I still like the idea of having a fourth school as a catch-all for students not interested in the other three. This one would be situated on an island in the middle of Lake Superior and was nearly revealed to all the world when the Edmund Fitzgerald strayed a little too close.
That makes five, actually, considering rjung’s post.
I was considering Bosda’s post and rjung’s reply as a separate line of thinking. 
Mark Twain was not a wizard but knew of their existence. H.P. Lovecraft entered the school but was expelled and his wand broken for attempting to summon up an ancient Native deity. Other expelled wizards include Penn Jillette (who learned he could make a helluva lot more gold by using his powers for public and swearing they’re not real) and a prominent televangelist who can use a hypnotic charm. Only one president is a graduate of an American wizarding school, but due to an Obfuscation charm it is impossible to deduce which (though it’s known he disguised his wand as a cigarette holder).
"Gentlemen, I want to bomb Japan. "
“But Sir, however can we get bombers to take off from an aircraft carrier?”
liftus bomberus!
With all the talk of a West Coast school of magic (or the lack thereof) I keep having scenes from Witch Hunt flash in front of my eyes, thus 1) making me one of the few people who admits to having seen that movie and 2) offering up a vision of how Hollywood magic would be influenced by the grimoire set. I think it’d be fantastic.
I saw it, I’ll even admit to kind of liking it. Reminded me of Heinlein’s Magic, Inc. Story.
I think there would be 6 schools. Each would have its own character. While students would be more likely to attend the school closest to their home, many students choose one of the farther away schools because it better suits their interests, or possibly because they didn’t get into the closer one.
The schools would be in the vicinities of:
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Salem, MA. The oldest, and in many ways, most prestigious. Salem tends to teach traditional magic. The staff and students feel that they are the standard-bearers for the rest of the wizarding world. The rest of the wizarding world appreciates the way they maintain the orthodox ways, but also considers them a bit stodgy and stuck-up.
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New Orleans, LA. The second-oldest school. New Orleans magic is heavily voodoo influenced, and they freely borrow techniques and spells from black magic, even when doing good. They’re raucous and fun-loving, but still very traditional in their own way. The rest of the wizarding world is a bit wary of them, because of their willingness to use non-sanctioned magic. And because anybody who annoys them finds themselves transformed into a pot of crawfish etoufee.
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Cortez, CO. While this was the third school to be officially organized, Cortez has been a center of magical and mystical learning since time immemorial. The magic practiced here is earth-based, and a very high proportion of the staff and students are animagi. In the 1970s, as the new-age trend swept both the Muggle and the Wizarding world, Cortez suddenly found itself as the hottest place to be. The new agers swept in with highly romanticized ideas, and there were a few difficult years where the school tried to maintain its traditions in the face of the onslaught. Fortunately for the school, a new headmistress was appointed. Chief Bubbling Cauldron threw all the new-agers out, and made admission requirements much more stringent. Now Cortez is the smallest school, and the hardest to get into.
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Los Angeles, CA. LA is the “party school” of the wizarding world. It’s generally considered to be far less academically rigorous than the other schools, but they do have a good honors program. Naturally, their focus is on the entertainment industry–the Wizarding entertainment industry. (They are highly amused by Muggle “special effects.”) The students at the other schools may look down on the LA students for their supposed lack of rigor, but as soon as they hit their late '30s, these same people become very grateful for LA’s other specialty–plastic surgery spells. Accio Face!
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Roswell, NM. This is the “military academy” of the wizarding world. The program is highly structured and focused on discipline and physical fitness. The students become experts in Defense Against the Dark Arts. In their rare free moments, they enjoy playing tricks on local Muggles.
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Chicago, IL. This is the newest school, founded in response to overcrowding at the other schools, and the large number of foreign wizards who wished to study in the United States. Because of the latter factor, Chicago is becoming a center of cross-cultural studies and international relations. The school is now highly attractive to students who wish to become diplomats. Chicago may lack history, but it’s long on enthusiasm.
A rival branch would be established as an adjunct to Miskatonic University, consisting of those expelled from Novamundo, as NM no longer admits anyone
from Arkham, Innsmouth or environs WITHOUT a recommend from Professor Henry Armitage.
AND NO WHATELEYS EVER!!!
Mt. Shasta?
If so, Bierce may be School Master but the Comte de St.-Germain would be the founder.
(not the C.Q. Yarbo vampire-version, but the E.C. Prophet AscendedMaster-version.)
Interesting, I was going with the Heinlein Classic Story.
But Shasta is claimed as magical by many in fiction and California.
At what point does the bullied student go on a rampage, zapping random people in the halls?
Are we going to have isolated “communes” of mini-wizard-schools run by magic hippies, dotted throughout California? I’d imagine a lot of eastern magic learned on the Hippie Trail; lots of Entheogens, and a desire to move away and beyond the old “Establishment” of the established schools of magic. Don Juan Matus would, undoubtedly, be a major figure.
