Every moment I’m not in class, hanging out with the amazing teachers and learning new skills, is a moment wasted. In all my school years, I had never felt this way before. But then I was accepted into Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.
While playing Hogwarts Legacy, I can’t wait to learn all kinds of magic: learn a new spell that pulls distant objects into my hands, learn how to concoct a potion that makes me invisible, or grow my own ferociously crowded vegetables (more on those later). Sure, a lot of what you learn in these classes is taken straight from the Harry Potter books and movies, but there’s just something special about putting on my Ravenclaw robe and experiencing Hogwarts for myself.
When I was 15 in real life, if someone had told me I would live in a school, stay in uniform for nine months a year, and that the only time I would leave was to visit a small town nearby that only sold school supplies, I might have run away and become a tramp. But if they had also told me that I would fly a broom where and when I wanted, I would have been fully prepared for it. And every time, I’ll be excited to bring the broom back to that magic school.
Every nook and cranny of Hogwarts has something for you to discover: why is that ghost crying in the corner? Where do the house dwarves hide every time I come near? Where does the dead-end door under herbology class lead to, and what’s hiding inside? Meanwhile, what’s the biggest mystery in the realist school? Wondering how a student managed to get so much wet toilet paper to stick to the bathroom ceiling?
These kinds of experiences are unlikely to inspire much school pride. But at Hogwarts, I want to wear the uniform so everyone knows I go there. I mean, sure, sometimes I wear a very neat cape-and-mock-mask combo instead, but no one seems to mind. There’s nothing whimsical about wearing a robe to a magic school.
And while it’s usually true that students aren’t supposed to explore beyond the boundaries of the school, the Forbidden Forest is. Right there And a little too sexy to resist. I’m sure they knew this would be the case when they built a school right next to this creepy place. Besides, what’s the point of learning Defense Against the Dark Arts if you don’t go up against any dark forces?
In fact, everything my Hogwarts teachers teach me will come in handy at some point in life – in the game. Can you say the same about the realist school? I can only attest to the school system in the western United States, but there is no doubt that many students are not truly taught the skills they need to succeed in this very complex reality. Perhaps Biology should focus more on nutrition and memorize frog anatomy for aspiring surgeons; Maybe health and science classes should teach us how to manage stress and anxiety; And yes, maybe PE should be more like Defense Against the Dark Arts and teach us self defense rather than dodgeball.
I was definitely more excited about learning the “Incendio” spell than I was about learning (and quickly forgetting) what an isosceles triangle is. I mean, who doesn’t want to be able to start a fire with a flick of the wrist?
To be fair, life is so complex that I can understand why the real-world approaches haven’t kept up. I learned a few things in school that turned out to be worthwhile; I’ve learned to write (somewhat) well, and it’s good to know history lest we be continuously Repeating the same mistakes as the species (or, conversely, learning to accept the idea that humanity will always repeat the same mistakes over and over again). And learning social skills during the formative years is essential to becoming a functional adult. But there are a lot of important things in a real school no Teaching well (don’t get me started on the case of sex education). Muggle schools are just so uninspiring.
Meanwhile, in the Wizarding World, they know you’ll need to teach “Reparo” because magic comes with a lot of accidental smashing of things. They know it’s important for young witches and wizards to know how to cast “Accio,” because everything in the wizarding world is elusive. Everything. And of course, “Protego” is an essential skill, because knowledge of magic has a way of attracting trolls, orcs, and giant spiders. The Hogwarts school system knows we need to learn these spells to be successful, and here they are.
Even herbology has come in handy. I always assumed this was a Hufflepuffs row, and had something to think that the Ravenclaws were a little above getting their hands in the dirt on. But then I learned about a cabbage you can send like an attack dog to bite people, and I was sold. It turns out that I just love Growing cabbage!
Anyway, the bell has rung, so it’s time to head back to class. Perhaps today I will finally learn “ahmora” so that I can open all those closed doors; Or maybe “Wingardium Leviosa,” even if she finally qualifies as telling everyone how to properly pronounce “Wingardium Leviosa.”
Or maybe they’d teach me “Avada Kedavra” and I’d be able to — uh, wait. I hope they don’t know that.
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