The New Alexandria School of Enlightenment is a magical boarding school located in a oasis somewhere in Egypt. New Alexandria is a large campus with various buildings created in Byzantine architecture and takes in students primarily from Egypt, Libya, Sudan, Turkey, Greece, Albania, Macedonia, Montenegro, Israel, Lebanon and southern Italy. Although the school is located in Egypt, the curriculum is taught in Greek, making New Alexandria one of the few wizarding institutes teaching not teaching in the official language of the nation that it resides in. In addition to being a wizarding boarding school, it is also a University offering three years of post-graduation education in specialized courses.
Established in the 6th century during the rule of Justinian the Great, the school was originally named the Constantine School of the Magical Arts. Unfortunately, when Egypt was conquered by the Rashidun Caliphate, the school was destroyed and remained in ruins until the Ottomans re-established the school in the mid-16th century.
New Alexandria is famous for housing the real Ancient Library of Alexandria, which is located in an underground complex underneath the school library. The library was saved by the school's faculty from the invading Muslims by Apparating the original library into its current location and leaving behind transfigured fakes for the invaders to burn.
The school also has a reputation of embracing certain aspects of muggle society, such as the muggle game of Football (known as soccer in some countries), which is popular among students. The school's motto is Aspire Simul, Simul Consequi, which, translated from Latin into English, means "Together Aspire, Together Achieve", emphasizing the school's belief in unity and brotherhood.
History[]
Early History[]
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Alexis Nereus, the founder of the Constantine School of the Magical Arts
The exact date of New Alexandria's establishment is lost to history, but scholars have pinpointed its inception to the reign of Justinian the Great. The school's founder, Alexis Nereus, was a brilliant Byzantine wizard whom was a descendant of the famous Andros the Invincible, the only wizard in history to ever cast a corporeal Patronus the size of a giant. Nereus believed in loyalty and fairness, though equally emphasized the importance of chivalry and knowledge.
School year[]
The school term officially begins on the first Monday of September, however students are required to arrive at New Alexandria the day before for orientation. Students typically reach New Alexandria via the New Alexandrian Airship, which leaves from Ahmet Station in Cairo, Egypt at noon. First through fourth year students are required to take the airship to school, while fifth year students and older are allowed to use alternative means of travel if one so wishes. Alternative means of reaching New Alexandria include Apparating or using a Portkey. Students from outside of Egypt are given a Portkey from a member of their respective ministries of magic that takes them to Ahmet Station. If a student misses the Airship for whatever reason, wizards at Ahmet Station will help them reach New Alexandria in time for orientation. The Airship brings the students to Jaharta Station, where first-year students are given a tour of the grounds by the seventh-years while the other students are given time to socialize with friends. After the tour of Jaharta is completed, all students are ushered into the school for orientation.
The students are taken to the school via carriage, however the older students typically Apparate or fly to the school gates. There, the students are taken to the Great Hall, where the headmaster says a few words before the beginning of the Welcoming Feast. After the feast, student orientation begins as the headmaster details changes happening from last year, school events and later, the sorting of the first-years into dorms. After orientation, students are led to their dorms by the seventh-years, allowing them to get comfortable with their surroundings, get acquainted with their dorm mates and bond with their house-elf before the commencement of classes the following day. Schedules are handed out at breakfast the next day by the house-elves and fairies. At the beginning of October, Quidditch try-outs and first-year flying lessons begin.
Security[]
Although New Alexandria's recent history has fortunately not been stained with dangerous situations within the school, the headmaster enlists the help of the legendary Justinian Honour Guards to maintain security within the school grounds. Numbering no more than a few dozen, these warriors are some of the best trained wizards and witches in the wizarding world. Not only are they lethal with a wand, they are trained in swordplay and are ambidextrous. They wear ornate robes and a mask.
Uniform[]
Unlike most wizarding schools, New Alexandria does not enforce the use of a set uniform, but does require its students to look presentable. Fridays are "casual Fridays," where students are allowed to dress how they please for the day.
Tradition[]
The students of New Alexandria are taught to stand at attention when the Headmaster enters the room and salute him or her with a head bow and their right arm across their chest when they are dismissed.
Daily routines at New Alexandria[]
Breakfast is served from 8:30 a.m. to 10:00 a.m. in the Great Hall. Students may wake up anytime they want, provided they are on time for their first class. Many older students with free periods in the morning take the time to sleep in and may request the house-elves to set aside some food for them the night prior. The first classes begin at 10:00 a.m., however many older students have free periods in the morning. Classes last one hour, with a fifteen-minute break in between.
At 12:15 p.m. lunch is served in the Great Hall until 1:30 p.m., though students are not required to eat in the Great Hall; they may take food to their dorms or outside. There are four more classes until dinner time, which begins at 6:15 p.m. and ends at 7:15 p.m., which again, is not mandatory to be spent at the Great Hall; students may grab food and take it wherever they please.
After dinnertime, students have the rest of the night to spend how they see fit. First through fourth-year students have a curfew of 10:00 p.m. whereas fifth through seventh-year students and university students have no set curfew, however they are instructed to use good judgement when out in the halls and not to go to sleep too late as not to fall asleep during class.
