If you’re a big Harry Potter fan, no doubt you’ve been keeping an eye out for news on the latest spin-off film adaptation, Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them. The film is currently in production and J.K. Rowling, master of mystery that she is, has been slowly but surely satiating our curiosity by dropping small hints about the movie. Me being the kind of person who used to keep up with the movie production of the feature films via MuggleNet back in the day and the teaser clues before the launch of Pottermore, I’ve started to feel a bit nostalgic and doubly excited about being able to experience the process all over again with Fantastic Beasts.
Just the other day, Rowling revealed to a fan on Twitter that there is in fact an American school for wizards just like Hogwarts and although Newt — in the film — meets someone in New York who has attended the [so far nameless] school, the school itself is not actually in New York. Potter-obsesser that I am, I started wondering where exactly this American Hogwarts might be located and what it might be called… along with all of the other possible magical places and rules tied into the American magical community.
LOCATION
We know that Hogwarts is located in a remote area in order to prevent Muggles and the like from stumbling upon this great, magical location. Sure, protective enchantments could hide the school in a city but I’d guess the American wizards would want to make it easier on themselves… J.K. also said that Native American magic helped found the school so here are my guesses for possible locations, keeping all of that in mind:
WYOMING. Wyoming is one of the least densely populated states in the country. It’s plenty gorgeous with mountain ranges and lush forests as well as wide open spaces. Who wouldn’t want to build a magical school in the middle-of-nowhere Wyoming? You can literally travel for miles and not see another city much less another car on the highway… or did you just pass American Hogwarts and not even know it…?
codywyoming.net
ALASKA. Want to get even MORE remote? Alaska’s pretty far away from, well… everything It’d be a hike to get kids to the school from the opposite side of the country but chances are, you wouldn’t have to risk too many Muggles finding the place. Alaska is also very rich in Native American culture and tradition. It could be the perfect place for a magical school…
alaska-in-pictures.com
APPALACHIA. The Appalachian region holds a bit more history of the country being on the Eastern part of the nation. Perhaps American Hogwarts is hiding in the Appalachian Mountains or foothills… It could be a bit easier for students to get to as well! (Okay, so this picture is actually a ski resort… But I could see it as American Hogwarts!)
burgerinternationalinc.com
THE GREAT LAKES AREA. Okay, maybe this is cheating. There are a lot of places that could be considered the Great Lakes area but it’s also a great possibility. A bit more centrally located, wide expanses of water nearby, easy to get to, and still plenty of possible places to hide a whole school!
minitime.com
AMERICAN DIAGON ALLEY + KINGS CROSS STATION
Once the kids are accepted to American Hogwarts, they have to get their magical gear! Diagon Alley is hidden right in London so… where could American Diagon Alley be? Where would the kids hop on board the American Hogwarts Express?
NEW YORK CITY. Keeping in mind that Hogwarts is still a full train ride away from Diagon Alley and Kings Cross, the American versions of these could easily be in NYC. J.K. confirmed that the school isn’t in New York but that doesn’t mean these two fantastically magical places couldn’t be hidden in plain sight there. Diagon Alley could easily be concealed by a back room of a store, a secret room of a speakeasy, down an alley way, through an abandoned building, or really anywhere! Muggles would just perceive the entrance as dingy, dangerous, or smaller than it actually is.
Which train station? How cool would Grand Central be? Or how about that “Door to Nowhere” or abandoned subway platforms? Come on. That’s the platform for the American Hogwarts Express…
CHICAGO. Same as above as far as American Diagon Alley… any one of those could still apply! And you’ve got two train stations in Chicago — Ogilvie and Union — that could whisk you away to school. Union Station’s got a secret door too, you know…
STUDENT HOUSES
I don’t think the other schools had have different houses like Hogwarts does… (Did Durmstrang? Beauxbatons? No, right? They didn’t have four founders…) But for pure fun, let’s pretend the American campus would, just because it’s fun to brainstorm!
House: EAGLE EYES
Mascot: Bald eagle
Colors: Gold and white
Student traits: Cunning, observant, intelligent, independent
Common Rooms: Topmost tower
House: ROUGH RIDERS
Mascot: Moose
Colors: Red and blue
Student traits: Brave, leader, determined, social
Common Rooms: West Wing
House: TIMBER FANG
Mascot: Gray wolf
Colors: Green and silver
Student traits: Clever, ruthless, planner, loyal
Common Rooms: South wing, facing the outdoors
House: WOOLY HORNS
Mascot: Bison
Colors: Orange and gray
Student traits: Calm, level-headed, friendly, logical
Common Rooms: Centrally located to everything
NAMES?
I’m terrible at naming things… I haven’t the slightest clue or the slightest guess what the American version of Hogwarts might be named so I’ll leave this one up to your! (Or, you know, J.K. Rowling.) What do you think the American school of magic would be named?? Something leaning toward its history and tradition? Or something that focuses more on how diverse our nation is?
What are YOUR theories for American Hogwarts? I’d love to hear your ideas for names, houses, locations, and more!
Are you excited for Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them? What are you looking forward to discovering most?
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Want more Harry Potter posts? Check out some of the previous topics posted on The Book Addict’s Guide!
