United States of America

United States of America
Location information
Location	Central North America
Affiliation	Salem Witches Institute

The United States of America (more commonly known as United States, or simply U.S. or U.S.A.) is a country located on the North American continent in Earth's Western hemisphere. Its capital is Washington, D.C.

Magical education

• The Salem Witches Institute is in Salem, Massachusetts. The Salem Witch Trials were also held here during the 17th century.

Magical games and sports

A 1994 Quidditch World Cup attendee waving an American flag.

• Quidditch is played, but the similar sport of Quodpot is more popular.
• The U.S. has its own Quidditch League: the United States League
• The Sweetwater All-Stars is a Quidditch team based in Sweetwater, Texas.
• Another team is the Fitchburg Finches, a team in Massachusetts.
• The U.S.A. has its own National Quidditch Team: the American National Quidditch team

Magical history

• Kendra Dumbledore was possibly born in the United States or Canada, as she was thought to have been of Native American descent, so her sons Albus and Aberforth and her daughter Ariana may have had Native American blood in them even though the Dumbledore family lived mainly in Britain. This suggests that Kendra's husband, Percival, may have visited the U.S/Canada. or that Kendra visited Britain, either being curious about the other's home country.

Behind the scenes

• J.K. Rowling said in an interview that Voldemort affected American wizards as well, possibly hinting at his eventual plan to take over there as well.
• If the United States in the Harry Potter continuity reflects that of the real universe, then the Muggle government is headed by a President rather than a Prime Minister. While it is officially unclear whether or not the Wizarding United States government is headed by a President, Prime Minister, or even some other type of leader, it can be assumed that it follows the U.S government model of Departments (rather than Ministries) and there is a "Department of Magic" (like the Department of Homeland Security, or Department of Education) and its head is the Secretary of Magic (like the Secretary of State).
• The city of Boston, Massachusetts may contain a wizarding society of note, as the Daily Prophet considered its weather of note for reporting in its international weather section.
• Both the book and motion picture of Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone were released in the United States under the name Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone, because the publishers were concerned that most Americans were not familiar enough with the term "Philosopher's Stone" to gain the correct impression from the title (the renaming of books for international distribution is a common practise, even for highly known and internationally recognised authors. The decision was made to choose a title that was "more suggestive of magic", the naming of "Sorcerer's Stone" used with J. K. Rowling's endorsement after contemplative of several possibilities). The change had no effect on the sales figures, and the Harry Potter series rapidly became one of the most-in-demand among young readers, who seemed to be undaunted by the ever-increasing length and complexity of the novels. The same changes were made for the film adaption and the video game adaptions, along with other American translated media the "Philosopher's Stone" is mentioned in.

References in other works

• Felicity Stockwell and the Widow's Son and the other books in the series by G. M. Kearney uses the magical world of J. K. Rowling as it might exist in America. http://www.smashwords.com/books/view/134869

Appearances

• Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire (film) (Seen on flag)
• Quidditch Through the Ages