Popular Culture Review Vol. 25, No. 1, Winter 2014 | Page 78

74 Popular Culture Review DANGER, DO NOT ENTER, UNSAFE” {GF 166). The similarities to Gothic ruins such as Udolpho and Otranto castle are obvious but there is a more important issue at hand here: Hogwarts is actively hidden and is set up not only to remain unknowable but unknown to the greater part of the world. Hermione goes on to explain that it is unplottable, which means “you can enchant a building so it’s impossible to plot on a map” {GF 167). Yet, even when Hogwarts is discovered or revealed by someone with access to it, it remains, to a large extent, impenetrable because of the Room of Requirement. Though Harry does eventually learn his way around the cas ѱ