Durmstrang locale: Latvia CON

[Owen Cook]

No: HPFGUIDX 102498

I see one fatal objection to the theory that Durmstrang is in Latvia: 
mountains. The highest point in Latvia is only 300 m above sea level, 
and the surrounding areas of northern Poland, Lithuania, Belarus, etc 
are equally low-lying. If Krum goes for recreational flying through 
the mountains around the school, he's got to be doing it somewhere 
else.

However, a location around the Baltic does explain how the school 
comes to have a German name but a largely Slavic student body and 
staff. I suggest northern Sweden or Finland as attractive 
alternatives: they would offer (1) mountains, particularly on the 
Swedish end; (2) lakes, particularly on the Finnish end; (3) cold 
weather and long nights in winter; and (4) a strong historical 
connection, through the Baltic trade routes, with both Germany and 
Slavic lands (especially Russia).