American Magical Government/Schools

[blpurdom at yahoo.com]

No: HPFGUIDX 27036

--- In HPforGrownups at y..., rcraigharman at h... wrote:
> --- In HPforGrownups at y..., "Joy M" <joym999 at a...> wrote:
> > I like to picture the U.S. Ministry of Magic as 
> > having its headquarters in Salem, myself.
> 
> Well, I'd like to think that that might be a very large branch,
> but the U.S. *Department* of Magic would need to be headquartered
> in the greater Washington, D.C. area.
> 
> Sure, Salem might be the historical center of the magical arts, but
> this is the United States, and just as Philadelphia is no longer the
> capital, so Salem would no longer be the magical center.
> 
> The existence of the Department in the greater D.C. area is hinted
> at by the local NBA local teams (Wizards, Mystics), which are
> clearly just a front for this Department.  And, of course, everyone
> knows that the Capitol and the White House are haunted.
 
The coincidental names of the DC sports teams notwithstanding (and 
tales of ghosts in the Lincoln bedroom), I think that the slowly-
changing nature of wizard society would preclude it being in either 
Salem (which was the focus of witch trials for people who were 
decidedly NOT witches) or Washington, where there is too much modern, 
hi-tech security.  

IMO, more likely locations for the American Department of Magic would 
be St. Augustine, Florida (founded, 1513), or a place like New 
Orleans, which has also been continuously inhabited longer than DC.  
I lean a little more toward New Orleans since it has a lot of magical 
activity already and a chaotic Muggle government that would be less 
likely to meddle in magical affairs even if anyone in the Muggle 
government inadvertantly saw some magic.  

And a wizarding festival could easily be masked by the nuttiness of 
Mardi Gras year in and year out!

Schools, on the other hand, would not be in the same place as the 
wizarding government, just as the MOM and Hogwarts aren't in the same 
place.  Schools would be hidden in places as remote as possible--
mountains, forests, islands, etc.--and there would need to be at 
least three or four to serve the entire North American wizarding 
population.  One location I like in particular is an island off the 
coast of Maine or New Foundland.  Another location for a wizarding 
school that I like is an island in the middle of what the Muggle 
world calls the Bermuda triangle, which is where students from the 
Carribean would go to school...

--Barb