thoughts about the forbidden forest

[hp_lexicon]

No: HPFGUIDX 40158


> But more than that, I have an alternate suggestion.  PoA states 
that Lupin 
> gallops into the forest. According to the Lexicon map of the 
Hogwarts 
> grounds, the Forbidden Forest is away from the entrance, which 
makes sense 
> since there's no reason why there would be any entrances to 
Hogwarts in the 
> forest. 

The more I think about it, the more I am convinced that the forest 
is not just in one place, but in fact occupies a huge area which 
partially surrounds the castle. We know that a part of the forest is 
west of the castle entrance, since we see the sun setting over it in 
PA. We also know that the forest is large enough to conceal four 
huge, fire-breathing dragons from the castle, which happens in GF. 
On top of that, we are told that Fluffy was released into the forest 
after the events of PS/SS, and one can only imagine how much space a 
creature like that needs to roam in. The forest must consist of 
hundreds, probably thousands of acres of wild land, with a variety 
of terrain and vegetation. One wonders if the hippogriffs were 
captured there as well.

Another thing to consider is that the forest might have a magical 
aspect to its geography. The Wizarding World's ideas of geography 
are very different from those of the Muggle world, since spells 
operate by a totally different form of logic. The Knight Bus, for 
example, apparently makes its stops in alphabetical order, not in an 
order dictated by the physical proximity between places. 
Transfiguration often seems to work best when the items involved are 
similar in spelling, regardless of the physical characteristics of 
the objects. Wizarding geometry is also rather fluid, since things 
like cauldrons or tents or cars can hold more on the inside than 
their outer dimensions would indicate. So might the forest not in 
fact be a lot larger on the inside than the outside, and might some 
of that additional space be actually located somewhere else entirely 
if we'd map it in our Muggle way?

If the forest has connections to other forests or wild places, it 
might explain why, when Barty Crouch Sr. managed to get to Hogwarts, 
the place he appeared was the forest. If so, one wonders which 
forest elsewhere in Britain he entered to start his journey.

The forest certainly is an amazing, mysterious place. I wonder if 
even Hagrid knows all its secrets...

Steve Vander Ark
The Harry Potter Lexicon