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[Harry Potter] Malfoid Stories

Exploration of Native American and Mesoamerican Magical Traditions New
Exploration of Native American and Mesoamerican Magical Traditions

The indigenous magical traditions across both American continents remained comparatively unsophisticated by European standards prior to contact. The majority of societies lacked writing systems, so spells, rituals, and cosmological knowledge were transmitted orally. Exceptions existed among the Aztec, Maya, and Inca polities and those cultures strongly influenced by them. In the American Southwest and Southeast, some groups also recorded limited magical knowledge through pictographs on animal hides and in stone.

A near-universal feature across these traditions was blood magic—one of the oldest documented forms of magical practice. Because blood rites sat only one step removed from human sacrifice, only fragmentary survivals of these systems persist in the modern magical world. Independent folk charms and localized incantations endured among many tribes, but they proved insufficient against the concentrated power the Aztecs could generate.

Aztec wizards, operating as the true power behind the throne, used large-scale blood rites and ritual cannibalism to accumulate extraordinary magical force, using staves and bells as magical mediums rather than wands. This underwrote the empire's military and political dominance until the arrival of Hernán Cortés.

The Intervention of the Catholic Miracles Department

Cortés was accompanied by a number of friars, among them two wizards attached to the Catholic Church's Miracles department: Fray Tulio de Aguilar and Fray Miguel de Salazar. Both had been trained in ecclesiastical combat magic and were specifically tasked with countering the dark practitioners serving the Aztec hierarchy. Cortés relied heavily on their abilities both to neutralize enemy wizards and to train allied indigenous magical practitioners in more structured European techniques.

Their campaigns are recorded in the contemporary magical chronicle La Conquista del Imperio Azteca Impío ("The Conquest of the Unholy Aztec Empire"). According to that account, Tulio and Miguel faced repeated trials. They destroyed an undead army raised by the Aztec high priest and dark wizard Itzcóatl Xipe, slew a Barbed Desert Dragon bound to Aztec service, and defeated Montezuma's principal warlocks and Itzcóatl Xipe himself in direct magical combat.

Operating frequently with only their wands, tactical judgment, and faith—supported by Cortés's soldiers and indigenous allies—they ultimately prevented the Aztecs from completing a Blood Curse Plague. The ritual, intended as a final measure against the invaders, required the sacrifice of one hundred children. Its interruption collapsed the remaining organized magical resistance.

Founding of the First Formal Magical School in the Americas

In the aftermath, Fray Tulio de Aguilar and Fray Miguel de Salazar established the New Spain Miracle School, the earliest formal institution of magical education in the Western Hemisphere. Originally intended to train both Spanish and allied indigenous students in controlled, non-sacrificial magic under ecclesiastical oversight, the school later took the names of its founders.

It continues to operate in the present day, preserving a curriculum that blends European wandwork with carefully delimited survivals of pre-conquest practical traditions while maintaining an explicit prohibition on blood sacrifice.

This sequence of events permanently altered the balance of magical power in Mesoamerica. The destruction of the Aztec sacrificial system removed the primary engine of large-scale indigenous blood magic, while the New Spain Miracle School introduced the first sustained, institutionalized alternative. Subsequent schools in the region, including later North American foundations, developed in a landscape already shaped by that rupture.
 
Malfoid: Flirt 12 New
They had, between them, a reasonable amount of experience to draw on. The office was warm with late morning light that filtered through the high windows and caught on the silver instruments, setting several of them to a soft, irregular ticking. Fawkes dozed with his head tucked, feathers shifting now and then in the draft from the hearth. Harry and Ron sat on the edge of their chairs as if either of them might need to stand quickly. Dumbledore watched them both with the patient attention of a man who had already guessed most of what they were about to say.

But he let them say it all anyway.

"I mean, Moody is a great teacher—" Harry started.

"But the DADA teacher has tried to kill Harry every year," Ron said.

"It wasn't Lupin's fault last time—!"

"I know it wasn't! But it's like the position is cursed, and Charlie's told me no DADA teacher has ever lasted longer than a year!"

Dumbledore folded his hands on the desk. The movement was unhurried. One of the portraits behind him stirred, muttered something about exam schedules, and went back to sleep. "Gentlemen. I understand your concerns. The position may indeed have been cursed by Voldemort. It is within his capabilities."

Ron winced at the name. His shoulders drew in. Harry did not. He had heard it enough times, in enough voices, that the old flinch had worn thin.

"So… why can't you fix it?"

"We would need to find the source of the curse first. This is part of why I chose Alastor to teach. He is the most experienced and formidable Dark wizard hunter in Britain. I trust him implicitly to not only train you, but to secure the castle."

"Well, that's good." Ron shifted, the chair creaking under him. "My dad has lots of stories about Moody."

"As well he should." Dumbledore's smile was small. "Death Eaters fear him for good reason."

"Well, that's good." Harry glanced at the silver instruments ticking on the shelves. One of them had begun to spin in a slow, uneven circle. "But what about the Goblet of Fire?"

"I mean, all you've got is an Age Line around it," Ron said.

