Durmstrang School & Hogwarts.

[Constance Vigilance]

No: HPFGUIDX 155060

Regarding the location of Durmstrang, Steve/bboyminn wrote:

> As far as Durmstrang, it seems to have an Eastern European/Russian
> feel to it, that in my mind eliminates Scandinavia (Finland, 
Sweden,
> Norway). Many people have suggested Russia, but apparently the only
> place in Russia they know of is Siberia which is completely wrong 
in
> my mind. So, the Kola Peninsula is very close to Scandinavia, it is
> Russian, it has forests, mountain (of sorts), and lakes, is very 
far
> north, and is a very remote desolate area, an area where a magic
> school could easily be hidden.
> 

CV: I've always been certain that Durmstrang is in Norway or 
Northern Sweden. This is because I came to that conclusion 
independently by following a trail that begins with Quirrell and 
Norwegian dragon eggs, trolls and Muggle history and birthed a 
theory "Lars Is Bright Tonight" which starts <a 
href="http://groups.yahoo.com/group/HPforGrownups/messages/87645">her
e</a> and continues <a 
href="http://groups.yahoo.com/group/HPforGrownups/messages/87646">her
e. (Messages 87645 and 87646 respectively)

After I had already placed it in Norway (over the objections of many 
on this list), I found confirmation from Herself that I was correct. 
That was in post #6495, transcribed by listee Pam Scruton. This 
particular interview has not made it into the general canon 
collection, I'm assuming because there is only a summary and not a 
word-for-word transcription of the dialog there.

So, how does one justify the German name and Eastern European 
surnamed students and instructors there? So simple.  We all know 
that Durmstrang is a magnet school for European students who wish to 
study the Dark Arts. Draco tells us that he wanted to go to 
Durmstrang until his mummy put her foot down. There is no reason why 
such a school might have students and teachers with any variety of 
surnames.

How did a German sounding school name end up in Norway? Easy peasy. 
We also know that JKR does allow the Wizard and Muggle world to 
overlap, especially in times of national stress. Like a world war, 
perhaps? You KNOW that the wizards of the combating countries would 
have come to their respective country's defense. Again, I was 
delighted to have JKR confirm my assumptions quite literally (from 
Part 3 of the Emerson/Melissa interview on July 16, 2005):

JKR: I'm going to tell you as much as I told someone earlier who 
asked me (about Grindelvald). You know Owen who won the competition 
to interview me? He asked about Grindelvald. He said, "Is it 
concidence that he died in 1945," and I said no. It amused me to 
make allusions to things that were happening in the Muggle world, so 
my feeling would be that while there's a global Muggle war going on, 
there's also a global wizarding war going on.

(CV now): So, what was happening in Norway in 1945? It was occupied 
by Germany. JKR tells us there is a wizard war going on, so we can 
assume there were Nazi wizards. I think that the Nazi wizards took 
over an existing magic school (since we know that the Tri-wizard 
tournament has been going on for centures), gave it a German name 
and started the curriculum of teaching the Dark Arts, which it still 
does today.

Steve/bboyminn:

> Also, when the books speak of the three major schools of magic in
> Europe, I don't think Scandinavia is included in that expression of
> 'Europe'. Scandinavia seems, from the various reference books, to 
have
> it's own tradition of magic, and would most likely have it's own
> schools of magic. So again, in my mind, that eliminates 
Scandinavia as
> the location for Durmstrang. 

CV: I don't. I think I have addressed your argument about the 
apparent lack of a Scandinavian school of magic. There was one. It 
was taken over by Evil Wizards and renamed. Furthermore, Quirrell 
has a skill with trolls (Scandinavian folklore) and chooses to get a 
Norwegian dragon egg when he needs just any old dragon egg. Quirrell 
is the Dark Arts teacher. Where did he learn it? I think he was a 
student of Durmstrang and learned about Norwegian dragons and trolls 
there. I think the name "Quirrell" is JKR's nod to "Quisling" which 
puts him, once again, in a relation to Scandinavia. If one can make 
the leap that Quirrell is related to Durmstrang, then that helps put 
Durmstrang in Scandinavia.

I had already made all those connections before I even learned that 
JKR had said Durmstrang is in Scandinavia.

However, I'll be pleased to discuss this some more if you'd like. 
Tell me why it is not possible for Durmstrang to be in Scandinavia?

~CV, with whom nobody agrees in her belief that Quirrell is alive 
and going to be heroically vindicated in the final book.