Post by s***@gmail.comThis has always puzzled me.
Since the library is off-line at the moment, I hope you'll forgive me
for quoting the relevant article from the Potterverse FAQ in full.
1. Where is Durmstrang?
Durmstrang's whereabouts are kept secret, we learn, but
there are still a few clues to where it is located
In [GoF-11] we read:
'Durmstrang's another wizarding school?' said
Harry.
'Yes,' said Hermione sniffily, 'and it's got a
horrible reputation. According to An Appraisal of
Magical Education in Europe, it puts a lot of
emphasis on the Dark Arts.'
'I think I've heard of it,' said Ron vaguely.
'Where is it? What country?'
'Well, nobody knows, do they?' said Hermione,
raising her eyebrows.
'Er why not?' said Harry.
'There's traditionally been a lot of rivalry
between all the magic schools. Durmstrang and
Beauxbatons like to conceal their whereabouts so
nobody can steal their secrets,' said Hermione
matter-of-factly.
'Come off it,' said Ron, starting to laugh.
'Durmstrang's got to be about the same size as
Hogwarts how are you going to hide a dirty great
castle?'
'But Hogwarts is hidden,' said Hermione, in
surprise, 'everyone knows that ... well, everyone
who's read Hogwarts: A History, anyway.'
'Just you, then,' said Ron. 'So go on how
d'you hide a place like Hogwarts?'
'It's bewitched,' said Hermione. 'If a Muggle
looks at it, all they see is a mouldering old ruin
with a sign over the entrance saying DANGER, DO
NOT ENTER, UNSAFE.'
'So Durmstrang'll just look like a ruin to an
outsider too?'
'Maybe,' said Hermione, shrugging, 'or it
might have Muggle-Repelling Charms on it, like the
World Cup Stadium. And to keep foreign wizards
from finding it, they'll have made it Unplottable
-'
'Come again?'
'Well, you can enchant a building so it's
impossible to plot on a map, can't you?'
'Er ... if you say so,' said Harry.
'But I think Durmstrang must be somewhere in
the far north,' said Hermione thoughtfully.
'Somewhere very cold, because they've got fur
capes as part of their uniforms.'
'Ah, think of the possibilities,' said Ron
dreamily. 'It would've been so easy to push Malfoy
off a glacier and make it look like an accident
... shame his mother likes him ...'
And in [GoF-23]:
'Vell, ve have a castle also, not as big as
this, nor as comfortable, I am thinking,' he was
telling Hermione. 'Ve have just four floors, and
the fires are lit only for magical purposes. But
ve have grounds larger even than these though in
vinter, ve have very little daylight, so ve are
not enjoying them. But in summer ve are flying
every day, over the lakes and the mountains -'
'Now, now, Viktor!' said Karkaroff with a
laugh that didn't reach his cold eyes. 'Don't go
giving away anything else, now, or your charming
friend will know exactly where to find us!'
Dumbledore smiled, his eyes twinkling. 'Igor,
all this secrecy ... one would almost think you
didn't want visitors.'
The last clue is the one name we learn beyond Krum (who's
Bulgarian) and Karkaroff is "Poliakoff" ([GoF-16]). To
summarise the clues to Durmstrang's whereabouts:
+ Hermione believes it to be to the "far north."
Where the "far North." starts is of course not
universally agreed upon. To a Dane (as I am) from about
the latitude of Edinburgh you have to be at least very
close to the arctic circle north of the 65th degree
latitude, while for someone from Cornwall, Scotland is
perhaps far north.
+ Krum tells: "- though in vinter, ve have very little
daylight ..."
Again discussions have raged as to what constitutes
"very little daylight." Must there be a little daylight
every day, or should we read Krum completely literally
as meaning very little daylight through the whole
winter? What can be said is that Krum contrasts it to
Hogwarts at Christmas time this would be about 6
hours and 40 minutes on the shortest day (calculated
for the 57th degree northern latitude, which is
approximately mid-Scotland).
+ The local geography features mountains and lakes.
Whether or not Ron's joke about glaciers should be
taken seriously, I will leave to you ...
Again the question of what constitutes a mountain can
be debated. How tall does it need to be?
+ The names ending in -off and -ov belong to the group of
Slavic languages as does Bulgarian.
In the magical community, however, this does not
necessarily mean that the school is located in a region
where the language is Slavic.
+ A rather more vague clue is the sparing use of fires at
Durmstrang does this indicate the lack of a ready
supply of wood? Is Durmstrang located in an unforested
region?
It appears to be the consensus that Durmstrang must be
located north of the 60th degree northern latitude, but it
is not agreed upon whether positions north of the arctic
circle are permissible. Given the "lakes and mountains" clue
the Scandinavian peninsula, the Kola peninsula and the
western side of the Ural seem to be the most likely
candidates together with the mountainous islands north of
the continent if you allow positions north of the arctic
circle.
Post by s***@gmail.comI think it's pretty obvious Bauexbaton is in France,
That is pretty obvious.
Post by s***@gmail.combut what about Durmstrang.
Actually it has been discussed rather emphatically once or twice in the
group.
Post by s***@gmail.comThe name sounds German,
The name is (most likely) a spoonerism, or parody, of "Sturm und Drang"
(Storm and Stress) -- a German artistic movement represented, among
others, by Goethe and Schiller, and well liked by the Nazi party.
In English
<http://www.litencyc.com/php/stopics.php?rec=true&UID=1266>
<http://www.press.jhu.edu/books/hopkins_guide_to_literary_theory/german_
theory_and_criticism-_1.html>
In German
<http://www.ni.schule.de/~pohl/literatur/epochen/stdrang.htm>
And about the connection with Durmstrang of Harry Potter:
<http://www.theninemuses.net/hp/4.html#durmstrang>
Post by s***@gmail.comand the uniform includes fur capes.
Implying cold surroundings.
Post by s***@gmail.comKrum is Bulgarian, and Karkarov sounds like a Slavic name. I forget
-- were the surnames of the other students mentioned?
Only Poliakoff.
Questions that would be extremely relevant in this context would be how
the Iron Curtain affected the magical community in Europe? And whether
Karkaroff went to Hogwarts (his comment about "Dear old Hogwarts" seems
to imply as much)?
Post by s***@gmail.comAlso, does Germany get so cold that they need to be bundles up like
that?
Germany is not it. Too far south
Post by s***@gmail.comI thought maybe it could be in Bulgaria, since Krum is on the
Bulgarian quidditch team and would need to practice with his
teammates.
Too far south -- there is a lot of daylight during the winter in
Bulgaria.
Post by s***@gmail.comAfter all is said and done, though, I think it's somewhere in Russia.
What are your thoughts?
I also favour a location in Russia. I've argued before for a location on
one of the Islands off the north coast of European Russia like e.g.
Novaya Zemlya (there's an area there that is ostensibly closed to
everyone because it has been used for test of nuclear bombs -- can
anyone imagine a better cover for magical school?)
Post by s***@gmail.comOne more question: are these the ony 3 wizard schools in Europe?
No. They are three largest:
" The Triwizard Tournament was first established some seven
hundred years ago as a friendly competition between the
three largest European schools of wizardry: Hogwarts,
Beauxbatons, and Durmstrang."
[GoF-12 'The Triwizard Tournament']
--
Troels Forchhammer
Valid e-mail is t.forch(a)email.dk
People demand freedom of speech to make up for the freedom of thought
which they avoid.
- Soren Kierkegaard