"You may be correct, Ron. I'll have Moody improve the security around it personally."

"Hope he's not too busy," Harry murmured. Dumbledore shook his head.

"A man like Alastor is happy to have things to do again. He hated retirement." Dumbledore chuckled. The sound was quiet in the high-ceilinged room. "The one thing that makes men like Alastor happy is purpose. True purpose. And so he has taken to it with gusto."

Harry nodded. Some of the tightness in his chest eased.

"I guess that makes me feel a little better."

"Yeah." Ron still looked uneasy. His fingers worried at a loose thread on his sleeve. "But I mean, the Triwizard has a lot of deaths, so you can see why we'd be worried."

"That and… you know…" Harry coughed, "everything that's happened in my life so far."

Dumbledore nodded, grave. The light caught the half-moon spectacles and turned them briefly opaque. "It is good you two are taking this seriously. Yes, I am afraid your school experience is quite outside the ordinary. But then, your life was never going to be ordinary, Harry. I am sorry for that. But embracing it, meeting it head on instead of hiding from it—that is the sign of a fine young man. And it is good you two are growing up into fine young men."

Heat climbed Harry's neck. Ron went red to the ears. Neither of them quite knew where to look. The portraits had gone still again, as if even the sleeping headmasters had decided the moment required a certain dignity.

"Oh… uh. Thank you, Professor," Harry said.

"Y-yeah, really. I'm just the sidekick, I mean," Ron managed. Harry turned to his best friend with a warm smile.

"Ron, I couldn't have gotten anywhere without you. Or Hermione."

"Aw, lay off…"

Dumbledore's smile turned faintly mischievous. The lines at the corners of his eyes deepened. "And I have heard you two have grown up a bit faster in other ways?"

They stared at him. Fawkes trilled from the perch, a soft, amused sound. Dumbledore chuckled.

"In regards to Miss Malfoy and Miss Greengrass?"

Harry coughed. Ron's ears burned brighter. They both started talking at once, hands moving in half-formed gestures that canceled each other out. A silver instrument on the nearest shelf gave a sharp, protesting ping and settled again.

"W-well… um… we went on a date to Hogsmeade and… it was… nice, but I mean, I don't know what to do after this and—"

"I-I don't know what her deal is! We played some chess and she was amazing and now she's obsessed with me and Hermione is angry with me and I don't know why—!"

Dumbledore's chuckle was soft, the lines around his eyes deepening into something grandfatherly. He steepled his fingers and regarded them both with open fondness. "Well. Take care how you handle things, gentlemen. Women's hearts are fragile things. You wouldn't want to break them, would you?"

"I think they'd break us instead," Harry said.

"Yes. That can be the price of breaking a witch's heart. Do be careful."

The side door opened with a soft click. A stack of laundry appeared to float out of it, which was not especially unusual at Hogwarts. Harry registered the small, green-tinged hands underneath it a second later. The scent of clean linen and something faintly floral drifted into the room.

"Headmastery sir, have laundry—"

"You can just magic it away, Dobby."

"Dobby found magic socks! Wants to make sure Headmastery Dumblydore knows if they cans be teleported properly!"

"Dobby!"

The elf's face lit up. He burst into tears, flung the laundry in every direction, and launched himself at Harry. Socks scattered across the desk and floor in a soft cascade of wool and enchantment. One patterned with moving lightning bolts landed squarely on Dumbledore's head. Another, embroidered with what appeared to be sniffing human noses, settled over Fawkes's beak. The phoenix looked deeply unamused. Ron clamped a hand over his mouth and coughed with desperate concentration, shoulders shaking. Dumbledore did not bother; he laughed, quiet and warm, as Harry gently pried Dobby far enough away to look at him. The elf's ears were trembling. His eyes were enormous.

"Harry Potter, sir! Dobby happy to see you! Date go well with Mean Master's Daughter?"

"Y-yes! Everything went fine, thank you!"

"Could… could Dobby help with next date with Mean Master's Daughter?"

"Uhhhhh… I—I mean… well…"

Phantom pain twinged in Harry's arm. He remembered, with perfect clarity, every previous instance of Dobby's help: the hovering pudding, the bludger, the long nights of well-meant interference. The elf's eyes were wet and hopeful and entirely sincere. Harry sighed.

"Yes, Dobby. You can help." The elf's delighted squeal nearly knocked a silver instrument off its shelf. It wobbled, chimed once, and righted itself. "But only within limits! We don't want to go overboard!"

"Dobby understands! Will make things super romantical-like for Harry Potter, sir, and his Lyra!"

Dobby beamed, already gathering the scattered socks with frantic efficiency. Fawkes shook the nose-patterned sock free of his beak and regarded it with profound offense before dropping it onto the desk. Dumbledore removed the lightning-bolt sock from his head, examined it with mild interest, and set it neatly on the corner of the desk beside the other.

"Well," he said, eyes twinkling, "it seems your romantic education is about to become a group effort. Do try to survive it."

"It kind of already was," Harry admitted.

The main door opened. The sound was heavier than the side entrance had been. Harry and Ron turned in their chairs. Harry went pale.

