Four new Wizarding schools announced

JK Rowling, author of the popular Harry Potter series of fantasy books, recently expanded upon the various educational institutes that exist in the Wizarding World during a celebration at the Universal Orlando Resort late Friday night.

From a series of announcements on Pottermore, JK Rowling has revealed the names, culture, and defining qualities of the foremost renowned fictional Wizarding schools located in the United States of America, Brazil, Japan, and the African continent.

The Harry Potter series has centred around the story of orphaned boy-Wizard, Harry Potter, and his adventures in and out of the fictional Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.

The series has sold over 450 million copies worldwide and has been translated into 73 languages, according to publisher Bloomsbury.

Ilvermorny, USA

Modelled after the universities of New England and Ivy Leagues, Ilvermorny is similarly located on the northeastern coast of the United States. Additional information is presently being withheld by Pottermore at the time of publication.

Castelobruxo, Brazil

Resembling a golden temple, Castelobruxo is located deep in the rainforest and is protected by magical creatures called Caipora. Their student body comes from all over South America, and studies specialise in magizoology and herbology.

Mahoutokoro, Japan

Located on the topmost peak of the volcanic island of Minami Iwo Jima. Students wear robes which grow and change size as they age. The colour of their robes also change to signify increasing scholarly achievement over time — golden at outstanding academic merit.

However, straying into the realms of dark magic turns Japanese wizards' robes white, signifying a fall from grace and subsequent punishment.

The Japanese school is said to have cultivated a formidable Quidditch team over the centuries, after the rules were taught to them by a team of lost Hogwarts students stranded shortly at Mahoutokoro during an international journey on broomstick.  

Uagadou, Africa

Uagadou is known only to exist as a cave carved into the 'Mountains of the Moon', with students from all over Africa learning the art of wandless magic.

Graduates of the school are exceptionally well-versed in transfiguration, astronomy, and alchemy, to the apparent consternation of the international wand-using magical community.

In the past, the Harry Potter books detailed the existence of three European schools: Hogwarts (UK), Beauxbatons (France), and Durmstrang (Scandinavia).

This has brought the number of known Wizarding schools for fans of the series to a grand total of seven, scattered across the world.

This bit of news comes at the excitement of many fans who took to Twitter to express their thoughts and opinions.

Speculation by fans on Twitter suggest that Ilvermorny may bear a mention in the upcoming 2016 film, Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them, which is set in the 1926 Potter universe featuring British actor Eddie Redmayne as protagonist Newt Scamander, with screenplay written by JK Rowling.