be educated. Each founder established one of the four Hogwarts Houses, valuing different virtues in the students they selected. A fundamental disagreement eventually arose between Salazar Slytherin and the other three founders. Slytherin believed that magical education should be restricted to those of pure-blood lineage, a view the others did not share. This conflict led to Slytherin's departure from the school. Before leaving, he secretly constructed the Chamber of Secrets deep within the castle, housing a Basilisk intended to one day purge the school of Muggle-born students. For centuries, Hogwarts served as a bastion of magical learning and was often regarded as the safest place in the wizarding world, particularly under the headmastership of Albus Dumbledore. The school's motto is Draco Dormiens Nunquam Titillandus, a Latin phrase meaning “Never Tickle a Sleeping Dragon.”

Hogwarts is the primary setting for the first six novels of the series and the location of the final climactic battle in the seventh. For Harry Potter, the school represents his first true home and a place of belonging, standing in stark contrast to his life with the Dursleys. It is where he discovers the truth about his past, forges his most important relationships with Ron Weasley and Hermione Granger, and receives his magical education. The castle is the site of numerous pivotal events, including Harry's confrontation with Professor Quirrell for the Philosopher's Stone, the re-opening of the Chamber of Secrets, the hosting of the Triwizard Tournament, the formation of Dumbledore's Army to oppose Dolores Umbridge, and the tragic death of Albus Dumbledore. The final installment sees the school fall under the control of Lord Voldemort's followers, with Severus Snape as Headmaster, before it becomes the battlefield for the Battle of Hogwarts, resulting in Voldemort's ultimate defeat.

The castle and its grounds contain countless rooms, corridors, and secret passages. Notable areas include:

• Castle Interior:
  • Entrance Hall
  • Great Hall
  • Grand Staircase
  • House Common Rooms and Dormitories (Gryffindor Tower, Slytherin Dungeon, Ravenclaw Tower, Hufflepuff Basement)
  • Headmaster's Office
  • Hospital Wing
  • Library (including the Restricted Section)
  • Room of Requirement
  • Chamber of Secrets
  • Moaning Myrtle's Bathroom
  • Classrooms (e.g., Defence Against the Dark Arts Classroom, Potions Classroom, Transfiguration Classroom, Charms Classroom, History of Magic Classroom)
  • Astronomy Tower
  • Owlery
  • Kitchens
  • Filch's Office
• Grounds:
  • Forbidden Forest
  • Great Lake (or Black Lake)
  • Hagrid's Hut
  • Quidditch Pitch
  • The Whomping Willow
  • Greenhouses

• J.K. Rowling has stated that she envisions Hogwarts as being located in a remote mountainous region of Scotland (J.K. Rowling interview).
• The school's motto, Draco Dormiens Nunquam Titillandus, was created by Rowling because she wanted a practical and memorable slogan, unlike those of many real-world schools (J.K. Rowling interview).
• In the film adaptations, Alnwick Castle in Northumberland and Christ Church College, Oxford, were among the locations used for exterior and interior shots of Hogwarts (film).
• According to Pottermore, the plumbing at Hogwarts became more elaborate in the eighteenth century. This is how the entrance to the Chamber of Secrets came to be concealed within a bathroom (Pottermore).