𝐃𝐔𝐑𝐌𝐒𝐓𝐑𝐀𝐍𝐆 𝐁𝐋𝐎𝐆 :: 𝐓𝐎𝐏𝐈𝐂 𝐎𝐍𝐄

#TriDurmstrang25

intro

Hello! The Durmstrang team is proud to present our first blog of Triwizard Tournament 2025. Our topic was… Hogwarts!! So we may be Durmstrang… but get ready for Hogwarts.. Durmstrang style!

Contributors: Axel.

Editor | Editor | Blogger | Writer

Moodboard

The Home of Hogwarts & the Fate of Prophecies Edits

Time taken: 10-15 minutes

Apps used: Picsart, Photopea, DeviantArt (PSD), Pinterest (Images)

Process: I compiled the images that resonated with my interpretation of Hogwarts. This mainly consisted of the subject Divination, Harry Potter, the Golden Trio and one of the main plot points which is the prophecy. Then I put a noise filter onto it and added a sticker which I altered the opacity to. After this, I added a noise filter to the sticker and then added the PSD colouring onto the moodboard via Photopea. Before this, I also added a font that talks about “tarot cards” which is a lyric from The Wombat’s song Greek Tragedy. This was supposed to emphasise the idea of the prophecy and how while Hogwarts may appear to be “not so bad”, bad things do follow Hogwarts and its inhabitants, especially Harry Potter as well as the other Golden Trio .

Rating: 8/10. I am satisfied with the final outcome and feel it responded to the idea of Hogwarts. But I feel like the colourings could have felt more nostalgic which is the feeling conjured up by this topic.

Edit type: Moodboard

Time taken: Approximately 10-15 minutes

Apps used: Pinterest, Picsart, Photopea, DeviantArt

Rating: 8/10

Process: I compiled the images that I found from Pinterest and made them into a moodboard. Then I decided to crop the images into a square shape and add some stars. After this, I added a font that reads “Hogwarts is my home” because the idea of it being a home is a prevalent theme in the series. After this I went over to DeviantArt and found the psd I wanted to use, this was relatively easy to find as I tried to base it off of the colours that were already present in my edit. Then I went over to Photopea to apply the PSD colouring.

PSD credit: Beautiful night by jessitokki

Edits description

The Power of Friendship & Romance

1. Hermione

I used a red background, then added in the collage itself from another editing app, I then added in some filters to make it look less bright. [c] I added in some appropriate stickers, and topped everything off with a film filter.

Apps used: Picsart, LiveCollage

Time taken:

30 minutes

2. Dramione (fanfic)

I used a peach background, adding in the photo collage, then adding in 2 slytherin and 2 Gryffindor crests for the corners, followed by the ship name in the center.

Apps used: Picsart, PhotoGrid

Time taken: 30+ minutes

3. Ron

I used a gold background, adding the image next, followed by stickers appropriate to the theme. I topped it off with sparkles, because, magic.

Apps used: Picsart

Time: 30+ minutes

4. Harry

I used a red background, adding in the photos, then adding in stickers, including dobby, hedwig, and the golden snitch.

Apps used: Picsart, LiveCollage

Time: 30+ minutes

5. The Golden Trio Edit

Edit details: Using Pixelcut, I made an assortment of photos of the trio, then, using Picsart, I used a gold background, adding the photos in next. I then added in some stickers, including the hogwarts crest, and some cute snapshots of them all. I then added some sparkles, and the name.

Time: 20+ minutes

Apps used: Picsart, Pixel cut

The Mysteries of Hogwarts

Secret Areas of Hogwarts

Hello and welcome to the first topic of our TriWizard Tournament! This is Moony here and the topic we were given is Hogwarts. For this, wonderful stuff such as fanfiction and edits were made, but I am here to present the blog which is ‘Secret Areas of Hogwarts’. There are a ton of secrets in that school like ages and rooms and I will go over a few of them.

The first secrets that may pop into people’s minds are the ages that are proudly displayed on the marauders map. There are seven ages on this map including: the one-eyed witch age, the one behind the mirror on the fourth floor, the one beneath the Whomping Willow, a age behind the statue of Gregory the Swarmy, one in the West Well, one under a rug near the jewelled Fire Crab shell, and down the toilet.

