Each year, first-year witches and wizards head off to begin their education at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry on the first of September. With the requisite supplies acquired at Diagon Alley in tow, they board the Hogwarts Express at Platform Nine and Three-Quarters and get ready for the adventure of a lifetime. But what awaits these intrepid young pupils after the train pulls into Hogsmeade Station? Listen in to find out.
This audio guide will take you on an immersive journey through the wizarding world, beginning with the most magical, wondrous locale of all: Hogwarts Castle and grounds. From the Forbidden Forest to Professor Dumbledore’s office, the stately Great Hall to the castle’s infamous moving staircases, here’s everything you need to know about the mystical school Harry Potter once called home.
From Chapter Eight: The Potions Master
Performed by Stephen Fry
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Hogwarts Castle
The Great Hall
Stately and beautiful, Hogwarts’ Great Hall is where students eat their daily meals and where major celebrations and festivities (such as the Sorting Ceremony and Yule Ball) are held. The hall is enormous, with space enough to fit all Hogwarts's students, who gather at one of four long tables spanning the hall. At the front of the Great Hall is another table: Here, Hogwarts teachers and staff take their seats. The room is illuminated with a number of candles, floating just below a ceiling enchanted to mirror the current weather and time conditions outside the castle.
From Chapter Seven: The Sorting Hat
Performed by Stephen Fry
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The Hogwarts library
As Ron once wisely said of Hermione’s habits: “When in doubt, go to the library.” Throughout their years at Hogwarts, the school library offers Harry, Ron, and Hermione countless leads on their investigations and plenty of homework help, too. The library is home to tens of thousands of books and scrolls on a wide variety of subjects. Located in the library, and closed off by a rope, is the Restricted Section, where rare books on dark magic are kept. Students require a permission note from a teacher to grant them access to this area.
From Chapter Twelve: The Mirror of Erised
Performed by Stephen Fry
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The Headmaster's or Headmistress’s office
Guarded by a large gargoyle statue and accessible only via password, the Headmaster’s office is located high atop a tower in Hogwarts Castle. The office is used by the current Headmaster of Hogwarts, so fans of the Harry Potter series knew it best when it belonged to Professor Albus Dumbledore.
Dumbledore’s office is adorned with moving portraits of a number of notable former headmasters and headmistresses, including Phineas Nigellus Black and Dilys Derwent. Magical objects—like the Sorting Hat and the Pensieve—are also found here, alongside a myriad of books and Dumbledore’s beloved phoenix, Fawkes.
From Chapter Twelve: The Polyjuice Potion
Performed by Stephen Fry
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House dormitories and common rooms
Each of the four Hogwarts houses have their own dormitories and common rooms in which sorted students live, study, celebrate, and unwind after a long day of classes.
Gryffindor: Gryffindor’s dormitories and common room are located in Hogwarts’s Gryffindor Tower. The entrance is hidden behind the portrait of the Fat Lady, to whom students must provide a password to be permitted entry. Warm, inviting, and made homey by armchairs and a roaring fire, this is one place in Hogwarts we’d love to cosy up in.
Hufflepuff: Found in the basement of Hogwarts near the kitchens, the black-and-yellow-adorned Hufflepuff common room and dormitories are decorated with a variety of colourful plants and flowers. As revealed in From the Wizarding Archive, these rooms are accessible only to students who can correctly tap out a secret rhythm on the barrels blocking the door.
Slytherin: In the school’s dungeon, you’ll find the Slytherin common room. Its windows look out onto the Great Lake, and the room is lit by the glow of greenish lamps. There, the dark, rich leather furniture and grand tapestries of the common room are concealed behind a seemingly bare wall and accessible via a password known only to students of the house.
Ravenclaw: Those of wit and learning find their kind in a tower off the west side of the castle. There, a circular, airy common room with a number of bookshelves is locked away behind a riddle presented by their knocker, a bronze eagle. A large, marble statue of house founder Rowena Ravenclaw graces the common room and can be found near the spiral staircase leading to the dormitories.
Hogwarts classrooms
Hogwarts is a wizarding school, after all, so the castle wouldn’t be complete without classrooms for young witches and wizards to learn their craft. Just a few notable classrooms include:
ThePotions classroom is a dark, chilly space located in the dungeons of Hogwarts castle, near Professor Severus Snape’s office and personal storeroom.
The Divination classroom, which is described as attic-like, accessible through a trapdoor and descending ladder. It's dimly lit, and largely crimson, with scarves draped over lamps, candles, and teacups giving it an old-fashioned flair.
From Chapter Six: Talons and Tea Leaves
Performed by Stephen Fry
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Other classrooms at Hogwarts include those for Defense Against the Dark Arts, Charms, Transfiguration, History of Magic, Arithmancy, and Muggle Studies. Classes for Care of Magical Creatures take place outside the castle to observe fantastic beasts outdoors, while classes for Herbology are held in the greenhouses—more on that later!
The Hospital Wing
Harry becomes all-too-familiar with the hospital wing over his years at Hogwarts. Here, Madam Pomfrey cares for students with many types of magical and medical maladies, from petrification to broken bones, boils to Quidditch-induced injuries. The wing, lined with beds for patients, is generally a place of quiet rest and healing. When injuries prove too severe to be treated at Hogwarts, patients can be transferred to St Mungo’s Hospital for Magical Maladies and Injuries for additional care.
