Castle CodexDefenders of Hogwarts Guide

The Board and Map of Hogwarts

Where everything is on the Main Board and the Side Board.

The game uses two boards. The Main Board is the map of Hogwarts castle and grounds where all pawns move. The Side Board sits above it and holds the Dark Arts Path, the Hogwarts Loyalty Track and the shared cards. Knowing where things are saves whole turns, because most good plans are routes.

The 7 × 7 grid

Letters A to G run from west to east along the top and bottom edges, numbers 1 to 7 from north to south along the sides. Every Location Card names one square, for example Hagrid's Hut is F6 and Gryffindor Tower is D6. The castle fills the middle of the board, the lake lies in the north-east and the Forbidden Forest in the east and south-east.

ABCDEFG
1 GroundsShield space Herbology GreenhousesDeployment Plant Nursery, Fly Off Point Snape's Stores The White Tomb (island) Lake, tower stair Lake
2 Grounds History of MagicCard Draw Potions, Trophy Room, Long GalleryPotions + Items tokens Slytherin Common Room North-east courtyardPlay Again Battlement stair Lake towerShield space
3 Octagonal greenhouse Charms classroom, Charms CorridorCharms + Herbology tokens Inner courtyard, Astronomy Tower, Staff RoomProtected Area Corridor, Fly Off Point, pools Courtyard Castle wall Lake shore
4 West edgeDeployment Restricted Section, Charms Corridor exit Corridors Defence Against the Dark Arts classroom Dumbledore's Office Great HallStart, Protected Area Between lake and forestDeployment
5 West edgeShield space Transfiguration, Flying Lessons lawnTransfiguration token Library DADA classroomDADA token Quad, Room of Requirement slot Forest edge Forbidden Forest
6 West ruin (red passage) Covered bridge Whomping Willow (red passage) Gryffindor Towersmall Protected Area nearby Study of Ancient Runes Hagrid's HutProtected Area Forbidden Forest
7 South-west cornerShield space Bridge house, pond Protective Spell ringShield spaceDeployment Grounds Clocktower CourtyardCreatures token (east edge) Forest edge ForestShield space

Defence Shield Spaces

Six spaces near the edges of the board: A1, A5 and A7 on the west side, C7 in the south inside a Protective Spell ring, G2 on a tower over the lake and G7 in the Forbidden Forest. The six shields are shuffled onto them at setup, so the Detector shields and the D.A. Coin shields sit somewhere new every game. Several of them are behind obstacles: the lake tower needs a Locked Door and then a Protective Spell, and the C7 shield is fenced in by a Protective Spell.

Deployment Spaces

The four spaces with a Dark Mask, all in the grounds: north of the greenhouses (B1), on the west edge (A4), between the lake and the forest (G4) and by the pond in the south (C7). This is where Dark Arts Pawns enter the board, so the outer grounds are the most dangerous part of the map early in the game.

Protected Areas

Four spaces with a blue shield icon, where Dark Arts Pawns can never go: the Great Hall (F4), the Astronomy Tower (C3), Hagrid's Hut (F6) and a small building on the walkway south of the Defence Against the Dark Arts classroom (around D5 and D6). Because the Great Hall is one of them, students start safe and bumped pawns return to safety, but nobody can Learn on the first turn.

Hogwarts Token rooms

PotionsPotions classroom, C2
Hogwarts Items & ArtefactsTrophy Room, C2
CharmsCharms classroom, B3
HerbologyBy the greenhouses, A3 and B3
Transfiguration & Spell CastingTransfiguration classroom, B5
Defence Against the Dark ArtsDADA classroom, D5
Magical Creatures & BeingsOn the grounds east of the Clocktower Courtyard, E7

Other key places

Library (C5)Where Library Book Cards are taken. A Locked Door links it to the Restricted Section.
Room of Requirement (E5)Its board piece goes into the framed slot west of the Great Hall once a Loyalty pawn reaches space V.
Great Hall (F4)Start space with room for all twelve House pawns; bumped pawns come back here.
The White Tomb (E1)An island in the lake, surrounded by Water. Reach it with Gillyweed or by flying to its Fly Off Point.
Dumbledore's Office (E4) and the Slytherin Common Room (D2)Both behind Locked Doors.
Forbidden Forest borderA Protective Spell runs from the lake down past Hagrid's Hut.

Secret Passageways

Three pairs, for students only and only with a card that allows them, such as The Marauder's Map. Each move through a passage costs one movement point.

  • Blue: from inside the Restricted Section (B5) to the grounds just south of it.
  • Red: from the Whomping Willow (C6) to the ruin on the west edge (A6).
  • Green: starts at the north wall of the Herbology Greenhouses.

The Side Board

Side Board schematic The Dark Arts Path runs around the Side Board in 33 spaces: white zone with two event spaces, orange zone with three, red zone with three. Inside are the Parchment Scrolls, the Location decks, the Library books, the Acquire rows and the Hogwarts Loyalty Track. START 1 2 3 EVENT 5 6 7 EVENT 9 10 11 12 EVENT 14 15 16 EVENT 18 19 20 EVENT 22 23 24 EV 26 27 28 EV 30 31 EV WHITE ORANGE ZONE: ORANGE CARD EFFECTS UNLOCK ON ITS FIRST SPACE RED ParchmentScrolls (8) HouseLocation Deck Library Booksdeck + 2 face up Dark ArtsLocation Deck (4) AcquireDeck (42) Advanced Acquire Row2 cards: discard 2, Loyalty +1 Acquire Row2 cards: discard 1 HOGWARTS LOYALTY TRACK I II III IV V VI VII Room of Requirement drop back 1, draw a card DARK DETECTOR STARTS HERE 4TH PAWNS START GIANT ACROMANTULA DEMENTOR
Side Board layout with all 33 spaces of the Dark Arts Path. Dark spaces are event spaces; the pawn symbols on red events show how many pawns the Dark Arts Player needs if the Dementor is taken there.

The top row holds the Parchment Scrolls, the House Player Location Deck, the Library Book Deck with two books face up and the Dark Arts Player Location Deck. The middle row is the card market: the House Acquire Deck, the Advanced Acquire Row and the Acquire Row. Cards slide to the right and new cards enter on the left. The Hogwarts Loyalty Track runs along the bottom.

The Dark Arts Path, space by space

SpacesZoneWhat is there
0WhiteStart: the Dark Arts Marker begins here (top-left corner)
4 and 8WhiteEvent spaces. The Giant must be taken by space 8
13OrangeFirst orange space and an event space: orange card effects unlock
17 and 21OrangeEvent spaces. The Acromantula must be taken by space 21
22RedFirst red space: red card effects unlock
25RedFirst red event: take the Dementor here and 3 pawns are needed
29RedSecond red event: 2 pawns needed
32RedLast space and third red event: Dementor and location are mandatory, 1 pawn is enough, no more Replenish

From the start the marker needs about 25 steps to reach the first red event, 29 for the second and 32 for the end. Every student Replenish is one step, which is why the number of Replenish actions decides how long a game lasts.

The Hogwarts Loyalty Track

Seven arches numbered I to VII. Each house's fourth pawn starts on I. The Dark Detector waits between IV and V. Space V is marked "access Room of Requirement" and space VII "drop back one space and draw a card", the rule for a player who is pushed off the top space. Full rules on the how to play page.