Decades before the Renaissance and at the height of the Second Bulgarian Empire, a great age of discovery was also occurring in the wizarding world. Many well-known quidditch teams had just formed, the inventor of Floo powder was born, the International Warlock Convention was about to occur, and an unlikely young witch named Kalina Chilikova discovered that Romanian Longhorn dragon scales held great medicinal purposes. With her discovery came fame and a husband, a man by the name of Kristiyan Vulchanov. As the years went by, Kalina gave birth to four children: three sons and a daughter named Nerida. Like her mother, Nerida Vulchanova had great ambitions and a love of dragons. Unlike her mother, however, she did not have a knack for healing, and instead wanted to become a dragonologist, though this was a term that wasn't penned until several centuries later. Without a proper magical education, Nerida set off on her own at the age of fifteen to observe dragons in the neighboring Serbian Empire.
Along her journey, she met two young wizards, Nazariy Medvedev from the Grand Duchy of Moscow and Harfang Munter from the Kingdom of Sweden. Though there were language barriers at first, Nazariy, an expert in runes, was able to make a spell that would allow the three of them to communicate no matter what language they spoke. This proved effective, and their adventures together sparked a lifelong camaraderie.
On one of their adventures through the northern mountains of Sweden, they came upon a town of muggles and wizards who were being attacked by a rather furious Swedish Short-Snout. Knowing that the Short-Snouts weren't a breed of dragon that ordinarily interfered with humans, but became dangerous when provoked, Nerida knew there must have been a reason for this dragon to attack the town. It only took a few hours until they discovered that a local townsman had stolen several dragon eggs from the mother dragon and had planned to sell them to tradesman in southern Sweden. They were able to retrieve the eggs and return them to the dragon, however much of the town had been destroyed. The surviving townspeople wanted to kill the dragon, however Nerida was able to coax the mother out of the town and into safety while Harfang and Nazariy tried to reason with the town elders.
As they left Sweden, they vowed to protect the mother dragon and her hatchlings, and promised that they would never let a town be destroyed. However, this promise was short-lived as dark times came for the witches and wizards out east in the Kingdom of Galicia–Volhynia. The population of Ukrainian Ironbelly dragons had grown out of control and their numbers were threatening wizarding and muggle populations. Entire settlements were destroyed and as the dragons spread out from Carpathian Ruthenia, they were soon found all over Central and Eastern Europe, and parts of Asia.
The witches and wizards of the time lacked the organization we are accustomed to today. There was no Ministry of Magic to take care of the problem and though the nearest governing body was the Wizards' Council in England, they wanted nothing to do with the dragon problem, as it was not affecting them. Most of the time there were small groups of wizards and muggles working together in fighting the Ironbelly outbreak, but their groups were usually too small to make much of a difference. For every slain dragon there would simply be another taking its place. The blood toll for the wizarding and muggle populations was very high, and it was clear that if they didn't come up with a new strategy soon they would be fighting a lost cause. The dragons were only the beginning of their problems, they discovered, as they were joined by vampires and other magical groups who were intent on wiping out the human populations for their own benefit.
Now with the added threat and no solution to the problem, Nerida jumped into action. Having met a few of the northern European giants years prior on her journey, she now set out to find the Jötunn, Ettin, and Riesen warriors and ask for their aid in the fight. The proud Norse and Germanic warriors accepted the challenge, as they were eager to prove themselves in battle and were beginning to see the threats of the dragons in their own homelands. Some Scandinavian and German wizards joined Vulchanova as well, afraid that if nothing was done, their villages would be next. However, Nerida, Nazariy, and Harfang were not the only people working on a solution.
In the Grand Duchy of Moscow, a man by the name of Ilariy Rayasov had made it his mission to unite the magical community under a common banner. He was a powerful necromancer by trade and used his extensive knowledge of the subject to travel great distances in next to no time. Organizing groups all over Eastern Europe, Ilariy planned to risk everything in one massive strike against the dragons by destroying their breeding groups in the Carpathian Ruthenia mountains. The news of this plan eventually reached Nerida, and believing that Ilariy's strategy to be sound, she traveled to the Carpathian Ruthenia mountains to join forces. While she was traveling, Ilariy was busy making other preparations. Knowing they had to give everything they had in the fight ahead, Ilariy decided to raise an army of the undead creatures. For this purpose, several of his followers would have to sacrifice their blood and, by doing so, their life. It was a terrible request to make, but Ilariy felt justified in doing so because he was fighting for the greater good. Eventually, three muggles volunteered for the gruesome ritual that would summon large numbers of Inferi and other creatures of darkness and horror. After several days, Rayasov's army was ready to march.
