Forbidden Forest

"The forest hides many secrets."

- Ronan

The Forbidden Forest borders the edges of the Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry grounds. As its name suggests, it is strictly off limits to students - except in the case of detention, or Care of Magical Creatures lessons that occasionally take place there. Of course, with the various dangerous creatures living in the Forest, few students would probably even want to venture into it.

Inhabitants
The Forbidden Forest houses many dangerous creatures, such as:
 * Acromantula society, once led by Aragog
 * A Flying Ford Anglia once belonging to Arthur Weasley
 * Community of centaurs including Bane, Magorian, Ronan, and Firenze
 * Herds of unicorns and Thestrals
 * Rubeus Hagrid's giant half-brother, Grawp, who is moved by Albus Dumbledore to a cave in the mountains surrounding Hogwarts
 * Three-headed dog named Fluffy, who was released into the forest after serving as one of the guards to the Philosopher's Stone in the first year
 * Bugbears
 * Bowtruckles

After the Third Task of the Triwizard Tournament, the only surviving Blast-Ended Skrewt was sent to live in the Forest as well.

It is also rumored that many other types of creatures reside there including werewolves, trolls, and a few giants, though only Grawp is ever seen.

First Year
One day after Quidditch, Harry notices Snape sneaking towards the outskirts of the Forbidden Forest. There he half-hears a furtive conversation about the Philosopher's Stone, in which Snape asks Professor Quirrell if he has found a way past the three-headed dog and menacingly tells Quirrell to decide whose side he is on.

As part of their punishment for being caught out of bed at night, Harry, Hermione, Draco and Neville are compelled to help Hagrid to rescue a badly-injured unicorn in the Forbidden Forest. They split into two parties, and Harry and Draco find the unicorn dead, surrounded by its blood. A hooded figure crawls to the corpse and drinks the blood, while Draco screams and flees. The hooded figure moves towards Harry, who is knocked out by an agonising pain spreading from his scar. When Harry regains consciousness, the hooded figure has gone and a centaur, Firenze, offers to give him a ride back to the school. He tells him that the hooded figure was actually Lord Voldemort, who had been trying to regain strength by drinking the unicorn's blood.

Second Year
Harry and Ron go to visit Hagrid and ask him about his possible involvement in the last opening of the Chamber of Secrets, 50 years ago. However, before they can receive any information, Hagrid is taken away by Lucius Malfoy and Cornelius Fudge. Before leaving his hut, he says that if anyone wants to know anything they just have to "follow the spiders." Harry and Ron, who had been hiding under the invisibility cloak, decide to follow the spiders as per Hagrid's advice. Walking along the trails of the spiders, which are strangely all fleeing Hogwarts, takes them into the Forbidden Forest. There, they encounter Arthur Weasley's car, which had apparently taken to driving through the forest like some sort of wild animal. They eventually meet Aragog, a giant acromantula which had been the monster Hagrid had been "caught" setting on other students 50 years ago. Aragog explains that Hagrid is innocent, but rather than letting Harry and Ron go he decides to leave them as dinner for his children. Mr. Weasley's Ford Anglia comes blasting through the layers of spiders, however, and lets the boys escape. After this, Harry and Ron feel that they have reached dead ends everywhere, until one possible last hope occurs to them. Aragog said the monster's last victim died in a bathroom and it occurs to Harry that Moaning Myrtle might have been that victim.

Third Year
During their very first Care of Magical Creatures lesson, the third years in Harry, Ron, and Hermione's class follow Hagrid into the forest to learn about Hippogriffs. The hippogriff that they study is named Buckbeak, who is provoked into attacking Draco Malfoy and is sentenced to death. However, at the end of the year, Harry, Ron, and Hermione save Buckbeak and give him to Sirius Black to escape.

After being in the shrieking shack for several hours, Harry, Ron, Hermione, Sirius Black, Remus Lupin, Snape, and Ron's rat Scabbers, who has recently been discovered to be Peter Pettigrew, have climbed out of the secret passage in the Whomping Willow. Unfortunately, the full moon rises, causing Lupin to turn into a werewolf and allowing Pettigrew to turn back into Scabbers and escape. During Wormtail's escape he knocks out Ron, leaving Snape to conjure him a stretcher later on. After injuring Black (who was transformed into his animagus form of a dog), Lupin flees to the Forbidden Forest.

Fourth Year
After Harry and the other champions are informed the next task will be in a maze, filled with magical obstacles, Victor Krum and Harry stay back near the Forbidden Forest to talk to each other, a rather mad looking Barty Crouch Sr. emerges from the forest, asking for Dumbledore. Harry goes to retrieve Dumbledore, but when he returns, they find Krum has been stunned at the edge of the forest and Crouch is nowhere to be seen.

Fifth Year
Rubeus Hagrid, along with Olympe Maxime, paid a visit to a tribe of giants in 1995, on the orders of Hogwarts Professor and Headmaster Albus Dumbledore, to try and bring the giants over as their allies in the Second Wizarding War against Lord Voldemort and his Death Eaters. Hagrid brought Grawp back to Hogwarts with him and kept him in the Forbidden Forest for months. Throughout the year, Hagrid continuously enters the forest to visit him, getting suspicious injuries that he won't tell Harry, Ron, or Hermione about. Finally, during the final game of the Hogwarts Quidditch Cup, Hagrid brings Harry and Hermione into the forest and reveals Grawp to them, asking them that when he gets forced from Hogwarts that they keep him company.

One of Hagrid's Care of Magical Creatures lessons once he gets back involves mysterious animals called Thestrals. For this lesson, he leads his class into the forest in order to see the creatures in their natural habitat. This is Hagrid's first lesson that is inspected by Professor Umbridge.

Harry receives a vision that Sirius is being tortured at the Department of Mysteries, although Hermione suspects it may be a trap. Harry desperately attempts to contact Sirius at Grimmauld Place via the Floo Network in Umbridge's office fireplace, but he is caught. As she is about to use the Cruciatus Curse on him, Hermione claims that Dumbledore has hidden a powerful weapon in the Forbidden Forest. She leads Harry and Umbridge into the forest where they encounter centaurs. Umbridge foolishly insults them and an angry centaur picks up Umbridge and carries her off screaming into the woods. When Hagrid's giant half-brother, Grawp crashes onto the scene, Hermione and Harry escape amid the chaos.

Sixth Year
As Hagrid was coming out of the forest one day, he overheard Professors Snape and Dumbledore arguing over something that involved Snape not wanting to do something any more. However, Dumbledore argued that he had promised to do whatever it was, and that was that.

Behind the scenes

 * In the first two Harry Potter films the forest is referred to as the Dark Forest.
 * J.K. Rowling stated in J.K. Rowling: A Year in the Life that the forest is her favourite part of the grounds.

Appearances

 * Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone
 * Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone (film)
 * Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone (video game)
 * Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets
 * Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets (film)
 * Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets (video game)
 * Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban
 * Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (film)
 * Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (video game)
 * 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 Order of the Phoenix (film)
 * Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (video game)
 * Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince
 * Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince (film)
 * Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows
 * Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part II

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