-Russia – Durmstrang Institute-

---

The Durmstrang Institute is the main Wizarding School of the Northern European state, and though often believed to be located in Norway or Sweden, the school was revealed to be built in Northwestern  Russia a decade ago. However, there is another smaller Russian Wizarding School not to be confused with by the name of KoldovstoretzIt welcomes huge amounts of students but is an all-wizard school and will not accept muggle-borns as students. Many nationalities of wizards attend the school, however, namely Russians, Swedish, Lithuanians, Latvians, Estonians, Ukrainians and students from other surrounding countries. British Wizards have been known to attend the school, as well as those from the Middle East. The most notable elements of the school that differs it from many others is that the Institute is renown for teaching not only Defence Against the Dark Arts but also The Dark Arts (spell casting of dark spells and so on). It’s current headmaster is previously renown Quidditch seeker Viktor Krumm, who has toned down the teaching of dark arts for safety’s sake.

Founding:

Durmstrang was founded sometime during the Middle Ages by the great medieval witch Nerida Vulchanova, <a href="http://harrypotter.wikia.com/wiki/Nerida_Vulchanova"></a> who served as the first head of the school, followed after her mysterious demise by Professor Harfang Munter , who established Durmstrang's reputation for emphasizing martial magic as an impressive part of its curriculum. Neither of these Professors haunt or have paintings hung but a Diary written in the first year that Durmstrang opened signed always with “Vulcan” is suspected to have belonged to Nerida Vulchanova. It expresses the writer’s worry for the practices of Harfang Munter and ends with abruption. The Diary was found in a narrow passage leading off from the old Headmaster’s/Headmistress’s room and many believe the theory of it’s ownership to be true.

Further History:

Little is known of Durmstrang’s History, though it has produced both worthy and unworthy students in its time of teaching. The man who later assassinated the Russian Royal Family in the revolution, Grigigori Rapsutin, who was said to have gone mad after a spell backfired on him. Renowned dark wizard Gellert Grindlewald also attended the Durmstrang Academy and was accepted in 1894. But, 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; that mark stayed there long after his defeat. The mark is supposedly found in one of the dungeons of the schools that was used to store relics at that time.

At some point after 1981, Igor Karkaroff rose to the position of Headmaster of Durmstrang and became immensely unpopular in this position, having several students removed from the school by their parents for his ruthlessness. During his time as the school administrator, some students copied Grindelwald's symbol 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.

The Durmstrang Institute also took part in the 1994 revival of the Triwizard Tournament and arrived at Hogwarts for the Triwizard Tournament by ship, an enormous vessel in which they slept during their stay in Scotland. Their Champion was Viktor Krumm, a student back then. Unfortunately Krumm was controlled under the Imperious Curse by Bart Crouch Junior in the last task and was made to try and dispose of other champions, with the exception of Harry Potter.

Karkaroff fled after Lord Voldemort rose again and the school was taken over by Lithuanian witch Eva Vernosky, who protected the school extensively during the second Wizarding War but refused to take part. She handed the rule of the Institute over to Viktor Krumm in 2006.

Education:

Like The Beaxbatons Academy of Magic, Durmstrang Students are not sorted into houses but are separated by year groups. There are seven years of schooling to pass through in the school and they take O.W.L.s in the fifth year and N.E.W.T.s in the seventh. As mentioned above, The Durmstrang Institute does school students in casting some of the dark arts as well as defending themselves from them. Extra subjects include all the common ones as well as courses in fencing and archery. According to Viktor Krumm, students swim in the nearby lake that is linked to the see via a river and dwell in hot saunas afterwards.

Setting:

The Durmstrang Institute is unplottable like all Wizarding schools for the sake of safety; however, it is known to be located on the Northwestern edge of Russia near a lake that connects to the sea.

The school is a castle like Hogwarts but is apparently smaller and only has four stories, though the grounds are said to be extensive. As well as the lake, the school is said to have many compounds for magical creatures, a large number of greenhouses and a first-rate Quidditch pitch. There are also walks around the nearby lake, a ship kept in the water, which can be used for celebrations and travels  (it was notably used to travel to Hogwarts in 1994 for the revival of the Triwizard Tournament).  Apparently the valley is bordered by thick pine forest that is enchanted to turn muggles away.

The castle itself is said to be have a cold, eerie feel to visitors and is harshly furnished, fires are only ever being lit for magical purposes. There is one layer of dungeons for various uses and many secret passages and rooms within that often store dark objects or entrap wandering students if they are stumbled upon. For this reason every student is given a map of the school that is fairly accurate, though some passages and rooms are not visible on it and they are still warned to take care.