Is Hogwarts from Harry Potter really a CASTLE?

It's time for a realism and historical analysis of one of the most iconic fantasy castles, HOGWARTS school of witchcraft and wizardry!
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[@tyrant-den884]

"Most wizards don't have one lick of logic."-Hermione Granger

[@Abdega]

“One don’t need to have logic to lick Hermione Granger” - Most Wizards ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)

[@bfbvouabeorbvoaervure963]

Abdega ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)

[@DeathbyButterflies1]

@afootineachworld yes

[@kenny7943]

the work on the model alone deserves a like!

[@williamroden8495]

Kenny . I wish I could give you more than one thumbs up! An excellent job on the Hogwarts castle modeling. I had never heard of your channel as it was YT that picked up on 'Hogwarts' to bring me here. I was impressed with the work and attention to detail you put into this!!! I picked up on a few of the same design aspects as you that could not withstand wind and gravity without magical enforcement. As a dedicated Harry Potter fan, you, fine sir, have made a subscriber of me. Greetings to you from Alabama, USA.

[@Zaya512]

That's exactly how I first came to this channel as well a couple months ago

[@johnthecrazed5679]

The problem is, it’s missing the massive ruined wall that surrounds the school

[@Eselfar]

I was about to say the same. The amount of researches for this video is huge, especially as Hogwarts shapes changes in every movie.

[@lightningcat82]

With the model, Hogworts looks like a functional castle that was modified and rebuilt over the centuries. "The gatehouse is in total disrepair." "Well, we haven't even closed the gate in 150 years. So let's just replace it with something that is easier to keep up on and still looks like a castle"

[@meranaphi]

When I went to the Harry Potter studios in London, I spoke to one of the staff there that told me something quite cool about the architecture. When designing the school, they wanted to make sure it also showed a history. When you look at the statue of the Architect of Hogwarts he is holding only the great hall and main large tower and the reason for this is not because they couldn't fit the rest on, its because that's all that was originally there. The school was originally only the large tower which housed the 4 houses and classrooms. The great hall was the main dinning area but above it was apparently rooms where the teachers stayed. They didn't have many students when the school started but the only access to the castle was through the boat house. Over time of course the castle was expanded by the 4 founders of hogwarts and that is why the large tower sits right in the middle of all the connecting points, because that is where they expanded from. I found this to be awesome and explained a lot about why such a large tower would have been built. I don't know if you would find this helpful but I loved it.

[@japes7]

Wow I like that reply. It would make sense because it seems like most of the Houses are built around there. Maybe now Slytherin and Ravenclaw moved though.

[@meranaphi]

@@japes7 it is possible, as they said when the school expanded then everything began to change so it is possible that that is why those houses moved. Don't forget the school had to grow when the student population began to increase.

[@NikkiTheOtter]

So basically the big tower, is the Keep?

[@meranaphi]

@@NikkiTheOtter I believe so but she never called it the keep.

[@aussienick4520]

Man, I had the chance to go there a year before the pandemic. It was absolutely awesome.

[@RapperFlo]

One explanation I would come up with is that Hogwarts was once a castle but over the centuries was gradually extended and repurposed into a school/university. This would also explain some of the differences in architectural styles. Some areas like the great hall, that church-like building and the bridges were added later on in another era without considering defensive needs.

[@syferpolski4344]

The "official" history says it was built all at once... and that it was attacked, but the attack were repelled in the field, by armies led by the founders

[@IkBenBenG]

@@syferpolski4344 But it all being built at once doesn't mean that nothing about it has changed, right? Perhaps the bridges could originally have had gatehouses protecting them, and maybe they were later removed since they were unpractical or something. The crenellations may always have been at least mostly decorative, but there are some medieval castles which don't have (functional) ones either. Or if renovations happened to it then they may have originally been functional but got replaced by a decorative variant as the defensive aspect was no longer needed.

[@CMaldonado1690]

@@syferpolski4344 I'm pretty sure J.K. Rowling doesn't know what a MACHICOLATION is.

[@Cora.T]

Didn't Rowena Ravenclaw have a dream that Hogwarts had to be build here and looking like this?

[@shok24199]

Wizards had access to weaponry that would have made castles obsolete before they were ever invented. Therefore, the ONLY reason I can see for Hogwarts to be castle-like at all is design aesthetic and, perhaps, to blend in better with muggle structures. It could be argued that perhaps the Gothic elements of Hogwarts (and maybe other magical structures?) would have been the inspiration for the Gothic structures in the muggle world.

[@satanshousewife3878]

I knew shad was a nerd, but a 3-d model of a fake castle made by referencing pictures made from different angles, all to find out whether or not the castle is actually a castle or not. I think it is safe to say now that shad is the king of the nerds, geez. Not to mention he made a 20 minute video with 1 mid-roll ad, so he really did this almost purely to talk about whether or not its a castle. What a legend XD

[@Nerobyrne]

Shad is the hero we need, but we don't deserve him!

[@OstapKomaryanskyy]

I find it hard to believe he was the first one to do it though. the fifth video game has a pretty extensive model for one.

[@Moopsy122]

disney created a real life scale model of hogwarts so a 3d models is actually not that much

[@fartsparkle]

trinityfang 1. it was universal not disney 2. it isn't perfectly scaled it's still impressive though

[@FranchWhooki]

It was fucking Warner Bros

[@StreakedSilver]

Shad at Hogwarts Teacher "Cast the best defensive spell you know" Shad "Expecto-MACHICLOLATIOOOOOOONS!"

[@thegremlin5886]

Rotfl

[@barrywhittingham6154]

I should not have laughed so hard at this. But I swear I heard Shad's voice while reading it.

[@NikkiTheOtter]

@@barrywhittingham6154 You can't NOT hear it in his voice.

[@scottbilger9294]

That is a damned funny remark. Very narrow audience, but quality entertainment.

[@Wetcorps]

Spending a week making a 3D model of a fantasy castle just so you can rip it apart? I applaud your nerdiness.

[@1234kalmar]

I'm almost literally dying when I have to make a sandwhich, while Shad made a full 3D modell of Hogwarts after hours of research, and animated it. Now THIS is dedication! I love this channel!

[@WR3ND]

Get better meat.

[@00Trademark00]

@1234kalmar: If you're using Linux or macOS, try typing "sudo make me a sandwich" into the terminal.

[@MrEvan312]

And it only took the guy a week to do it! Talent atop of dedication! I've seen graphic arts students take longer to do similar projects.

[@BirdRaiserE]

1234kalmar Almost literally dying? Cut the bread, not your wrists my dude

[@CreepingSpleen]

There *is* a gatehouse at Hogwarts. It's just down by the school gates at the end of the driveway. I don't think it was ever shown on screen though.

[@martynnotman3467]

It was briefly. Flitwick talks to Harry and Luna down by the gate..

[@JesperSalama]

It features in a few games, including Half-Blood Prince.

[@mobeenkhan824]

Mango Smoothie It was also mentioned in the books

[@horanghaeng]

exactly, there are two entrances from outside to the castle, the first year folks go by boat and the rest enter by the gate, on the other side. the gate was seen in half blood prince but in prisoner of azkaban there is a scene of carriages moving towards the school, also in order of the phoenix, when we see luna for the first time, they go by carriage as well. (i might have said the wrong movies cause too many to remember but i hope you get my point)

[@rileyburnett720]

I saw in a video or online that they didn’t have enough budget to always do the gate so they got rid of it. In the book I do know if a gatehouse is mentioned. We do know that Rowling say the castle was on top of a mountain. She also shows a wall in the here sketch circling the grounds.

[@walenyeti8223]

in the german language there are to different words for that „burg“=castel with defense and „schloss“=castel what looks good, in the german version of the books they always say schloss

[@AndyZach]

Great comment. It shows the translators were on the ball. I wonder if JK Rowling discussed this with the translators?

[@goddessofdesire]

Walen Yeti Ein schloss ist keine Castle ... ein Schloss ist ein Palace, in Amerika gibt es auch nicht nur Burgen, es gibt da auch Palace und ähnliche

[@Grovion]

Shad mentioned this kind of since he asked if hogwarts would be more of an chatêu which is the french version of the german word Schloss.