Snape entered first, robes flaring in their usual dramatic sweep, face already pinched at the sight of them. The air seemed to cool a fraction as he crossed the threshold. Lucius Malfoy followed, immaculate in dark formal robes that had not a crease out of place, his expression cooling further the moment his eyes found Harry. Lyra came last. She held herself carefully upright, but the nervousness showed in the set of her shoulders and the way her fingers tightened once on the strap of her bag before she stilled them. Her gaze flicked to Harry, then away, then back again.

"Headmaster," Snape said.

"Severus. Lucius. Miss Malfoy."

"Headmaster. Potter. Weasley." Lucius's tone was precise and cold.

"H—" Lyra caught her father's look and corrected smoothly. "Headmaster. Potter. Weasley."

"Snape. Mister Malfoy. Malfoy," Harry said.

"Snape. Mister Malfoy. Malfoy," Ron echoed.

"Professor Snape," Dumbledore said, gentle and pointed.

Dobby, still clutching a handful of recovered socks, glared upward from beside Harry's chair. "Bad Ex-Master. Greasy Snapey. Harry's Lyra."

Silence settled. Lyra went bright red to the ears. Lucius's mouth thinned. Snape's glare could have curdled milk. One of the portraits cleared its throat and thought better of it.

"…Dobby," Lucius said.

Dumbledore's smile remained untroubled. He gestured and several empty chairs appeared. "A pleasure to see you all again. What brings you here, Lucius?"

"A few matters. The Triwizard, of course." Lucius's cold grey eyes settled on Harry and did not move. "And my daughter's welfare."

The office had gone very quiet. Even Fawkes had stopped shifting on his perch.

Harry held the look. He managed, for five full seconds, not to appear intimidated.

"Tell me, Mister Potter," Lucius said, his voice low and full of the promise of violence. "What are your intentions with my daughter?"

The five seconds were up.
 
Malfoid: Flirt 13 New
Lyra's voice cut across the silence, thinner than usual but clear.

"F-Father, he is… he merely escorted me out to Hogsmeade! He was being a proper gentlewizard!"

Lucius's expression did not change. "Really? And what of the kiss?"

Color flooded her face. For a moment her eyes went distant and soft. "Oh… it was perfect and—" She caught herself, bright red, and stumbled. "I-um-wh-what kiss? Whatever is a kiss? A pure-blood maiden such as myself has no idea what that is!"

Harry reflected that this would be far funnier if it were happening to someone else.

A dark, dangerous look settled over Lucius's face as he turned his glare fully on Harry. "Indeed. Mister Potter, once again… what are your intentions with my daughter?"

Snape's glare matched it for venom. Dobby edged behind Harry's chair. Even with the knowledge that he had once sent Lucius flying, the look on the elder Malfoy's face was that intimidating. Dumbledore rose, smile gentle, as Ron's knuckles went white on the arms of his chair.

"I'm sure Harry knows exactly what his intentions are. Don't you, Harry?"

There was a small, nasty part of him that wanted to admit to the prank. That wanted to see Lyra's eyes fill with tears, see the hurt, feel the hurt she had caused him so often when they were younger. A small, dark part that wanted to make her suffer in front of her father. That wanted to mock her for thinking he could ever care for her, to see her break. That was what a prank was for, right? To make someone deserving suffer some humiliation? A little pain?

And it would free him from this deception that was already getting way out of hand…

He looked up into her eyes. They were hopeful and warm. The affection she held for him was there, open and unguarded.

Harry hadn't seen affection for him in many eyes, that was for sure. Awe, amazement, but not… care.

Sirius's words came to him: When it comes to her father? Be bold and audacious.

He took a deep breath. He stood. He walked over to Lyra and took her hand in his. Then he turned to face Lucius and Snape.

"My intentions are… well…"

What did they say in Aunt Petunia's old BBC romantic dramas that had bored him to tears?

"To court her."

Lyra turned bright red and made the most adorable squeaking sound Harry had ever heard in his life. She covered her mouth with her free hand, staring at him as if the rest of the office had ceased to exist. He had to admit, he did like that look on her.

Lucius practically growled. His wand hand twitched. Snape's face pinched further.

"To what end, Potter?" Lucius's voice was low. "You should know full well this ends in only one of two ways: either you marry my daughter, or you break it off and you die to satisfy her honor. So which is it?"

He loomed. Magical energy crackled faintly around him; his eyes nearly glowed. Harry found what remained of his courage.

"Um… w-well—"

"To… to marry me?!" Lyra's voice cracked.

"No!"

She gasped. Hurt flashed across her face. She tried to pull her hand free. Lucius's fingers closed on his wand.

"I—I mean not now!" Harry said quickly. "Not right now! We need to finish school b-before we can think about that! But I—I just mean, you know… th-the process starts?"

Lyra stilled. The adoring look returned, cautious but present.

"Oh… oh, I—I see. I understand, Harry. It would be… it would be too soon now—" Her father's stare landed. Color rose in her cheeks. She cleared her throat. "And Potter is no good as a husband right now! He's a mess, his grades are only adequate, he—he has to work on his flying skills! All—all very important things to improve upon, Father!"

