Watford School of Magicks

**Watford School of Magicks** is a school for magicians located in Great Britain. It is one of the only magical schools in the world, as other nationalities tend to send their children to Normal school instead.

## History

Watford was established in the 1500s, though much of its early history is unknown. Some theories include that it began as a school, a magic abbey, or a settlement. It is at least 500 years old by the time Simon Snow begins attending.

Female students were allowed to attend starting in the 1600s. The Cloisters was the first of the girls' dormitories to be built.

When David Cadwallader became headmaster in 2002, he allowed anyone who could speak magick (such as part-Normal or part-Pixie magicians) to finally attend Watford.

## Curriculum

Students attend Watford for eight years, beginning their first year at eleven years old.

### Classes

* Astrology
* Chemistry (Professor Chillblains)
* Elocution (Madam Bellamy)
* Forensics
* Humanities (added by Headmaster Bunce)
* Languages
	+ Greek (Professor Minos)
	+ Latin
* Linguistics
* Magic Words (Miss Possibelf)
* Magickal History
* Magickal Theory
* Maths (added by Headmaster Bunce)
* Politickal Science

### Extra-Curricular Activities

#### Sports

Watford supports association football (or soccer), lacrosse, and fencing. Sports are overseen by Coach Mac.

For at least football, its team color is purple, which its jerseys entirely are save for piping on the collar and sleeves, the player's name and number on the back, and the background of the sports crest, which are all in white. The sports crest is emblazoned on the wearer's left-hand side of the chest.

The school's sports crest features the school's mascot under a crescent moon, wielding a wand that is sparkling stars in its right hand, holding or impaled by a sword, and next to the *psi* symbol, under the name "Watford".

Watford's football team plays games against non-magical teams. They do not use magic on the field, and nobody knows they come from a magical school.

Watford's sports crestWatford's football jersey
## School Events

TBA

Every year, Watford has a Leavers Ball for graduating students where the top of the class gives a speech.

## Uniforms

* **Years One and Two**: Striped blazers that are two shades of purple and two shades of green, dark grey trousers or skirts, green jumpers, and red ties.
* **Upper Years**: Green blazers with white piping, optional red jumpers, and optional capes.

**Years One through Five** wear a boater hat, meant to be a test of their ability to cast a **Stay Put**.

New uniforms are always waiting on a student's bed in the beginning of the school year, perfectly measured no matter how much they have grown or changed.

### Student Housing

TBA

The map of Watford's campus as depicted in the First Edition of *Carry On*.The map of Watford's campus as depicted in the Bookshelf Edition of *Carry On*.
## Faculty

### Headmasters

* Natasha Grimm-Pitch: Unknown - 2002
* David Cadwallader: 2002 - 2015
* Mitali Bunce: 2016+

### Professors

* Madam Bellamy (Elocution)
* Professor Benedict
* Professor Chillblains (Chemistry)
* Coach Mac
* Professor Minos (Greek)
* Miss Possibelf (Magic Words)

### Other

* Sir Bleakly
* Ebeneza Petty (former goatherd)
* Agatha Wellbelove (goatherd)

## Trivia

* When Rainbow Rowell worked with Oxide Design to design Watford's formal crest for merchandise, they developed the school's backstory, a mascot, and its sports crest.
	+ Watford's crest features the *psi* symbol. It is used to represent both psychology & psychiatry, and parapsychology involving paranormal or supernatural subjects, especially extrasensory perception.
	+ Watford's mascot is a three-eyed winged goat resembling Baphomet, a popular occult symbol, sometimes considered a deity or demon, that represents balance in all aspects and of perfect social order. It was designed by magic and occult author Éliphas Lévi, and was an important figure in Aleister Crowley's philosophy of Thelema.
	+ The sports crest is featured on the front hardback cover of the Bookshelf Edition of *Carry On*.
* The Bookshelf Edition of the campus map was drawn by Rowell's husband Kai when working on the First Edition of *Carry On* as reference for Jim Tierney's illustrations. The First Edition of the map was designed to be modern to fit the series' modern world, and to feel new and different rather than whimsical. For the Bookshelf Edition, since Rowell felt the readers understood the series' world, she felt they could afford the reference sketch's whimsy.

## References

1. ↑ *Carry On*, "Chapter 3: Simon"
2. ↑ *Carry On*, "Chapter 17: Simon"
3. ↑ https://web.archive.org/web/20210208173926/https://twitter.com/rainbowrowell/status/1358832510784929798
4. ↑ *Carry On*, "Chapter 2: Simon"
5. ↑ https://rainbowrowell.tumblr.com/post/187492970416/i-am-very-excited-to-share-this-new-watford-school
6. ↑ 6.0 6.1 https://www.rainbowrowell.com/news/2021/6/4/carry-on-special-bookshelf-edition