I am reading a Harry Potter fan fiction.
Hermione go back in time when Tom Riddle is a student.
She get to be in Hogwarts as a year seven pupil. (as Dumbledore's niece. Aberforth Dumbledore adopt her. so her name became Hermione "Dumbledore". not Hermione "Granger".)
On Hogsmeade weekend trip, Hermione go to the Hog's Head of Aberforth with Mcgonagall.
Tom Riddle also go there with Cygnus Black and Abraxas Malfoy.
After Hermione left, Aberforth ask the boys.
"Does Hermione seem happy up at school?"
What does "up" mean?
Best Answer
Native English speakers often colloquially use "up" to mean "located north" and "down" to mean "located south". If my friend was going to school in the north I would say she was "up at school", if her school was south I might say "down at school". I might not even really know where the school is and still say "up" just because it makes the sentence flow better.
In this sentence it essentially has no meaning; you could understand it to mean exactly the same thing as:
(You can say "over" to mean "located east" or "west".)