Other schools ? (was : Re: Quidditch World Cup - International vs National)

[delwynmarch]

No: HPFGUIDX 97650

Luckie wrote:
> Afterall, there's no mention of other wizarding schools in 
> Britain, only in what we presume to be France and Bulgaria/Easter 
> Europe. However, what is Hogwarts is simply the biggest and/or 
> best school? Instead of other wizards simply NOT going to school 
> perhaps they go to much smaller schools, or even non-boarding 
> (day) schools?

Del replies :
Aha ! Now *this* is a theory I like. It would indeed explain quite a 
few things.
However, there are a few problems with it :
1. If Hogwarts is the best school, what are Crabbe and Goyle doing 
there ? I guess we would have to resort to corruption to explain 
their presence...
2. We never *ever* hear anyone saying anything that could imply 
there are other schools in Britain. Nobody ever mentions their going 
to another school, or their kids going to different schools, or 
anything.
3. How are the Hogwarts students selected ? Obviously they don't 
apply for Hogwarts, or there wouldn't be any Muggle-borns there. It 
can't be a matter of money, or the Weasleys wouldn't be there. It 
could be a matter of talent I guess, but we never see the kids being 
tested before they go to Hogwarts, so there would be a need for some 
kind of magical talentometer (the Magic Quill that writes down the 
names of the newborn wizards ?), or *something*.

Luckie wrote :
> The fact that Hogwarts competes in the Tri-Wizard tournament could 
> be due to sheer size (they would be mis-matched against much 
> smaller schools). Also, perhaps it could be prestige? Think of 
> Hogwarts as the Eton of the Wizarding World (hey, Justin Finch-
> Fletchley was going to go there!) In American terms, Hogwarts, 
> Beauxbatons and Durmstrang could be like the Ivy league. 

Del replies :
That would nicely explain why the TWT is restricted to those 3 
schools. It is simply impossible to imagine that those 3 schools are 
the only ones in Europe ! I mean, the idea that there would be only 
one school for all of Eastern Europe is simply ridiculous. Or else 
there's something to magical genetics that has yet to be explained.

Luckie wrote :
(snip)
> Afterall, if there ARE other schools, Salazaar Slytherin could 
> have simply advocated that muggles be taught elsewhere, instead of 
> at Hogwarts, the cream of the crop.

Del replies :
Oooh ! Good one !
However, I had this feeling that the Muggle-born conflict ran deeper 
than that. Slytherin created his monster to *kill* the Muggle-born 
sutdents. He didn't just want them out of his school, he actually 
wanted them out of the WW. Moreover, why didn't he go and create his 
own school then ?

Del