[@amateoer]

Schloss is something were princesses and mages live and a castle is something for knights and king Arthur

[@magiv4205]

@@goddessofdesire I disagree with your translations. In my mind, I would say that the most accurate translations are: "Festung" = 'fortress', a classic medieval, heavily fortified castle, but can also be used to describe heavily guarded and fortified modern places like prisons. Is usually used if you want to call attention to the defensive capabilities. "Burg" = 'castle', synonymous to Festung, but more frequently used and much more general. "Schloss" = a fancy castle, usually describes castles built in the late middle ages and after. The disney castle would be called "Disney Schloss". What's interesting is that things with flat roofed towers are almost always called "Burg", but as soon as the roofs get pointy, the word "Schloss" is used. If a castle has both flat and pointy towers, it comes down to the level of fancyness. "Palast" = 'palace'. In the german language, only the most extravagant and beautiful castles tend to be named this way. It is not really used in the context of medieval architecture however (mostly because they didn't get THAT fancy in that time), rather things built upwards of the 17th century. An example would be the palace of Versailles, or most of the baroque palaces for that matter. Though its official german name is "Schloss von Versailles", probably because it rolls off the tongue better, it's really a typical example of a palace.

[@YourWaywardDestiny]

If Hogwarts was properly fortified, Fred might still be alive.

[@shadiversity]

I was literally going to say this in the video but I didn't want to spoil anything for anyone

[@YourWaywardDestiny]

This brings up a good question... After how many years is something still a spoiler?

[@GummieI]

I dont think there really ever is a expiry date for when something is a spoiler. After all there is still new ppl growing up that may at this very moment be picking up the very first HP book, not having the capability of being able to read it before now. SO you really should never spoil anything even if it is a 100 years old story, without giving amble warning and allowing the reader/viewer etc. to turn away before the actual spoil comes

[@YourWaywardDestiny]

Interesting thought on the topic.

[@SkyrimHod]

There might always still be someone somewhere out there who hasn't read something, but I think at some point the interests of the other 99.9999% of people who might want to discuss it should win out. You should certainly give every reasonable chance, when it first comes out, for people who might be interested in it but not have time to read/watch right away, but at some point I think you just have to say they had their chance and if they still want to avoid spoilers, the burden is on THEM to avoid any discussions that might spoil it. So a few days or even weeks of avoiding spoilers are fine. Maybe expect clear spoiler warnings for a bit longer after that even. But YEARS later? No.

[@torgover-l1n]

The response to all the physics defying parts of Hogwarts: A wizard did it.

[@rileyburnett720]

How did Orlando do it?

[@odd-ysseusdoesstuff6347]

@@rileyburnett720 Stage play and Movie Magic. (Just as much as you’d expect from Party Tricks)

[@Ignisan_66]

Before toilets were invented, wizards shat on the floor and then used magic to make the shit disappear. - J. K. Rowling

[@Nozthren]

@@Ignisan_66 I always hated that stray thought of Rowling's, Chamber of Secrets makes no sense with that lil hemorrhoid "wizarding historical fact". I'm just going to assume she ate an "edible" and her imagination ran down her leg that day.

[@untitled6391]

@@Nozthren that opening to the Chamber through the girls' bathroom was created much later than the Chamber itself

[@nicolasboissiere]

Damn, building that 3d model has got to have been difficult. The castle's layout in the movies always annoyed me, it mande no sense! Like, where the fuck is the forbbiden forest? I just now thanks to this video found out where the great hall even was! I applaud the effort you put into this video.

[@bilibiliism]

Nicolas Boissiere It does not need to make sense. Its a magical building with everything movable and space inconsistency.

[@tadtranclere3729]

Nicolas Boissiere Hogwarts is like the TARDIS (and I believe what I'm saying right now is canon) it's bigger on the inside. You are right about the layout of course. I spent years building, restarting, and rebuilding Hogwarts in an online game -- there's no possible way to fit all that inside the castle. Every single version I built had to use teleports, at least in part, to make things fit and line up. I had to hide massive structures off to the side because it just does not work.

[@bilibiliism]

Tad Tranclere I remember in the book it actually clearly stated the interior is much bigger than outside. and theres even a never ending hallway.

[@illoney5663]

Making sense helps with immersion though and it's never stated in the books that it would have any kind of magic that allows for space inconsistencies, at least not as far as I recall.

[@CanisMythson]

Illoney Well, there is the Room of Requirement, that pops up all over the castle. And the magic tents prevalent for multiple books/movies. And Hermione's bag in Deathly Hallows.

[@lux551]

New shirt idea for you, Shad: "WHERE'S THE GATE HOUSE?!"

[@draco5991rep]

"Let's build a gatehouse here" "But Sir, fifty meters to the right there is a big hole in the wall, wouldn,t it make sense to build the gatehouse there?" "I said I wan't it here!" "As you wish Sir, do you wish to close the gap aswell?" "No, why would I?"

[@327legoman]

As any stronghold player will tell you, have a nice open funnel does wonders in tricking the AI and easing the pressure off your walls. I'm sure the gap is covered in spike traps and pitch m'lord

[@leholen381]

jamie M I love those games

[@rileyburnett720]

In the books hogwarts had a gate and a wall. Though I don’t know if there was a gatehouse. Also there was not boat house just an undgroud harbor. I also don’t remember a bridge being mentioned in the book

[@louie2639]

“Because I can simply say protego and a invisible shield will bock it, no point isn’t wasting time building it”

[@dion789]

Hogwarts is a magic castle, so while it's build to defend the inhabitants, that defence comes from magical protection rather than from the way the castle is built. But yeah, many of the buildings in Harry Potter, like the Burrow, are architecturally impossible. If you look at models of the castle based on descriptions in the books, it looks far more like a proper medieval castle than the movie version does. Though I guess that wouldn't look as impressive and fantastical. Generally, the movies put beautiful visuals over common sense.

[@peacefulinvasion684]

Yes but could you imagine just how useful maticulations would be?

[@IkBenBenG]

Didn't the books also describe that some parts were held up by magic, as it would have been impossible to build using muggle technology? Or was that another building?

[@realfangplays]

@@IkBenBenG I remember that being said about the Burrow

[@kevinmencer3782]

Besides, when has Warner Bros ever cared about book compliant settings? I can think of several examples of explicitly mentioned details that they ignored.

[@Petaurista13]

Yes. Real-world castles makes no sense when 15 y.o. boy can fly over wall on broom or blow up doors with spell. While using magic shield to repel any physical projectile.

[@GratiaCountryman]

Architecturally, I’ve always considered Hogwarts to be analogous to a medieval abbey rather than a castle. In the descriptions in the books, the castle is surrounded by a lake, and the entry point is a small harbor underneath the castle. Also, Hogwarts is designed to be defended against wizards and witches. They have an ability that makes walls moot as a defense in that they can get on their broomsticks and fly over the walls. People can be lifted over the walls with the Levicorpus charm, objects can be sent over the walls using Wingardium Leviosa. The “walls” of Hogwarts are a series of defensive charms and spells. For example, the castle is unplottable on a map, and if muggles did stumble upon it, they would see a mouldering ruin. Hogwarts was invaded because when the Ministry of Magic fell to Voldemort’s allies, Hoqwarts became a center of resistance. The new, Voldemort controlled MoM installed Severus Snape as Headmaster with a cadre of rabid Voldemort supporters in key faculty and staff positions. They acted as the traitor within the gates.

[@rileyburnett720]

Actually, in the books, it's only the first years who enter underground 2-7th years take carriages up to the gate/ Large Oak front doors.

[@ayeansh]

awesome ... its really detailed in the books

[@raphaelkhan1668]

Hogwarts is 1000 years old. maybe broomsticks hadn't been invented yet?

[@ryanparker4996]

Like the Jews in Toledo

[@limiv5272]

@@raphaelkhan1668 Google says broomsticks were invented in 962, so that's right about the time Hogwarts was built.

[@morlath4767]

The point around 12 minutes where it's stated that some of the design of Hogwarts was probably deliberately done just to show what magic could do is extremely likely. From what I remember, the Burrow itself is described as a place that could only structurally exist because magic keeps it together and the Quidditch World Cup had numerous magical tents that were just insanely impractical on the outside just because magic could have it that way. There's a very real sense in the Harry Potter world that people who design things with magic have almost no understanding of how the same thing is designed using physics.

[@Real_MisterSir]

Old comment but I gotta add, that this is also seen from how many magic users in the HP universe have little-to-no understanding of the muggle world and how things work, because they are so used to just fixing everything with magic. It's like they have removed themselves completely from basic natural laws of physics and ways of living, because to them there is no point understanding it if they can just overcome it with magic anyways. No point in spending half a life educating oneself as a top-grade engineer/architecht, if you can just spend a few years and do the same job even better with the use of magic. This contrast between the normal and the magic world is subtly shown throughout the movies/books, and highlight how the two worlds can be so different despite all of them being human. If the magic society was made public to the non-magical world, then magic users would have to start interacting with normal non-magic human society, which they don't understand and don't want to spend time adjusting to when it offers them no real value.

