The Forbidden Forest has been of interest since Harry Potter book one when Dumbledore warns the first years to avoid the forest. Hagrid has long found the area fascinating, releasing Aragog into its depths and fans may wonder if beast loving Newt Scamander has some history with the area as well.
While the Fantastic Beasts movies move characters farther and farther away from Hogwarts it’s unclear if fans will ever learn more about the Forbidden Forest than they already know. Here are a few questions about the place that still remains.
Why Is It Forbidden?
The warning is right there in the name, The Forbidden Forest. Dumbledore warns students, first years and older students alike, to stay away. What is never clear is exactly why the area is forbidden. Yes, it is home to dangerous creatures, as we later learn, but so is Hogwarts castle and the grounds. There’s a three-headed dog inside the castle’s third floor in Harry’s first year. There’s a Basilisk in a hidden chamber below the dungeons. Pixies make an appearance in the Defense Against the Dark Arts classroom. It leads many to wonder what else makes the forest so special?
Why Do Students Serve Detention There?
The Forbidden Forest is forbidden (for whatever reason) and yet students are allowed to serve detention there. It can be argued that visiting the forest with an adult makes the difference, but not when Hagrid sends Malfoy and Harry off on their own to search for an injured unicorn.
That means they are still underaged wizards wandering about on their own in a forest they are, under normal circumstances, not supposed to approach. It certainly makes you wonder what the Forbidden Forest is really all about.
How Big Is It?
Most maps of the Hogwarts (including J.K. Rowling’s own sketch) show the Forbidden Forest extending far off and beyond the rest of the Hogwarts grounds. But how far does the forest really go? We don’t know and it’s unclear if any wizards actually know. If they do, which we have to assume, no one ever says. Obviously things seem to get darker and more dangerous the farther in a person goes, but how far it’s possible to go (if you survive) is still unclear.
Where Else Can You Find Unicorns, Thestrals, and Centaurs?
Some of the less dangerous creatures who call the forest home are unicorns, thestrals, and centaurs. All are, at one time or another, introduced to students in a Care of Magical Creatures class. While it’s clear that these four-legged friends call the forest home, it’s unclear where else in the world, wizarding or otherwise, the creatures might also call home. If they can only be found in the Forbidden Forest, that’s fine, but it is never clear if that’s the case either.
Who Made The Paths?
The Forbidden Forest is huge, tangled, and extensive, and yet there are still a number of paths to follow through the trees. Who made these paths? Were they set up deliberately or trod down due to years of travel? Can they lead out of the forest on its other side? If there is another side? If the paths were cleared deliberately why wasn’t more land cleared or marked for later use by educators, students, or other professionals interested in magical creatures or herbology? Again, some history it would be nice to know.
Which Parts Of The Forest Are Forbidden?
A lot takes place on the edge of the Forbidden Forest. Harry and company learn all about Hippogriffs within the nearest trees and Harry is introduced to the dragons he will have to fight in Goblet of Fire while following Hagrid through the trunks and foliage of the forest as well.
This means that at least some of the forest is not actually completely off-limits, even though the name and Dumbledore’s announcement make it seem that way. So what parts of the forest are actually forbidden all the time? And what parts are allowed to be used on a case by case basis?
How Much Counts As Part Of Hogwarts?
The Forbidden Forest stretches off the edge of every map made of the Hogwarts Grounds, so how much of the forest actually counts as a part of Hogwarts? Does the entire territory of the forest belong to the school or only a small sliver that Hagrid is allowed to visit and use for lessons? The forest is always spoken of as a single entity, but there must be a line somewhere that divides official Hogwarts territory from the rest of the extensive landscape.
Are There Werewolves?
When heading to detention in the Forbidden Forest Malfoy voices his displeasure, as well as his fear that werewolves will be present within the trees. Malfoy may voice his fear, but it’s never clear if werewolves are actually one of the monsters hiding in the depths of the forest. It seems unlikely, as most werewolves live as men for three-fourths of their lives and the forest isn’t exactly a great place to live as a regular wizard. But again, it is never confirmed one way or another.
Are There Trolls?
Like Malfoy’s fear of werewolves, Tom Riddle in the second book The Chamber of Secrets, mentions that Hagrid used to sneak off to the forest to wrestle trolls. Tom Riddle, we learn, is not always the most honest character, and this is likely just another cruel rumor that leads to Hagrid’s expulsion. But one has to wonder where Professor Quirrel located the troll that he placed in the dungeon in the first Harry Potter book.
What Are Its Secrets?
In Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone Hagrid takes a group to serve detention in the forest. Unlike in the movie, in the book, the group runs into more than one centaur. Ronan tells everyone that, “The forest hides many secrets.” What we never learn is exactly what those secrets are, beyond the fact that Voldemort seems to have taken up residents there for a time in book one and book seven. There’s still a lot we could learn about the Forbidden Forest.
