Hogwarts Boathouse Loci

Today I’m going to go over the Hogwarts Boathouse. This is going to be the starting place of “Hogwarts” mind palace.

Some things to note before I start:

• There are going to be many similar objects or characters inside this mind palace

• Our brain will automatically distinguish between each other depending on the context it is in and by the action the character is doing

I would have liked to make a video tour with vivid details to help the visualization process. However, so far I have no idea how that is possible, so I will present here the most relevant and vivid pictures with lively description to aid you in your imagination tour of “Hogwarts.”

Since the boathouse isn’t that big, there are going to be 10 loci (or pegs to associate your information with) in total including the backside of the boathouse. Let’s get started!

The boat's facing the other way but oh well...

Imagine that you’ve just crossed the Great Lake and arrived at the Boathouse. This is where we’ll start. You’re still sitting inside the boat. Then suddenly there’s a sudden creaking sound and water starts seeping into the boat. That’s your first loci, the boat.

Need a hand?

As the water starts filling up, Hagrid (who is on your right) comes next to you with a look on his face that says “Don’t just sit there, Harry. Get your butt up!” You’re struggling with all the water below, so Hagrid lends you a hand. He’s your second loci, Hagrid.

After helping you out to your right, Hagrid just stands there at his place to help out the next kid. You walk up the few flight of stairs that’s to your left. Every time you take a step, your shoes make a squeaking sound, spit out some water out the sides, and leave your feet feeling clammy. So the stone stairs are slippery and the stair handrail feels so rough from having rusted. This is your third loci, the stairs.

When you finish up the stairs, you see a bunch of long wooden paddles of different sizes hung on the wall to your right. It’s strange to see them there because magic got you over the Great Lake instead of those paddles. Even though it seems totally useless, the numerous paddle covers the entire wall from top to bottom. These are your fourth loci, the paddles.

As you turn left in the corner to get out of the boathouse, you see a scarf hanging next to the wooden part of the glass wall to your right. The scarf seems to be made out of wool. It has red as the primary color, blue stripes every now and then, and yellow stripes right before and after every blue stripes. You take the scarf, use it to dry your pants a bit, and put it back where it was. The scarf is your fifth loci.

Just when you put up the scarf back, someone coughs on the ground, and to your surprise it is Severus Snape bleeding to his death on the ground with his back to the wall. Moments before his passing, he grabs your foot with his two feet tightly, then he’s gone. Snape is your sixth loci.

A sudden hiss turns your gaze to Nagini across from you. She gets up like a cobra fashion, hisses once more, and off she goes, coiling and uncoiling the diamond patterned leather skin of hers. Nagini is the seventh loci.

When you turn your gaze straight, a mini closet catches your eye. However, it’s not actually small. The height is around the same as you, and the closet has three doors which look like a person could fit in there. There’s a strange vibe coming off of the closet. Like something’s in there. The white paint it is covered with makes it more suspicious. But you’re too afraid to open it. That closet is the eighth loci.

You’re a little creeped out by the closet, so you try to leave as fast as you can through the backdoor that’s to the right of you. You turn the wooden handle, pull it toward you, but it wouldn’t budge! You put your left foot on the wall next to the door and pull with everything you’ve got, even leaning back your whole body as much as you can. After several squeaks and a loud bang, it opens. That door is the ninth loci.

Outside the boathouse, leaning on the backside of it, there is an overturned boat. It looks similar to the boat you just rode in. So you go closer and take a peek to see what’s inside. Oh god, there are endless spiders nestled inside and millions of eyes turned toward you the instant you looked at them. Disgusted, you drop the boat back where it was with a thud and go up the stairs towards Hogwarts. The overturned boat is the tenth loci.

So to recap, boat, Hagrid, stairs, paddle, scarf, Snape, Nagini, closet, backdoor, and overturned boat.

Boat, Hagrid, stairs, paddle, scarf, Snape, Nagini, closet, backdoor, and overturned boat.

If you’re having trouble how the overall structure of the boathouse is layed out, watch Snape’s death here to get a sense of it.

The most important thing here is the loci itself. I just gave an explanation to help you visualize them or to give you a feeling of them. Go over this every now and then until you can effortlessly go through the locis forward and backward. This is going to be the foundation of how you’re going to memorize here, so review it daily. All it takes is just a few minutes.

If you have any questions or anything to say regarding this post or the mind palace, please leave me a comment below.