As me and my brother were walking home today, I had a thought, how would Harry Potter be different if it was writen by an American? Well, my brother and I came up with the following list.

The education would be better
There would be muggle sciences and such taught at the school
No robes
More muggle contact
Dark Arts not considered dark and still taught
Harry would have never been placed in a Dursley-like place
If he had been, Child Services would have caught on and gotten him out of there

Also, we came up with some likely places for schools:

The Mojave Dessert
NYC
Florida Wetlands
Salem
The Great Plains
The Rockies

About the actual structure of the wizarding world:

The President would be in charge of it so the Constitution could take effect
Other higher-ups knowing about the Wizards
The Dark Arts not as frowned upon, only the unforgivables
Better court system
Less things restricted
More "Technomagic"

What are yours thoughts on this?

 

Heh... it's nice being patriotic and all, but you actually made EVERYTHING better than in UK and turned HP setting into a Disneyworld, where everything is perfect and peachy...

For one, you'd have to boost racism - indians, blacks, foreigners against 'mayflower generations'... whatever. You'd probably have to replace purebloods with rednecks/republicans and mudbloods with blacks, chinese, minorities etc...

Also, I don't think education would be better - more universal and practical maybe, but definitely narrower... don't know.

The best thing about American HP world would be mix of races, cultures and different types of magic (indian, voodoo, chinese etc), all trying to coexist together (and failing, as usual)...

 

What do you mean by a narrower education? Besides, my brother started reading before we got to the evil side of things. :/ You do know that you called white peoples a minority, right? You said purebloods as rednecks/republicans, of which I know many whities, including myself, that are neither. Also, I do agree with the racism thing, to a point. I myself am not racist, as some others wouldn't be as well. There still would be those that would be racists. Still, you have to give the child services credit, the do help keep down the abuse. The reason that I think that Harry never would have been put in a Dursley like place is because I do like to think that Americans would be smart enough to realize that putting a wizard into a wizard hating place would be very, very bad.

 

Racism, while certainly not an American trademarked product, is most common IN America. Germany may be the easiest ot point out, but it happends much more often in America.

As far as a narrower education, you get that everywhere. England probably teaches that it was the French that cuased the Revolutionary war to be lost to them to a far greater extent than is true, for example. Like the first Thanksgiving Dinner. It was a holocaust type celebration. In truth there WAS no Indian/Pilgram dinner. The Pilgram's slaughtered a few hundred or thousand indians and the dinner was in celebration of THAT, not peace. The American education system is SHIT in truth. It may be better than england (vash doesnt know so dont quote me on it) but thats like comparing dog shit to horse shit...

As far as child services go, they aint any better here than anywhere else in the world. I know how shitty they are as ive been a ward of them for a time. You also give Americans too much credit, LINKed. Americans are far from intelligent considering the obvious when it matters. Such as when my dad lost his job WAAAYYY back when and we needed assistance to survive, for example. My mom worked part time at mcdonalds for minimum wage and my dad had no job and we were turned down for food stamps. Great, yeah i know there are more needed people but we couldnt afford RENT let alone food.

As far as Dark Arts, I personally feel it would be more tightly regulated. I mean hell, the English are more open in certain areas than we are. Sex is an example. Its ILLEGAL to have sexual relations with the lights on in Georgia for fucks sake! ... I personally feel this is another subject that would be more tightly controlled as well...

My final word is that the American wizarding world would be no different from the English counterpart.

 

Man, you honestly think that there are no child protection services in UK? Or that their schools are worse than the ones in US? Hell, living standards in US and UK are practically the same - don't mix up fantasy world with the real country.

HP world is created partially as a parody, by overinflating certain aspects of society. It'd be damn boring if you make everything regarding the goverment and setting perfect and logical, like they do in some fics (the Final Straw and the sequel, Old Crow's stories, etc...).

Heh, that could be the problem with Americans writting a HP story placed in American setting - you guys are usually so patriotic that you would NEVER make anything named "United States" flawed in any way... for instance, I just couldn't imagine a story where the main character kills the leader of magical US (or god forbid the president), unlike bunch of stories where Harry bashes/tortures/kills Fudge...

Anyway, about the education... I'm not sure abot this, but I get the feeling that US schools are more turned towards teaching practical stuff, while British schools are kinda conservative and they are still covering wide array of theoretical knowledge, with less aspect on hands-on approach (at least boarding schools, like Hogwarts)... But I could be wrong... it doesn't matter anyway.