From Chapter Ten: The Rogue Bludger
Performed by Stephen Fry
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The Hogwarts kitchens
One of the Principal Exceptions to Gamp’s Law of Elemental Transfiguration maintains that no witch or wizard can conjure food. Summon, transform, and multiply, sure, but even the most-gifted magical talents can’t create a pumpkin pasty from thin air. As such, all of the delicious food enjoyed by Harry and his classmates at Hogwarts are prepared within the kitchens, located beneath the Great Hall and near the Hufflepuff dormitories. Staffed by house-elves and stocked with plenty of utensils and ingredients, the Hogwarts kitchen is to thank for all of the school’s bountiful feasts.
From Chapter Twenty-One: The House-Elf Liberation Front
Performed by Stephen Fry
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The Chamber of Secrets
Much of Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets focuses on whether or not this mythologized location really exists. It is said to be located deep beneath the dungeons. According to legend, one of Hogwarts’s founders, Salazar Slytherin, created the hidden subterranean chamber within the school to bring about the ruin of those he deemed unworthy to study magic.
From Chapter Nine: The Writing on the Wall
Performed by Stephen Fry
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The Room of Requirement
Located on the seventh floor of Hogwarts castle, the Room of Requirement is an enchanted, secret room that only appears to those in need of it, transforming into whatever space that witch or wizard requires. It is also referred to by Dobby and his fellow house-elves as the “come-and-go room.” In Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, the Room of Requirement plays a major role when Harry is in search of a safe location to hold meetings of Dumbledore’s Army. Meeting Harry’s needs, the Room of Requirement transforms into the perfect practice space, featuring shelves lined with Defense Against the Dark Arts books, instruments like Sneakoscopes and Foe-Glass, and silk cushions to brace the impact of stunning spells.
From Chapter Eighteen: Dumbledore's Army
Performed by Stephen Fry
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Hogwarts Grounds
The groundskeeper’s hut
Harry, Ron, and Hermione spend a great deal of time confiding in Hagrid in his small, wooden hut, located on Hogwarts grounds near the Forbidden Forest. As the Keeper of Keys and Grounds at Hogwarts, Rubeus Hagrid calls this hut his home. A single room adorned with a fireplace, kettle, bed, and several unexpected items—ranging from a dragon egg to hams hanging from the ceiling—Hagrid shares his home with his beloved dog, Fang.
From Chapter Eight: The Potions Master
Performed by Stephen Fry
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The Quidditch pitch
Brooms up! Players across the four houses gather at the Hogwarts Quidditch pitch for practices and matches, honing their games and getting ready to face off for the school’s annual Quidditch Cup. The pitch is oval-shaped and features three Quidditch hoops at either end. Surrounding the Quidditch pitch are stands for faculty and students who wish to root for their respective teams.
From Chapter Ten: Hallowe'en
Performed by Stephen Fry
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The Great Lake
Located on Hogwarts grounds, the Great Lake is an aquatic ecosystem for magical creatures in its own right. Housing merpeople, Grindylows, and a giant squid among other spellbinding critters, the lake was full of enchanting inhabitants—a number of which Harry and his classmates come face-to-face with over the years at Hogwarts.
The Great Lake is where first-years sail to Hogwarts Castle for the first time, a tradition followed by the Sorting Ceremony and start-of-term feast. It’s also home to a climactic moment in Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, where the four Triwizard Tournament champions dive headfirst into the lake’s unknowable depths, vying for victory in their second task.
From Chapter Twenty-Six: The Second Task
Performed by Stephen Fry
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The Whomping Willow
A magical (and highly volatile) tree, Whomping Willows are known to violently thrash at and attack anything that approaches, using its branches to wallop those who dare come too close. Rare as it is powerful, the tree is among the most memorable nonhuman figures in the Harry Potter series. The Whomping Willow located on Hogwarts's grounds first shows off its strength in Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets.
From Chapter Five: The Whomping Willow
Performed by Stephen Fry
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The Herbology greenhouses
There are a number of greenhouses out among Hogwarts’ vegetable gardens. A perfect place for magical plants—like Mandrakes and Venomous Tentacula—to take root, the Hogwarts greenhouses were where Professor Pomona Sprout conducted her herbology lessons.
From Chapter Six: Gilderoy Lockhart
Performed by Stephen Fry
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The Forbidden Forest
On the outskirts of Hogwarts lies the Forbidden Forest, a massive, eerie wood that Hogwarts students are expressly barred from entering. The forest houses a number of magical beasts, from Acromantula to centaurs, making the terrain a dangerous place for students to roam. That said, the Forbidden Forest still makes a number of appearances throughout the seven books, as students were permitted to enter the ghastly grove for both Care of Magical Creatures lessons and detention punishments.
From Chapter Fifteen: The Forbidden Forest
Performed by Stephen Fry
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Surrounding Areas
Hogsmeade
Located within walking distance of Hogwarts Castle, Hogsmeade is a cosy, quaint wizarding village full of shops and eateries. Hogsmeade is also the location of one of two Hogwarts Express stations (the other, found at King’s Cross station, is located in London). Hogsmeade Station is the first destination for every new student at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.
Beginning in their third year, Hogwarts students are permitted to take weekend trips into the village with parental permission. There, they peruse shops like Honeydukes and Zonko’s Joke Shop, and sip on Butterbeer in local haunts like the Three Broomsticks. Hogsmeade is also home to the Shrieking Shack, a supposedly haunted abandoned building.