All-powerful hippie sorcerers…kind of sends a chill down your spine, doesn’t it? :eek:
Aw, crap…that means we’re going to have to listen to about a million renditions of “I Will Remember You” sung by gnomes or goblins or something, doesn’t it? :smack:
Am I the only one who’s read Quidditch Through the Ages? Quidditch is only just beginning to catch on in the US, because Quodpot is more popular.
Next you people are going to tell me you haven’t read Hogwarts, a History.
I’ve wondered about Wizarding Canada, of course, and tried to picture what a school would look like (I figure it would be up in the Laurentiens, and be a mix of Hogwarts, Beauxbatons, and various traditional First Nations magical practices). Unfortunately, all she’s revealed about Canada is that we have a couple of Quidditch teams (including the Moose Jaw Meteorites).
However, here are a few canon details to enrich your fanfic (most of these are from Fantastic Beasts):[ul][li]The is a Salem Witch’s Institute[/li][li]Clabberts – tree-dwelling crosses between monkeys and frogs – are native only to the American South.[/li][li]Doxies (those evil, poisonous fairies) are found in Northern America, possibly including Alaska. So are gnomes.[/li][li]America apparently has no native dragons (which isn’t to say no one’s imported any).[/li][li]Dugbogs – animate, carnivorous logs that eat mandrake – are native to North American swamps (among other places). [/li][li]Jarveys – ferrets who talk in strings of rude phrases – are found throughout North America.[/li][li]Knarls – paranoid hedgehogs who destroy peoples gardens – are found throughout North America.[/li][li]Nogtails – demon piglets that curse farms – are found in rural areas around North America.[/li][li]Re’em – golden oxen whose blood confers immense strength on the drinker – are found in North American wilderness.[/li]Creatures found anywhere in the world, including in the US, include Acromantula (giant spiders), Ashwinder (snakes born in magical fire), Basilisk, Bundimun (magical fungus), Chizpurfles (magic-eating insects), Fairies, Flobberworms, Ghouls, Hippogriffs, Kneazles (cat-like creatures who can sense deceit), Mooncalves (hairless grey burrowing cattle whose mating dance causes crop circles), Puffskein (basically tribbles with long tongues), Salamanders, Sea Serpents, Shrake (fish who destroy Muggle fishing nets), Snidget (small, fat, fast golden bird – protected species), and Werewolves. Of course, there are several creatures not in Fantastic Beasts, but which are in the books, so there could be a lot more.[/ul]
Funny you should mention that. Between the Pensieve scene in book 5, and the Half-Blood Prince’s potions text in book 6, I got to thinking of Snape as the Wizarding’s World’s Columbine kid.
I mean, there he is, the unpleasant outcast from teenage social life, plotting vengeance, stockpiling dark spells. I wonder how he tested Sectumsempra?
Speaking of Canada, in Fan fiction, again, **Arien ** mentioned Hellblazer: Hogwarts. The same author wrote Arctic Fires, which takes place in the land of back bacon.
If I were he, on James Potter and Severus (sp) who tormented me in school.
I was in Olympia, Washington a few weeks ago. While I was there, I took a break from my jogging, and leaned against that mural showing a lot of comic book heroes. Rather then successfully lean back, however, I feel through the wall. Almost brook my damn fool neck. As a matter of fact, I did break my elbow. However, a passerby saw me, muttered something under her breath, and it repaired itself! That is how I became acquainted with the magical community of the west coast. However, I need to get going for right now, so when I get back, I will provide more info on that first experience with west coast magic users, as well as the differences between England and America, if people would like to know, later, if people request it.
However, should someone want to investigate the issue further, let me get them started. Anyone here attend Evergreen state College? Well, I found that there is a student lounge there, occupied solely by wizards. Assuming you have the ability, here is how to get there. On the first floor, enter the staff only door on the first floor, the one with a scotch taped even-armed cross on the door. Enter, take the stairway down, and keep going, no matter what. The configuration changes sometime, I hear. Personally, when I was there, it ended, and ten feet or so below was an unfinished looking section of the stairwell, with the stair not going all the way to the ground. I tired to tell myself that all the accumulated garbage thrown there would break my fall, and I kept on going, as per some advice I was given. However, rather then fall, my next step found me walking up the underside of the stairs! After walking up two flights of stairs, I exited and found myself on the ceiling. I had to be careful not to fall into the depressions formed by the lights. There were a few tables, the school newsletter (plus an inset about the local magical community) and a few student were sitting around, chatting. Like I said, more latter, if I receive a request.
I wonder if giant blue oxen are native to North America too. Or maybe giants from overseas brought them to America when they came to make their fortune as lumberjacks.
Perhaps sasquatches and Jersey Devils are mystical beasts as well.
Pecos Bill was a weathermancer able to ride tornadoes?
The Bell Witch in Nashville probably attended the N.O. school.
Johnny Appleseed would have been Professor Sprout’s star pupil.