 

...Good point. I didn't really think that hard on the subject before I posted. Anyways... ummm, nevermind, I forgot what I was going to write.

 

Oh wow... that first post was so completely ignorant of anything resembling facts about the United Kingdom that I'm almost not insulted.

In Britain we have something called the Welfare State. That means the rich actually get taxed instead of paid off by the ruling government.
We have a well funded state education system which teaches a wide range of subjects (and isn't biased when it comes to history - though they do have a tendency to focus on the first and second world wars more than is neccessary) which pays for education right through to University level - meaning that poor or black people actually AREN'T fucked for life just by virtue of not being born into the right family.

Our comparatively left-wing government pours money into Social Services (do you honestly think that in Britain abused children just get left as they are?) and more importantly, we have a National Health Service (guess what yankees? free health care!).

No, we aren't backward or conservative to any degree, Britain has one of the lowest levels of religious observance in the world, and hopefully you know what that means for lifestyles and culture across the country.

In America 'muggle sciences' (most of which were discovered by Europeans, thank you very much) wouldn't get taught - they would get banned by the Christian right - and wizards and witches (not to mention Dark Arts users) would most likely get burnt at the stake.

The fact is, while Britain is not the most liberal or forward thinking country on earth (that honour probably goes to Sweden), we aren't backward, we don't wear jerkins and tunics, we do look after our citizens, and unlike most of America we aren't still trapped by 17th century Christianity.

gtfo.

 

LOL, no Joke, Jamaica's education system is better than the United State's own when they enter universities in the States straight out of high school they get 15-30 credits off.... .....Now they have just implemented new programmes; starting this year they will have an acredited associate degree worth 60 credits straight out of high school......good stuff!

 

Hehe, he's 14 years old. Leave him with his patriotism alone...he'll lose it sooner or later. I would agree almost entirely with vash and IP except for the generalized republican comment, but I guess it's understandable given you don't live in the us.

I'll just point out that the US has in principle and design a two party system not a multi-party system which exists in almost all of Europe (this does not mean there ARE no other parties, just that they are esentially non-entities politically speaking). In my mind that comment has the catagorical effect of say... let's lump the Weasleys with the Malfoys since they are all purebloods. Not blaming you IP, but wanted to point that out.

I don't see American education system as being more practical as opposed to British ones... or if it is...well I think the Brits got the better end of the deal on this one. American school kids are fricken lazy.

I do agree with his comment about the muggle sciences though. Britain has always been more literary minded and one of the reasons they got screwed over by the Germans in the 2nd Industrial Revolution was because the Germans excelled in the sciences. On that note, I'm blaming the religio-crats right now for when the US loses its primacy on genetics R&D. Damn, it's like shooting the tires of your own racing car.

 

I'm not going to go to the same length but I pretty much agree with tinder, I think we over here have skewed views of the backwardness of america the same that you have of england. For the most part they are exactly the same, this could get ugly soon so i'm gonna run and hide.

 

I think the disparity lies in the fact that the American political extablishment has this ridiculous idea that every student should be placed in a college prep environment. Bottom line is that not everybody is going to be a doctor or a lawyer, and society needs plumbers and electricians just as much as we need collegiate types. People here are so obsessed with equality and opportunity that they fail to recognize this. There exists a certain stigma about going to trade or vocational school that I don't think exists in the European educational model. They take a more practical approach, testing aptitude early on and using those results to determine what career path a student should be placed upon.

And yeah, I shake my head whenever authors create some magical school in the United States or Canada or whereever and make it superior to Hogwarts and other European schools in every way imaginable. Not realistic and certainly not based on anything besides blind patriotic ethnocentricity.

Finally, let's refrain from trashing one another's countries. I don't like to layeth the smacketh down on people as a rule, but I certainly will in this situation. Playing 'my country beats yours' is only going to result in high tempers and offended feelings.

 

I'm fourteen, cut me some slack, Jack.

