12 Grimmauld Place: Information about Harry Potter

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Hogwarts

Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry is a fictional magic school that is the main setting of the Harry Potter novels by J. K. Rowling.

Hogwarts School Crest
An H with a raven, hippogriff, griffin, and snake.

Hogwarts School Motto Draco Dormiens Nunquam Titillandus!
~translate from Latin to English as �Never tickle a sleeping dragon�

Hogwarts School Song
Sing to any tune you choose
Hogwarts, Hogwarts, Hoggy Warty Hogwarts,
Teach us something please,
Whether we be old and bald
Or young with scabby knees,
Our heads could do with filling
With some interesting stuff,
For now they're bare and full of air,
Dead flies and bits of fluff,
So teach us things worth knowing,
Bring back what we've forgot,
Just do your best, we'll do the rest,
And learn until our brains all rot.

Hogwarts Headmaster
Prof. Albus Percival Wulfric Brian Dumbledore is the current headmaster of Hogwarts. He was a transfiguration professor and head of Griffindor house prior to his headmastership. Prof. Dumbledore became headmaster in about 1970 succeeding Prof. Dippet.

The Assistant Headmistress is Prof. Minerva McGonagall, rather severe in aspect but respected by the students. She teaches Transfiguration and is head of Gryffindor house.
See the Characters Section for more information

Hogwarts Staff
There are numerous teachers, or professors, at Hogwarts who teach a variety of subjects from Arithmancy to Muggle Studies. In addition, there are also groundskeepers, caretakers, and an army of house elves, which staff the castle.
See the Characters Section for more information.

Hogwarts Governors
There are 12 school governors who have the power to suspend the headmaster by voting. These governors are used as a checks and balances system for the school.
See the Characters Section for more information.

Location
Scotland, area unknown.
Proof:
~�Hogwarts ... Logically it had to be set in a secluded place, and pretty soon I settled on Scotland in my mind." Fraser, L., An interview with J.K.Rowling, Mammoth, London, 2000. ISBN 0-7497-4394-8. pp 20-21.
~Additionally, in Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them (ISBN 0747554668), the author mentions that a nest of horrific giant spiders has been rumoured to exist in a forest in Scotland. There is an annotation by Harry or Ron that says "confirmed by Harry Potter and Ron Weasley". This is thought to refer to their meeting with Aragog in Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets.

Transportation to Hogwarts
Hogwarts is reached by a train called the Hogwarts Express, which can be boarded at King�s Cross Station in London through Platform 9 �. No apparating and disapparating is possible on the school grounds, as Hermoine often states. Floo Powder seems to work to some degree, as Sirius Black is able to communicate with Harry via the Griffindor common room fireplace in GoF.

Admission
According to Rowling, in an interview posted on the Scholastic website, the only requirement for application to Hogwarts is magical ability. She also stated that a magical quill resides at Hogwarts, which writes all the names of magical children born in the British Isles down in a large parchment book. Once a year, Professor McGonagall, the assistant headmistress of Hogwarts, checks the book for children who are turning 11 and sends them an owl containing their acceptance letter. (Interview with J.K. Rowling on Scholastic�s website.)

Curriculum
During their first two years at Hogwarts, students take a set curriculum of classes, which include Potions, Transfiguration, Herbology, History of Magic, Astronomy, Flying Lessons, and Charms. However, after their third year students are allowed to choose additional electives from a variety of new subjects including Arithmancy, Ancient Runes, Muggle Studies, and Divination.

To graduate from Hogwarts there are many small steps. First a student must complete his or her Ordinary Wizarding Levels (O.W.L.s); these tests are given at the end of their fifth year and determine proficiency in each subject. Depending on the marks they achieve in their O.W.L.s each student will go on to take different classes in the next two years. These classes are much more specialized and often reflect the career choice of each student. If one wanted to work for Gringotts Bank, for example, he or she would have to excel in Arithmancy and would go on to take two more years of the subject. Nastily Exhausting Wizarding Tests (N.E.W.T.s) are taken at the end of the seventh, and final, year at Hogwarts. These grades determine graduation, as well as career choices for each young witch and wizard.