The ones I will write more about are the one-eyed witch ageway and the path beneath the Whomping Willow. There is a ageway behind the one-eyed witch which resided by the stairs to the Defence Against the Dark Arts classroom. It led to the cellar of Honeydukes. If someone tapped on the hump of the statue with their wand while saying “Dissendium” made the hump open enough for just one person to slide through, but no was needed to get back into the school. This makes me wonder if any first or second years used this to sneak into Hogsmeade when they were not able to go on the trips.

The path behind the Whomping Willow led to a shack on a hilltop in Hogsmeade. The residents heard shrieking there during the 1970s, so it became known as the “Shrieking Shack”. However, during this time period, Remus Lupin went to Hogwarts and walked underneath the Whomping Willow to the shack so he could have the space to transform into a werewolf. The residents of Hogsmeade were not aware of this and thought that the shack was haunted.

Outside of the marauders map ages were three secret areas that were left out of the map: The vanishing cabinets, the Room of Requirement, and the Chamber of Secrets. There was a cabinet on the floor above Argus Filch’s office that led to Borgin and Burkes in Knockturn alley which the death eaters used to travel while Harry Potter was at Hogwarts.

There was also the Room of Requirement which was a room hidden within Hogwarts. It was on the seventh-floor left corridor and was also known as the Come and Go Room. This room could be whatever the witch or the wizard wanted it to be as long as they wished for what they wanted upon entering. There was also a secret age behind this room. If one wished for food, this room would open a age in Hogsmeade to Ariana Dumbledore’s Portrait in the Hog’s Head above the fireplace.

The Chamber of Secrets was under the Dungeons of Hogwarts and was created by Salazar Slytherin. He believed that the students of Hogwarts should be purebloods while the other founders welcomed half-bloods and muggleborns. So, before he left, he created the chamber hoping that his heir would use this chamber to kill muggleborns. In the chamber was an ancient basilisk, a statue of Salazar, and snakes carved around the chamber to represent Salazar’s power. Centuries later, his heir Tom Riddle used the basilisk to try to rid Hogwarts of muggleborns.

I hope you all enjoy the blog and will enjoy the rest of the content here!

Sources:

https://harrypotter.fandom.com/wiki/Hogwarts_secret_ages

https://harrypotter.fandom.com/wiki/Room_of_Requirement

https://harrypotter.fandom.com/wiki/Chamber_of_Secrets

The Choices Made

The Beauty of Romance & Forgiveness

Draco was standing near the edge of the Astronomy Tower, his hands shaking and his eyes nearly watering. For years this is what they had wanted for him, if he did this they would be proud of him. His father had always expected greatness from him and therefore, so did Voldemort, so did Bellatrix and it seemed like he had no one anymore. For days he had thought this decision through, what would truly be the consequences of backing out. What if he were to tell them he wasn’t like them. Deep down he knew what would happen, and it was worse than just being disowned. He knew that if he didn’t complete this mission he would likely be killed. Draco watched as Snape stepped in front of him assertively, he watched as the killing curse was fired towards the Heaster of Hogwarts. He watched as he saw what no teenage boy should have to witness, death. He knew he had to get out of there, he simply walked out, not even caring about the others standing on the tower. He just kept walking and walking aimlessly until he stumbled into someone by accident. He didn’t know who he had bumped into, until he looked up to see the last person he expected to see. “Granger?” He couldn’t even bring himself to insult her right now, seeing as he was in an extremely vulnerable position right now. “Draco? I’m sorry- you seem.. distracted or something.” Curse her and her good nature, because now she was actually caring about Draco Malfoy. “I know we’ve never really been friends at all, and I’m probably the last person you want to hear this from.” She began slowly, trying to gauge his reaction as she spoke softly. “If you ever want someone to just listen, I’d be happy to. I know our lifestyles don’t exactly match up, but I can listen.” Hermione let out a soft sigh. Maybe this was her fatal flaw, even when people didn’t deserve it she still showed care for them. “That… that’s actually really nice of you,” Draco replied gently. He was thinking of refusing at first, however at this point he had nothing to lose. Maybe if he put his ego aside and did his best to let all his emotions out, he would feel less burdened by the pain he had been dealing with for years.

