Durmstrang Institute

The Durmstrang Institute is a wizarding school. It is located in the northernmost regions of either Sweden or Russia, although the latter is most likely. Durmstrang has, however, taught students from as far afield as Bulgaria. Durmstrang was one of the three schools that competed in the Triwizard Tournament in the 1994–1995 school year. It is an old school, having existed since at least 1294. The students at the school wear fur cloaks, fur hats, and blood-red robes.

Durmstrang, like Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, is inside a castle. The castle is only four stories tall and fires are only lit for magical purposes. It has very extensive grounds. In addition, the school is Unplottable; Durmstrang, like other schools, likes to conceal its whereabouts so the other schools cannot steal their secrets. Their arrival by ship implies that Durmstrang is somewhere at the seaside or by some river or major lake.

Durmstrang does not admit Muggle-borns. Therefore, it was ironic that Krum attended the Yule Ball with Hermione Granger, who is Muggle-born and would not have been admitted at his school.

Durmstrang is notorious for teaching the Dark Arts. Former Highmaster Igor Karkaroff was in the service of Lord Voldemort as a Death Eater, but managed to escape punishment in Azkaban by providing the Ministry of Magic with the names of his co-conspirators. Lucius Malfoy, another Death Eater, considered sending his son Draco to Durmstrang, but his mother did not like the idea of him going to school so far away.

Triwizard Tournament
In 1294 the Triwizard Tournament was established as a friendly competition between Durmstrang Institute, Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry and Beauxbatons Academy of Magic. But in 1792 a Cockatrice went on a rampage and injured the Heads of all the schools. The Triwizard Tournament was ended until 1994.

Past
In 1894, Gellert Grindelwald was accepted into Durmstrang Institute. Although the school was oriented towards the Dark Arts, Grindelwald's experiments in dark magic were considered too dangerous for the students. After a certain amount of time, even Durmstrang could no longer ignore Grindelwald's dangerous studies, and expelled him. Before he was expelled, he carved the calling card of his obsession, the mark of the Deathly Hallows, on a wall of the school, which remained there long after his defeat. Some students copied it onto their books and bags to impress others, but were "taught a lesson" (presumably in the form of retribution) by those who lost family members to Grindelwald.

Events surrounding the Triwizard Tournament in 1994
Durmstrang arrived at Hogwarts for the Triwizard Tournament by an enormous ship, where they also slept during their stay in Scotland. They chose the Slytherin table and ate there.

Bulgarian Quidditch Seeker, Viktor Krum, attended Durmstrang, and was still in school during the 1994 Quidditch World Cup. That same year, the school participated in the recommenced Triwizard Tournament. Karkaroff brought twelve students with him to Hogwarts to put their name into the Goblet of Fire. However, it was Krum who was chosen as the Durmstrang representive.

As Krum was a celebrity, he was constantly hounded by Draco Malfoy and other students, who wanted autographs and the prestige of being close with him. Krum mostly ignored these advances, but formed a close friendship with Hermione Granger, a Gryffindor student. They continued communication after the Tournament through pen-pal letters.

Karkaroff fled after Lord Voldemort rose again. It is not known who took over, or whether the school's reputation improved or worsened due to this.

Known students

 * Gellert Grindelwald
 * Viktor Krum
 * Poliakoff
 * Former Head (possibly)
 * Igor Karkaroff (possibly)
 * Igor Karkaroff's aide
 * Durmstrang girl

Etymology of name
"Durmstrang" may be a for Sturm und Drang, a borrowed German expression meaning "turmoil, ferment" deriving from the name of a highly emotion-driven German artistic movement of the late 1700s called Romanticism. "Sturm und Drang" literally translates as "storm and stress."

Behind the scenes

 * In an interview with Accio Quote J.K. Rowling stated that Durmstrang was located in Scandinavia, in the far north of either Sweden or Norway.
 * However, from Krum's description of the school's surroundings in Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, one sees that they do not match northern Sweden but do almost perfectly match that of Norway. We learn from Viktor that the castle is situated in a mountainous region, and is in close proximity to at least two lakes. Viktor then goes into great detail in describing the climate at Durmstrang, stating that during the winter months there is very little sunlight. The highest point in Sweden is the mountain Kebnekaise at 6926 feet. This is fairly diminutive when compared with Norway's highest mountain Galdhøpiggen which measures 8100 feet. However, Norway's highest peak is not of a significant latitude to restrict sunlight to the degree that Viktor describes, but Sweden's certainly is, being situated north of the Polar Circle. Furthermore, Galdhøpiggen is surrounded by several major lakes including Gjende and Russvatnet, whereas the northernmost point of Sweden has no lakes, the closest lake being Torneträsk, which is located in the northwest.
 * In the film, the for Durmstrang is shown to be a double-headed eagle, and also features Cyrillic characters. Some of the regions of Sweden have crests with beings such as dragons, eagles, griffons, and giants. Additionaly, one region of Sweden has a moose, eagle, and a wolf on its crest, all three of which are found on the Durmstrang crest.
 * In the film adaptation of Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, Durmstrang is pictured as an all-boy school. However, we know from the novel that there was also at least one girl studying at Durmstrang by the 1990s.
 * In the book, the hairstyle of the Durmstrang students was not described; in the film, all the Durmstrang students, who were all boys, had a buzzcut (except for Igor Karkaroff's aide and Gellert Grindelwald).

Appearances

 * Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire
 * Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire (film)
 * Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire (video game)
 * Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix
 * Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows

Notes and references
Durmstrang Дурмстранг Durmstrang