The haughtiness was back in her voice. The warmth in her eyes remained. Harry felt a small, complicated hope, and a larger, more familiar torment. One step at a time.

Lucius's mouth thinned. "Really? Is that truly the case, Potter? You're set on my daughter as your wife? Is this truly what you want?"

Harry turned to face him. Lyra's hand was still in his. He swallowed and met the cold grey eyes.

"Yes."

"Potter," Snape said, "you barely understand how to live as a wizard. How do you think you'll be as a husband to a pure-blood lady?"

"Greasy Snapey is single!" Dobby announced from behind the chair.

Snape's glare swung toward the elf. Dobby vanished behind Ron. Ron, unfortunately, did not share Dobby's survival instincts.

"And what's wrong with Harry? He'd be a—a great husband! I mean, he killed a thousand-year-old basilisk to save my little sister! And he barely knows she exists! Imagine what he'd kill for Lyra! He actually really likes her!"

Dumbledore examined a sock with careful interest, the corners of his mouth hidden.

"Well put, Ron. I do believe you don't have to worry about your daughter's safety, Lucius."

"That's just one threat to her." Lucius's snarl had lost some of its edge. Ron shook his head.

"If you're worried about that, Harry can throw off the Imperius! The only one in our class to do it!"

"Y-yes, Father, that's true! He did throw it off!"

"I mean, not even you could do that, Mister Malfoy?" Ron's smirk was tiny and suicidal. "I mean, that is what you claimed to the Ministry of Magic after the First War, right? That You-Know-Who Imperio'd you? Well, it'll never happen to Harry! He'll never be mind-controlled by You-Know-Who or anyone else!"

Lucius went very still. His eyes narrowed to slits. He regarded Ron for a long moment, then managed a slow nod.

"Yes… quite…"

Ron was not foolish enough to push further. Or brave enough. He was, however, still talking.

"And he defeated You-Know-Who as a baby anyway, and in first year, again in second, drove off a hundred Dementors in third—"

"Ron…!" Harry said, warning.

"And he's the Boy-Who-Lived, rich, handsome, athletic—what, that's not good enough for you, Mister Malfoy? Is there another boy better for your daughter?"

"I do believe Potter's head is swollen enough, Weasley." Snape's voice was dry. "No need to inflate it further."

Lucius's scowl softened a fraction as he looked at Lyra. She was watching Harry with open adoration; the expression vanished into cool propriety the instant her father's eyes found her.

"And… you would consent to being courted by Potter, Lyra?"

"…I—I would, Father."

"And if I told you the match was bad and I would disown you if you continued?"

Her eyes widened. "You—you wouldn't—you can't—!"

"I am your father, Lyra! I determine what is best for you and—"

"You wouldn't—!"

"If I had to, I would!"

Tears stood in her eyes. "I—I'd hate you forever!"

The office went quiet. Lucius looked, for the first time, pained.

"Lyra—"

"Let's all calm down, shall we?" Dumbledore stepped between them, smile gentle and immovable. "It is far too soon to think about marriage in any courting process, Lucius. And I can vouch for Harry's character: he would never take advantage of your daughter."

Harry nodded vigorously. Lyra's hold on his arm tightened.

"Let these young people explore their feelings. Indeed, Harry is a good match all around—for your daughter, and for you. Can you think of a better way to improve your standing in the Wizengamot than Harry Potter as a potential son-in-law? Especially with that unfortunate business with the Chamber."

Lucius was still tense, but calmer. "That is true, Headmaster… however, as a father… I am only looking out for my daughter's welfare."

"And she understands that. But do see things from an objective viewpoint: a date and a kiss do not endanger your daughter or your family. And once again, I can vouch for Harry's character. You have nothing to worry about… though no doubt you will, being a doting father."

"…Yes, Headmaster." Lucius turned to Lyra and Harry. "If this is your decision, Lyra… I will respect it."

"Thank you, Father," she said, quiet and grateful.

Lucius leaned in. The glare he directed at Harry was pure deadly promise. Harry held his ground, face set.

"But rest assured, Potter… if you mistreat my daughter… what I have planned for you would make what the Dark Lord would do to if he returned pale in comparison. Is that clear?"

Harry managed not to stutter. "Clear."

"Good." Lucius turned to Lyra. "If he so much as makes you cry—"

"F-Father… he won't." The haughtiness returned. "Besides… don't you think I can handle myself? Not that he ever would, but I would make him rue the day he was born if he tried anything!" She caught Harry's stare and added quickly, "Not that I think you would, Harry!" Her father's look returned. She went cold and arrogant again. "But if he does, oh… I will make him suffer."

Lucius looked, for a moment, proud. Snape looked vaguely ill. Ron and Dobby both regarded Harry with expressions of pity and disbelief.

Lucius nodded slowly. "Very well… if you'll excuse me, Headmaster… I must speak with Ludo Bagman about arrangements for the tournament. We can talk about other arrangements at a later time."

"Of course, Lucius. Severus, would you please accompany Lucius and aid him in these matters?"

