Hogwarts' Enchantments Guard Against Unwanted Wizards (WAS:Flying over Hogwarts)

[kiricat2001]

No: HPFGUIDX 46418

> > What is the point of an anti-apparation charm, when you can 
simply 
> > fly in and out unnoticed under cover of darkness?

Well, yes, but apparation is quick and instant, no matter where you 
are.  Hogwarts still has some protecion because, even with the 
Charlies of the world flying in under cover of darkness, or Sirius 
slipping out on Buckbeak, these methods of travel are not 
instantaneous.  There is still the possibility that they will be 
discovered, as will Voldemort and/or his legions of DEs.  This is a 
protection in the sense that Voldemort can't simply can't appear in 
the Great Hall one morning, AKing everyone before they have a chance 
to realize what's happening.

 And how did 
> > Charlie's friends locate Hogwarts? Even if they'd been students 
> > there, they presumably would always have travelled there by the 
> > Hogwarts Express. If the location is secret, then it is secret 
and 
> > known only to a limited few.

I'd think that once you've been there, and have a sense of where the 
castle is in relation to other places, you'd be able to find it, 
whether you're walking, riding a dragon, or driving a flying car. 
Speaking for myself, I know that I have a good sense of location.  I 
may not know the exact directions to give someone to get to a place, 
but once I've been there, I can usually figure out how to get there 
again.  I'm not convinced that Hogwarts is supposed to be invisible 
to everyone all the time.
  
> > Durmstrang students bubbled up from the middle of the lake on 
their 
> > ship; the Beauxbatons students flew in on their carriage;

Even if the castle was unplottable to everyone in existence (Wizard 
and Muggle), don't you think that somehow that unplottable-ness (?) 
could be lifted for the Triwizard Tournament?

 
> After writing this, I was listening to my audiotape of PoA and came 
> to the part where the students are in their squashy purple sleeping 
> bags in the Great Hall on Halloween night after Sirius has attacked 
> the portrait of the Fat Lady (Ch. 9).  Hermione tells Harry and Ron 
> that "Hogwarts, A History" states that "... the castle's protected 
by 
> more than walls, you know.  There are all sorts of enchantments on 
> it, to stop people entering by stealth."
 
> So this statement does *not* support the conclusion I had 
previously 
> reached, that the protections are meant to only keep Muggles out.  
So 
> I think this still remains a bit of a puzzle.  After all, why would 
> dementors need to be stationed at the entrances to Hogwarts if the 
> enchantments were sufficient to keep unwanted wizards out?  And how 
> do we explain how other wizards have been able to get onto the 
> Hogwarts grounds unnoticed?
> 
> I do still think it's a bit telling that we didn't hear about the 
> inability to apparate or disapparate within the Hogwarts grounds 
> until PoA, when it became necessary to have such a rule in order to 
> allow Sirius to be left alone in one of the rooms at Hogwarts.

Well, let me take a stab at this, although I do tend to agree with 
you.  Perhaps the protections are that 1) you can't dis/apparate. 2) 
the castle is invisible except as ruins to Muggles. 3) Unless you've 
been there and have a sense of where the castle is, in relation to, 
say, the nearest mountain, the location of Hogwarts is unplottable.

The problem arises with the consideration of the protections Hermione 
talks about.  This is borne out by the resence of the Dementors.  If 
the protections around Hogwarts were strong enough to keep out 
unwanted, evil wizards, then there would be no need to have Dementors 
protect the school.  Unless, of course, that is exactly the case, and 
the MoM, realizing this, places Dementors around the school simply to 
scoop up mad Sirius Black when he is unsuccessful in his attempts to 
get into Hogwarts. In other words, the Ministry expects that Sirius 
will try to get in to kill Harry, won't be able do it, and then they 
will happily capture him, give him the Kiss, and accept the kudos of 
a grateful Wizard world. 

But, Sirius evidently can invade the school with impunity. Why? 
Because he really has no evil intent to anyone at the school, except 
for Peter?  But, then the we have the problem of intent in GoF, since 
Barty Jr./Faux Moody is able to get into Hogwarts with no apparent 
problem.  

So, the only explantion I can come up with is that 1-3 above work, 
and that anything else is pure rumor that people accept as fact.

Marianne