11Staircase
Hogwarts has a solution in case any boys get the idea to enter the girls’ dormitories. The stairs outside the entrance will immediately turn into a slide if boys try to climb them, keeping them from getting in.
12Anne Boleyn
A portrait of Henry VIII’s wife Anne Boleyn is hung on the wall of the grand staircase near the second-floor landing. She was the Queen consort of England, and mother to Elizabeth I, but Muggles believed that she was a witch. There were also rumors in the Wizarding community that she was a squib—a non-magical child born to magical parents.
13Salazar Slytherin
Salazar Slytherin wanted Hogwarts to admit pure-bloods only, but when the other founders refused to agree to this principle, he chose to leave the school.
14Battle of Hogwarts
The Battle of Hogwarts took place in May 1998 within the castle and on the grounds of Hogwarts and was responsible for ending the Second Wizarding War. After the battle, Hogwarts castle was nearly destroyed, but it seemed to have a self-regeneration process and it managed to recover and remain open.
15Grand Staircase
The different staircases in the Grand Staircase reach up to the seventh floor and have a tendency to move within the chamber, often when someone is on them. Certain trick stairs cause the student to sink through them, at which point another person will need to rescue them. First-year students are the most common “victims” of the stairs, as the older students tend to know where the trick ones are and simply jump over them.
16First Triwizard tournament
The first Triwizard tournament was held 300 years after the founding of Hogwarts. The tournament was an interschool competition between the three most prestigious magical schools in Europe—Hogwarts, Beauxbatons, and Durmstrang. It was in part created to allow students from the different schools to interact with one another.
17Witch or a Wizard
A Witch or a Wizard who is born with magical abilities will be automatically enrolled in Hogwarts as soon as they’re born. At age 11, admission is confirmed via owl. If the child has magical abilities but is born to Muggle (human) parents, their parents receive a visit from one of the school’s professors.
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18School's motto
The school’s motto is Draco Dormiens Nunquam Titillandus, which translated from Latin means “never tickle a sleeping dragon.” When asked how she arrived at the motto, J. K. Rowling explained that she’d always found traditional school slogans about perseverance and nobility boring, and it amused her to use a “practical” piece of advice as the school motto.
19Hogsmeade Station
As soon as they get off the train at Hogsmeade Station, first-year students are led to boats that carry them across the Great Lake. Thestral-drawn carriages transport the older students to the school.
20Hogwarts founders
Six magical objects to be found at Hogwarts were said to be possessions of Hogwarts’ founders and were of unimaginable value. The Sword of Gryffindor belonged to, you guessed it, Godric Gryffindor. Goblin made, it was constructed of pure silver inset with rubies. In 1993, the sword appeared inside the Sorting Hat when Harry was inside the Chamber of Secrets, proving to him once and for all that he was a true Gryffindor. The other relics of the Founders included Slytherin’s Locket, Hufflepuff’s Cup, Ravenclaw’s Diadem, the Founder Statues, and the Sorting Hat itself.