"Of course, Headmaster." Snape stared at Harry and Lyra for an uncomfortably long moment, then shook his head and sneered. "This way, Lucius."

They left. The door closed. Harry exhaled. Lyra's hand stayed tight on his arm.

"I…" Her voice was low. "Thank you, Harry."

"Haaa… you're welcome…"

He had thought third year was a roller coaster. This felt like all of it compressed into a few minutes.

"Oh… we've missed Divination!" Ron brightened. "But it's lunchtime!"

"I'll write you all a note." Dumbledore's smile returned. "Yes, let's have lunch. I daresay a break and a meal would be excellent right now. Don't you agree, Harry?"

"Y-yeah… completely."

"We'll sit together," Lyra said.

"But—"

"We'll sit together."

"…Yes, Lyra."

"DOBBY SO AMAZED!" Dobby launched himself at Harry's leg. "HARRY POTTER SIR STOOD UP TO MEAN EX-MASTER! DOBBY HAPPY! HARRY'S LYRA IS GOOD GIRL!"

"Ack!"

"Dobby! Dobby, down! Dobby, heel!" Lyra shouted.

Dumbledore regarded the scene with twinkling eyes. "Enthusiastic little fellow, isn't he?"
 
"And what's wrong with Harry? He'd be a—a great husband! I mean, he killed a thousand-year-old basilisk to save my little sister! And he barely knows she exists! Imagine what he'd kill for Lyra! He actually really likes her!"
At this moment in time Ginny felt a stab of irrational rage against Ron for reasons she did not know.
 
Worldbuilding: Ilvermorny School of Witchcraft and Wizardry New
School Name: Ilvermorny School of Witchcraft and Wizardry

Location: Mount Greylock, Massachusetts, United States

Founding Date: Circa 1630

Jurisdiction: United States Magical Government, under the purview of the US Secretary of Magic

Student Population: 3,500–5,000

Notable Expertise: Charms, Transfiguration, Defense Against the Dark Arts, Wandlore, Magical Theory

History:

Ilvermorny was founded circa 1630 on Mount Greylock in Massachusetts by the Irish witch Isolt Sayre, a descendant of Salazar Slytherin who had fled her homeland, together with her No-Maj husband James Steward and their adopted sons Chadwick and Webster Boot. The school began as a modest granite cottage intended to educate the Boot children and soon expanded to accept other local magical students, including members of nearby Indigenous communities. Isolt, James, and the Boot brothers each selected a house mascot drawn from North American magical creatures—Horned Serpent, Wampus, Thunderbird, and Pukwudgie—establishing the four-house system that persists today. The original cottage grew into a substantial castle as enrollment increased.

Because its founders were Irish rather than English, Scottish, or Dutch, Ilvermorny retained a distinct cultural character that set it apart from the later English- and Scottish-influenced institutions of Avistrum (1697), Salem (1699), and Plotinus (1791). It developed a reputation as an upper-middle and elite academy, emphasizing rigorous theoretical instruction, refined magical practice, and social polish. This orientation placed it in direct competition with Avistrum for students across the northern United States; the two schools have long contested prestige, faculty recruitment, and the allegiance of prominent northern families. Ilvermorny also sought, on more than one occasion, to absorb the much smaller Salem School of Witchcraft as a satellite or feeder institution. Salem consistently resisted these overtures, preserving its independent, technically focused identity and lower cost structure.

Relations with Plotinus Theurgy Academy in Georgia were repeatedly strained. Ilvermorny's Irish-derived emphasis on structured magical theory and controlled defensive practice clashed with Plotinus's more overtly martial culture, its tradition of swordsmanship and formal combat training, and its southern social outlook. Disputes over curriculum, standards of magical combat instruction, and the proper formation of future leaders surfaced regularly in the nineteenth century and have continued, in attenuated form, into the present.

Despite these rivalries, Ilvermorny remains one of the largest and most prestigious magical schools in North America, drawing students primarily from the Northeast and Midwest while maintaining its historic Irish institutional character within the broader framework of United States magical governance.

Note: The only magical school in the US being founded by an Irishwoman? Unlikely, the cultural differences would result in multiple schools across multiple regions and cultures. But I've kept Ilvermorny out of respect to JKR and just made it fit into the larger American magical world.
 
Worldbuilding: Escuela de Milagros Aguilar y Salazar New
School Name: Escuela de Milagros Aguilar y Salazar

Location: Mexico City, Mexico (originally established near the former Tenochtitlan)

Founding Date: 1525

Jurisdiction: Mexican Magical Government (Secretaría de Magia), with historical origins under the ecclesiastical Miracles department of New Spain

Student Population: 4,000

Notable Expertise: Defense Against the Dark Arts, Controlled Ritual Magic, Charms, Healing, Pre-Columbian Magical History

History:

The Escuela de Milagros Aguilar y Salazar was founded in 1525 by Fray Tulio de Aguilar and Fray Miguel de Salazar, wizards attached to the Catholic Church's Miracles department who accompanied Hernán Cortés. Their primary charge was to counter the large-scale blood magic and sacrificial practices employed by Aztec high priests and warlocks, who functioned as the true power behind the imperial throne. Operating with Cortés's forces and indigenous allies, the two friars destroyed an undead army raised by the Aztec high priest and dark wizard Itzcóatl Xipe, slew a Barbed Desert Dragon bound to Aztec service, defeated Montezuma's principal warlocks in direct combat, and interrupted a final Blood Curse Plague ritual that required the sacrifice of one hundred children. These events are recorded in their contemporary chronicle La Conquista del Imperio Azteca Impío.

