Wizarding Schools Headcanon
hp_headcanon are having a discussion on magical schools other than Hogwarts. I've actually thought quite a bit about this, especially European schools. So, while I have this written out, I think I'm just gonna dump this here for future references.
Durmstrang: Very old school, almost as old as Hogwarts. Most Western wizarding school have very similar core curriculum and Durmstrang isn’t different in this. But the difference begins around fourth year where there are new elements added - these are usually introductions to forms of magic that are “Grey” Magic, perhaps dipping into the Dark Arts at least on a theoretical level in later years, with subcatagories introduced such as Old Magic and Blood Magic. Sixth and Seventh years have entire classes devoted to these theoretical and research studies depending on the track they are on. They definitely have a more discipline based atmosphere than Hogwarts. Durmstrang is co-ed but many parents elect to send their daughters to other schools therefore there is a disproportionately large number of male students compared to female students. Pureblood families are especially wary of sending their daughters to Durmstrang for traditionalist reasons.
Beauxbatons: Originally an all-girls school, Beauxbatons has a lean into the magical fine arts and is known for their charms courses and professors. Somewhere around the end of the second half of the 19th century, Beaxbatons started to make a headway into a “general school” reputation and began to admit boys as well. However, these boys are housed separately (and thought of as attending a separate “college” within the school) and attend classes separately starting from the third year. (However, students are welcome to socialize freely and social events are held similarly for all students.) The boys who attend this school receive a strong magical fine arts education - sort of the muggle equivalent of going to Art School - while the girls receive a more generic education but still with a strong emphasis in charms. Dark Arts subjects, on the other hand, are kept strictly in theory and the DADA program is seen to be backwards and underdeveloped by many schools. Thus, many traditionalist Pureblood families chose to educate their sons elsewhere, primarily Durmstrang.
Of the West European schools, there is an Italian school but it is small and considered odd and subpar by many.
There is a Soviet (later Russian) school which shares area of influence with Durmstrang and is popular with the muggle-borns within this area who are unable to attend Durmstrang. The school existed before the USSR but in a very different form - it was based far more in the Far East traditions and explored Elementary Magic. Considered to be a more “experimental school” most Russian witches and wizards of prominent families were educated abroad in Durmstrang. In the early 20th century, the school began to undergo reconstruction and large-scale changes which shut down it’s operations for the most part for a few years. In re-opened in full scale as a “modernized” school shortly after the Bolsheviks came into power.
The US school is in Salam. There is also a school in Japan, Brazil (as per canon), Africa and the Middle East. A very new school opened in China at the end of the 19th
Durmstrang: Very old school, almost as old as Hogwarts. Most Western wizarding school have very similar core curriculum and Durmstrang isn’t different in this. But the difference begins around fourth year where there are new elements added - these are usually introductions to forms of magic that are “Grey” Magic, perhaps dipping into the Dark Arts at least on a theoretical level in later years, with subcatagories introduced such as Old Magic and Blood Magic. Sixth and Seventh years have entire classes devoted to these theoretical and research studies depending on the track they are on. They definitely have a more discipline based atmosphere than Hogwarts. Durmstrang is co-ed but many parents elect to send their daughters to other schools therefore there is a disproportionately large number of male students compared to female students. Pureblood families are especially wary of sending their daughters to Durmstrang for traditionalist reasons.
Beauxbatons: Originally an all-girls school, Beauxbatons has a lean into the magical fine arts and is known for their charms courses and professors. Somewhere around the end of the second half of the 19th century, Beaxbatons started to make a headway into a “general school” reputation and began to admit boys as well. However, these boys are housed separately (and thought of as attending a separate “college” within the school) and attend classes separately starting from the third year. (However, students are welcome to socialize freely and social events are held similarly for all students.) The boys who attend this school receive a strong magical fine arts education - sort of the muggle equivalent of going to Art School - while the girls receive a more generic education but still with a strong emphasis in charms. Dark Arts subjects, on the other hand, are kept strictly in theory and the DADA program is seen to be backwards and underdeveloped by many schools. Thus, many traditionalist Pureblood families chose to educate their sons elsewhere, primarily Durmstrang.
Of the West European schools, there is an Italian school but it is small and considered odd and subpar by many.
There is a Soviet (later Russian) school which shares area of influence with Durmstrang and is popular with the muggle-borns within this area who are unable to attend Durmstrang. The school existed before the USSR but in a very different form - it was based far more in the Far East traditions and explored Elementary Magic. Considered to be a more “experimental school” most Russian witches and wizards of prominent families were educated abroad in Durmstrang. In the early 20th century, the school began to undergo reconstruction and large-scale changes which shut down it’s operations for the most part for a few years. In re-opened in full scale as a “modernized” school shortly after the Bolsheviks came into power.
The US school is in Salam. There is also a school in Japan, Brazil (as per canon), Africa and the Middle East. A very new school opened in China at the end of the 19th