[@morlath4767]

@@Real_MisterSir There's a very real possibility that if you were to ask a magical in the HP world why something falls down, all they can tell you is because it does or because it weighs more than the ground. I highly doubt all but the most educated of magicals who branch into the non-magical world know about gravity or momentum. At least not in a scientific way.

[@anvos658]

Pretty much there is even parts of the books where Ron's father is looked at as weird for being in the division that tries to figure out how technology works.

[@sybilreichlan6117]

@@morlath4767 Actually I would be pretty skeptical about that since they do seem to use science (or more aptly astronomy)

[@morlath4767]

@@sybilreichlan6117 It can be argued that any science/physics knowledge they have is rooted in how it relates to magic. I would hazard a guess that the greatest alchemists in HP world are those who learn chemistry to understand the elements/periodic table. But any science/knowledge that doesn't advance magical understanding would most likely be ignored.

[@fakjbf3129]

How much would it cost to build a castle from scratch? Would modern safety codes even allow many of the iconic details to be built? How might modern building techniques be used to do things that would have been impossible in the medieval period (e.g. cranes being used to move material instead of human labor)? And if you had an unlimited budget, what would be an ideal layout for you if you were preparing for a post-apocalypse scenario (assume no gunpowder to defend against, since that's what made castle obsolete in the first place).

[@DRakshasa]

This is actually something I would REALLY like to see a video about. I hope shad takes notes :O

[@ABaumstumpf]

With modern laws and property taxes? Forfuckingget about it. A castle the size of hogwards would cost in the hundreds of millions. And of course you would not be allowed to build it in that way either. Fireregulations, things like sanitary installations, safety - they would freak out with moving stairs. You would also have to make it accessible to wheelchairs. Than you'd need to care about insulation etc.

[@Uradamus]

This may interest you: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gu%C3%A9delon_Castle

[@farmerboy916]

I mean, the thing is we'd be building something between a fort and a walled/ defended mansion (name is escaping me), today. Earthquake codes and modern concrete would make the style of construction out of many smaller stones obselete, but you could have more monolithic construction to make up for it.

[@PrimordialNightmare]

On the other hand, It would be possible to cast the concrete in such a way, that it resembles being a brick wall to some extent, wouldn't it?

[@AugustusR]

My theory is that Hogwarts was built up over the centuries, from the X till perhaps the XV century, and buildings were added here there and all over the place, with towers added to connect them and the turrets to create extra space. Over the centuries what was once an actual castle became "fancier" as perhaps the need to actually make it defensible decreased. Indeed it would seem that up to Voldemort's assault, Hogwarts had not seen battle in many many centuries, which explains why no one bothered with gatehouses. The first builders however did care, as one could say the older more fortress like parts do indeed have a whiff of early medieval architecture and were meant to protect the school, later on the added that magnificent cathedral like building with a cloister, and then little pieces and towers over the centuries. So yeah, it was once a castle proper, but seeing no need for more defense, the castle turned into just a very fancy magick-medieval contraption.

[@piperisle9674]

I like how you're thinking about how things would have changed over time. Any old building has its history.

[@johannygard1984]

Locking at only the medieval style castle parts (6:30) it looks much more like a castle. I can see it being a one main walled courtyard with two bridges in both with gatehouses.

[@derrickthewhite1]

I very much agree. When Shad pulled off the gothic looking buildings, I was shocked to see that they all came off of the outside, and that the castle part was all together in a defensible state. That version of Hogwarts is totally a real castle that was expanded and converted into a castle-looking living structure. And it totally makes sense that they'd stop making the thing actually defensible as they built going forward. "I hate going through that gate house! why do we have it?! Lets make this a more functional entrance to the castle!" Yep, that's what happened. Modern folks with magic started adding to a castle.

[@kamion53]

first stone castles in Britain were built by the Norman king William the Conquerer and somewhere I picked up that was the time Hogwarts was founded. JKR later meshed that up by stating the Merlin was a Syltherin, putting the foundation time back almost 500 years. and that is before the end of the Roman period. don't think there was a stone castle in the midst of Caledonia in those days. Hogwarts would then be founded among Picts in a palisade enclosed village.

[@NamelessVoice]

Very much this. The entire design, with its differing styles, looks like it was built up over time, starting as a more standard castle, but expanding into a less-fortress-like university. They would have certainly felt much less need for standard castle defences as they entered into the modern era. It's even possible that some of the more defensive aspects (such as gatehouses) were removed after Voldemort was defeated the first time, since they didn't feel that they needed defences any more in a time of peace, and then they didn't have time to rebuild them for the final fight.

[@shawnstrode3825]

EA Games "The Half Blood Prince" did an excellent fleshing out Hogwarts. You can walk around almost everywhere. Great details

[@thomasleongeorgerobertglad7560]

Shame they took out the Defence Against The Dark Arts classroom and office and didnt include being able to go on the battlements and Dumbledores office aside from that it was near enough perfect

[@Storyteller543]

That's a game? How did I not know about this?

[@Blah3210]

Good thing that we're getting a new Hogwarts game later this year! Hogwarts Legacy looks like it'll be an amazing fantasy castle sim.

[@ForeverDegenerate]

I've never played HBP, but Order of The Phoenix had a pretty damned accurate Hogwarts. I mean, the entire game was you, in the castle, exploring it, including all the hidden passages and stuff, recruiting Dumbledore's Army. I know a lot of people didn't like that game for that very reason, that the majority of the game took place in Hogwarts with you recruiting people, but I loved it.

[@shawnstrode3825]

@@ForeverDegenerate Did you find Divination? Could you go into Dumbledore's office? Those were restricted on Half Blood.

[@AshenVictor]

When it comes to Harry Potter there's often a perfectly logical explanation for things. Admittedly the explanation is very often "A wizard did it".

[@Dragonspirit223]

You're practicing your wizard logic, NONE!

[@blahblah8037]

Yeah. Say that’s that’s not possible to build Ahhh magic😂

[@zhar2]

Seems more like an old more basic castle that lost its function, was repurposed and expended in a cathedral style.

[@Wowthatsfail]

*expanded

[@tommerker8063]

in germany it's called a schloss wich is basicaly a castle/palace english simply doesn'T have a word for it

[@tommerker8063]

@E to the V yes, as i said there is no seperation in english, it's a word that does not have an english counter part

[@PWNINSWAGMASTER]

If Hogwarts was a castle in a medieval setting, only the most incompentent lord or lady in the world would live in that untenable abomination.

[@darko-man8549]

I'd defend the bridges simply by saying "they were put in at later dates when the castle no longer neeeded to be a fully defensible construct

[@PEDRObv15]

One month ago: "Gee, this video on Skingraad surely was cool, I wonder if there's a video about Hogwarts... Hm, no." Me right now: "GOD ALMIGHTY I'VE BEEN BLESSED"

[@charlescannon6775]

Pedro Vasconcelos more of his Hocus Pocus

[@josephattwell1006]

12:10 In the books, it is all but explicitly stated that magic can hold up plenty of otherwise physically impossible buildings. For example, in the second book Harry notes the Weasley's crazy house looks like it is being held up by magic, then he immediately realizes that it probably is being held up by magic rather than proper structural supports.

[@0m3GAARS3NAL]

Joseph Attwell exactly what I was thinking, also the whole lack of gatehouses being okay because magic barriers also talked about in the books, the whole school is surrounded by a powerful ancient barrier Too bad the barrier only does so much

[@RequiemPoete]

Problem is, saying magik is a crutch, and lazy storytelling. It's obvious that Hogwarts was designed to be a fortress. Like shad says, it comes so close. Why not put in the actual gatehouse? Imagine a proper gate and porticullis and then imagine them fortified by magical shields and wards. Imagine murder holes being used to dump... God knows what mystical concoctions onto the poor bastards below. The magic should bulster up physical defenses, not replace them. It's like the brig on sci-fi films. It's just a force field. Why not use bars? They use less energy.

[@a.morphous66]

Hogwarts was designed to be a school, not a military fortress. It was meant to protect the students, not defend against a full-on assault. Besides, Voldemort’s army was an army the likes of which had never been seen in the wizarding world, and any human castle could never hold up against it and would likely do much worse than Hogwarts did. So it isn’t that bad.

[@creeperbandito8284]

But combine muggle castle architecture with the magical barriers and maybe Hogwarts wouldn't have gotten so fucked up in the battle of Hogwarts.

