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I think in terms of the Hogwarts castle as we see it in the books, I both agree and disagree. It's a fortress against outside threats and though they sometimes make it in, there are still plenty of people willing to protect the students. However, it has its own crop of hidden dangers that you need to be sensible around as well (which I think is a good thing as it teaches kids caution and a respect for magic). You do have to wonder whether that reputation for being the safest place lead to complacency and that in itself contributed to it being unsafe while Harry was there.

I’d say HOL is most definitely a safe haven! It gives so many of us a chance to express ourselves and be creative in ways we wouldn’t usually be in our daily lives. For me, at least, I often get embarrassed to show people my writing or art but everyone’s welcoming attitude and genuineness have made me confident in what I produce. I don’t think I could say Hogwarts is the safest place per se as I think that would be doing a great disservice to my RL friends and family but I think HOL has provided and continues to provide a therapeutic creative outlet that I would otherwise not have and plenty of awesome friends as well! In in terms of Hogwarts as seen in the Harry Potter world, though, I’d say it could be one of the safest places for a young witch or wizard if it were better regulated. Though Hogwarts does have excellent protective spells from outside forces and generally nice people, I think that, at least how we saw it in the books and movies, the school had a pretty toxic student and teacher environment. One look at the classroom of Snape, Umbridge, or Lockhart is enough to show that inept or uncaring teachers definitely detract from Hogwarts’ safety in that the mental and emotional health, not to mention their physical well-being, is not being looked after. The whole idea of a sport where you could quite easily die while playing or sustain serious injury is quite concerning as well. Simply put, there is a severe lack of regulation at Hogwarts that allows students to be put in dangerous environments with incompetent supervisors. That being said, I’d still go there without second thought if I somehow received a Hogwarts letter today.