Durmstrang
| Durmstrang Institute for Magical Learning | |
|---|---|
| Harry Potter school | |
| Established | at least 700 years ago |
| Head | Igor Karkaroff |
| First appearance | School has never been shown, but students from Durmstrang appear in Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire |
The Durmstrang Institute for Magical Learning is a magic school that also makes its first appearance in Goblet of Fire. The school has existed for at least 700 years, when they began participating in the Triwizard Tournament. Dumbledore welcomes Durmstrang's students as "our friends from the North" and Rowling has stated that the school is located in Scandinavia. Durmstrang students wear heavy furs with blood-red robes. The students of Durmstrang mentioned by name are Russians and Bulgarians. Durmstrang is portrayed as an all-boys school in the film, but according to the book, it is co-ed. Several female students are mentioned, though not by name.
Durmstrang is known for placing an emphasis on the study of the Dark Arts. While other schools of magic in the series limit the study to Defence Against the Dark Arts, Durmstrang students actually learn them. In Deathly Hallows, it is revealed that the Dark wizard Gellert Grindelwald attended Durmstrang. He also carved the symbol of the Deathly Hallows onto the school's stone walls. Although Durmstrang teaches the Dark Arts as part of its curriculum, apparently the experiments performed by Grindelwald were considered too extreme even by the school's standards as he was expelled because of them.
The name "Durmstrang" is likely to be an allusion to the German phrase Sturm und Drang meaning storm and stress.