Hogwarts Castle
and Grounds

"You can't Apparate inside the Hogwarts grounds, how often do I have to tell you?"
     -- Hermione Granger, many times

"Dear old Hogwarts. How good it is to be here, how good..."
     -- Igor Karkaroff

"All those substitutes for magic Muggles use - electricity, computers, and radar, and all those things - they all go haywire around Hogwarts, there's too much magic in the air."
     -- Hermione Granger, who has read Hogwarts, A History

Hogwarts is hidden from Muggle eyes. The castle is bewitched so that if a Muggle looks at it, all they see is a moldering old ruin with a sign over the entrance saying DANGER, DO NOT ENTER, UNSAFE. It might also be Unplottable (GF11). The castle is "(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." (Sch1)

Hogwarts castle is located atop a cliff overlooking a lake. The lake is to the south of the castle (PA6) and the front foors face generally to the west (PA21). There is a small underground inlet, it's entrance covered with hanging ivy, that leads to a stony beach below the castle at the base of the cliff. From here, a path leads up to the front door of the castle. A road runs around the lake to the village of Hogsmeade, where the railway station is located. From the descriptions, Hogwarts would seem to be in Scotland. The grounds are quite extensive, taking in a large forest and enough open space that folks in the castle never noticed the firey breath and roaring of group of four angry dragons kept in a paddock near the forest for the Triwizad Tournament. There are entrances to the grounds, which seems to imply that there is a wall or fence enclosing the entire area. The main entrance gate is flanked by pillars on which stand statues of winged boars.

Harry Potter is especially protected when he is at Hogwarts because of various spells, so much so that Voldemort had to resort to extraordinary means to steal the boy away (GF33).

A Wizard's Atlas:
map of Hogwarts and vicinity (175k)
plan: Hagrid's cabin

the grounds of the castle
Hagrid's cabin

• pumpkin patch behind (CS7, PA16, PA21)

• made of wood (PS

• wooden fence around pumpkin patch

vegetable gardens

• cabbages, among other things (CS

greenhouses

• at least three (CS6, GF

flowerbeds (CS8)

the Forbidden Forest

the Whomping Willow (CS5, (PA9, (PA17)

the lake

• located to the south of the castle, which stands on a cliff overlooking the water

• the lake is approximately a half-mile in diameter (GF26)

• various creatures live in the lake:

  • giant squid

  • merfolk

  • grindylows

the front gate - statues of winged boars

lawns

• there is a wide flat lawn opposite the castle from the forest and Hagrid's hut where the first-years took their first flying lesson.

• sloping lawns lead down toward the forest and border the lake

Quidditch field

• opposite side of the castle from the Forest (PS