Where is the Lake?

[Amortentia x]

I'm not even sure if this is the right place for this question but oh well

I'm writing a one-shot at the moment and I was wondering about the location of the lake which contains the Giant Squid.
It's not that important for my fic I'm now just curious
In the books it says students often go by the lake's shore; is it in the grounds nearby or is it the large lake where the second task is held?
The latter appears to be a fair trek away from Hogwarts.
(Perhaps that's just artistic license allowed to the director?)
Also, in the film Prisoner of Askaban there appears to be a small lake in the middle of the Forbidden Forest
(At least, I think that lake is in the Forbidden Forest. Maybe I interepreted it wrong)

Anyway, any ideas would be greatly appreciated!

[Tim the Enchanter]

The lake with the giant squid and the lake for the Second Task are the same lake. It's the big one within the grounds, roughly adjacent to the castle.

Map 1
Map 2

Concerning the small lake in the PoA movie... there is no mention of it in the books, so it's not canon. In the PoA book, Harry saw himself cast the Patronus on the opposite side of the lake (the big one, which happens to be the only lake mentioned that's on the gounds) and thought it was his dad - this part always puzzled me, because it's a decent distance from one side of the lake to the other, and I doubt Harry would be able to see himself on the other side with any detail (he wears glasses, remember). I think that Alfonso Cuarón noticed this problem when making the movie, and made a little lake/pond so the distance between the two Harrys would be shorter.

Tim the Enchanter

[Karaley Dargen]

I found this map very useful (although on Rowling's map, Hogsmeade is in the North, then again I wonder - why's Hogsmeade Station in the south, all the way away from Hogsmeade? Because it has to be on the other side of the Lake, because pupils get to the castle on boats..).

Anyway, I always thought of the lake as really huge, and I thought Harry had seen himself just on an opposite shore, not on the farest possible point across the lake. Like - the lake isn't a perfect circle, so it's maybe got some points at the edges the shores are closer together or whatever.

Like on the Map1 link you posted. There's marked where Harry casts the patronus, and where the Dementors are, but I thought that - distance-wise, not their actual position - that old!Harry and the Dementors where at about the point where ir says "Hogwarts Castle".
So in that case it'd be perfectly fine for Harry to see himself with the glasses.

[Amortentia x]

Thanks a lot
Those maps really helped me!

[A.H.]

Holy guacamole, Tim! (And another completely corny line!) Those maps are brilliant-- I never knew they were out there. I just wish I had an industrial-sized printer so that I could hang them up on my wall and never have to "wing it" when referring to locations within the Hogwarts grounds.

. . . this part always puzzled me, because it's a decent distance from one side of the lake to the other, and I doubt Harry would be able to see himself on the other side with any detail (he wears glasses, remember). I think that Alfonso Cuarón noticed this problem when making the movie, and made a little lake/pond so the distance between the two Harrys would be shorter.

The way I always thought of it--because that did puzzle me a bit at first, too--is that the reason Harry believed it was his had was because of the distance. He could only see very faintly, and as he'd never cast a full patronus charm, the distant resemblance and full patronus--also the fact that Harry felt he was doomed beyond doom, and "someone" saved him just in time--led him to believe it was James.

Anyhow, Amortentia,

In the books it says students often go by the lake's shore; is it in the grounds nearby or is it the large lake where the second task is held?

The maps probably have you completely sorted out, but you shouldn't worry too much about being precise about the lake's location. Just stating, without explicit detail, that "the students walked to the lake" suffices for your reader's imagery and understanding. I wouldn't be bothered in the least if you didn't mention where or how they got there at all: The lake is such a present location in the books that I already have my own little image of it.

Good luck.

/Ari