[HPforGrownups] Texas wizarding academy

[Amanda Lewanski]

No: HPFGUIDX 6094

nodigio at aol.com wrote:

> > Not sure what it's called.  Fellow Texans - any ideas?
>
> Why, it would be called  Longhorn Academy, with House Rattler, House
> Armadillo, House Grackle, and House Skeetshooter.

Please. Grackles are recent immigrants to our state. In 1950s birding lists
they are, believe it or not, listed as "rare." They sort of moved in of
their own volition, and have taken over. Nobody who has been in Texas for
more than two days would name anything but a pesticide, a strain of virulent
bacteria, or some form of explosive after grackles. Skeet shooting is also
too recent.

And to answer Kelley's question, Texas would have its own academy because,
aside from our notorious streak of independence, we were our own country for
a bit and had our own everything. We had an embassy from France, to the
Republic of Texas. I'm betting that the siege of the Alamo ticked off
wizarding folk as much as it did the Texians, and probably the defeat at San
Jacinto had some magical help. The academy probably would have been founded
soon after, in the days of the Republic, on lands granted by the grateful
new government. The French wizards might have helped them set things up,
since the Republic was in contact with France, and the French would have
helped them find one of the few really scenic parts of Texas--the hill
country around Wimberley.

We also know there's a wizarding academy around someplace because of the
oddities in the wildlife, clearly the result of magical foolery at some
level. Horned toads, who squirt blood from their eyes (they really do, I've
been squirted). Armadillos, who carry leprosy and always have four identical
quadruplets. And look at the zillion varieties of stinging insects, and the
noxious assortment of stinging and sticking plants--not to mention the
hill-country cedar which makes everyone sick for weeks at a time--obviously
all intentional creations designed to repel casual settlers and the randomly
curious.

To return to house names--the house system is a European import, and if the
academy has houses of this sort, they would probably not have been named for
indigenous wildlife, but after the founders, following the European example.
I would have to check rolls of old Texas families before I could postulate
the names.

The wizarding world not responding too quickly to change, it's probably
called the Academy of the Republic or San Jacinto School or something
similar hearkening back to the days of its founding. And I'm betting it's
even more into tradition that A&M (who are still trying to cope with the
unaccountable failure of their Bonfire Charm).

--Amanda