Draco and Hermione walked to a secluded stairwell, where Draco sat down first and gestured to Hermione to do the same. He didn’t want to go to either of their common rooms, he would never set foot in the Gryffindor common room- and the Slytherin common room seemed too public. The entire time they were walking, his mind had been spiraling with different emotions. He felt…conflicted. He hated that he was born into this life, it seemed like he was destined to be evil and there was no way out. His mother however, was more neutral. Draco knew that if it weren’t for her love for Lucius, that she would have likely left the lifestyle behind.

After a while of silence and thinking, Hermione finally spoke up. “What were you doing… at the Astronomy Tower before you ran off,” she asked in a soft tone. “My father. Well, him and… the other Death Eaters. I was supposed to kill Dumbledore to prove my worth and I couldn’t do it. For years I’ve been scared that I’d be killed if I didn’t kill for them. But I don’t want to be a killer. I mean, I know that must be hard to believe but even I can’t do that.” It felt good to finally say those words out loud to someone, the words he could never say in Malfoy Manor or even the Slytherin common room. “I don’t think you’re truly evil. You can be mean sometimes, sure. But it’s my understanding that mean and evil are two completely different things,” she explained, hoping to provide some comfort for the boy. Hermione could tell he was broken inside, snapped by the forces of the dark arts. “I never thought I’d say this, but thanks for that. I mean, it’s always been rough I suppose but I am used to it,” he has grown up around the dark arts and he knew it had certainly influenced him. “Who knew you’d be such a motivational speaker to your mortal enemy,” he said softly. If anyone saw him right now with her he would simply deny everything. “I’m not your enemy Draco, I never wanted to be.” With that, she sighed as she just pulled him into a hug. When he didn’t pull back immediately, she relaxed. After a few minutes she just pulled away in silence, before disappearing down the corridor.

A few days later, Hermione was in the library when she saw a familiar face enter. He looked… different. Not in a bad way, he just looked more reserved than usual. I mean, before Draco would pick a fight with almost anyone a chance he got. She hadn’t expected him to come over to her table, that was for sure. “Hello, Granger. It has occurred to me that we haven’t spoken since that night. Which.. well, is typical for our mutual dislike of each other.” He was intentionally keeping his voice down, as he was in no place to say these things in a very public Hogwarts library. “Hi, Draco. As we’ve established I don’t dislike you. If you weren’t so rude all the time then all would be well. Regardless, I hope you are doing better than you were,” she responded sharply. Draco just looked at her for a moment, not really knowing what to say. “Thanks, for that night,” he mumbled before walking off.

Hermione felt… conflicted. She had felt like maybe they would have connected more after that night, but everything seemed normal. Most of all, she had no idea why she cared so much. I mean, why did it matter to her if Malfoy was nice to her or not, he hadn’t been in the past. All of this was just so confusing to her and she didn’t know what to do about it. She knew talking to him was not the way to go, he would likely just make some remark about how her feelings were stupid. Feelings? Less hatred? Hermione didn’t exactly know what to call this newfound interaction with him.

Hermione grabbed her books from the library before heading back to the Gryffindor common room to find Ginny and explain this utterly confusing situation to her. “I’ve been looking all over for you!” Hermione said to Ginny, before walking over to her with a rushed pace. “I’ve come to the conclusion that Malfoy and I are no longer at the point where we insult each other all the time. Normally I know what to do in any situation but this is… newfound territory even for me.” She had read nearly every single book, yet none of them prepared her for the world of friendship and romance with someone such as Draco Malfoy. Ginny took a moment to process, looking almost shocked for a second. “You and… Malfoy. As in Draco.” Hermione dramatically put her hands to cover her face, sighing to herself. “Yes, I truly don’t know what’s going on anymore.” Ginny thought for a second before beginning to speak again. “Have you tried ing how awful he was to you? Is whatever happened between you two enough to make up for the amount of times he called you a Mudblood?” Hermione knew she was right, yet she still had the same conflicting feelings as before. “I just don’t know Ginny,” she said with a slight chuckle. “I’ll catch up with you later, I'm going to try and talk to him.” She said, before setting her books down and wandering out into the halls.

outro

That was our first blog of the challenge, and of course we wish good luck to those in the tournament. I hope you enjoyed the blog, see you back again soon!