In the aftermath they established the New Spain Miracle School—the first formal magical academy in the Americas—to train both Spanish and allied indigenous students in structured, non-sacrificial magic under ecclesiastical oversight. The institution later adopted the names of its founders. From the outset it emphasized the replacement of uncontrolled blood rites with disciplined wandwork, containment techniques, and ethical constraints on ritual practice. Over subsequent centuries it absorbed limited, carefully delimited elements of surviving pre-conquest practical traditions while maintaining a strict prohibition on human sacrifice. However, in the modern era with advances in medicine, Aztec and other ancient blood magic rites and spells are being re-examined for use in medicine and healing magic.

The school has remained the principal center of formal magical education for Mexico. Its modern curriculum continues to reflect its founding purpose: rigorous Defense Against the Dark Arts with particular attention to residual blood-magic effects, advanced Charms and Healing, controlled ritual theory, and systematic study of pre-Columbian magical history. It serves as the primary national academy for the magical population of Mexico. Graduates enter civilian administration, healing practice, artifact conservation, regional security roles, and general magical business; the school maintains no formal military track comparable to certain North American institutions but supplies technically trained personnel for containment and investigative work when required by the Mexican magical authorities.
 
Worldbuilding: Plotinus Theurgy Academy New
School Name: Plotinus Theurgy Academy

Location: Athens, Georgia, United States

Founding Date: 1791

Jurisdiction: United States Magical Government, under the purview of the US Secretary of Magic

Student Population: 1,200–2,000

Notable Expertise: Defense Against the Dark Arts, Magical Combat, Alchemy, Magical Artifact Exploration, Herbology, Magical Creatures

History:

Plotinus Theurgy Academy was founded in 1791 in Athens, Georgia, by Achernar Carpenter, the bastard son of the head of House Black. Carpenter had emigrated to the American colonies in 1760 and became active in the magical wing of the Sons of Liberty. He fought in the Revolutionary War, defeating the English warlock Harrow Pitfall in single combat during the Battle of Yorktown, and later served as one of the first representatives to the American Magical Congress in 1788.

Dissatisfied with the educational offerings at Avistrum and the Salem School of Witchcraft, he established Plotinus with three fellow Revolutionary War veterans: Thomas A. Tallmadge, Meredith Lum, and Francina Mapes. The academy was named for Plotinus, the Greek philosopher and theurgist whom Carpenter particularly admired.

From its inception the school was conceived as an upper-class institution. In addition to the standard magical curriculum of Charms, Defense Against the Dark Arts, Transfiguration, and Potions, it provided formal instruction in swordsmanship, etiquette, rhetoric, philosophy, and politics, with the explicit aim of preparing students for political leadership or prominent positions in American magical commerce and administration. Admission practices reflected class distinctions more than strict blood status: magical children of Revolutionary War veterans were accepted regardless of parentage, while commoner Muggle-born applicants frequently faced discrimination. Cherokee and other Native American wizards whose tribes had allied with the revolutionaries were admitted; those from tribes that had sided with the British were barred.

These social and regional tensions persisted into the American Civil War. The majority of the academy's students and alumni favored the Union and expressed little interest in the question of slavery, yet a significant minority regarded service with the Confederacy as a matter of honor and states' rights. A disproportionate number of wizards who fought against the Union were Plotinus alumni, while other graduates, together with students and alumni of Avistrum and Salem, served on the Union side. After the war the academy came under intense scrutiny from MACUSA. Admission standards were formally opened to Muggle-born students without regard to prior class or veteran status. The school's martial character, however, remained intact.

In the modern era Plotinus continues to emphasize Defense Against the Dark Arts, Magical Combat, and Alchemy. It also maintains strong programs in Magical Artifact Exploration, Herbology, and Magical Creatures, fields in which it competes directly with Avistrum given the continued presence of undocumented magical species and sites across the Americas and the world. A substantial portion of the officer corps of the United States Mage Corps is drawn from its graduates, preserving the academy's longstanding association with organized magical military service.
 
Worldbuilding: Avistrum Academy of Sorcery New
avistrum.org

School Name: Avistrum Academy of Sorcery

Location: Hartford, Connecticut, United States

Founding Date: Fall 1697 (first students admitted)

Jurisdiction: United States Magical Government, under the purview of the US Secretary of Magic

Student Population: 3,000–4,000

Notable Expertise: Charms, Wandmaking, Defense Against the Dark Arts (DADA), Theoretical Charms and Potions

History:

Excerpted from The Roots of Magical Society in North America, by Sigurd Quantrill, 1843

Non-magical people were not the only ones to immigrate to the New World beginning in the 16th and 17th centuries. Witches and wizards also sought to improve their lives on a new continent. Many magical families from England, Scotland, and Ireland settled in the North American colonies, especially in New England. However, for several decades they had no schools of magic to educate their children.

