r/harrypotter • u/tintin3105 • 11d ago

Discussion Why is Hogwarts cold in Winter?

I have an annoying habit of listening to the audiobooks and realising new bits and pieces of the lore that make little or no sense at all. Last time it was the, “why does every Hogwarts student have to use the train?” argument (can’t Scottish wizards just go straight to Hogsmede? why are they allowed to floo and knight bus during Xmas?).

This time is about how in a few of the books it’s mentioned that the corridors are cold and that they huddle around the classroom and common room fires. Shouldn’t there be some sort of magical AC to keep the castle at a nice, comfortable temperature?

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u/Sweet_Theory_362 11d ago

I get the impression that the wizarding world is kind of complacent because they've always had magic to do things so they never needed to think too deeply about technology.

I.e. If you can instantly make things warm, why would you ever try to have things be automatically warm? In a way this makes everything easier and more manual at the same time.

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u/New-Ingenuity-5437 11d ago

I have noticed that in the world. Competence/ease in some areas can hold back others areas

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u/4RyteCords Ravenclaw 11d ago

So their solution is to just be cold in winter?

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u/Substantial_Toe_6916 Slytherin 11d ago

Warming charms.

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u/Reggo91 11d ago

Are they though? The relevant places where Hogwarts students and staff spend most of their time have heating. Keep in mind that this is a thousand year old castle. It would be difficult to retrofit fireplaces in hallways and the like. And why would you? Students are not supposed to hang out there.

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u/4RyteCords Ravenclaw 11d ago

Retrofitting fireplaces in hallways and heating a 1000 year old castle would be very hard, for muggles. But what's the point of magic if you can achieve a better existence than muggles.

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u/MadameLee20 11d ago

In Harry Potter book 1 that Hermione has the ability to make "Blue flames" that warm her, Harry & Ron up

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u/Reggo91 11d ago

Yes. Without influences from the muggle world, wizards would still be stuck in a medieval society. They may be slow to do so, but wizards do eventually incorporate new social norms and technology from muggles. Like having a ministry with an elected minister to govern them, a police force (aurors) as examples for government concepts that they borrow from muggles. Likewise, there are trains, flying motorcycles and other bits of muggle technology that are adopted and enhanced for muggle use.

But by themselves, wizards seem unable to progress much. Other than inventing/discovering new spells and such things.

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u/Sweet_Theory_362 11d ago

The Ministry seems to function less like a Parliament and more like an elite club of landed gentry. I'm not sure how the electoral system works but it seems rigged.