[HPforGrownups] Focaccia and Harry Potter

[Neil Ward]

No: HPFGUIDX 848

At 09:06 09/03/2000 EDT, you wrote:

>People keep overlooking this, and I've begun to find it a bit irritating.
Durmstrang is NOT in Russia or Bulgaria. It's somewhere in Europe. Remember
when Hermione was talking about "An Appraisal of Magical Education in
Europe", and Durmstrang was mentioned as having a lot of emphasis on the
Dark Arts? Geez, if I see one more MWPP fic that mentions Durmstrang in the
USSR...
>
>Ellie

In GoF, Viktor Krum says that Durmstrang gets very little daylight in the
winter, which, to my mind, places it somewhere near the Arctic Circle.
Scandinavian countries such as Norway and Iceland are known for their very
dark winters (at least in the north) and they are also cold enough to
account for the fur-clad clothing of the Durmstrang party. 

It's incorrect to say Durmstrang is "NOT in Russia".  Durmstrang *could* be
in Russia, part of which, as Firebolt said, is in Europe.  Murmansk, for
example, in northern Russia, is just west of the northern tips of Norway and
Finland (in the vicinity of Lappland).  Also, Viktor describes flying over
lakes and mountains, and south of Murmansk, just near the White Sea, is a
region very heavy in lakes.  I still favour a location in Norway, but Russia
is a strong possibility.  

The Soviet Union collapsed in 1991, so the USSR no longer exists.  Any
fanfic writers placing Durmstrang in the USSR are, therefore, a little
behind the times.

It is very unlikely that Durmstrang is in Bulgaria, as it's too far south in
Europe to suffer from very dark winters.  The same applies to Germany,
although the name Durmstrang, as we've noted before, is a play on the phrase
'Sturm und Drang' (Storm and Stress), describing a German literary movement
championed by Goethe, among others.  

The European borders we recognise are part of the political and cultural
divisions of the Muggle world, but they may be different or even
non-existent in the Wizarding world.  I think the best we can say is that
Durmstrang is located in a place which is not defined in terms of a Muggle
country, but just in the far north of Europe, bordering the Arctic Circle.  

Neil
            Flying-Ford-Anglia

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   "Then, dented, scratched and steaming, 
   the car rumbled off into the darkness, 
   its rear lights blazing angrily"

 [Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets]

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