[@ComotoseOnAnime]

To add onto this point for anyone interested. The school was meant to be a fortified building against muggles during the early medieval era. And in that era there were likely more fortifications, things that have been removed or changed over time due to a lack of use or just simply replacing it. The two towers with that space between it seem like an obvious example where a gate probably sat at one point but was removed for easier access to the Quidditch pitch or the forbidden forest. Same thing with the bridges. I can see the gatehouses being removed for lack of actual use, You have to consider, after the statute of secrecy went into play and they could throw up muggle repelling barriers the need for castle defenses like that became unnecessary, especially now that the only force that could and would attack them were magical in nature so they could either 1. Fly in the case of wizards. or 2. Are so big and strong that a gate house would do very little to halt their advance in the case of giants. Having a narrow funnel would be far easier to defend against because it IS that easy. Why would a wizard fly over the walls when they can walk in the door? Why would a giant bash through the stone walls when they can walk in the front door? It incentivizes them attacking from a single direction. Which allows the defenders to attack them in a killing field throwing artillery style attacks at them with them not really having anything to duck behind allowing them to be knocked off the bridge to fall to their death if they don't have the time to right themselves and use magic to get out of there. Another example of this is the bridge in the back of Hogwarts, which seems like a relatively new addition given it's wooden nature, perhaps added to make it easier to get to Hogsmead or the lake or any other part of the school without walking to the wall or across the bridge and all the way around the building. So easy of access that also funnels enemies into a killing zone instead of forcing them to use their magic to fly over the wall. Which is honestly the main issue here. The castles walls and defenses are largely ineffective against wizards because they can fly or blow holes in the walls with magic. An over powered Bombarda being a rather easy to name example. Wizards basically have Cannons and helicopters to assault a castle with so instead of having a solid defense which can be circumvented or destroyed relatively easily, they instead have a lot of incentivized choke points that allows the defenders to meet the enemy in certain areas that benefit the defenders more than the attackers.

[@martinboylan1503]

Those towers are too big and heavy but some smart ars said Wingardium Leviosa and they stayed ever since.

[@lionheartx-ray4135]

You get a like just because of the 3D model you made.

[@hyperhare0624]

I think the Hogwarts castle, in the fictional world of Harry Potter, has changed over the years like any other building that has been around for centuries. The castle, in past, was likely to contain many physical fortifications to protect it from muggle invaders. After the renaissance, the need for real fortifications became unnecessary as simply casting a cloaking spell to make the place look like runes was enough to keep muggles away and these former parts to the castle were either torn off or have become ruins. An example of ruins would be that wall in the back that you mentioned has two gatehouses with an empty space between them. In more recent times, renovations to the castle focuses on aesthetic and magical protection over in realistic design.

[@zienwolf]

That was my guess, as well. It may well have been a proper castle before being repurposed as a school. Later additions being tacked on were more asthetic rather than being a practical fortress.

[@dragonbornexpress5650]

zienwolf, yep, you can even see its changed more in what's on the inside, inside are multiple modern greenhouses, 5 I think, so it shows that some of the additions could be towards making it more like a magical school than a highly defendible normal fortress.

[@frenchfriar]

Absolutely this. I think there were indeed gatehouses once present, but they fell into disuse ages ago, when Hogwarts stopped being a defensive castle. Possibly long enough ago they fell to ruin, and the walls around them were rebuilt with plain towers instead, as it was simpler and easier to rebuild them that way. I think other than that type of thing going on, the fact that magic is used to protect the castle also means less dependence upon traditional castle means. It's quite possible the crumbling, ancient crenellations were rebuilt in the Victorian era as pretty much a folly to look nice. On the other hand, I think it's also pretty obvious that besides the turreted towers, that wooden bridge has to be held up with nothing but magic, and not that well at that.

[@rianfelis3156]

Also, consider that defenses may have been lost over time. I can easily see those bridges as giant pit traps, with the headmaster able to drop the entire bridge under an attacking army, forcing the remainder to redeploy. The magic from the movable stairs could easily be repurposed to quickly build a wall in those empty gatehouses, and grow the merlons to useful proportions. However, the keys to these defenses might have been lost during any political takeover in the last few centuries, since they would have been closely guarded secrets.

[@Marvin_R]

@@rianfelis3156 in the movies the wooden bridge is used almost exactly like you suggest. the castle was attacked from both sides with the main force defending the stone bridge, and a couple of students blew up the fragile wooden bridge.

[@cherriagana]

If there was ever a time to ask yourselves: But what about dragons? Then this was it :D

[@aaryashbharadwaj2812]

All times are a good time to ask that

[@ahizzy5566]

That's why flak guns are necessity. The absence of them illustrates Dumbledore's negligence of his students. Hell, where are the supersoldaten for when Sauron attacks?

[@austinkersey2445]

@@ahizzy5566 Supersoldaten won't help against Sauron man. He'll use his level 80 song magic and kill them.

[@ahizzy5566]

@@austinkersey2445 Deathshead b like:"Well Sauron the dark lord. You are a most impressive specimen. It would be my pleasure to dissect you piece by piece. Let me introduce you to someone. Do not confuse it with the mere prototypes you've encountered. This is the pinnacle of all my research. Das Über-Soldat. The Super Soldier. It will be my pleasure to watch it destroy you."

[@HisRoyalMajestyKingofWeedshire]

Hagrid: * nervous sweating *

[@kevintheradioguy131]

That would be hilarious, if Voldemort's army lost the battle for Hogwarts only because it was built like a proper castle XD

[@lars0me]

Then finally figure out the magical way in, invade and get lost. Be forced to regroup, rethink their strategy, attack again, breach the doors and storm in only to come out the other side in a cell in Askaban. Because that's how you build a proper castle if you have Hogwarts level of magic.

[@wittyxwitch]

I have the idea that the medieval portion of Hogwarts was the original castle, and after turning it into a school, they maybe had added on the Gothic portion. Maybe to add that, they tore down some of the medieval portion? As far as defenses, Hopefully no one is attacking a school in its early days, and I think that the wooden bridge runs over an old moat. Just a thought.

[@StarMama90]

OMG I just posted this video to my Ravenclaw group on Facebook, and I proposed the same.

[@samfrisby6135]

It was originally built as a school

[@sergeantsharkseant]

In German Hogwarts is not called Castle(Burg) but Schloss(the nice looking castles with no defense Fokus out of the renaissance) because every type of castle cost very much , many normal castles was built to this nice looking castle .this fits your idea very well or?

[@MouseGoat]

Or hear me out here... the people making the films.... just wanted to grab the chas and did not really know what they were doing. i like the films (at lest a lot of them) but they will never beat the books for me, so many things they could have done so much better.

[@thecevi9179]

@@sergeantsharkseantThey call it Chateau in English speaking countries i think.

[@Vlavir]

Someone in my study class baked a hogwarts cake. I can absolutely say the defense was low.

[@Petaurista13]

Defense of Castle or Eaters?

[@Vlavir]

Well...more of the castle 'cause some eaters had a bad feeling about eating hogwarts ;)

[@electronkaleidoscope5860]

That 3D model transition was awesome! :o

[@Katzztar]

I was always confused about Hogwarts from the movies and the Hogwarts that is in the books. For one I do not remember any mention of Hogwarts built on a cliff. I remember that there was the Black Lake and Forbidden Forest. Both of which kids could get to without going through some gate. In fact much of the books make it sounds like Hogwarts and Hogsmede are in some valley as it never describes any crevasses but sounds like flat ground save for mountains in the background.But I swear that THERE WAS A GATE! Hagrid was keeper of the keys and acted like a gate keeper. Wasn't there a scene in the books where he needed to go to the gate to let someone into the Hogwarts Grounds? We know that some alterations has been done over time, as that's how its explained how the entrance to the Chamber of Secrets is now in a girl's bathroom on the 2nd floor. Rowling explained on Pottermore="However, when Hogwarts’ plumbing became more elaborate in the 18th Century, the entrance to the Chamber was threatened, and was located on the site of a Proposed Bathroom. The presence in school at the time of a student called Corvinus Gaunt - who was a direct descendant of Slytherin -explained how the simple trapdoor was secretly protected, so that those who knew how could still access the entrance to the Chamber even after the newfangled plumbing had been placed on top of it"So remodeling has been done to Hogwarts over its 1,000 yr history. Its possible that is was more a historically accurate defensible castle in the past but as time moved on and additions was made and spells created that protected much better, those then-no-longer-needed parts were removed and recycled stones elsewhere.

[@DinnerForkTongue]

Katzztar Same here. The diferente between movie Hogwarts and book Hogwarts boggles my mind.

[@Katzztar]

And its not just the architecture, its student body, uniform and courses were altered too. Well at least the uniforms changes made sense. While the books only described a robe, never ties, pants or skirts, a plain black robe save for the trim that's in house colors would be difficult to see in a movie. So a change made sense. But rounding out Harry's class size in his year so there would be 5 girls instead of the named 3 of the books (Hermione, Lavender & Parvarti) never made sense. Esp. since they were a generation born during war time, they were suppose to be low numbers! .I can understand them not making Snape as hideous as he is in the books (sallow skin, yellow teeth ect. Rickman was a good actor but he was not hideous. STILL once upon a time a good actor would undergo hours of makeup to look the part of a character to get it right ) ..... I still don't know why they changed Petunia from a blond to a brunette.

