Alder Hollow Academy

### Location

The southeastern corner of Nebraska, in the Muggle Indian Cave State Park. Most of the students do their shopping in the Wizarding shops of Muggle cities Omaha and Lincoln, Nebraska, or in the Iowan Wizarding community, Honeywick.

The location is hidden. All students are given a ring when accepted into the school. This ring must be taken off and looked through in order to see the school grounds and worn to initially cross onto the property.

### Size

There are 13 year groups in each of the three Houses. Each year group consists of 13 people, with no distinction made between the gender of the students.

The school does not consist of a large castle or main structure. The Houses have separate dormitory buildings, and the classrooms are in different buildings by subject, similar to how a Muggle American college may be. The library and Great Hall are connected.

### Age and History

Alder Hollow was founded by a farmer who had a goat.

### Notable Features and Traditions

* Every Friday the 13th, a circle of fire is conjured by the staff to surround the school. A feast and celebration are held within the Great Hall and play out through the night into the dormitories themselves. While the students enjoy the celebration, it’s intention is less for providing a fun night and more so to bolster any attempts by students to leave the grounds. 12 have left the grounds on Friday the 13th. 12 have never returned. The divination professor is stuck with the constant task of determining what may happen if that number reaches 13.
* Outside of the Great Hall there is a worn down road sign that reads Alder Hollow. Population: X. The sign fluctuates according to the number of beings on site.

## Houses

### Arnica

Mascot: Crow

Color: Mustard yellow

### Linden

Mascot: Bison

Color: Dark teal

### Elowen

Mascot: Moth

Color: Burnt orange

### Sorting

The Sorting ceremony takes place behind the Great Hall. There is a designated clearing, full of scorch marks and broken corn stalks. Towards the back of the clearing stand three tall wooden carvings, each blackened. Every year, there’s a thunderstorm on the first night, upon arrival. The first years walk to the center of the clearing, one by one, in the middle of the storm. As the child stands in the center of the clearing, the lightning will strike one of the three House mascots. The rest of the Academy remains inside and watches through the large glass windows of the Great Hall.

## Student Life

### Classes

Students take a wide variety of classes, including scrying, astronomy, study of ancient runes, herbology, care of creatures (both magical and non-magical).

Some content areas are specifically forbidden, including necromancy.

### Dormitories

The first ten year groups live together in traditional style dormitories.

11th, 12th, and 13th-year groups live in separate apartment-style dormitories. They have their choice of rooms, ranging from single to four-person rooms, divided by house.

Linden dorms are located underground, under the open prairie area. Arnica dorms are located in the more forested area of campus, blending into the trees. Elowen dorms are carved into the red rock structures on the northern part of campus.

### Uniform

Students wear an olive green plaid tweed blazer and dark brown slacks (or a skirt). In the warmer months, the students wear a linen button-up of their House color, and in the cooler months, the students wear a thick House-colored turtleneck. For shoes, the students wear sturdy Chelsea styled boots.