Hogwarts Grounds
Hogswarts is a large castle which serves as a boarding school for magical wizards of Great Britain. Hogwarts is very large; it has seven floors and has many secret passages. Many of them are used, others are not known, and some are blocked or have been sealed. Inside the castle there are four dormitories, numerous classrooms, a grand dinning hall, a library, infirmary, as well as the infamous Chamber of Secrets. Outside the castle walls there are greenhouses, a quidditch field, and the groundskeeper�s hut. On the castle grounds there is also a large lake, inhabited by Merpeople and many other creatures. On the outskirts of Hogwart�s lies the Forbidden Forsest, which is strictly off-limits to all students. The school has strong charms around it to repel Muggles.

The Four Dormitories

Gryffindor
Named For: Godric Gryffindor
Head of House: Prof. Minerva McGonagall, Transfiguration
House Colors: Scarlet and Gold
House Ghost: Sir Nicolas de Mimsy-Porpington �Nearly-Headless Nick�
Entrance: Fat Lady
Quidditch Captain: Oliver Wood
Quidditch Color: Scarlet
Main Characteristics: Brave, Chivalrous, Nerves of steel

Ravenclaw
Named For: Rowena Ravenclaw
Head of House: Prof. Flitwick, Charms
House Colors: Blue and Bronze
House Ghost: The Grey Lady
Entrance: Unknown
Quidditch Captain: Roger Davies
Quidditch Color: Blue
Main Characteristic: Wit, Wisdom

Hufflepuff
Named For: Helga Hufflepuff
Head of House: Prof. Sprout, Herbology
House Colors: Yellow and Black
House Ghost: The Fat Friar
Entrance: Somewhere near the kitchens
Quidditch Captain: Cedric Diggory
Quidditch Color: (Canary)Yellow
Main Characteristic: Just, Loyal, Hard-working

Slytherin
Named For: Salazar Slytherin
Head of House: Prof. Severus Snape, Potions
House Colors: Green and Silver
House Ghost: The Bloody Baron
Entrance: Dungeon Wall
Quidditch Captain: Marcus Flint
Quidditch Color: Green
Main Characteristic: Sly, Ambitious, Cunning

Hogwarts History
Hogwarts was founded over 1000 years ago - the precise date is uncertain - by the four greatest wizards of the age. The four school houses are named after them: Godric Gryffindor, Helga Hufflepuff, Rowena Ravenclaw, and Salazar Slytherin. They built the castle together, far from prying Muggle eyes, for it was an age when magic was feared by common people and witches and wizards suffered much persecution.

�For a few years, the founders worked in harmony together, seeking out youngsters who showed signs of magic and bringing them up to the castle to be educated. But then disagreements sprang up between them. A rift began to grow between Slytherin and the others. Slytherin wished to be more selective about the students admitted to Hogwarts. He believed that magical learning should be kept within all-magic families. He disliked taking students of Muggle parentage, believing them to be untrustworthy. After a while, there was a serious argument on the subject between Slytherin and Gryffindor, and Slytherin left the school. Reliable historical sources tell us this much, but these honest facts have been obscured by the fanciful legend of the Chamber of Secrets. The story goes that Slytherin had built a hidden chamber in the castle, of which the others knew nothing. Slytherin, according to the legend, sealed the Chamber of Secrets so that none would be able to open it until his own true heir arrived at the school. The heir alone would be able to unleash the horror within and purge the school of all who were unworthy to study magic"~CoS

About 300 years after the school was founded, the Triwizard Tournament began between the three most prestigious magical schools in Europe: Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, Beauxbatons Academy of Magic, and the Durmstrang Institute. Each school took turns hosting the Tournament, which took place every five years. The judges for the Tournament included the heads of the three schools. This tournament was considered the best way for wizards of different nationalities to meet and make friends. The tournament continued for six centuries, until the death toll became too high and the tournament was discontinued. It was reintroduced on October 30, 1994.

Thanks so much to Kat for writing this Hogwarts information!!

Quidditch

Quidditch is a fictional sport played by witches and wizards in the Harry Potter novels by J. K. Rowling. Quidditch is the most popular wizard sport, an equivalent to muggle soccer, and is played on broomsticks.

Teams
There are 7 players per Quidditch team. Two teams compete against each other per game.

Positions
There are 4 positions on a Quidditch field, these are:
Chasers: There are 3 chasers per team; chasers are responsible for scoring goals with the Quaffle.
Keepers: There is 1 keeper per team; this player is responsible for guarding his goals against the opposing team.
Beaters: There are 2 beaters per team; Beater�s are responsible for knocking Bludgers away from their team members and toward opposing members.
Seekers: There is 1 seeker per team; this player is responsible for catching the Golden Snitch.

