The Great Lake - Pottermore The grounds of Hogwarts function partly as a nature reserve for magical creatures which have difficulty existing in Muggle-inhabited areas. The lake is full of creatures that would make a Muggle naturalist swoon with delight - if terror did not seize them first. There are Grindylows (vicious little water demons), merpeople (of a hardy Scottish strain) and a giant squid, which is semi-domesticated and permits students to tickle its tentacles on sunny days, when it basks in the shallows. Giant squid genuinely exist, though they are most mysterious creatures. Although their extraordinary bodies have been washed up all over the world, it was not until 2006 that a live giant squid was captured on film by Muggles. J.K. The lake is the setting for the second task that the Triwizard competitors must face in Goblet of Fire, which is also my favourite task.
King's Cross Station - Pottermore When Ottaline Gambol commandeered a Muggle train to serve as the new mode of transport for Hogwarts students, she also had constructed a small station in the wizarding village of Hogsmeade: a necessary adjunct to the train. The Ministry of Magic felt strongly, however, that to construct an additional wizarding station in the middle of London would stretch even the Muggles' notorious determination not to notice magic when it was exploding in front of their faces. It was Evangeline Orpington, Minister from 1849-1855, who hit upon the solution of adding a concealed platform at the newly (Muggle) built King's Cross station, which would be accessible only to witches and wizards. J.K. King's Cross, which is one of London's main railway stations, has a very personal significance for me, because my parents met on a train to Scotland which departed from King’s Cross station.
The most interesting buildings in the wizarding world - Pottermore No building in the wizarding world is ordinary and none is without a rich, detailed history. If only us Muggles could see them… Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban Some are homely and more similar to Muggle residences, while others are grand and dramatic and have magic oozing out of every brick. Hogwarts The granddaddy of them all is, of course, Hogwarts: Harry’s home for so many years and a place that represented security and sanctuary. Invisible to the Muggle eye, no one is quite sure where Hogwarts is, apart from it being ‘somewhere in Scotland’ and knowing you need a great, whopping train to get there. The grounds of Hogwarts are populated by a large, sprawling loch, (known as The Great Lake) the Forbidden Forest, and a huge Quidditch pitch. And that’s all without even going into the interior, where the magic runs deep through every crevice. ‘Oh, I would never dream of assuming I know all Hogwarts’ secrets, Igor,’ Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire Gringotts The Shrieking Shack