United States of America

United States of America
Location information
Location	Central North America
Affiliation	Magical Congress of the United States of America 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.

Muggle society

In July 1996, The Guardian reported that the then-current Dalai Lama was given the Congressional Gold Medal of Honour by the United States, which China objected to strongly, presumably due to the Tibetan sovereignty issue.

Magical government

The wizarding population of the United States of America is governed by the Magical Congress of the United States of America; by 2014, the President of the Magical Congress of the United States of America was Samuel G. Quahog.

Magical education

• There is an American wizarding school for young witches and wizards. Its exact location is unknown, though it is known that it is not located in New York.
• The Salem Witches Institute is in Salem, Massachusetts for adult witches. 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. In the 2014 Quidditch World Cup, the American team beat Liechtenstein's team and shot red, blue and white sparks into the air in jubilation.

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.
• Amarillo Lestoat, the vampire author of A Vampire's Monologue, was born in the United States.
• Newton Scamander visited New York, the most populous city in this country, in the late 1910s or early 1920s, presumably while conducting his research on magical creatures that led to his authorship of wizarding bestseller Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them, in 1927.

Locations in the United States

• Boston
• Fitchburg
• New York
• Salem
• Sweetwater

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.
• The city of Boston, Massachusetts may contain a significant wizarding population, 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.
• The "Harry Potter effect" in education was not as strong in the US as it was in the UK, but it did have noted effects after the debut of the books. This was a study in economics that throughout much of the 1990s attendance at boarding schools had been lackluster and generally considered unpopular, being seen as antiquated compared to a more mainstream government-run school. Following Harry Potter's introuduction and the telling of Hogwarts, attendance at boarding schools spiked as it seemed to give an impression to children that boarding can be a positive experience on a child's development.
• Another phrase adapted for the American market was the Muggle sport of football. Because association football is different from American football, the sport is called "soccer" in the American editions of the books.

Appearances

• Harry Potter: Quidditch World Cup (First appearance)
• Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire (film) (Seen on flag)
• Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince (film) (mentioned on newspaper)
• Quidditch Through the Ages
• Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them (film)
• Pottermore