The Entrance Gates to Hogwarts are located a short distance from Hogsmeade Station. The gates would be opened on the first day of term and carriages pulled by Thestrals would take students up to the castle. The Entrance Gates are made of magnificiant wrought iron and are flanked by two columns topped with statues of winged boars. Just a few yards from the gates is a small guardhouse with a tall chimney. During the 1993–1994 school year, the gates were guarded by Dementors attempting to apprehend Sirius Black. In 1996, before the students traveled past the gates, Professor Flitwick and Argus Filch stood guard checking off the names of students and searching them before allowing them to continue up to Hogwarts.
