United States
This article contains entirely original ideas created by the writers of Absit Omen, and provides a more specific look at magical culture in the United States. We do not comply with JKR’s vision of the American wizarding world.
Muggles and Blood Status
Compared to Europe, American wixes are more progressive in terms of blood status and rights for muggleborns and muggles. Many of them are muggleborn or halfblooded, and the pureblood elite doesn't hold as much sway in their government. This has a great deal to do with pragmatism. The country is large and the magical population is very spread out and integrated into no-maj society.
Much of this progressive attitude is protective. The US magical government enforces the Statute of Secrecy like the rest of the magical world, but American wixes believe that to truly stay hidden, one must understand the other. This idea caught on in a big way in the 1960s, and so while American wixes are very much for the Statute, many also support mixing with no-maj.
Circa 2013 to present day, there has been a growing movement of wixes who believe that no-maj society poses a serious threat to the magical world should the Statute be irreversibly breached. This has stemmed from an increase in minor breaches through social media.
Congress of American Witches and Wizards (CAWW)
- The US federal magical government is divided into three branches: Executive, Legislative, and Judicial.
- Congress handles legislative duties and develops laws, although the term CAWW is generally used to refer to the government in general.
- The Governor of Magical America heads the executive branch, which enforces laws and develops policies. Governors serve terms of 5 years, and can be re-elected an unlimited number of times.
- The Governor is assisted by two major groups: aides, and the Council. The Council is made up of the heads of each governmental department.
- Much of actual governing is local, smaller municipal districts which run the magical affairs in the area. Borders for these districts do not conform to their no-maj counterparts. Magical culture varies from district to district.
- There is also a Judicial branch that mirrors the court system of the United States.
- Unlike its nomaj counterpart, starting in 1972 after decades of activism by Indigenous wixes, CAWW moved to honour treaties that the nomaj federal government had signed with no-maj Indigenous nations. The legislative branch has seated elected representatives for the magical communities within several Tribal Nations, including the Cherokee, Choctaw, and the Lenape Tribal Nations.
Departments and Offices
Among the various departments, roles and offices of CAWW….
- Federal Bureau of Covert Vigilance and No-Maj Obliviation - known simply as ‘the Bureau’ and charged with upholding the Statute of Secrecy.
- Office for Magic Relations and Education
- Department of International Magical Cooperation
- Weapons Czar - a relatively recent position that answers directly to the Governor, who has given them remit to request resources from other departments and the EPA.
Eldritch & Profane Agency
The EPA (sometimes simply known as “Eldritch & Profane” or “the Agency”) is an administrative entity formed by CAWW. It regulates various research groups studying forces similar to those studied by the British Department of Mysteries - time, death, love and so on.
Eldritch & Profane also regulates groups in Canadian and Mexican jurisdiction.
Although many research groups are independent and do not consider themselves beholden to CAWW, others are federal employees. The more independent groups harbour resentment towards CAWW’s increasing encroachment on their research material.
Below are some of the groups regulated by Eldritch & Profane…
- Institute of the Alleghenies (Federal) - Known colloquially as “skulls”. The institute is located in the Appalachian mountain range, where an immense cavern holds a seemingly bottomless pit that serves as their border between life and death.
- Clockmaker’s Guild (Independent) - Also in the Appalachians, they have a contentious relationship with their neighbours. Unspeakables here (sometimes called “tinkerers”) study time and build objects such as Time-turners. They guard their craft jealously and resent CAWW interference. This has prevented smooth cooperation with Federal research groups, sometimes at the cost of progress.
- Tonopah Observatory (Federal) - Located more or less where no-maj Area 51 might be found, the observatory is home to Unspeakables who study space. They work closely with undercover counterparts in NASA.
- Cerebrum (Independent) - a mind magic consortium with its own building in New York City, which can only be entered by Legilimens. It maintains good relations with international associations of the same nature, and is sometimes accused of meddling in the affairs of other research groups.
- R.E.S.O.N.A.N.C.E. Institute of Magical Inquiry (Independent) - Housed in an enchanted complex in the coastal hills to the west of Malibu, the secretive RESONANCE group was founded in the 1960s to study the connection between magic and souls. It is rumoured to dabble in other eldritch studies, such as apparitions, mirror universes, and lee lines.
Magical Culture
Like the Muggle US, magical US traditions often come across as a mishmash of ideas and practices. Aspects of Native American magical traditions, European wizardry, and other traditions from around the world are all recognizable in American magical culture.
Notable Families
- Hightower - Reid Hightower was born into a family of skilled potion-makers who owned a renowned apothecary in a small village, hidden in the Appalachian Mountains.
Tradition and Technology
- Because the United States is a big place, American wizards tend to use eagles instead of owls to transport their mail.
- American magical culture includes a lot more "magical technology." Though Magic & Science still do not mix well, American magical culture encourages experimentation and have found ways to magically imitate many Muggle inventions.
- Flying cars are legal and in common use, provided one obtains the proper licensing through the Department of Magical Transportation.
- Magical versions of portable music devices have also been a recent development.
Magical Schools
The US is home to several formal magical institutions for secondary and post-secondary magical education, but much magical education in the U.S. is local and sometimes decentralized. Public magical education is usually done in addition to, not instead of, conventional muggle education.
Among the major American magical schools are ...
- Laevenstrome's Fundunct of Sorcery - university - (Lake Elsinore, California)
- Red Rocks Academy (Sedona, Arizona)
- Salem Witches Institute of Magic (Salem's Peak, Massachusetts)
Public magic school
Publicly funded magic schooling in rural areas is held outside of muggle school hours and serve a wide geographical area as magic populations tend to be small outside of bigger cities. Portkey programs to larger magic schools allow rural students a wider range of offerings.
- Natalie Morrow attended Mills County Magic School in Iowa. Magical Self Defense was offered to high school ages as a before-school elective.
Healthcare
There are private magical clinics and hospitals, but most magic folk in the U.S. have access to government funded care at regional hospitals. Like other aspects of magical culture in the U.S., medical care tends to be more integrated with muggle technologies.
