Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry offers a variety of subjects, including both core curriculum and electives available from the third year onward.
At the end of their fifth year, students take the Ordinary Wizarding Level (O.W.L.) exams to determine if they can handle the more advanced curriculum in the last two years. In their seventh year, students take the Nastily Exhausting Wizarding Test (N.E.W.T.), which is crucial for future career prospects.
Some core classes can be dropped in the sixth year, allowing students to focus on subjects relevant to their career goals. Specialized classes like Alchemy are available in the sixth year if there is enough interest.
Astronomy involves observing the night skies with telescopes and understanding various phenomena in space, such as lunar phases and space weather. Assignments include learning the names of stars, constellations, and planets, and charting their locations, movements, and environments. The relevance of this subject to the education of witches and wizards is not entirely clear, but there is much to be learned from the stars. It is the only field of study at Hogwarts with a direct equivalent in the Muggle world. Astronomy classes take place in the highest level of the Astronomy Tower, the tallest tower in Hogwarts. Required equipment includes a telescope.
Charms consist of a wide range of spells that give targets (objects or individuals) new and unexpected properties or make them perform certain actions. Charms can be some of the most powerful and game-changing spells. Successfully casting a charm requires concentration, precise wand movements, and proper pronunciation of the spell’s incantation. Charms classes are known for being noisy and chaotic, as they are largely practical. Charms classes take place in Classroom 2E along the Charms corridor on the third floor. Required equipment includes a wand and textbooks such as The Standard Book of Spells series and Quintessence: A Quest.
Defence Against the Dark Arts, commonly shortened to D.A.D.A., teaches students how to protect themselves against the Dark Arts, use offensive and protective spells, and handle dark creatures. Practical lessons are essential to truly learn the subject; theoretical lessons alone are insufficient. The subject has a high turnover of staff members, with no Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher remaining for more than one school year during Harry Potter’s time at Hogwarts. Defence Against the Dark Arts classes take place in Classroom 3C on the third floor. Required equipment includes a wand and textbooks such as The Dark Forces: A Guide to Self-Protection, Break with a Banshee, Gadding with Ghouls, Holidays with Hags, Travels with Trolls, Voyages with Vampires, Wanderings with Werewolves, Year with the Yeti, The Essential Defence Against the Dark Arts, Dark Arts Defence – Basics for Beginners, Defence Against the Dark Arts, Advanced Defence Against the Dark Arts, Defensive Magical Theory, and Confronting the Faceless.
Herbology is the study of magical plants and fungi. Students learn how to care for and utilize different plants, their magical properties, and their uses. They are also taught spells helpful for gardening, such as the Herbivicus Charm. As students progress through their education, the plants become more difficult and dangerous. Herbology classes take place in various greenhouses located behind the castle. Required equipment includes a wand, Dragon-hide gloves, Dragon dung fertilizer, earmuffs, and a watering can. Required textbooks include One Thousand Magical Herbs and Fungi, Winogrand's Wondrous Water Plants, and Flesh-Eating Trees of the World.
History of Magic involves studying the history of the wizarding world through lectures on significant names, dates, and events. Topics include the Goblin Rebellions, the Witch-hunts, the Giant Wars, and the origin of the International Statute of Wizarding Secrecy. The class is considered very boring due to the monotonous nature of the lectures. History classes take place in Classroom 4F on the first floor. The required textbook is A History of Magic.
Potions is the exact art and subtle science of creating various liquid mixtures with magical effects. It requires adding the correct ingredients to the cauldron and stirring at the right times and temperatures. Students study different ingredients and their properties. Potions is considered difficult to achieve an O.W.L. in, with only twelve students from Harry Potter’s year succeeding. The O.W.L. written exam is described as "difficult". Potions classes take place in Hogwarts Dungeons. Required equipment includes a wand, a cauldron, a set of brass scales, a set of phials (glass or crystal), and textbooks such as Magical Drafts and Potions, One Thousand Magical Herbs and Fungi, Advanced Potion-Making, and A Collection of Above Three Hundred Receipts in Cookery, Physick, and Surgery.
Transfiguration is a challenging theory-based subject focused on changing the form or appearance of objects, including turning inanimate objects into living creatures and vice versa. It also involves conjuring things out of thin air, making things vanish, and switching objects' places. Human Transfiguration is considered the most difficult branch. Transfiguration is described as "some of the most dangerous magic you will be taught at Hogwarts". Classes take place in Classroom 1B on the ground floor, around the Middle Courtyard. Required equipment includes a wand and textbooks such as A Beginner's Guide to Transfiguration, Intermediate Transfiguration, and A Guide to Advanced Transfiguration.
Third years and up:
Arithmancy is concerned with the magical properties of numbers. It is reportedly difficult due to the need to memorize or work with many charts. Arithmancy classes take place in Classroom 7A on the seventh floor. Required textbooks include Numerology and Grammatica.
Care of Magical Creatures, also known as Creature Care, instructs students about various magical beasts, their behavior, and how to properly identify, approach, feed, groom, mount, ride, and breed them. Classes take place outside the castle. Required textbooks include The Monster Book of Monsters and Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them.
Divination is the art of predicting the future using various methods, such as tea leaves, fire-omens, crystal balls, palmistry, cartomancy, astrology, and dream interpretation. It requires natural aptitude, as one cannot simply study hard to improve if they lack this innate gift. Divination is described as "one of the most imprecise branches of magic". Classes take place in a classroom accessible through a circular trapdoor in the North Tower. Required textbooks include The Dream Oracle and Unfogging the Future.
Study of Ancient Runes involves the study and translation of ancient runic scripts. Classes take place in Classroom 6A on the sixth floor. Required textbooks include Advanced Rune Translation, Ancient Runes Made Easy, Magical Hieroglyphs and Logograms, Rune Dictionary, and Spellman's Syllabary.
Sixth and Seventh year:
Advanced Arithmancy Studies is Arithmancy for students with particular skill in the subject. It is taught in a classroom in the Hogwarts Turris Magnus.
Alchemy is a composite subject that focuses on the study of the composition, structure, and magical properties of the four basic elements (fire, earth, air, and water) and the transmutation of substances. The main ambitions of Alchemy include transmuting base metals into gold, discovering a universal solvent, and creating a panacea. A less known branch is Spagyric, or "plant alchemy," which produces herbal medicines. The subject is considered one of the most difficult forms of magic and is only offered to N.E.W.T. level students if there is sufficient demand.
Apparition is the magical form of teleportation that allows instant travel between locations. It is a twelve-week course starting after the Christmas holidays and is optional for students who are seventeen or will turn seventeen before the next school year. The course costs 12 Galleons. Performing Apparition requires a license and can only be legally done by those over seventeen due to the risk of splinching. Apparition is practiced in the Great Hall with temporary relaxations of magical enchantments. Wilkie Twycross, a Ministry of Magic Apparition Instructor, offers lessons to sixth-years.
Ancient Studies is an extra-curricular subject at Hogwarts.
Art is an extra-curricular subject available to third-year students and above. It is taught in a classroom on the fifth floor and covers art of the Wizarding world.
Field Studies is a course introduced in the 2010s, proposed by Archibald Eagleton. It involves studying magical creatures in nature.
Ghoul Studies is an extra-curricular class taught in a classroom in the Serpentine Corridor, located in the Hogwarts Turris Magnus.
Flying, or Broom Flight Class, teaches students how to fly on magic broomsticks. It includes learning to handle a broom, perform techniques and maneuvers, and care for the broom. Flying class is mandatory for first years and optional for second years and above. It takes place outside in and above the Castle Courtyard. Required equipment includes a broomstick, which is provided for first-year students.