After the so-called Salem Witch Trials in 1692, many magical folk grew concerned. While the Trials had not killed any real witches, they realized that their lack of a proper school for magical children left them vulnerable to persecution in their new home. Four in particular who saw the need for an academy were Pyramis Parador, Englebert Enigmus, Luna Lobostro, and Caterina Colubrae.

The four friends, all educated in England, decided it was time to found a school for North American magicians, in order to teach them to use their powers correctly. Quite a few magical families had taken to teaching their children on their own, thus causing a rapid increase in the number of dark wizards and witches. The four friends realized what a great danger this was to magical society in the New World.

The Avistrum Academy of Sorcery took its first students in the fall of 1697, becoming the first school of magic in the Western Hemisphere. Parador, Enigmus, Lobostro and Colubrae created four fellowships within the school, one named after each.

Today, Avistrum is still the largest and most prestigious magical school in the Americas, based in Hartford, Connecticut.Sadly, old attitudes did not disappear in the New World. Caterina Colubrae, a pureblood wizard with roots stretching far back to her native Russia, began to echo the opinions of many purebloods before her, that only pureblood wizards and witches should be taught magic. She left the new school after a bitter feud with her partners; the final straw was when Pyramis Parador was selected over her to serve as Headmaster after the death of Englebert Enigmus in 1707.

As the American frontier expanded, Avistrum grew larger and larger. Just as they had from the original British colonies, new magic families immigrated to the United States and Canada along with their non-wizard counterparts. Avistrum has taught witches and wizards who hail originally from every part of the globe.

As a bastion against dark magic, Avistrum faces its share of threats. Naturally, the school is hidden from detection by non-wizards, and only those with magical ability can find it.
 
Worldbuilding: Salem School of Witchcraft and Wizardry New
School Name: Salem School of Witchcraft and Wizardry

Location: Salem, Massachusetts, United States

Founding Date: 1699

Jurisdiction: United States Magical Government, under the purview of the US Secretary of Magic

Student Population: 400-1000

Notable Expertise: Charms, Ethics, Defense Against the Dark Arts (DADA), Magic Archaeology/Artefaction

History:

The Salem School of Witchcraft was founded in 1699 in the immediate aftermath of the Salem Witch Trials and a subsequent local crisis. A witch named Mercy Crowe had begun conducting escalating dark rituals in the Salem area that produced genuine magical interference, driving several non-magical families toward permanent mental damage through mind-affecting charms and coerced spirit bindings. Local practitioners, horrified by the uncontrolled experiments, confronted and killed Crowe in a magical duel.

Among those who stopped her was Simaetha Moonwell, who concluded that the lack of organized local instruction had allowed the situation to develop. She and her colleagues converted a concealed outbuilding on the outskirts of Salem into a schoolhouse and admitted the first students in the autumn of 1699. From the outset the institution was deliberately modest in scale and cost, serving as a practical, lower-tuition alternative to the larger and more distant Avistrum Academy for families in eastern Massachusetts, Maine, and New Hampshire.

Moonwell, who served as the first headmistress, established two enduring principles: acceptance of any student who demonstrated basic aptitude regardless of blood status, and an emphasis on controlled technical competence rather than theoretical ambition. The curriculum focused on core charms, basic defensive magic, household applications, and the safe containment of minor dark effects or residual artifacts. This technical orientation gradually sharpened; by the nineteenth century the school was known for rigorous training in charm construction, magic device repair and modification, and systematic recording of local magical phenomena.
Magic archaeology and Artefaction also grew in the curriculum, exploring the ancient magics of North America and then eventually, the world.

The school never expanded beyond a few hundred students and avoided most of the pure-blood controversies that affected larger North American institutions. It maintained a quiet relationship with the early United States Mage Corps, occasionally supplying technically trained personnel for artifact recovery and containment work. In the modern period it continues to operate from an expanded but still concealed complex in Salem. Its present curriculum retains the historical practical focus while incorporating formal study in ethics and magic archaeology, preparing graduates primarily for technical, conservation, and support roles within the regional magical community and certain Mage Corps technical branches.
 
Worldbuilding: Stillwater Academy New
School Name: Stillwater Academy

Location: Stillwater Valley, Rocky Mountains, Colorado, United States (hidden magical community of Stillwaters; associated Burro Mountain Base)

Founding Date: 1873

Jurisdiction: United States Magical Government, under the purview of the US Secretary of Magic

Student Population: 800–1,500

Notable Expertise: Survival Magic, Magical Creature and Plant Stewardship, Combat Magic, Exploration and Construction Magic, Herbology

History:

Stillwater Academy was founded in 1873 in the Stillwater Valley of Colorado's Rocky Mountains by Ambrose Burndown, a veteran of the United States Mage Corps who had served in the Civil War, and his wife Isabel. The couple established the school to support the growing population of magical immigrants moving into the American West and to provide formal education for Indigenous magical practitioners while actively preserving their traditions. Subsequent waves of settlers from Russia, other Slavic regions, Ireland, Germany, Italy, and elsewhere contributed additional techniques, producing a composite curriculum.