The fight against the dragons and vampires was one of the most gruesome in all of wizarding history. On the first of March, Rayasov's forces attacked the Ironbelly breeding grounds. While his army was large and strong, things were not looking good for them. The dragons were simply too powerful and the vampires were fast-traveling and capable of killing many within just a few seconds. Rayasov had been about to order retreat when Vulchanova's forces arrived and joined his heavily decimated troops. Giving Ilariy cover, Nerida allowed the wizard to raise the bodies of the fallen to fight once more. The Jötunn, Ettins, and Riesens attacked the vampires and dragons alike, ripping them apart and hitting them with their giant clubs. They soon met up with the army, and the joined forces were victorious. However, too much had been destroyed and many lives had been lost to truly celebrate the victory.
The survivors gathered around Vulchanova, Rayasov, Medvedev, and Munter, who said kind words honoring the fallen. It was at this moment that talks of further preparation and organization came to be. None of this would have happened had the wizarding world been united, prepared, and ready to take action. Despite the multinational background of all those in attendance, there wasn't a single person who disagreed that they needed to band together, prepare for future attacks, and teach their children all that they had learned that day. Before long, those assembled demanded that the four wizards lead a school to prepare the future generations for such an attack. Out of the four, none of them felt qualified to take up such a task, but none declined either. This moment, in 1292, would later on be referred to as the founding of the Durmstrang Institute of Magic.
Vulchanova, Medvedev, Munter, and Rayasov - aptly called the Founding Four - assembled around themselves the wisest and most talented wizards to help with the creation of the school. It was a small group of ten who became the Durmstrang Institute governing board. Soon after the formation, they began seeking a location to build the school. Before long they found an uninhabited muggle farmhouse that was partially in ruins in the northern mountains of Sweden near the Gulf of Bothnia. The climate was cold and the air was harsh, but this location secured them the protection of the Swedish Short-Snouts in case of an attack. Heavily wooded and near a strip of water they could transport students in and out of, the governing board decided that this would be Durmstrang's home.
It wasn't long after that construction began on the school. Inside the little house were several farming tools that had been left, and it was decided that one of the objects would be fixed to a panel on wall, and in order to access the school one would have to pull on it. This would then activate a spell placed inside the walls by Medvedev and Munter, which would cause several wall panels to vanish, creating a space wide enough for anyone to fit through and enter. The inside of the school was very simple and easy to navigate, and was furnished and decorated in reds, blacks, and golds. On each side of the school were two housing units, one for boys and one for girls. However, after some discussion among the Founding Four, they decided to separate the students via a house system, which would allow them to keep classes and dormitories organized. The houses were aptly named Klyk Vampira (vampire fangs) and Drakonya Krov (dragon's blood), a tribute to the enemies they'd waged war with. Ilariy led the Klyk Vampira house and Nazariy led the Drakonya Krov house. Although Founding Four and the governing board had all played a hand in the creation of the school, it was Nerida who was chosen to become Headmistress, while Harfang took up the role of Deputy Headmaster.
In the Grand Hall, situated between the dining tables of both houses, the house crests were inlaid into the marble floors. An ancient spell was worked into the crests, which required the help of everyone involved, as it was a complex and long-winded enchantment. Incoming students would prick their fingers and a single drop of blood would fall to the floor, illuminating the house crest that they fit into best. It was unknown how the spell was able to identify the traits best associated with each house, and it is still unknown to this day. The first model of Durmstrang was rather small and therefore didn't allow for many students, making both houses also rather small in number. Since the founding of the school, it had become a dream of Nerida's to see magical children of all backgrounds - from rich to poor, from pureblood to muggleborn - gain an education, and as the years went by, the school expanded with each new group of students.
The first nine years that Durmstrang had been open were peaceful ones, however arguments became frequent between Harfang and Nerida, with the former wanting to exclude muggleborn students from the school. Harfang tried to reason with the woman many times, but soon grew angry with her stance on an education for all magical students. After months of planning, he slipped into Nerida's room one night and kidnapped her. The following morning her body was discovered washed up on the beach. The mystery surrounding her demise puzzled everyone, and soon Harfang took over as Headmaster. He then established Durmstrang's reputation for emphasizing martial magic and the Dark Arts as part of its curriculum. The next change that followed was the expulsion of all muggleborn students and staff. Munter announced that from now on, only halfbloods and purebloods would be admitted to the school.
Following the tragedy of Nerida's death and the change in direction that the school took, Nazariy and Ilariy chose to leave Durmstrang and form their own school, Koldovstoretz Academy of Magic, which would eventually be located in Siberia. Durmstrang soon reopened its doors for the new term, though a significant amount of students were no longer in attendance. The lack of students and the drop in financial backing from many of the families hurt Durmstrang at first, however after nearly a decade they were able to recoup their losses.