 

Do you guys live in the United States, no. Do i live in the UK no. I'm not about to say that United States is all around better then UK, I do believe that we are more culturally diverse and some of our programs are better but that is the extent of it. I do have an opinionated view but i am also very open. Mrriddler was right on the money. There really are only 2 and unless you start saying things like my party is better then your political party, which rarely happens, it's not an issue.
Racism in america, is not nearlyas bad as you think, and the sterotypes are more for joking and messing with one another then what we acturally think.I'm not saying that it's not happening cause it is, but I think you believe we walk down the street yelling mean and nasty things at each other.
Schooling I don't know how one judges or compares that. Americans are lazy people, I know I am, right now i'm typing this when I should be typing a paper. I've talked to a friend who used to live in England, he told me that the only difference really, was the more teachers that america had.
True Story, i'm confused on whether your saying the americas systme of schoolong is bad or not. The reason we have these credits is because we take college credited courses. It's not that we take regualr courses and get credit for doing nothing. The courses Called Advance Placement (along with other names depending on where you live) courses are college level.
We aren't stuck in 17th century Christianity, I myself am jewish, besides from the occasional remark from my friends, I don't see any religous prosecution, or put downs.Our bill of rights states clearly the freedom of religion,and thats always been apart of our heritage. While dominantly the US is run and controlled by christains it's all finereally. It does however annoy me when dedicated christians try to abolish things like abortion or stem cells, or Gay marriage, things that they have no right to tell other people whether or not they can use or do.
The subject or pornography in ameirca and how tightly it's controlled is imbarrassing. Americans you could say, at least the governemnt and the older adults are "prudes". While the law in Geogrgia thats just one of those old, stupid, not enforce ever, don't feel like changing it cause it's so stupid laws. If you honestly think thats enforced then you have a skrewed perception of Americans.

I agrre with the thought that america places to much on equality and not enough on individuality. While not everyone is going to be a doctor i do commend my country for trying to make everyone into one.(that was a somewhat sarcastic remark, you wouldn't be able to tell since this is being typed and not spoken)

I do agree with Lord Ravenclaw on soem accounts, such as we need to stop fighitng other peoples battles and mind our own business. I believe our health care sucks and we need to make it free, and i agree that our poor need to be helped. I don't believe all our politicians are corrupt, nor that all rich people are pampered. I do beleave that he ointed iut probably our worst flaws, and made a good point.

An added thought i want to add is: I dislike President Bush and if harry was written in America i would not care if he bashed him.

If you have any thoughts on what i said please respond. I don't want to get into an argue about who's country is better, cause i honestly don't know nor do i care really. I just want to know what you think, and what you percieve so that we might share information to come together with a better perception of one anothers homes.
HOPE NO ONE TOOK OFFENCE TO ANYTHING SAID, I WAS MERELY TRYING TO CLEAR UP WHAT I BELIEVE ARE WRONG PERCEPTIONS. I APOLOGIZE TO ANYONE WHO MIGHT HAVE TAKEN OFFENCE.

 

I'm saying that the school system isn't that great. Students with regular high school courses in Jamaica i.e., not advanced placement or anything, are awarded with credits right off the bat when accepted to an American University because of the quality system in place. Jamaica, however has the second worst school system in the Caribbean. I am an American now living in Jamaica and I think quite a few persons who responded are American.

 

Well i knwo that quite a few are such as your self me, ravenclaw,Serapheth, Mrriddler, and LINKed up. And I mentioned them to and extent on what i aggreed with them and how i disagree. WHn you posted earlier i did not no what you meant by recieving college credits. i thought you were talking about americans getting right out of Highschool with credit, i didn't know you meant Jamaicans. I've never heard anything like that. I apologize for not understanding you.

 

No problem at all...

 

That used to be the case depending on what degree you want to take and what you studied in high school. But now you get 60 if you do sixth form which gives you an acredited associates degree but is still pretty much mandatory.... Otherwise you just get the regulary 15-30. I'm not sure what you mean by credit hours though....i mean that when you go to university you need 120 credits to complete a degree...these persons come into American univesities straight out of high school with credits already because of the education system.

 

If Hogwarts were an American school (Using my school as an example):

The white pure-blooded kids would be in all the good classes.

The kids of other races and who were not pure-blooded would be stuck in oversized classes with underqualified teachers.

Rules against harmful magic? What rules? Laws? Who needs em... No one would follow them anyway.

The schools would be told to improve their standardized test scores or lose Federal Funding, causing a vicious cycle to begin. The teachers in order to recieve federal funding would begin to teach their students only the things that would show up on the MSSAT (Magical Scholastic Standardized Assesment Test).

The No Magical Child left behind act would get them all stalked by military recruiters unless they were aware of the "opt out" option.