From the outset the academy emphasized practical skills required for life beyond established magical infrastructure: wilderness survival, management of magical creatures and plants, exploration, construction under adverse conditions, and combat magic. Amercian, German and Slavic combat and engineering traditions, Indigenous survival methods, and a deliberate ethic of stewardship toward magical animals, plants, and beings became enduring pillars.
This stewardship orientation drew in part on earlier Spanish Catholic influences transmitted through the Southwest and was reinforced by the mountaineering culture of the period. Summer programs historically included structured survival training modeled on contemporary youth organizations, and older students (typically age fifteen and above) continue to undertake supervised field exercises, including discreet navigation and extraction tasks within the nearby Bigfoot preserve.

The academy operates in close conjunction with Burro Mountain Base, a United States Mage Corps installation maintained behind layered glamours, charms, and wards and used for training and regional support. Stillwaters itself developed into a large, thriving magical community that remains largely open within the valley; the surrounding mountains and cave systems provide substantial natural concealment from non-magical observers. Local waters, enriched by the resident Soyiitapi water sprites, possess sufficient ambient magic that individuals may walk upon the surface of the creek without spells. Nearby preserves house both Bigfeet—large ape-like beings capable of magical concealment—and Slide-Rock Bolters, massive land-whale ambush predators that descend slopes to seize prey before returning to high altitude. Both populations are maintained under managed conditions that allow them to live with minimal interference.

Over time the curriculum has been standardized while retaining its distinctive regional character. Stillwater Academy continues to serve primarily students from small towns, isolated homesteads, and Western communities. It supplies practical magical education oriented toward self-sufficiency, environmental stewardship, and competence in remote settings, and it maintains its historic relationship with the Mage Corps through the adjacent base.
 
"But rest assured, Potter… if you mistreat my daughter… what I have planned for you would make what the Dark Lord would do to if he returned pale in comparison. Is that clear?"

Harry managed not to stutter. "Clear."

"Good." Lucius turned to Lyra. "If he so much as makes you cry—"

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-LdQ48eLjk0
United States Mage Corps:
I really appreciate the effort put into fleshing out the American magical world. Rowling's one school per continent means there's a lot of worldbuilding to do before you can travel outside Magical Britian.
 

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-LdQ48eLjk0

I really appreciate the effort put into fleshing out the American magical world. Rowling's one school per continent means there's a lot of worldbuilding to do before you can travel outside Magical Britian.


I personally feel that Rowling's population of 3000 of Wizards for Britain is way too small. It needs to be at least 300-500,000 to be sustainable. This means that Hogwarts needs to have a few thousand students total and there should be smaller schools as well. Scaled up this means that the United States would have a few million wizards, and thus that means multiple schools too.
 
I personally feel that Rowling's population of 3000 of Wizards for Britain is way too small. It needs to be at least 300-500,000 to be sustainable. This means that Hogwarts needs to have a few thousand students total and there should be smaller schools as well. Scaled up this means that the United States would have a few million wizards, and thus that means multiple schools too.
I'm not sure about the numbers being that high (that would make approximately 5% of the population wizards, and I refuse to believe that one in twenty people can be magic without breaking the Statue of Secrecy or being mostly squirreled away in pocket universes), but I agree it should be larger than 3,000.

The best comparison I've seen is that Wizarding Britain feels like a reasonably sized town (given how many people know each other personally) and it would line up with Rowling throwing out 3,000 as a total population. There's a whole bunch of other details that line up well with a single town's population (Diagon Alley as the main shopping center in Britain, a single school educating most of the children, a gang of thugs maybe 50-100 strong threatening the whole place), so that's probably what Rowling was thinking of when creating locations and culture. This only gets messed up when she has to draw on things that just don't exist in small towns (like the Ministry of Magic and Quidditch World Cup).

Personally I estimated 12,000 or so with basic napkin math (one house table is once described as 200 people cheering, makes 800 at Hogwarts, school age population is about 12% of normal population, double it for wizards living exceptionally long lives). This would make the wizarding population slightly less than 0.2% of the total population, giving approximately 500,000 wizards in the USA. This could be adjusted somewhat, as wizards are effectively an isolated population and have no real reason to follow muggle population trajectories.

Assuming that they have approximately the same genetic drift as normal populations wizards require between 1,000 and 10,000 people. Stretch the "town" to its maximum size and I'd expect a maximum population of maybe 30,000 before you need to substantially rewrite Wizarding Britain itself.

Notably, the magical population includes far more than just wizards, with goblins, centaurs, vampires, hags, and more adding to the population. This would allow for larger institutions like Gringotts and St. Mungo's (I wonder how many house elves work there?) without breaking the town population numbers that underpin a lot of locations. You can view those as neighboring British towns if you like.
 

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