Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry Fact file

Over View

Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry is the Scottish wizarding school, located in the Highlands of Scotland. It takes students from Scotland, England, Ireland, Northern Ireland and Wales.
The castle is located in the mountains near a loch. The precise location of the school could never be uncovered because it was rendered Unplottable. To Muggles the school looks like an old abandoned castle. 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 included Beauxbatons Academy of Magic and the Durmstrang Institute. Children with magical abilities are enrolled at birth, and acceptance is confirmed by owl post at age eleven. However, if the child in question is a Muggle-born, or a magical child born from non-magical folks, a professor from the school would come and inform the child's parents.

Location 
Hogwarts School is located in Hogwarts Castle, a large castle somewhere in the Highlands of 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 noted that even he did not know all of Hogwarts' secrets. This implies that the castle has witnessed centuries and has a long history of ancient magic.The school has numerous charms and spells on and around it that make it impossible for a Muggle to see it as the school; rather, they see only ruins and several warnings of danger. Witches and wizards cannot Apparate or Disapparate in Hogwarts grounds, except for 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, and wanted to admit only pure-blood students. He felt that only pure-blooded students deserved to learn magic, but the other three founders all disagreed, especially Gryffindor. Slytherin left the school, but not before secretly building the Chamber of Secrets and foretelling that only his own heir (the current heir of Slytherin being Tom Riddle Jr./Lord Voldemort) would be able to open it once he or she attended the school, and unleash a murderous basilisk living inside 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, 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.

Recent History
The existence of the school was threatened twice when the Chamber of Secrets was opened. The first time it was opened was in 1942, when Tom Marvolo Riddle, the Heir of Slytherin and the man who would become Lord Voldemort, opened the Chamber in his fifth year. When a girl named Myrtle Warren was killed, the Ministry of Magic threatened to close the school. As Riddle spent his time away from Hogwarts in a Muggle orphanage, he did not want the school closed (and having his request to remain in school over the holidays denied due to the situation he created), so he framed Rubeus Hagrid and dodged his crimes for decades. However, in 1992 the Chamber was reopened and the truth came out that Rubeus Hagrid was innocent and Riddle was guilty.

Houses
Hogwarts students are divided into four houses: Gryffindor, Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw, and Slytherin.

• Gryffindor is well known for bravery, daring, nerve, and chivalry. The house colours are deep red and gold, and the house is symbolised by a lion. The entrance to the common room is on the seventh floor hidden behind a portrait of the Fat Lady. In order to get into the common room, Gryffindor students must say the correct password.

• Hufflepuff is well known for loyalty, hard working, dedication, honesty, and tolerance. The house is symbolised by a badger, and the house colours are yellow and black. Its common room is near the kitchens. To get into the common room, rather than giving a password you must tap a fake barrel in the rhythm "Helga Hufflepuff." It is the only common room to have a way to keep students from other houses out (by dumping vinegar on them).

• Ravenclaw values wit, creativity, and wisdom. The house is symbolised by an eagle and the house colours are blue and bronze. The Ravenclaw common room is located in a high tower, and the interior is decorated with blue and bronze. To enter, rather than give a password, one must answer a riddle from an eagle door knocker, such as "Where do vanished objects go?" or "Which came first, the Phoenix or the flame?" 

• Slytherin values ambition, cleverness, cunning, resourcefulness, and pure blood heritage. The house is symbolised by a serpent, and the house colours are green and silver. Its common room is located in the dungeons, underneath the Black Lake, and hidden behind a stone wall. The password for the 1992–1993 school year was "pure-blood". Many people believe students sorted into this house often get involved in the Dark Arts.

By C.Wilson