On the edge of the Dark Forest sits a small hut, home to many different residents over the years. The stone home’s current resident is Alistaire Firth, Keeper of Keys and Grounds at Hogwarts.

Anyone who draws near the hut is likely to first notice the smell of traditional Scottish fare: stovies, haggis, and hotch-potch are the Groundskeeper’s personal favorites. The lowing of Broc and Bonny can be heard from a distance. Medicinal plants, some natural and some planted, surround the base of the structure, but several holes indicate places where plants died and no money could be found to replace them.

While the outside of the hut looks mostly the same as it has for decades, the inside shows Ali’s personal touches. The most prominent feature is a large field of blue with white diagonal lines crossing in an X—the Scottish national flag. Everything else is decorated with the same plaid tartan of the Douglas clan, a mix of blue and green. An old wooden table and sturdy bed frame comprise the only furniture of consequence in the one-room house. To the left of the entrance is a small kitchen set up, while a massive countertop dominates the right wall.

Few pictures or decorations adorn the walls, save one family photo in which one member’s face looks mysteriously burned or prodded. Books litter the floor space by the bed, including such titles as, “Scotland: A Complete History (Abridged Version),” “One Thousand Magical Herbs and Fungi,” “The Art of Bowtruckle Husbandry,” and “An Owner’s Guide to Proper Care of Highland Cattle.” A shabby set of bagpipes is hidden inside a small cabinet in a bedside table. The only other accoutrements are worn-looking tools lying helter-skelter in the corner.

Please knock on the door if you wish to speak with the Groundskeeper. If he does not answer immediately, he is probably either tending to Broc and Bonny or tromping through the Forbidden Forest. Though a busy man, Mr. Firth is kind, sympathetic, and never too busy to share his favorite drink, an Irn-Bru, with visiting students. But be warned: any trouble-making, especially involving his pets or the Forest, will be severely punished.