Equipment
Each player uses a broomstick
Bats: Each Beater is equipped with a short, fat bat to hitting bludgers. There are four balls. They are:
Quaffle: 1 large red ball about the size of a soccer ball
Bludgers: 2 jet black balls slightly smaller than the Quaffle. These are trained to attempt to knock players off their broomsticks.
The Golden Snitch: A bright gold ball with tiny wings about the size of a large marble. It is elusive and very hard to catch.

The Quidditch Field
Hundreds of seats are raised in stands around the field so that the spectators were high enough to see the action. At either end of the field were three golden poles with hoops on the end, these the goal hoops are situated 50 feet high in the air.

Officials
One Referee on broom with whistle. He or she enforces the rules and assigns penalties.

The Rules
The game begins by the Referee releasing the four balls and blowing his/her whistle. A team scores ten points for successfully getting the Quaffle through one of the opposing teams goal rings. The game ends once the Golden Snitch has been caught. The Golden Snitch is worth an extra 150 points. A substitution of players is allowed, though seldom done unless the game drags more than a few hours. There is no apparent limitation as to how long a game can last or how high the players can go.

Penalties
There are 700 ways of committing a Foul in Quidditch. All of which occured in the World Cup match of 1473. Most of them are no longer possible given the ban on the use of wands by players and the audience. Seekers are the most fouled players, because the team who catches the snitch almost always wins. Penalties can also be given due to audience or mascot misconduct.

Penalties given in the Harry Potter Books:
Cobbing, or excessive use of elbows, results in a penalty shot
Delibrately trying to run into an opponent

Standard Strategies
Hawkskead Attacking Formation
Porskoff Ploy
Wronski Defensive Feint - Dangerous Seeker Diversion

Spectators
Although the stands are very high in the air, it can still be very difficult to see the action of the game. Most spectators bring binoculars. Special binoculars, such as the ones sold at the World Cup championship, are magically enhanced so that you can slow down the game play or have instant replay.

Divisions of Quidditch
There are three levels of quiddich that we know of:
The intramural level: School competition between houses
The professional level: Each nation has it�s own various teams which compete against each other at this level.
The international level: Held between the different nations of the world, the Quidditch World Cup is an international level.

The Hogwarts Teams
Gryffindor
Ravenclaw
Hufflepuff
Slytherin

Professional Teams
There are 13 Professional Teams in Great Britain, 3 of them are mentioned in the books:
Chudley Cannons
Puddlemere United
Wimbourne Wasps

International Teams
Ones mentioned in the book include:
Bulgaria
England
Ireland
Luxemburg
Peru
Scotland
Transylvania
Turkey
Uganda
Wales

The International Association of Quidditch
The primary governing body of the sport. Current Chairwizard is Hassan Mostafa.

Quidditch History
Quidditch was first developed at Queerditch Marsh in the 11th Century. When the game originally developed only one leather ball, which was a scoring leather ball, was used. This was an early version of the Quaffle. Not long after a pair of Bludgers were introduced into the game at Queerditch Marsh. The Golden Snitch did not enter the game of Quidditch until 1269. It was named after a hard to catch bird named the Golden Snidget and originally entered the game when Barberus Bragge set one loose on the field and announced a reward of 150 galleons to it�s captor. Afterward it became a tradition to have a snidget at every game and became worth 150 points to capture. After the snidget was made a protected species a ball was invented to take its place. Trees were replaced by baskets, and baskets by goal posts. Fields changed sizes and shapes until settling into the pitch we now use. Racing Brooms weren�t invented until the 1800�s and after they were developed became commonly used by Quidditch teams. The first racing broom was an Oakshaft 79. Brooms have since become faster, nimbler, more comfortable, and more efficient. Quidditch, despite its humble beginnings, has become a worldwide (although less common in Asia) phenomenon.

Thanks to: http://www.swarthoutfamily.org/harrypotter/quidditch.htm for all it�s great information.

For a more detailed explanation of the sport, we recommend:
Quidditch Through the Ages by Kennilworthy Whisp
Available to Muggles through Scholastic Press under the name J.K. Rowling

Much thanks to Kat for the Quidditch info!

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