#seriously though virtue violl was a real person!

[carewyncromwell]

So recently the lovely @angellazull did an awesome piece featuring himself in his country’s magic school’s robes  (in his case, Castelobruxo)...and I got inspired!

Being from America, my magic school should be Ilvermorny, but...yeah, Ilvermorny lives in New England. I spent almost all of my formative years in Maryland, not far from Washington, D.C. -- and quite frankly, if you don’t live in the U.S., then you’re probably unaware of the tensions that crop up between different areas of the country (i.e. Northeast VS South; Midwest VS Northeast and West) as well as between individual states (i.e. New York VS New Jersey; Texas VS California; Florida VS...everyone else...). It’s basically like saying that Beauxbatons is the only school for all of Western Euro -- oh wait. XDD

So yeah, um -- I have the headcanon that Ilvermorny and the Salem Witches Institute are not the only magic schools in North America, because that is absolutely impossible. So I made up a school for my younger self (since I’m no longer in school, LOL) that would’ve fit comfortably in my home state of Maryland -- a pair of schools called the Virtue School of Sorcery and Violl University, often casually shortened to Virtue-Violl. (Way too much additional info under the cut because I am a humongous nerd.)

The school was founded in the mid-18th century by Virtue Violl, a witch who was the last woman to be accused of witchcraft in Maryland’s history. She was spared punishment by the colony’s first Attorney General, a No-Maj named William Bladen. Even though Bladen suspected Virtue might in fact really be a witch, she had been nothing but kind to him, and so Bladen declared her innocent of any crimes and set her free. The two later became close friends, and Virtue decided to open a school where others like her could safely learn their craft away from No-Maj eyes. Decades later after the end of the Revolutionary War, this school would later be split in two, with both being named after her.

When a young mage in the Maryland area turns 10, they receive a letter inviting them to attend Virtue School of Sorcery the following school year. If the child’s family is magical, then the family can always decline in favor of attending another magical school or teaching their child magic from home. If the child’s family is No-Maj (or non-magical), then it’s strongly encouraged to accept the invitation or that of another school, but if the family still refuses, then the MACUSA may need to get involved to make sure that the child in question doesn’t become an Obscurus. If the invitation is accepted, then the following year, the child is provided a Portkey that will take them to their orientation.

Just like in other American private schools, the students are grouped by year (no house system here), and at the end of every school day, they’re allowed to return home to their families and sleep in their own beds. This both makes it easier to hide the two schools (the locations of which keep hopping up and down the Potomac River every few years to avoid No-Maj detection) and encourages the magical children to continue living in the No-Maj world so their magic isn’t as easily detected. (In America, the Wizarding World is even more underground than in the U.K., so Virtue-Violl strongly advocates its graduates being able to live comfortably in both the No-Maj and Wizarding Worlds. This is also why their school uniforms don’t include robes the way Hogwarts’ do.)

Once a student graduates from Virtue at the age of 14, they then move up to Violl University and study there for four more years. If Virtue teaches its students the building blocks of magic, then Violl teaches them how to apply what they’ve learned in the No-Maj and Wizarding Worlds. Violl students are more likely to be sent out into the No-Maj world on assignments and sent on field trips to the MACUSA, hidden magical communities, and other magical schools. Although the legal age in the Wizarding World is 17 and so senior year Violl students can openly use magic, they’re given an extra year of education in advanced magic like Animagi Transformation and Alchemy, both to make sure they’re well-rounded and so that Violl alumni are legal adults in the No-Maj world by the time they leave. Each Violl student must also pick an area of study like Charms or Magizoology as their specialty (rather like choosing a major in college), and is allowed access to a specific clubhouse (rather like a fraternity or sorority) for students interested in their area of study.

Virtue and Violl’s school uniforms have similar color schemes (burgundy/white/gold/black, just like the Maryland state flag), but slightly different designs. Virtue’s features a long-sleeved white shirt, a gold caped vest, a plaid burgundy skirt or shorts, black ankle boots, and (optional) a white pointed hat with a burgundy ribbon and Jobberknoll feather. Violl’s features a long-sleeved white shirt with a collar, a gold vest, and high-waisted, wide-legged burgundy plaid slacks -- the traditional hat is generally discarded at this point, so as to encourage a more “No-Maj-like” appearance in its older students, in an attempt to encourage future integration into No-Maj society. Burgundy-trimmed white wool capelets and long gold-trimmed black trenchcoats with flared sleeves are worn in colder weather.

The school’s mascot is the Jobberknoll, a magical bird that is silent its entire life before giving one last, long song just before dying. Its insignia, which depicts an crossed arrow and wand, resembles a Native American symbol of friendship and symbolizes the strong platonic bond between William Bladen and Virtue Violl.