Hogwarts is somewhere in Scotland. The map here shows the most likely locations of the three schools of wizardry in Europe. This is my own creation and I hereby release all rights for it into the public domain. Lgriot 20:36, 31 July 2007 (UTC) Most probable locations for Hogwarts Primary recruitment ground for Hogwarts Secondary recruitment ground for Hogwarts Most probable locations for Beauxbatons Primary recruitment ground for Beauxbatons Secondary recruitment ground for Beauxbatons Most probable locations for Durmstrang Primary recruitment ground for Durmstrang Secondary recruitment ground for Durmstrang Country without an obvious wizarding school to go to Sea / lake Here are the assumptions for the coloured areas:

• First assumption: the school is located in a place where the language of the school is a mother tongue of the surrounding population.
• Second assumption: It is very difficult for an 11 year old student to follow the lessons in a language that is not the student's mother tongue, therefore the school is recruiting primarily in countries where the school teaching language is mother tongue.
• Third assumptions: The school may also recruit, but less frequently, in places where the language is close enough from the school language so that the students do not have to learn a language that is too different from the school language.

Locations

• Hogwarts location: Rowling said it is in Scotland in an Interview. This map has assumed that it is not in the most populated areas of Scotland (Edinburgh and Glasgow) since in Goblet of Fire, it is said that the nearest Muggle town is several miles away (that does not exist around Edinburgh and Glasgow). I have also excluded the Scottish Islands, since you can go to Hogwarts by train from London.
• Beauxbatons location: It must be in a French speaking area. The weather is warm (school uniform is very light), bouillabaisse seems to be a regular dish for the students.
• Durmstrang location: It must be in a Slavic country (Victor Krum is from Bulgaria, all other known students/teachers have a slavic name, all have a slavic accent when they speak). Latitude needs to be higher than Scotland (Dumbledore says that they are "from the North" while he is in Scotland), and Krum says that the winter days are very short, and summer days particularly long, compared to Hogwarts, implying that Durmstrang is near or above the Arctic Circle. Also he says that there are lakes and mountains around it. The map highlights those spots that match all 3 pieces of information (Slavic language, latitude higher than Scotland, lake + mountain areas).

Recruitment ground

• Hogwarts recruitment ground: Britain & maybe Republic of Ireland (no language barrier to prevent it in the English-speaking areas, but the Gaelic-speaking areas could pose a problem).
• Beauxbatons recruitment ground: All french speaking countries in Europe + maybe other latin speaking countries (the languages are close enough to French to make the linguistic jump?) and North African countries where French is taught in primary school.
• Durmstrang recruitment ground: once it is established that Durmstrang can only be in northern Russia, it is assumed that Russian speaking countries are the primary recruitment ground. Bulgaria and other slavic speaking countries qualify as secondary recruitment ground because the other slavic languages could be close enough to Russian for the students to learn it.