[@SadisticSenpai61]

Katzztar Let's not forget that they had Tom Felton sign a contract that he would keep his hair blond until they finished the movies, but never made the same requirement of Daniel Radcliffe. Harry has black hair and green eyes. Daniel has neither. I understand the expense and difficulty of changing Daniel's eye color, but they could have at least bothered with his hair. Especially as they did bother to get Draco's hair correct.

[@Katzztar]

Really? I didn't know they did that with Felton? Thanks for the info. I Understood why Radcliff had blue eyes but not why they kept the reference to "you had your mom's eyes. I never understood the hair with Radcliff & many of the Weasleys. Heck Ginny's was more brown than the "flaming red" of the books that ALL Weasleys had. Radcliff's often looked more brown than black in later years ( and NEVER was the wild mess the book described so shouldn't have had Vernon yelling "comb your hair!" when it already looked smooth. Both Harry and the Weasleys could have easily been taken care of = hair dye or wigs. Then there's Hermione ... it started out with her hair perfectly fit the role but then later years .. nope. Now where the bushy locks the books describer her as always having

[@emergencyCALL911]

There actually are a couple of references to Hogwarts being on a cliff above the lake: in book one when it's first described, and in book two when Harry and Ron first catch sight of it from the flying car. But it all becomes very confusing when Harry, Ron and Hermione are able to run straight down the lawn from the front door, and even go down to the very shores of the lake without encountering any cliffs. But this seeming inconsistency is explained by this sketch by J.K. Rowling: harrypotter.wikia.com/wiki/File:JKR_Hogwarts_Map.jpg. The castle IS built on a cliff, so to speak, but the cliff is BEHIND the castle, on the opposite side to the front doors, as is the lake. Furthermore, the sides of the lawn on either side of the castle slope down to meet the lake shore, so that even though the castle itself is high above the water, there are two banks on either side that aren't (hence the references in Prisoner of Azkaban to future Harry casting a Patronus from the opposite bank to the one where past Harry and Sirius were being attacked by Dementors).

[@RolandWaterbouwer]

You got my like at: "...I built a full 3D-model of Hogwards..." Also other videos I've seen till now are of excellent quality. As civil engineer I can also appreciate the technical view on things like can it actually be built and is it practical, but also the historical angle is quite interesting. Consider yourself one regular viewer richer!

[@piculra7441]

There’s a 3D map of Hogwarts on Pottermore that you could’ve used to avoid having to make a model.

[@MouseGoat]

lol i bet he had to much fun researching and making hogwarts in 3D to just use that XD

[@md_vandenberg]

1. Was the model available at the time Shad made this video? 2. Would Disney copystrike him for using their model?

[@azuregriffin1116]

@@md_vandenberg Disney?

[@saxrendell]

@@md_vandenberg It's understandable because these days it feels like literally everything is owned by Disney, but Harry Potter was Warner Bros.

[@zayan6284]

@@saxrendell /R/wOoOsH

[@clockworkkirlia7475]

This is bloody impressive. Well done, Shad! Really interesting too... So close...

[@dustgreylynx]

It was reałly mentioned in the first book that without magic Hogwarts coudnt stand

[@thithirajayakody9718]

I believe that you are referring to the Burrow, not Hogwarts.

[@zenebean]

@@thithirajayakody9718 I agree, but it does establish that magic was used to support insane structures

[@papaofthejohns5882]

Zayne Isgett Which is such a stupid design flaw. What happens in that unlikely event that the magic stops supporting the structure? It’d be far more efficient to have a structurally sound building that is enhanced by magic rather than based on magic

[@zenebean]

@@papaofthejohns5882 it seems very difficult in this world to undo enchantments like that without destroying the structure, so they likely treat it how we treat storm proofing. Most houses are built with the assumption that giant winds and floods won't come through, and magic buildings are probably made to only survive normal pressures and forces. I would prefer to have a building with backup support in case the magic failed, but just the magic is probably good enough in most cases and cheaper as well

[@sp24699]

Shad sounds just like Cicero from Skyrim when he is yelling. And the video was awesome, as always.

[@BlackfeatherTanfur]

The lack of proper gatehouses could be possibly attributed to later modifications; if they had been considered obsolete, they might have been demolished.

[@Petaurista13]

They were probably useless. It's easy for even mid-teenage wizard to destroy solid gate, but powerfull wizards can cast much stronger barriers. so it would be like troubling myself with umbrella during strong wind when being able to easily repel raindrops without it. We can't judge wizard's architecture from point of view of real-world military doctrines, because you know. If anybody wonder why nobody prepared few M134 on corridors to just wipe out those masked morons in robes during Second Battle of Hogwart... Weapons like those don't even work inside Hogwart.

[@George-xb5ey]

You really get a sense in the the prisoner of azkaban movie that it becomes castle in the scene where dumbledore asks the gates to be closed when he hears the news Sirius black might be at Hogwarts. I always thought that was a really cool part of the movie.

[@videogameplaybynerdarchy1706]

Thanks for all of the prep and research work, it shows

[@shadiversity]

A true pleasure mate ^_^

[@DX-kg5tn]

Ju Yong Guan is a fortress, not a castle.

[@irispark1381]

The different styles used in the castle also seem to indicate that the castle was built over centuries. First it was the the medical style towers and walls. Second they added the Gothic style with the great hall, and third they added bridges to connect the said great halls to be more accessable. It looks like at the time of its initial construction it was meant to be a more fortified castle (the two award looking towers on the non defensible part of the castle seem like it may have held wooden cate house in between them, which may have degraded over the centuries). However as time went by and magic was kept secret from the mugged and threat was no longer prominant, the later Gothic archetecture, bridges, and not even bothering to rebuild fallen gatehouse seem to indicate that they started to consider hogwarts less as a defensive castle but more as a school.

[@lordvoldemort5725]

Iris Park But according to a couple of sources, the founders of Hogwarts built the castle in one piece and supported it with magic.

[@peterkratoska3681]

As someone who came from a non-english speaking background I find it interesting that in English the term Castle is an umbrella term - ie non-defensive, or Chateux style structure vs fortress style defensive structures. In Czech and probably other languages we have Hrad (or Grad which originates from Proto-Slavic gord as in Leningrad etc, originally meaning settlement or enclosed place rather like Burg) but it specifically refers to defensive type fortress. There is also Zamek (originating from "lock or keep" but specifically refers to non-defensive as in Manor House, Palace, Chateaux, like the German Schloss). So in Czech one would not use these interchangeably, usually it is one or the other. So many of these Fantasy type castles are designed by North Americans who don't really have the experience with European castles. Thanks for your videos, they're quite informative.

[@Helperbot-2000]

Same in Norwegian (and german and most likely other germanic languages) "slott" being more symbolic and "borg" being more a fortification

[@Sipu97]

In Finnish, we only have "linna". But then we have "linnoitus" meaning a fortress. But then again, the country only has three castles and some fortresses and big mansions.

[@michaelt.5672]

12:02 Slight correction there, Shad. You see those towers on the roofs of pretty much any european Cathedral, and they do not have an actual base like a tower. And they are built light enough that the roof can carry them. They are called ridge turrets. In some cases, they might be crossing towers (such as the one at 11:40 ). So yeah, turrets sitting on roofs were a thing.

[@aurelion6883]

Most of Hogwarts actually is based on Cathedral design. was looking for a comment like this.

[@Wetcorps]

In the last book the author mentions the magic defenses that surrond Hogwarts. They have all the bells and whisltes : forcefield, no teleporting in and out, no fly zone. Dumbledore had to turn everything off to come back himself, which allowed the Voldemort to launch his big assault. So if your magic defeses are a all or nothing thing, it would indeed make sense to have more regular defenses just in case the magic defenses fail.

[@casqade]

if the magic defences fail, the only useful thing for the defenders would be a pile of anti-aircraft guns to shot down incoming wizards on brooms or other flyable stuff : )

[@trevorh6438]

MeTaN even that wouldn't work. If you magic defenses fail, and you're up against a magic-user, only additional magicks can help. Magic will just stop your anti-aircraft and other physical weapons. Though... assuming the attacker has few magic defenses themselves, guns of the like could be quite useful for their apparent speed, which seems to far exceed the speed of spell and counter-spell. I wouldn't risk my life on that bet though.

