The following podcast contains audio extracted from videos on the Harry Potter Theory YouTube channel.

Across the international wizarding community, there are 11 officially recognized schools of magic.

And while Hogwarts enjoys a prestigious reputation, it may not actually be the best fit for everyone.

Dermstrang, which you have probably heard of before,

think of Goddard of Fire, bears the darkest reputation of all wizarding schools, and it's perhaps

best known for the dark wizard, Gallic Grindalwald, once roaming its corridors. The school, which is

located in the northernmost regions of Norway, was originally founded

during the Middle Ages by a Bulgarian witch named Nrida Volcanova.

She successfully operated the school until her mysterious death, after which Harfang

Manta, a wizard known for his dubious allegiance and nefarious intent took over as headmaster. Under

Manta's leadership, Dermstrang developed a reputation for its emphasis on martial magic,

particularly dueling, which became a defining aspect of the school's curriculum. And while it

operated as an institution of study like all of the other schools, there was a darker

undertone to it all. And this only got worse over time, with Dark Wizard and former Death-Eater,

Equal Karkarov, later becoming headmaster of the school. After taking over, he quickly

promoted a culture of fear and intimidation, further contributing to the school's

dark reputation. But like I mentioned earlier, Dermstrang's true claim to fame, or rather

notorious hallmark, was one of its former pupils, Gellet Gryndewald. Grindewald permanently

stay in the school's reputation by pushing the boundaries of dark magic even further than the school permitted, eventually being expelled for twisted, dark experiments, and near-fatal attacks on students.

But what exactly did Gellet Grindewald do?

Dermstrang was notorious for allowing its students to explore the darker side of magic.

How far did he really push that boundary?

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