Harry Potter - Hogwarts Castle

Harry Potter - Hogwarts Castle

Hogwarts Castle is a wondrous, magical building with many towers and turrets. It is home to Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. If Muggles approach the castle, all they will see is a mouldering ruin with a sign warning them to keep out, that it's unsafe. Hogwarts is built in a forested area, directly next to a fairly large lake, in the highlands of Scotland. The main entrance to Hogwarts is a set of huge oak doors which face more or less toward the west. The lake is to the south of the castle. The forest is very large, and parts of it extend around to the west of the castle.

What can we say about Hogwarts castle? What does it look like? Well, for one thing, it's huge. Seven stories tall is utterly massive for the main building of a castle. This is especially true when you consider that castles of the stone wall type were not even invented yet in the 900s. Some have speculated that wizards invented castles and that Muggles copied them. I think it's more likely that Hogwarts school has changed in appearance quite dramatically over the years. As originally constructed, Hogwarts was likely much smaller, perhaps about the size of a manor house. As the years went by and as student populations grew, the school building expanded and adjusted for the changes. We do see modern plumbing in the castle, for example, and this surely wasn't put in place a thousand years ago. Rooms were added (or possibly they simply "grew" as needed) and the whole thing became something of a warren of passages, corridors, rooms, doorways, and staircases. Many of the secret passageways probably evolved as rooms, hallways, and even whole floors and wings added themselves on, leaving spaces and gaps.

Harry Potter - Hogwarts Castle