[@CheezMonsterCrazy]

I'm pretty confident a firearm would be more than enough to stop the average wizard not wearing bespelled defensive items (and we don't see much of that in the books or movies). There is a reason wizards hide themselves from muggles after all. They are outnumbered and outgunned, and have been for a long, long time. They only maintain their secrecy and influence through mostly subversive means, such as controlling individuals in government as we see with the PM in the books. Don't get me wrong, a properly prepared wizard in the HP universe should be hard to kill by conventional means, but nothing in the books or movies suggests that wizards generally walk around with layers of protective charms on them. I imagine this is due to complete confidence in their secrecy, though it wouldn't really stop a wizard shooting a wizard with a gun. Maybe that's more common in the American wizarding community.

[@friendlynhvamp3400]

@@trevorh6438 I will remind you that the cause of the Statue of Secrecy was the fact that wizards lost a war to normal humans without magic. So yeah, guns would definitely own wizards left and right, since they managed to get beaten by swords and bows.

[@trevorh6438]

R-Maz Beats You're telling me that wizards with time turners, flying broomsticks, paralysis spells, and the most tormentuous of kid-level magics, besides animate gargoyles, dangerous magical beasts, invisibility, and mind control and memory delete spells... couldn't defeat a modern army three different ways to sunday? Before they even mobilized (time turners) After they mobilized (mind control and memory delete) In pitched battle (paralysis, deflection wards, bangerous magical beasts, invisibility, death spells, mind control, etc.) And after every loss (time turners) ??? Unless there's some sort of ancient magics pre-cast that prevents them from winning... or simple vanity... there's no reason a real army stands any chance in hell to defeat modern-day wizards as depicted in the books. Unless that army recruited other wizards to assist them. Actually, that would be a cool fanfiction.

[@thomasroutt380]

There is one thing that needs to be remembered when looking at the impossible parts of this castle. Magic.

[@rileyburnett720]

Maybe it isn't impossible, since Orlando was able to copy it. though size may be smaller,

[@Zorro9129]

@@rileyburnett720 It's probably not made of real stone but plaster supported by steel.

[@rong3194]

Bravo. Very entertaining and informative. You are, indeed, a castle expert.

[@havoc3742]

This has got to be my favourite series from you shad. don't get me wrong, your other videos are great as well, but, something about fortifications and uh... things about them, like exactly what a MACHICOLATION is, really appeals to my specific brand of Geekdom. please do more.

[@DarinKollins]

Yeah, but can you use a wand for offensive magic through the MACHICOLATIONS?

[@joynelbonetdelgado4952]

Wands are used as ranged weapons, so technically yes it is effective.

[@Petaurista13]

IN two ways. Either use protective spell to repel anything they throw on you or just explode them.

[@DarkPrinceOfClowns]

Considering that one of the features of Hogwarts, especially for the inside interior, is that it constantly shifts and changes, to the point where even dumbledore keeps discovering new rooms every now and then, that's pretty impressive of you to manage. ^^

[@randomnickname2254]

this is whole new level of nerdness. i love it!

[@Gormathius]

All architectural questions can be answered with a single quote from Dynasty Warriors: «Feel the power of my MAAAGIC!»

[@kommo1]

Dos Hogwarts fail as a non-magical castle? Yes. Does Hogwarts aethetics fail as a fantasy castle? No. Does Hogwarts fail as a magical military structure? Im not sure. What good are gate houses if a magic spell, from the very first wizard reaching it, blasts right throu them(like putting a garden fence in front off a tank). So the defense capabilitys off the gate house could only be as strong as the defensive spells.... which makes the gatehouse itself obsolete.

[@ADADEL1]

"What good are gate houses if a magic spell, from the very first wizard reaching it, blasts right throu them." I'd call that an alarm. Those things are very useful.

[@marktilford4870]

What good is a gatehouse if a wizard can just fly over the walls?

[@globin3477]

That is actually a much better point. Flight has been demonstrated to be pretty commonplace in the potterverse, so I doubt hogwarts would consider defensive ground fortifications. Would have still been useful against the trolls, though. ...actually, when the trolls attacked, why didn't they destroy the bridges? would have made fighting them off a lot easier.

[@kevinmencer3782]

@@globin3477 there is a deleted scene in the movie (not sure if it is book compliant, but since when has Warner Bros cared about that?) where Seamus and Neville blow up at least one of the bridges. I'd like to point out, however, that destroying ALL of your paths of egress sounds pretty bloody stupid; what if you are forced to retreat? Evacuate the severely wounded without a working Floo or Portkey? What if the enemy does something monumentally stupid, and gives you the opportunity to circle around and flank them? I could go on, but there are as many pros as there are cons to keeping at least one exit available.

[@anna-flora999]

@@marktilford4870 then why didn't they fly into the castle instead of marching over the bridge?

[@djordjezeljkovic5646]

It really touched me how you spent your week making projection about something that made my childhood. Thank you bro

[@archingelus]

"Protego Maxima. Fianto Duri. Repello Inimicum." -Hogwarts castle is magically fortified there goes the castle wall and barrier

[@msjkramey]

I love you both analyze it so realistically and also go "yeah, yeah, yeah, they have magic so they can do whatever, but... just no"

[@kevinvolk968]

Well Hogwarts is a really old school. is it possible upon its original construction it did have gate houses, and they were removed when they became antiquated? I mean in a world with magic, physical fortifications kind of seem pointless in general, but still Hogwarts may have been much more formidable when it was built.

[@kevinmencer3782]

Of course, the movies were not always faithful to the books (HARRY DID YA PUT YUR NAME IN THE GOBLET OF FIRE? Dumbledore said CALMLY.).

[@CallicoJackracham]

(Regarding ''The Name'') We really are never going to let that go now are we?

[@kevinmencer3782]

@@CallicoJackracham not as long as I draw breath, at least.

[@Mrskydoesminecraft1]

I’d love to see Shad do a re-evaluation of Hogwarts based on the one we see in Hogwarts Legacy, since we can actually explore and see it from every angle in a consistent manner

[@vp21ct]

I would also point out that Hogwarts is an OLD castle, and an extremely well lived in castle at that. Leaving aside the elements of it being obviously magical, we should consider that it's likely been through reconstructions, additions, remodelings. How many battles has Hogwarts faced? How many magical sieges that could tear down the old gate-houses? After a certain point, did they just take down the old gatehouses? Did they lower the walls when they were no longer needed?

[@missanne2908]

The books state that Hogwarts is 1000 years old, which would date it to late 10th century CE. I thought castles weren't introduced into Britain until the Normans. The oldest castles in Scotland (Hogwart's location) date to around 1200 CE. So perhaps Hogwarts was originally a Scottish hillfort that had been rebuilt as a castle over time? Otherwise how can such an anachronism be explained (other than sloppy writing)?

[@bfbvouabeorbvoaervure963]

missanne290 The Norman didn’t invade and take over until 1066, so it’s unlikely it would exist before that. However, ever then, they weren’t quite as advanced at that point in time.

[@missanne2908]

@@bfbvouabeorbvoaervure963 Right, 1066 - and if you count backwards from Harry's first year at Hogwarts that would mean the 'castle' was built approximately 991 CE, or about 75 years before the conquest. I'm still trying to figure out how Harry could read the inscription on Ravenclaw's diadem, which should have been written in Gaelic (since Pictish was extinct by then), or possibly Anglo-Saxon (Old English). Magic? The HP series is not one to read if you want historical accuracy (yet I have read it too many times to count).

[@bfbvouabeorbvoaervure963]

missanne290 Perhaps one of the founders was foreign? That would explain knowledge about castles before they even came to Britain. They diadem, however, I cannot explain with any logic.

[@umitencho]

@@bfbvouabeorbvoaervure963 A lot of the notable British magical families are foreign in nature. The Malfoys, Lestranges, and Rosier are from France. The Ollivanders are Italian. The problem is that people are limiting British wizarding development to muggle development when its clear that the wizarding world has had a head start in many places and continents.

[@jaredrojo2201]

I love these castle series

[@jubes1300]

Me too!

[@charlescannon6775]

Me three.

[@EvilLPS]

Make it 3!

[@steampunk_cat5592]

Boi!

[@Azaghal1988]

The German Language has a good solution for the "Castle"-Term. For medieval defensive structures we use the term "Burg", for the later buildings that take the aesthetic and turn it up to eleven, without needing defensive value, like Neuschwanstein or the french Chateaus, we use the word "Schloss". "Schloss" is also used in the german Version of Harry Potter to describe Hogwarts as far as i remember.

[@1Kapuchu100]

Flimsy an excuse it would be when looked through the glasses of Realism, we do know that there is magic in Harry Potter universe that can hold up buildings that would otherwise just crash. The Weasley's home in particular is stated as being stabilized with Magic, and would have just fallen apart without.