- 5 Underrated Muggle Characters
- Review: Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone
- Review: Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets
- Review: Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban
- Review: Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire
- Review: Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix
- Review: Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince
- Review: Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows
- Review: The Hogwarts Library | Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them, Quidditch Through the Ages, The Tales of Beedle the Bard
- Discussion: Are Books Back? (Or How Harry Potter Led to Accidental Thievery)
17 thoughts on “I Believe in American Hogwarts”
Ooooh, I love this post! I was thrilled to read all the information about the schools around the world JK Rowling released (they all sounded seriously cool and I now want a book for every place), but this post is so well thought out and the locations make perfect sense. Also, those houses sound seriously cool. Who wouldn’t wanna be a Rough Rider or a Timber Fang? And Whooly Horns just sounds like something straight from JK Rowling’s brain. 😀
Such a fun post! I’d be happy with either Appalachia or the Great Lakes region because I’m relatively close to both. 🙂
this is SUCH a fun post and i’m glad you did today’s TTT post the way you did, otherwise i might not have gotten to read this post! I think you had some really good guesses! Wyoming would be my vote!
I love this post especially since I am rereading and rewatching Potter this year. I vote for Diagon Alley in Chicago with travel via something flying and school location in Alaska.
OH MY GAAAAAD! HOUSE WOOLY HORNS, FTW! Siriusly (see what I did there?), Bison are my spirit animal.
I live in a Great Lakes state (ie. Michigan) so I’m crossing my fingers hard that it takes place in Michigan’s upper peninsula, but my first thought was a state like Wyoming or Montana or North Dakota.
(PS. This post is so fun!)
Yay! I’m thinking Wyoming or Montana…because I’d love it if the Shoshone were one of the tribes that established the school (c’mon, Sacajawea was TOTALLY magical). And also, my gut instinct is it’d be in a flyover state, not a coastal state, due to population density.
I assume slang like Muggles would be the same, but what makes you think there’d be four houses? We never really saw what houses exist at Beauxbaton and Durmstrang, or how many, so the possibilities are endless. Also, the entrance might not be a train but any other conveyance. But if it is a train, and the school is in Alaska, there’s the White Pass line. 🙂
Oh my gosh, this was so fantastic! Rough Riders, Wooly Horns. Hehe. I like that you chose The Great Lakes area too, since I am centrally located to the lakes (as in I’m a Michigan native) and it would be awesome wondering if the American Hogwarts WAS NEAR ME. I’m not good with naming things either, so I’ll leave that up to everyone else. 😀
My own theory is that the American school is in Arizona, more precisely Area 51. Talk about hiding in plain sight, eh? But I really like your ideas! There’s really no telling (yet) where the American school could be! I can’t wait to find out!
LOVE THIS. I love the new house names you chose and how the qualities kind of match up with what I think of when I think of each mascot. I would love a NYC version of Diagon Alley…just imagine the wizarding fashion world haha
This is an AMAZING AMAZING POST!!!!!! I love it! I think I like the idea of Wyoming best, or even North Dakota near Mount Rushmore. And American Diagon Alley has to be in NYC. Total. Grand Central Station and all that 🙂 I don’t think the other schools had houses because they didn’t have multiple founders (that we know of) I don’t think. I always thought of it as uniquely Hogwarts, but I like the idea of it being replicated in America 😀 I wonder how old the school is. Like, 17th century colonies or 18th century actual America. Hmmmm.
Oh my gosh, I was obsessed with Mugglenet for Books 5/6/7 and the movies; I think I discovered it waiting for Order of the Phoenix and I’d visit the site every day! Love all the Harry Potter tidbits; it’s fun and kind of unbelievable to have something like that again! And I love that it’s the same producers/studio/set designer and that QUEEN JKR HERSELF is writing the script. So good.
Great post Brittany 😀
Such a fun post! I like the idea of Hogwarts being in Wyoming (Alaska is just too cold for me), but I like the idea of it being closer to a historic train station near a major metropolitan area. Being from the Chicago suburbs, I would so love it to be near here! As for a name…….I’m so not good at this type of thing! Can’t wait to see the responses on this one!
I had no idea! But I just spread the word on FB for all my other Potter fans. I didn’t even know that Rowling was involved in some other project, but I write YA fantasy, so I stay for away from HP. Otherwise, her magic and talent will influence me!
Thanks for the fun post!
I LOVE THIS POST SO MUCH, BRITTANY! You did a great job thinking with your thoughts on EVERYTHING related to American Hogwarts. (But sssssshhhh – we shouldn’t give away the secrets, yes? ;))
I love this! Is this American Hogwarts different from the Salem Witches Institute from Goblet of Fire. I guess you could say that Native American magic could come into play in that region as well. When you said Native American magic I was thinking the Southwest, like Arizona. They could hide it in the desert and if anyone saw it they would think it’s just a mirage. But I would love the idea of it being in Appalachia because then it could be pretty close to me in Pittsburgh. But seriously, those houses are on point. Great post.
I like the idea of Wyoming, which means it could also totally be in the U.P. of Michigan. I live in central Michigan but have been to the U.P., where it’s very remote with lots of wilderness and not a lot of people. Perfect! And only a few hours from me 🙂
Fun post! I can totally see it being in the midwest somewhere with Chicago as the hub! Good call.