Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry
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Have you ever wanted to visit the school that Harry Potter attended? Well if you tap into your magical skills, imagination, and a GPSr, this is your chance to do just that!
The coordinates listed above take you to your first stop – platform 9 ¾. In order to get there you must find an area that is known to muggles as the “Shell Environmental Park”. The road to this park begins between the new A&W / Subway restaurant area, and the “On” ramp to Highway 101 (Exit 5b). Drive down this road with your vehicle. You will come to platform 9 ¾ before actually entering the Environmental Park area. If you are merely a muggle, you will not be able to locate platform 9 ¾, but if you possess some magical powers you should have no problem. At this first stop, you must locate a train ticket for Hogwarts Express. Look on the back of the ticket for the coordinates to your next stop.
From here, continue on with your vehicle and park at N 44° 59.927 W 064° 06.844. Take a walk around the pond and enter the back part of the dark forest! Keep your eyes open for both muggles and magical creatures (unicorns, centaurs, etc.) Your next stop will bring you to an observation deck at the edge of the forest, where the professors at Hogwarts like to come to watch their students participate in flying classes and quidditch practices. Check under the deck to locate the golden snitch that was lost during their last practice. This snitch happens to have markings revealing the coordinates for your next stop engraved on its wings.
Continue further into the dark forest, where your new coordinates will take you to a whomping tree. This is not a whomping willow tree, but a whomping tree nonetheless! In order to protect yourself from the wrath of the whomping tree, you must spin your wand in a circle counterclockwise 3 times as you are approaching it, and say the words: “Sequesterous Salicaceae!” Find a stick that you can use as a wand (any stick from the dark forest can be used for this purpose) and practice good wrist movement. Only then can you safely find the box that the whomping tree guards. This small box contains the coordinates for your next two stops. Also, the Ministry of Magic has upgraded the difficult in accordance to modern O.W.L. standards, only those with and E (Exceeds Expectations; minimum score needed to advance to your N.E.W.T.) or higher should attempt this challenge. Those who have not reached their 5th year should remain behind when facing the Whoomping tree as it's dangerous nature has kept Hagrid from trimming the Devil's Snare around it.
Before you proceed from here, you should first practice your levitation skills. Remember: “swish and flick” with your wand. Then close your eyes, imagine being able to levitate yourself, and say the magic words: “Wingardium leviosa”! Open your eyes and immediately swish and flick your wand. With any luck you will now have some beginner’s skills that will allow you to levitate yourself beyond the next stop. You are ready to proceed.
At the next waypoint, you will discover why you will need these levitation skills. PLEASE NOTE: THERE IS NO PHYSICAL CONTAINER HERE TO FIND! From here, carefully cross over to the other side and find the Devil’s Snare. Harry left a cammoed rememberall deep within the evil clutches of this menace, entrusting it to protect the location of the final magical box from dark wizards. Keep in mind that the secret in avoiding the clutches of the “Devil’s Snare” bush is to RELAX. Only then can you safely find the remberall and the location of that which you seek! Remember, those who have not reached an E in their OWL for Herbology should not attempt this section, senior wizards might even think of using an alternate wand. We suggest something more in the lines of 18-24", rigid, metallic wand with a protruding core of clipperite.
Once you have completed your journey and found the magical box, you will see that it contains a Hogwarts logbook and a sorting hat. Inside the sorting hat you will find a number of goody bags for wizards and magicians. Each goody bag contains a Harry Potter bookmark, a Harry Potter wordsearch puzzle, a crest (Gryffindor, Slytherin, Huffelpuff or Ravensclaw) that will tell you which house you have been sorted into, a magical pet that is traditionally chosen by many Hogwarts students, and a copy of Harry’s favourite snack recipe: “Baked Troll Toes”! (What did you think happened to the troll after he got clubbed over the head?) While supplies last, one goody bag may be taken by each young (or young at heart) person that has demonstrated magical abilities in succeeding with this quest. Please do not take the sorting hat, as it still has much work to do in sorting new students into their respective Hogwarts houses. You will find that the box also holds various possessions that belonged to Harry and he has kindly agreed to allow these to be used as trader items. If you wish to trade for these, please try as much as possible to leave something that a young wizard or witch would treasure. Remember that you should not leave any boxes of Bertie Bott’s Every Flavour Beans, Chocolate Frogs, or any other food items that might be detected by the magical creatures of the dark forest. The FTF prize for the new location of Hogwarts is one that can bring you your mail!
Please return all the waypoint boxes as you found them – well hidden and with the coordinates intact. Good luck, and as always, keep your activities hidden from the eyes of curious muggles!
WARNING: Hagrid reports that on July 15th, 2007, a family of skunks (mother and babies) were observed to be roaming the grounds of Hogwarts. There is no known magical spell to protect you or your pets from these creatures of the dark forest, so please beware!
Thank you to Mayor Anna Allen and the Windsor Town Council for allowing this cache to be placed.
(Unlike the original Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, this cache was NOT hidden on Friday the 13th! It is hoped that this one will have better luck, and not disappear by way of evil muggles!)
Additional Hints
(Decrypt)
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