Hogwarts

The wizarding world exists hidden within our own. High magic system where some people are born with magical power. Most of them are born from families with at least one magical parent, but some are born from non magical parents. In Great Britain, when a magical child turns 11 they receive a letter of invitation from the headmaster of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Those who choose to attend catch a train from Platform 9 3/4 on September 1st to travel to Hogwarts and begin their education. They must first procure supplies from Diagon Alley a secret wizard market in London you can get to through the pub, The Leaky Cauldron. The most important thing they need is their own wand. The wand chooses the wizard, and wizard and wand learn from each other. Magic is not permitted by witches and wizards outside of school under the age of 17. Hogwarts begins each school year with a feast and the students are sorted into 1 of 4 school houses; Slytherin (ambitious), Hufflepuff (loyal), Ravenclaw (studious), Gryffindor (brave). The sorting is decided by an ancient hat that can read the true nature of the students. Each house has their own common room where students from that house can relax, study, and sleep in their house dormitory. Hogwarts students attend school for 7 years in order to build magical skill and discover what jobs they want to pursue. The classes include Potions, Defense Against the Dark Arts, Transfiguration, Charms, Divination, Care of Magical Creatures, Flying, Herbology, and History of Magic. Each class is taught by a professor. Trained adult wizards can teleport using a technique called aperation, though it does not work in or out of Hogwarts. Students can use broomsticks to fly, and the main wizarding game, Quidditch, is played on brooms. Each Hogwarts House has their own Quidditch team, students must try out, and there is a yearly tournament. There is a point system where good behavior and knowledge gains your house points from professors and school prefects, and bad behavior loses your house points. The house with the most points by the end of the school year wins the House Cup. Paintings are alive and the inhabitants can move and speak and go into other nearby portraits. People in photographs move and occasionally leave the frame.

There are witches and wizards all across the world. Hogwarts teaches students from all across Great Britain and is thought to be somewhere in the Scottish Highlands, but non magical people cannot find or see it. Hogwarts is a castle build with magic and there is a dense forest called the forbidden forest on the outskirts of the property. There is a lake next to Hogwarts. Nearby Hogwarts is a village with magical residents and shops called Hogsmeade.

Humans are the primary race of sentient beings, and almost all students at Hogwarts are human. There are also half humans, goblins, centaurs, merpeople, and house elves. Humans are the only ones permitted to use wands. Goblins are good at creating magical weapons and armor and have had a rocky relationship with humans. Centaurs consider the forbidden forest their territory and are good at reading the stars to divine the future. Merpeople live at the bottom of the Hogwarts lake House elves historically serve humans gladly and there are quite a few that live and work on Hogwarts cleaning and cooking. There are a significant amount of magical creatures throughout the world such as hippogryphs, unicorns, thestrals, gnarls, nifflers. There are also dragons and extremely rare creatures like phoenixes. Humans without magical abilities are known as muggles and are kept in the dark about the truth that the wizarding world exists. Werewolves mostly stay hidden. Ghosts also inhabit Hogwarts and they are the imprint of the person they were when they were alive, but something held them back from "moving on".

The British wizarding community is led by The Ministry of Magic Government headed by The Minister for Magic. Hogwarts is ran by a headmaster and a board of governors and maintains a certain level of independence from government control. There are other wizarding schools abroad. There is always a certain amount of threat from wizards who take the dark path and use their magic to subjugate and bully. Occasionally a Dark Lord threatens the peace of the world. There are 3 unforgivable curses; Avada Kedavra (the killing curse), Crucio (the torturing cute), and the Imperius Curse (mind control curse). Any use of these will land the witch or wizard a life sentence.

A person must be born with innate magical power to use it. The ministry of magic and Hogwarts have ways of detecting magic and magical ability. Children with magic will have magic things happen to them because their magic will literally burst out of then without an outlet. Shortly before a new school year the children with magic will receive an invitation to attend school after their 11th birthday. Each student requires their own wand that they bond with. The wand chooses the wizard as they say. Magic requires saying an activation word and a specific wand movement. The pronunciation is important, and it helps to focus on the intent of the spell. It takes a lot of practice for most people to learn. Potions can be brewed with specific instructions and ingredients. Most people require a broomstick to fly, and must practice. Non magical people are kept from knowing about the wizarding world.

Hogwarts was founded over 1,000 years ago by 4 of the most powerful witches and wizards of the day, Helga Hufflepuff, Rowena Ravenclaw, Salazar Slytherin, and Godric Gryffindor. It is said that Godric Gryffindor's sword will present itself to a true Gryffindor in their time of need. Salazar Slytherin fought with the other founders because he only wanted to teach students with pure blood families (those with only wizard ancestors). There is a legend of the 'Tale of The Three Brothers' that tells of 3 legendary and possibly mythological items; the Cloak of Invisibility, the Resurrection Stone, and the Elder Wand.

29 Knuts = 1 Sickle, 17 Sickles = 1 Galleon. Gringots Wizarding Bank in Diagon Alley is run mostly by Goblins. Wealthy ancient wizarding families have their vaults in the deepest parts of the tunnels under Gringots. It costs money to attend Hogwarts, but there is a fund to cover the tuition and board and school supplies for those students who need monetary assistance.

The Ministry of Magic is the ruling government in Great Britain and law breakers must answer to the Ministry. The biggest laws are the Reasonable Control of Underage Sorcery, the Statute of Secrecy (that keeps non magical people from learning about the magical world), and the prohibition of the use of Unforgivable Curses.

There's always something every year it seems