[@Poldovico]

I mean, the stairs do like to change...

[@1Kapuchu100]

I mean, it's the largest and best school for Witchcraft and Wizardry (or so it's claimed), and it WAS built by some of the greatest wizards and witches in history. I wouldn't say it's unreasonable that Hogwarts' architechture is kept stable and functional through magic :P

[@1Kapuchu100]

As I also said in my initial comment: It's a flimsy excuse, but given the context of the world this castle exists in, it is the logical conclusion and very much possible. Hell, even probable!

[@GummieI]

Agreed, its a flimsy excuse, but one that is consistent with the universe, so the problem with that excuse is in the whole universe, being built like that, rather than with Hogwarts itself. Basically the HP universe haven't ever made a sort of foundation in how magic in it works at a fundamental level (You could say the physics of magic, if that makes sense...)

[@1Kapuchu100]

I agree that it might be a problem that there isn't an underlying system for how magic works, but that is a pretty big "Might". The reason? A lot of very prominent fantasy authors are of the opinion that magic is, by definition, something without a hard ruleset, and the mystery of how it works is what makes magic "Magic". Look at Tolkien, for example. To my knowledge, there isn't a hard rule set for how magic works in that world, and people are fine with it. Brandon Sanderson, however, is of the exact opposite idea: That rules for Magic is what makes it awesome, because then you have a set of parametres to work around, and any tricks the characters then come up with have to follow those rules, rather than just being "Magic!" I say 'Might' because Magic, fundamentally, is mysterious and something that can be whatever we like. It is not something clearly defined like electricity ("this is how electricity works!"), and so to say that how one franchise handles Magic is a problem, is not really... right. The way Harry Potter handles magic, is just as valid as how The Mistborn Trilogy handles magic, because we cannot say that one type of magic is filled with problems, and another isn't, when there's no universal standard or basic set of rules to follow... Does that make sense? The only time at which we can really say there is a problem with Magic in any given setting, is when it is not consistent with itself, which, as the case with Hogwarts, it very much is. At most, what we can say is whether we prefer magic with Rules, or magic Without Rules. Each have their ups and downs.

[@fruchtvampir4348]

In German we have two different words for different castle types. Medieval castles are called "Burg" and these castles of later periods (e. g. Renaissance) are rather named "Schloss".

[@TheOneLichemperor]

That's interesting. I was aware of the term 'burg', which seems to be a common suffix in the names of various settlements (Gotenburg, Hamburg, Edinburgh etc.) but I was not previously aware that it meant castle or fortification. Over here in the UK, in Southern England there were fortifications know as 'Burhs, which were' constructed by Alfred The Great and his successors with the intent of defending the local populations from Danish raiders. I have to imagine that the two terms share common linguistic heritage.

[@fruchtvampir4348]

TheOneLichemperor Yes, that is right. I think these town names refer to castles around which settlements were founded. Probably this is correct. I assume the term to be the Germanic, Anglo-Saxon word for castle, since "castle" has a Romance origin.

[@Solus749]

the german language is related to the anglo saxian english one but it is also related to danish/norwegian and swedish from the scandinavian languages. Another language in this group is the the languag eused in neitherlands which to many people sound very close to german. Just look up words like father if you are curious, german language use Vater and the scandinavian theme is fader. All these languages are germanic languages so older words tend to sound similar and even newer ones have similar themes when it comes to sound and grammar. French, spanish, italian, portugese and to some extent the greek language are latin languages which have similarities which each other and the now dead language latin. That is why a italian can speak a italian word and a spanish person to some extent can directly translate it to a spanish one. Similar deal with hungarian, bulgarian as well as countries from that region and suprisingly the language spoken in finland. Look up the babels tower theory and these things explain themselves to be honest.

[@brasschick4214]

Arthoron - I wonder if the word ‘burg’ is derived from ‘berg’ (mountain)? Being that castles were usually built in elevated areas on mountains and towns eventually established within the castle walls. Not sure on all this- just thinking 🤔

[@BlackfeatherTanfur]

If you go back far enough, they are. But you have to go back far enough that none of those places existed yet. See en.wiktionary.org/wiki/Category:German_terms_derived_from_the_PIE_root_*b%CA%B0er%C7%B5%CA%B0-

[@victorialombardi5057]

This is one of the most interesting videos I ever saw on KZbin. Great content!

[@Frey_2026]

It's not impossible if it was built by sorcerers x) Also, Hogwarts layout changes from time to time on it's own, it's perfectly possible the bridge outside moved too. It's defenses are mostly spells cause it's supposed to be attacked by wizards with magic. You can't teleport into Hogwarts, you can't see it if you're not a wizard.

[@iota-09]

Walder Frey of the Twins. Still, many of the weaknesses of it have no reason not to be present either, the brothers could have got spared a cruel fate with proper crenellations!(well... Maybe not, but stilll, why not have proper ones if you're going to go through the hassle of making fake ones?) And please don't say "cause magic", that's just being lazy, you can have the added defenses AND the magic at the same time.

[@bennyboiart7781]

Well, if you're a simple muggle you can still see it, but just as ruins. However, whoever thought that through didn't account for people like me who would be MORE likely to explore it further upon realizing it was a ruin. : )

[@sammbo250]

It depends how far the lore goes, if it means that only from a distance non-magical people cannot see it but when actually going to it they then get there. Or if you walked around it would still be empty and destroyed, IDK how it could be done. And TBH, I've barely watched harry potter but I still like debating technicalities and learning more so...

[@seanrea550]

The ruins look is only part of it there are specific charms that would distract muggles from wanting to go there as if there were somethings more important to do. Also magic the real defences for Hogwarts start at the hogsmead gate under normal operations and even when under magical attack by people who were certainly familiar with the school, they had to bypass defences that would have been standard as well as some special defenses that were added from each department.

[@wilberdebeer4696]

@@bennyboiart7781 It also had warning signs that it was dangerous and off limits and anti muggle compulsion charms cause anyone wanting to go there to have a need to be somewhere else so they wont attack ot at all.

[@electronkaleidoscope5860]

Posters!? Castle poster!? Shad, why do you do this to me? I have to eat too!

[@joaoaguiar4169]

hey man, i'm an architect and i work regularly with sketcup and other 3d modeling softwares. Just dropped in to congratulate you on the modelling. Great job!

[@Dohlenblick]

The English definition of castle seems to be somewhat broad. In comparison in German there is a clear separation between a "Burg", i.e. a castle functioning as fortified militaristic base, and a "Schloss", which is more of a palace/château. Then again those terms are not always used with consistency. I guess definitions are always tricky and bound to be changed with accompanying languages and cultures.

[@skofnung7110]

I am a simpel man. I hear "MACHICOLATIONS"... I press like ;)

[@JS-uk7du]

“The gate houses are invisible filled with glyphs of warding.” Jk rolling

[@pixelmaster98]

more like JK Trolling

[@krystofdayne]

BUT WHAT ABOUT DRAGONS??? In the Harry Potter universe, it actually makes sense to ask that question

[@jjtomecek1623]

Krystof Dayne wrong!!! It always makes sense to ask that question. Let me give you an example. Teacher: Timmy, did you do your homework? Timmy: BUT WHAT ABOUT DRAGONS?!?!?! see, works every time.

[@vipunen88]

are you talking about Puff the magic dragon or Mushu

[@rachdarastrix5251]

I didn't know they made a cameo in hairy potter. The answer sadly is in hairy potter their just dumb animals with no spoken lines out side of "Roar". So sadly they aren't all that cool.

[@casimiriii5941]

Krystof Dayne Norwegian Horntails?

[@casimiriii5941]

The Dishonored Coward dragons not cool!? o_O

[@Br1330]

One big thing to acknowledge is that the castle is a school now so thing like the missing Gatehouses might have been removed to allow students more freedom of movement, and the battlements might have been shrunk by magic to give the students a better view of the landscape. Like you pointed out, the terrain and major design is well suited to be used as military stronghold say in a wizard muggle war. But over time, part of the structure has been removed once it became unlikely it would ever be needed for war.

[@ric9761]

Ahhh, I thought I was the only one who was like: WTF HAPPENED TO THIS CASTLE? (I just want to know where is the Ravenclaw tower ;-;)

[@edi9892]

Please compare Japanese with European castle design.

[@GummieI]

That would be very interesting to see that I agree

[@MrChainrule]

And southeast Asian fortifications in general. Maybe throw India in there for good measure.

[@WheediesManchild]

Id love that too.