In the spring of 1320, many years after the original governing board of Durmstrang had retired or passed away, the decision was made to move the school from Sweden to Varna, Bulgaria. With the change of location also came the change of language spoken at the school. No longer would Swedish be heard at the school; Bulgarian had taken its place. The move from Sweden was mostly due to a large influx of students, the weather, and the paranoia over the increasingly nosy muggle towns that were expanding in the north. As they prepared for their move, the marble that had encased the original house crests, the very ones used in the sorting ceremony, were removed from the floor and set into the new facility in Bulgaria. This would later become a tradition for every move the school made.
Durmstrang's stay in Bulgaria lasted 100 years, and just as before, they moved, this time taking up residence in Rijeka, Croatia. The beginning of the muggle Ottoman War forced another move all too soon. Though the war had not reached Croatia yet, the Headmaster knew it was only a matter of time before it would become too dangerous for them. They made their next move in 1571 to the Kingdom of Poland and the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, occupying an old monastery that lay in the middle of a forest. An underground cavern was built to house students and staff, and classrooms, as the monastery was only large enough to house the Grand Hall. Though muggles rarely wandered into the surrounding forests, many repelling charms were placed around the building as a precaution. Certain professors also ventured into the nearby villages, spreading rumors of vampires and other demons that inhabited the dark confines of the forest. However, it wasn't long until rumors of sorcery in the forest began to circulate in the villages. This was the cue to relocate once more.
Durmstrang stayed in the Kingdom of Poland and the Grand Duchy of Lithuania until 1794, just a year before the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth dissolved and the Partitions of Poland were put into place. This move took them to Kaliningrad in the Russian Empire with the town of Primorsk as the closest wizarding village. They stayed in Kaliningrad no matter what was going on around them. When the muggle World War II began, the then Headmaster chose to stay put and had extra protection spells put on the school.
They stayed in Kaliningrad for 203 years, until interference from the Russian Ministry of Magic prompted their next move in the summer of 1997. In the early hours of the morning in January 1997, Russian Ministry officials stormed the school and confiscated items, fired unfit professors, and enforced new school rules. This invasion lasted for several months until the current Headmaster, Anton Knyazyev, was forced to find a new location. With the help of many of the professors, they located a small island in northern Russia called Novaya Zemlya. Once school had let out for the summer, they tasked the students, staff, and alumni with helping them move. That fall, Durmstrang opened its doors once more in a new location.
The school remained in Novaya Zemlya for several years, but not nearly as long as they were in Kaliningrad. Tensions began to grow between Durmstrang and the Russian Ministry as, during the 2000-2001 school year, Durmstrang was forcibly merged with their rival school, Koldovstoretz, and given a new headmistress, Ana Vulcanova, descendant of Nerida Vulcanova. Throughout the year, there was a public outcry by many Durmstrang students at the addition of the new Koldovstortez students into their school, especially as Koldovstortez permitted muggleborn students to attend. Additionally, Vulcanova imposed many changes to the curriculum, such as the removal of the Dark Arts Emphasis. As the year progressed, Vulcanova became increasingly unsettled until she lost her mind, to a tragic end, at the End of Term celebrations. She began attacking Durmstrang and Koldovstortez students alike. The schools were broken apart at the end of the term to the relief of many professors and students.
However, Durmstrang’s distrust of the Russian ministry began a downward spiral as a new Russian Minister of Magic was elected—the first muggleborn elected to the role, Kasimir Lazarevich Krupin, a Koldovstortez graduate. However, with the downfall of the former Headmistress, a new Headmaster Sevastyan Nikolayevich Yeshevsky, was appointed to Durmstrang with one goal—to bring the school back to its days of former glory. Yeshevsky proved himself to be a cordial and kind Headmaster, a friend of the student. However, the Russian ministry again began to intervene with the school’s plans, bringing in a secret order—The Order of the Dragon—to look at their dragon stables and the state of the dragon’s care. The same was done to Koldovstoretez, but there seemed to be a strong bias between the schools, as all of Durmstrang’s dragons were confiscated, but Koldovstortez was praised. This was the final straw for Yeshevsky. Between the Russian Minister’s Favoritism and weak blood status and the constant ministry interference, Sevastyan partnered with Swedish Minister Nils Nyström to move Durmstrang back to it’s original, Swedish, location, and back to it’s original glory.
The move took place quickly over the summer of the 2001-2002 school year, with help from staff and alumni. Students were not informed of the move until after it was completed. For the 2002-2003 school year, it was decided to continue the studies in Russian, but slowly begin to transition from Russian to Swedish over the course of the next year, including compulsory language courses and an optional Swedish language and culture club.
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