Hogwart’s is Old. Like, Really Old.
The University of Oxford was founded in 1209, while Trinity College started admitting students in 1592. England's oldest and most prestigious educational institutions have storied histories, and they've managed to craft some of the finest minds in the world over the past few centuries. Still, these schools seem positively brand new compared to Hogwarts' impressive history. Most fans know that Britain's foremost school for witchcraft and wizardry was founded by Godric Gryffindor, Rowena Ravenclaw, Helga Hufflepuff and Salazar Slytherin. The fact that they created the school centuries before most other institutions (in the 990s) often flies under the radar, though, and that's no small feat.
For historical context, that's about 60 years after the Kingdom of England was founded, and almost 700 years before the United States' wizarding school, Ilvermorny, came into existence. Given the sheer number of massive world events that have taken place on British soil -- not to mention the handful of bloody confrontations the school itself has played host to -- it's insanely impressive that Hogwarts still stands.
Most Electronic Devices Don’t Work On Castle Grounds
Candles lighting the Hogwarts Great Hall
We can argue until we're blue in the face about the role that technology plays in helping or hindering our education. Where magical learning is concerned, though, that's less of an issue, because most common electronic devices simply won't fly at Hogwarts. It's not just that they're not allowed, either -- phones, computers, televisions, and electricity all fail to work on school grounds. For the most part, electricity and magic just don't mix; that is to say, magical energy interferes with electronic technology, rendering it more or less useless.
If you think about it, that's probably not a huge deal to wizards, even the teenage ones, because what can you do with an iPhone that you couldn't also accomplish with, you know, magic? Still, there is one electronic device that works just fine at Hogwarts, and that's a radio. That's because, according to J.K. Rowling, radios are actually magical objects.
The School Motto is Pretty Unique
What's in a school motto? Should it inspire its students to greatness? Is it in place to remind them of the awesome legacy of their learning institution? Or does it exist to give them a moral and ethical framework to guide them as they mature? Hogwarts' founders probably considered all of these factors when they created the motto for their wizarding school, but the sentiment they landed on is a little bit outside the box.
“Draco dormiens nunquam titillandus” sounds impressive enough in its original Latin incarnation, but the English translation leaves a little bit to be desired. The official creed for all Hogwarts to follow roughly translates to "Never tickle a sleeping dragon." No, it doesn't exactly lay out a model for comprehensive academic and magical success -- but it's not exactly bad advice, either. After all, both in life and in study, tangling with grumpy, monstrous creatures will almost never lead to anything good.
The Castle Has a Mind of Its Own
To many Hogwarts students, the castle isn't just the place they go to school. For Harry Potter, in particular, the ancient building takes on a mythic, larger-than-life quality: it's a sanctuary and a sacred place, another world where he can learn who he really is. It's well known that Hogwarts has its share of secrets, but one of the most intriguing is that it is, in some ways, alive. It's not just that it offers up places like the Room of Requirement to those who need it, or that every nook and cranny is packed full of magic. There are times when Hogwarts seems downright sentient.
This was never more obvious than in Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, when Dumbledore's office sealed itself off after the evil Dolores Umbridge assumed the role of headmaster. Hogwarts proved, in that moment, that it not only serves as a place for students to call home, but that it knows what's best for its students, and will do whatever it can to help them.
Merlin Was A Hogwarts Alum – And A Slytherin
Fantasy and fiction are full of witches and wizards, and the enchanting stories of their lives. From Morgan Le Fay and Gandalf to the Wicked Witch and Willow Rosenberg, these characters have become a permanent fixture in pop culture and inspired a steady stream of new magical stories. One famous wizard, though, apparently has a deeper connection to one of the most infamous wizarding stories of all time.
According to J.K. Rowling, Merlin himself was a student at Hogwarts. Before he hooked up with King Arthur, the young wizard matriculated in the castle's beautiful halls made famous in Harry Potter. What's more, Merlin belonged to the most notorious (and misunderstood) Hogwarts house -- Slytherin. In fact, he may have even been around early enough to have taken lessons from the Hogwarts founders themselves. Given his obvious ambition and exemplary magical skills, it's not hard to see why he cloaked himself in green and silver.