The Security Mentor

This report is copyright in the year MXIV from the founding of Hogwarts. Unauthorized distribution may result in small aches and pains, loss of hair after age 30, acne before age 20, and unwanted weight gain.

PHYSICAL SECURITY: SCHOOL AND GROUNDS

Executive summary

Physical security is adequate but needs regular review for protection against Muggles, may be inadequate against dark wizards, and is rated Not Acceptable against internal threats. Protection against Muggles will ultimately fail and Hogwarts must prepare for the failure.

Overview

The purpose of physical security measures is to prevent the school from being discovered by the outside world, to allow the school to remain in operation, and to preserve the school's essential form and function.

Section A: Muggles.

Confidentiality is preserved by confusion spells which prevent Muggles who enter the area from seeing the school and by the Unplottable Charm which prevents the school from showing on a map. Muggle artifacts which augment their senses don't work close to Hogwarts. The Ministry of Magic maintains a department which handles any failures of this protection by erasing the memories of the Muggles involved.

These measures were complete and adequate when Hogwarts was founded and for centuries thereafter. They need to be updated to counter the many new capabilities Muggles have developed (for example, for a century now Muggles have been able to fly). The updates will have to be redone and redone as Muggle capabilities grow.

The Ministry of Magic, working with the research faculty at Hogwarts, must develop spells to counter the following Muggle artifacts:

• "Aeroplanes", flying machines which maybe thought of as non-magical broomsticks. These are dangerous to Hogwarts security even if they can't see Hogwarts: the school's interference with Muggle artifacts could cause one to fall out of the sky, which would trigger a huge investigation.
• "Satellites" are artificial moons which may be too far away for spells to affect, and which regularly photograph objects on the ground.
• "Seismometers", subtle instruments which can feel a giant's tread for miles and an explosion on the other side of the world.
• "Radio", a communications device which is disrupted by lightning. Pyromantic experiments could interfere with the Muggle "radio" and arouse their curiosity.

A security system is only as good as its backup measures in case it fails. The Ministry has an effective program to trace the contacts of Muggles who have too much information and to erase their memories. In the days of Hufflepuff, Gryffendore, Ravenclaw, and Slytherin, this worked well because wizards could send warnings to each other faster than Muggles could spread news.

Muggle communications today are so effective that few wizards can understand or believe how effective they are. In a heartbeat, they could send news of Hogwarts to billions around the world. Even if Ministry operatives erased the memories of Muggle reporters, a Muggle invention from around the time of the Tri-Wizard Tournament would allow any Muggle with information to publish it.

Recommendations:

• Gradually but dramatically expand the Ministry of Magic's Muggle liaison project, enlisting the help of Hogwarts students who have mundane parents and relatives.
• As an interim measure only, the Ministry should expand its tracking of new Muggle surveillance artifacts and immediately notify Hogwarts of new ones.
• Hogwarts should undertake a "public relations" campaign to prepare the Muggle world, gradually, to accept the existence of the magical community. This campaign should expose as many as possible to portrayals of the magical community as people like them, who can be proud and brave, silly and flawed, and who feel pain including the universal struggles of adolescence

Section B: Dark Wizards

Hogwarts has measures in place to limit access to the grounds, including a block on Apparating and the ability to monitor the Floo network. There is no effective control over access by broom or flying car, and the Hogwarts Express seems to be unsupervised.

There is no effective protection against a dark wizard entering the grounds by possessing a student, for example with an enchanted diary.

The castle and grounds have a record of hidden features and back doors. Some have proven dangerous, for example the Chamber of Secrets.

Recommendations:

• Place proctors on the Hogwarts Express
• Search the premises carefully and with the aid of the local ghosts to uncover unknown entrances.
• Establish spells to prevent objects such as brooms and Ford Anglias from flying onto the grounds.
• Conduct regular sweeps for possession spells.
• Give all faculty periodic refreshers in Defense Against the Dark Arts.

Section C: Internal threats

In one notorious incident, an undergraduate was able to turn part of the castle into a swamp. A full remediation is outside the scope of this engagement, but Hogwarts must immediately implement the recommendations of our report about password security.

Our rating of the current state of security against internal threats is Not Acceptable.