Recently, I've been putting a lot of thought into the system of magical education, and how it works. For some time, I've had the general idea in my head of an "older Harry" kind of archetype, something where Harry is already an adult, or mostly an adult, when he comes to Hogwarts. Having read the deluge of "Hogwarts reimagined" fics that change (and mock, and wank, and changemockwank) Hogwarts, I've decided that the two ideas work best combined. This is what I've come up with.
Hogwarts is not a primary, elementary, or high school. It is a college. An academy. People go there after having already received their core education elsewhere. Harry Potter receives his Hogwarts letter at the same time everyone else does; as a young adult (early twenties-ish) who is getting ready to go off to college. He did not know magic existed up until this point, and diverts from whatever his plans were at the time (which could be as humble as a local college, or as impressive as Oxford, depending on how you wanted it) to attend.
Hogwarts has a more advanced, college-like curriculum, which takes the current canon one, but expands on it by allowing specializations, such as charms, then animation of the inanimate under that, which is a whole field of charms in and of itself. Defense Against the Dark Arts covers theoretical knowledge, Dark and Unpleasant Creature Knowledge (DUCK), and practical self defense.
Pureblood and halfblood witches and wizards have a distinct advantage over their muggleborn peers, as they grew up in the magical world, and likely went to magical primary schools before being invited to Hogwarts.
The four houses still exist, and are essentially mandatory, institutionalized fraternities. The Houses score "House points" for academic and sporting excellence, and can be docked them for misdemeanors and miscreant behavior. At the end of an academic year, the House with the most is awarded the House Cup. "Orders" exist within the Houses, and are fraternities in a more traditional sense, with their own rules, requirements, and subcultures. Clubs also exist for various students of shared interests. While clubs do not require a f aculty proctor, at least one faculty member has to sign off on a club for it to exist officially.
The school dorms are co-ed, and are segregated by House, which, like canon, is determined for the First Years at the opening ceremony each year.
Like every college, Hogwarts has sports teams. Quidditch is the biggest sport in the magical UK and most of the rest of the world, and is the one that gets the most publicity, but there are teams for other sports as well, such as Quodpot, Broom Racing, and other sports. Dueling competitively is also a sport, and a rather sophisticated one at that, with a strong international presence and the distinctions of being both the oldest magical sport that is actively practiced, and the oldest magical sport period. Hogwarts itself has both internal sporting events that pit House against House, as well as a universal ôHogwartsö sporting program that represents the school (and often by proxy the United Kingdom) in college-level sporting events against other magical schools from other nations, such as Durmstrang and Beaubaxtons. Given the high-profile nature of the Hogwarts teams, the professional sporting teams of Ireland, Scotland, and England pay close attention to the talent, and actively court skilled players for recruitment once they graduate.
The story begins with Harry Potter living on his own in a flat in Surrey. While they did not physically harm him (directly), the Dursleys were just as abusive and terrible as they were in canon, and once he came of age, Harry left Privet Drive and never looked back. His grades were good enough to qualify him for a number of scholarships to various colleges, and heÆs working a part-time job to pay the rent and make ends meet. Just when heÆs wondering what he wants to do with his life, and how heÆs going to keep making ends meet with his low-paying job, his Hogwarts letter arrives, Hagrid shows up, and Harry finds out that magic is real, he is a wizard, as were his parents, and his father was actually old money, and not the worthless vagrant that his relatives insisted he was.
And so it begins.
Thoughts?
Hogwarts is not a primary, elementary, or high school. It is a college. An academy. People go there after having already received their core education elsewhere. Harry Potter receives his Hogwarts letter at the same time everyone else does; as a young adult (early twenties-ish) who is getting ready to go off to college. He did not know magic existed up until this point, and diverts from whatever his plans were at the time (which could be as humble as a local college, or as impressive as Oxford, depending on how you wanted it) to attend.
Hogwarts has a more advanced, college-like curriculum, which takes the current canon one, but expands on it by allowing specializations, such as charms, then animation of the inanimate under that, which is a whole field of charms in and of itself. Defense Against the Dark Arts covers theoretical knowledge, Dark and Unpleasant Creature Knowledge (DUCK), and practical self defense.
Pureblood and halfblood witches and wizards have a distinct advantage over their muggleborn peers, as they grew up in the magical world, and likely went to magical primary schools before being invited to Hogwarts.
The four houses still exist, and are essentially mandatory, institutionalized fraternities. The Houses score "House points" for academic and sporting excellence, and can be docked them for misdemeanors and miscreant behavior. At the end of an academic year, the House with the most is awarded the House Cup. "Orders" exist within the Houses, and are fraternities in a more traditional sense, with their own rules, requirements, and subcultures. Clubs also exist for various students of shared interests. While clubs do not require a f aculty proctor, at least one faculty member has to sign off on a club for it to exist officially.
The school dorms are co-ed, and are segregated by House, which, like canon, is determined for the First Years at the opening ceremony each year.
Like every college, Hogwarts has sports teams. Quidditch is the biggest sport in the magical UK and most of the rest of the world, and is the one that gets the most publicity, but there are teams for other sports as well, such as Quodpot, Broom Racing, and other sports. Dueling competitively is also a sport, and a rather sophisticated one at that, with a strong international presence and the distinctions of being both the oldest magical sport that is actively practiced, and the oldest magical sport period. Hogwarts itself has both internal sporting events that pit House against House, as well as a universal ôHogwartsö sporting program that represents the school (and often by proxy the United Kingdom) in college-level sporting events against other magical schools from other nations, such as Durmstrang and Beaubaxtons. Given the high-profile nature of the Hogwarts teams, the professional sporting teams of Ireland, Scotland, and England pay close attention to the talent, and actively court skilled players for recruitment once they graduate.
The story begins with Harry Potter living on his own in a flat in Surrey. While they did not physically harm him (directly), the Dursleys were just as abusive and terrible as they were in canon, and once he came of age, Harry left Privet Drive and never looked back. His grades were good enough to qualify him for a number of scholarships to various colleges, and heÆs working a part-time job to pay the rent and make ends meet. Just when heÆs wondering what he wants to do with his life, and how heÆs going to keep making ends meet with his low-paying job, his Hogwarts letter arrives, Hagrid shows up, and Harry finds out that magic is real, he is a wizard, as were his parents, and his father was actually old money, and not the worthless vagrant that his relatives insisted he was.
And so it begins.
Thoughts?
