-South America – Escuela de Magon-

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The words for Escuela de Magon translate to ‘secrets are treasure’. The entire symbol of the school is a stag, symbolising a love of harmony

Escuela de Magon (meaning ‘school of magic’) is located in the southern region of the Andes in a cold and very remote area. It is another mountaintop and unplottable school and was built to educate South American witches and wizards and even receives some from the USA and Spain. It is famous for it’s architecture, the school building styled on that of an ancient temple and built out of sandstone in a classic style. It is known for it’s independence from the Ministry of Magic and the government is not much involved in the school’s running or actions. This is also why the history of the school is a little hazy and unclear, as it also kept in secrecy for some time after being the target of an organisation against hiding magic. The current heads of school are Selena and Chana Mortez, two friends deeply intrigued by the history of the school and eager to find out more, as well as talented seers. Taking over from the school just at the start of this year’s winter term, we are yet to see how they will run the school and what they may find out.

Founding:
The founding of Escuela de Magon is a little unclear – it is thought to have been founded in the late 1600s by five witches who wished to keep it quiet due to the Spanish Catholics ruling Chile at the time. The names of these witches are not clear, but they are thought to have been, surprisingly, British, coming over from England to introduce magical education to the witches and wizards of South America. This is presumed as the five houses of Escuela de Magon are styled on those of Hogwarts and are named after British Birds.

The four founders seemed to have died in the late 1600s and then passed it onto a pair of brothers named the Laskhels. This was all very confidential, however, and since there are no paintings of the witches, all is uncertain. There is one ghost who haunts the building, however, who is thought to be one of the founders, for even in her transparent state her hair is still visibly bright red and she mutters in an Irish accent. To add to this, she murmurs quickly about ‘hiding the sight’, which links her due to one the founders being a listed Seer. The evidence towards this is in the oldest divination records of the Ministry of Magic, noting one of their ‘finest seers’ had disappeared when sailing abroad before the International Statue of Secrecy. Since the ship the witch took was destined for Argentina and she travelled with four female companions, this highly suggests one of the founding witches was a hidden seer and that she is the ghost in the school. The listed seer was also an Irishwoman, and since red hair is common among Irish and the ghost speaks with an Irish accent, there is more evidence. However, the ghost will not speak to anyone and does not seem to realize anyone is there. She visits the tower of House Thrush often and since the Thrush is a native bird of Ireland, this adds even more suspicion. The current Headmistresses have been trying to make contact with the ghost, but so far have been unsuccessful.

Further History:

The history of the school is further clouded – after the founders passed on the rule of the school it was listed that two brothers, the Laskhels, took over the school, but after them there is silence and unsurity once more. The school became very secretive and all history is clouded, apparently at one point the instance being that parents of students and staff alike were not permitted to speak of the school. It was not until 1810, when the Spanish King was overthrown by Napoleon and Chile broke free of Spanish rule that the school returned to the light. However, it experienced more trouble in the mid-nineteenth century as a gang of South American witches and wizards began to claim that magic should not be hidden and magical folk should come into the open and rule the Muggles. They targeted the school for hiding young, prospering witches and wizards and many defenses had to be taken, the school making itself completely cut off from the world and transporting students to the school by hidden portkeys within a mountain a mile from the premises. When the organization was stopped in the 1860s by the Chile Ministry of Magic, the school was free but again wary and secretive so as to protect itself. Coming into the light more in the 1900s, the school seemed well run and went through only three heads of school in the century, all of them dependable and trustworthy. Today, it remains a quiet and secretive school but is linked with more organizations and schools now, notably close to the Mexican School of Magic and Eaglesclaw Academy.

Education:

Again, this school has a very similar set up to Hogwarts:

-Students start education at the age of eleven

-Students take core classes up to third year and then choose the usual 

 electives

-Students take O.W.L.s in their fifth year and N.E.W.T.s in their seventh

-The same syllabus in Hogwarts is used in Escuela de Magon

-As well as the usual elective and core classes, students of Escuela de Magon play Quidditch between houses.

Students at Escuela de Magon are sorted into four houses and similar to those at Hogwarts:

House Thrush:

Qualities: Kindness, love, compassion, warmth, optimism, open-mindedness, individuality, honesty, wit, justice.

Founder: Thought to be Irish seer who haunts the school

Colours: Brown and White

Emblem:  Thrush on white field with brown borders.

House Magpie:

Qualities: Cunning, ambition, resourcefulness, sociability, leadership, intelligence.

Founder: Unknown, presumed to be a British witch

Colours: Black and Green

Emblem:  Magpie on green field

House Swan:

Qualities: Grace, appeal, wit, intelligence, ambition, competiveness, understanding, creativity.

Founder: Unknown, presumed to be a British witch

Colours: Silver and Blue

Emblem:  Silver swan on blue field

House Kestrel:

Qualities: Bravery, Chivalry, loyalty, honesty, selflessness, sociability, inner warmth

Founder: Unknown, presumed to be British witch

Colours: Gold and Chestnut

Emblem:  Kestrel of golden yellow background.

Setting:

Escuela de Magon is located somewhere in the remote, southern Andes in Chile, meaning the Atmosphere is very cold high up on the tops where it gets cut off regularly. Apparently the location was chose for this reason, as the founders were said to like snow – although this is simply a circulating rumour from the work of the current headmistresses.

Unlike most schools Escuela de Magon does not have extensive grounds – further down the mountain side there is a flat where a Quidditch pitch is built with stands for the four houses, but apart from this feature the rest of the usually ground-included facilities lie inside the school walls. Greenhouses are built into the sides of this tall structure and the care of magical creatures pens and inside in a stables connected to the main building.

The block part of the school is styled like an ancient temple and made out of the same dark sandstone as the outer wall. The wall’s four towers are where the house rooms are located the temple inner piece is where the great hall, staff rooms, classrooms and other facilities are located.

Inside the school is said to be decorated plainly but artistically, with colourful but simple cloth designs for curtains, wooden panel floors and stonewalls occasionally sporting abstract tapestries. The main hall is a communal place where members of houses are not contained to their own table but can sit wherever you want on one of the four main tables. Unlike at Hogwarts, the staff eat on the same level as the students and the heads only have a small speakers platform to address the school.

There are many secret passages that can easily be stumbled upon, triggered by simply stepped on a cracked paving stone, leaning on a cabinet or slapping the wall in a certain place. Students often use these passages but many seem to disappear after a while and new ones appear constantly. It is thought that these passages are said to change frequently from enchantments originally cast at the time of founding, but it cannot be certain.

There is a tall story that a third-year student claimed to have experienced about randomly using a new passage and finding herself in a room with four marble that each had it’s own precise features and was accompanied by a bird. One had red hair and solemn grey eyes, apparently, with a long, sad face, and held a thrush. Another, next to the first, had long brunette hair and soft blue eyes with a swan by her side. The next, with flashing dark eyes and hair that curled wildly, had on her arm a Kestrel, perching with wings aloft. The last had Raven black hair, glowing green eyes that seemed too large for the sharp face, and sported a Magpie on her shoulder. The third-year claimed that these were the spirits of the founders and they talked to her, saying the castle must always stay safe because ‘the sight must be hidden’. This story circulated in the early 1900s but was extinguished when the ministry of magic and current headmistress dismissed it and banned it from speech in the institute. The third-year was apparently a storyteller and the way she told it was unconvincing. However, the current headmistresses are looking into the matter to see if any of the story could have been true and might lead them to the truth about the mysterious four founders of the school.