[@thomasdootson9693]

seeing as europe saw more conflict the european castles would be more effective as a defensive structure

[@edi9892]

Epsiloot8524 _ More conflict? Do you know anything about Chinese or Japanese history? They invented it and made it an artform LOL. Japanese castles may not withstand siege engines as much as European ones, but they are deathtraps for intruders.

[@leovicctanteo4537]

a 3D model of Hogwarts ^_^ this is why i love shad

[@mikewhitaker2880]

i find that part funny as the castle HAS had parts of it move thru the years... i mean even the staircases move and of course the room of requirement... even the whomping willow moved at one point...

[@kaitodaimon2642]

Why couldný he just look at the "order of phoenix" 3D model from the games?

[@mrmorello]

Shadoncé - Single knights (Put a gatehouse on it)

[@Outland9000]

10/10 for effort. Well played!

[@Cracker3011]

Well, Hogwarts in the first 2 movies could probably be called a castle. Being filmed at Alnwick Castle in England, and all.

[@rebeccawoods9723]

Cracker3011 Some of it was, yeah. Some of the more Gothic architecture parts were filmed at Lacock Abbey--courtyard scenes and a few of the classroom scenes too. That would probably partially explain the mismatch of the medieval and the Gothic styles, come to think of it

[@SheosMan117]

I'm surprised he didn't mention that, and/or didn't find that out. IMO, evaluating Hogwarts without looking at the IRL castle it's based off of is dumb.

[@rebeccawoods9723]

John Oberg I mean, at least in terms of aesthetics, it would have been interesting for him to give the filming locations a nod They'd probably have been an interesting point of comparison to the fictional place they were portraying too. It might've admittedly turned into a rabbit hole quite easily though so I can see why he didn't go into it

[@AmbienceWorld]

I gave you a thumbs up for the 3D model before you said it took you a week. It's very, very impressive!

[@noneofyourbusiness4294]

This is where german language shows it's beauty. We refere to something like Hogwarts as a "Schloss", they do have some protection, but mostly they're just beautiful. A "Burg" is another story. Those are flat out designed to withstand a siege. A simple example would be game of thrones. Kings landing is a "Schloss", except for some walls there's nothing that protects the citizens. Meanwhile a "Burg" isn't a building, it has common features with s "Schloss", but it's more functional and the walls are guarded 24/7

[@noneofyourbusiness4294]

and I'll have to add: a "Burg" usually has it's own ecosystem inside. Sure, not as great as outside, but it can provide food in case of emergency

[@LouisKing995]

None of your business The Red Keep is actually a brilliantly designed castle. I'm not sure if you were referring to it specifically or the city of King's Landing as a whole ?

[@noneofyourbusiness4294]

Trajan the building itself. It doesn't have a great purpose in terms of war. Look at german castles. Many of them are just as beautiful but won't withstand a siege. For example the "Anholter Wasserschloss". A Burg on the other hand is precisely designed for that purpose. Thick, strong walls, it's a town on it's own, it can be defended from the inside, while withstanding a siege for quite a while. What has King's landing to offer, or rather the red keep? It has the advantage of having it's backside to water, so unless you have ships, you're bound to only approach from the front. But it's walls aren't made for warfare. Don't forget that the one battle we've seen there was won by luck, not by the defense it could have offered, if it was more of a fortress. Of course it's not entirely useless, but it's not at all made for defence

[@LouisKing995]

None of your business It is made for defence, that's why Aegon built it. Shad has actually done an analysis of the red keep in a previous video, without dragons it would be fairly difficult to capture.

[@noneofyourbusiness4294]

Trajan look. I'm not saying it's entirely useless, of course it has it's benefits, no questions asked on that one. But it's more on the weak side in terms of actual use in combat. Compared to huge ass fortresses in the real world it doesn't do much. But since we're talking fantasy castles here: Lord of the rings? Those things in there would make a siege horrible for those who attack it. Tho Helm's Klamm seems to be designed like the death star. One weakspot, and it's all accessable for some random dude with a bomb.

[@VanDiemenStageGladiators]

You're a wizard Shad...

[@miltonfreitas4219]

That's why I'll always prefer the version from the first two movies. (version you almost didn't mentioned) This version is not only the truly original one, but it's the most "castly" to say something. It doesn't have the wooden bridge nor the clock tower and the mountain shape is so much diferent there: the lake surrounds it from behind so in terms of defense is better too. You can easily see this while watching The Chamber of secrets!

[@catfish552]

Sooooo... any chance of a download of the comprehensive 3D model of Hogwarts? It looks lovely.

[@hotaruasmaria7504]

just to give you props for teaching, and so you know you teach. I have implemented those, machicolations into the minecraft castle in our family battle ground.

[@SEELE-ONE]

-What is supporting that that tower above the roof in place!? -Ah yeah, well. Whenever you notice something like that, a wizard did it! -I see all right, but then... -Wizard!

[@missycurlylove21]

People in the comments keep saying it was build to be a school not for military purposes. I am pretty sure the school was built for not just teaching but protecting the children. At the time it was built people who were labelled magic were usually killed. So making it as non defensible as It was designed does not make sense.

[@howardlanus8610]

Remember the building is over a thousand years old and it seems to change its layout from time to time. Who's to say the castle looked like this when it was first built a millennium before hand?

[@TheSilDante]

Don't you think that magic is a better defence against muggles than walls are? There is no need for them.

[@GunRunner106]

as a german, I'd call Hogwarts a "Schloss" not a "Burg" Burg = classic Castle; Schloss = "Palace/Mansion/Chateau" A 'Schloss' alla "Schloss Neuschwanstein"... just bigger and actually properly defended.... but yeah... Schloss. not a Castle.

[@jamesmccann531]

GunRunner not a castle, but inspired and not too far off compared to other fantasy ones.

[@undertakernumberone1]

In den Büchern wird Hogwards iirc acuh immer als "Schloss" bezeichnet, nie als Burg

[@leonst.7471]

GunRunner Da schließe ich mich an.

[@GunRunner106]

es mach mich so irre das die kein englisches wort - kein anständiges, englisches wort für "Schloss" haben.... eugch....

[@ToriRocksAmos]

Indeed, castle is lacking precision. It's a castle in the sense of a palace, chateau, padlock or manor but not a castle in the sense of stronghold, fortress or bastion. There are English words for "Schloss" and "Burg" it's just that the umbrella term "castle" can mean both.

[@mryoungandbrave1]

Fun Fact: The filmmakers actually changed the location of the big beautiful bridge, so that they could have a deliberate weak point, so the Death Eaters and Dark Creatures can have direct access to the Great Hall. As an aspiring filmmaker, If I ever get the chance to make a action scene set in a fantasy castle, I fully intend to design weak points, that while wouldn't be weak points in real life, in a fantasy setting, they absolutely would be.

[@johnshelton2826]

Well done! Thank you for putting in the research. Ill use this as ammunition in my 'Harry Potter vs Lord of the Rings' debates (being careful not to point out the weaknesses of Helm's Deep and Minas Tirith pointed out in their respective videos).

[@720pgang8]

Muggles like you wouldn't understand, Shad...

[@Kriegter]

The fact that the harry potter series involved magic means that wands are ranged weapons and they shoot fast, If firearms are not included, it's the closest thing they got. You'd expect firefights which mean movement tactics such as leapfrogging and bounding.

[@maksuree]

you know, it's entirely possible that IN UNIVERSE, the creators of Hogwarts just wanted to show off their wealth with extravagant, difficult-to-build features. why did they build a tower on the great hall? because they could. why did they build a triple turreted tower? because they could. etc etc. y'know, subtlely building the lore by communicating how Salazar thought through his architecture. when examining the "why" you should look below the surface.

[@eccoeco3454]

shad i am going to make my first campain as dungeon master, it is going to be set in a highly historically accurate medieval fantasy world of my creation and the city (which shape i have made to make it as realistic as possible) is going to have proper defensible design proper gate houses and... (clears his throat)... MACHICOLATIONS

[@Pengalen]

Hogwarts is actually a lot more like a monastery. You have two or three buildings that are essentially cathedrals, the one multilevel block that is probably where the classrooms are (which is most keep-like) and some cloisters here and there. It looks more castle-ish because they've slapped a bunch of pointy Gothic round towers on it, which wouldn't usually be present on cathedrals.

[@EliotChildress]

I've never knew I needed sword pillows. But I really really do

[@hystericalgenie1671]

You are dedication given physical form.

[@Nichomachean5]

Wow... good grief. I don't know why I watched so many of your videos. I was on a Skyrim kick and fell down a rabbit hole on your take on castles. Fascinating. Well at this point, I suppose I should subscribe because apparently my thirst for the knowledge you offer is inexhaustible. ;)

[@99pppo]

This must have been a hell of a work to make the video! :O