Students receive their mail during breakfast, delivered by fairies. If a student is not present at breakfast, they will receive their mail during lunch time. If a student did not appear for lunch, the fairies will give the student their mail at dinnertime. Should a student not appear for any of their meals for whatever reason, the fairies will place the student's mail outside their dorm.
If a student is sick or otherwise unable to attend their classes, a house-elf will bring food directly to their bedside for all meals of the day. A student may also use their elf bell, a bell located in every dorm to signal a wizard's need for a house-elf, to request more food or assistance. Many students ask house-elves to pay a visit to each of their teachers to find out what the student missed that day, which the house-elf relays to the sick student.
House-elves[]
House-elves are an integral part of the day-to-day operation of New Alexandria. House-elves fill all sorts of roles in the school, from maintenance to cooking to teaching assistance. The house-elves of the kitchens act much like the house-elves of other wizarding schools such as Hogwarts or Beauxbatons; they do all the cooking in the school. In addition to cooking a swath of different meals for breakfast, lunch and dinner, house-elves will cook special meals for any student that asks, provided that the house-elves contain the ingredients. If a student with a free morning class period chooses to sleep in, they can ask the kitchen house-elves to set aside some food for him or her. Kitchen house-elves will also make food for any student that asks even if it is not breakfast, lunch or dinner; midnight snacks are very popular within the school.
On the maintenance side of things, there is a detachment of house-elves dedicated to being caretakers of the school. They maintain the school by cleaning it and keeping it repaired. In addition to being the main caretakers of the school, each teacher and dorm room has their own house-elf. Some teachers hire their own house-elves but most of them are allocated one from the school's staff. Similarly, each dorm is allocated their own house-elf to serve their needs, whether it be cleaning or other duties. There is a bell inside each dorm, activated via wand, that is magically connected to the house-elf that serves that dorm. Activating the bell summons the house-elf. Because students share the same dorm for their entire time at New Alexandria and house-elves serve the same dorm for the entirety of their employment at New Alexandria, students frequently bond with their house-elves, and it is not uncommon to find dorm-mates bond so closely with house-elves that they invite the house-elf to stay in the dorm on a more permanent basis.
Education[]
Education at New Alexandria works rather differently than most of the Big Eleven; In comparison to the British system of wizarding education for example, New Alexandrian students are given much less written homework on parchment and out-of-class word for students consists mostly of practical application of learned skills and reading up on some extra material. Written homework is given only for classes such as Astronomy and other subjects where practical spells are seldom taught. Things such as O.W.L.s and N.E.W.T.s, or any kind of standardized written test for that matter, do not exist; instead, students are given practical examinations where they apply their knowledge. Even then, these practical exams are only for subjects such as Defense, Charms, Transfiguration, etc. Students do take a test in their 4th and 7th years that are given to the ministries to track how well students do in the school, but they do not count towards final grades and are simply to collect data about the education system.
After a student's fourth year, most courses become optional, though a young witch or wizard must take a minimum of four courses, including the mandatory Defense classes. During their fifth and seventh years, students take more specialized classes and start planning for their future career. If a student chooses to continue their education by entering New Alexandria's University program, they continue studying their specialized courses for three extra years in order to get a Wizard's Degree (W.D.) in whichever subjects they specialized in. In most European wizarding schools, excluding Hogwarts, Corvinus and a few private institutions, professors require a Wizard's Degree in the subject one wishes to teach, which makes New Alexandria's University program attractive to many who wish to become a professor.
Recruitment[]
Before school term[]
Every year, the Deputy Headmaster of New Alexandria sends letters to the families of witches and wizards upon their tenth birthday via owl. The letters invite these children to become students at New Alexandria. Depending on the parents' decision, the enrollment of children with late birthdays (September through December) can be delayed a year. In addition to inviting the children to New Alexandria, the letter details items required for attendance to the school (books, implements, cauldrons, etc.), instructions on how to get to the Ahmet Station and a copy of the school's rules and code of conduct, which includes what clothing is permitted to be worn and how the school expects the child to behave. School supplies are obtained at their respective countries' wizarding shopping area, usually in the capital of their nation.
Letters to Muggle families should not come as a surprise as in all countries that send their children to New Alexandria, a child's first bout of accidental magic is handled by the magical government of that nation, and most children are previously magically educated in primary schools. If the families of Muggle-born wizards and witches need assistance in obtaining supplies, they may send a response requesting assistance to the address listed in the letter, wherein a member of the New Alexandria staff will help them.
Students are allowed to bring small pets with them, which includes owls, birds, toads, rats, cats and even smaller dogs. Larger pets such as full-size dogs and other mammals can be brought to New Alexandria afterwards if the student's dorm-mates unanimously consent to it. In regards to a tuition fee, students don't have to pay anything else on top of gathering supplies; together, the magical governments of Egypt, Libya, Sudan, Turkey, Greece, Albania, Serbia, Israel and Italy subsidize each and every student's magical education fees. If for whatever reason a family cannot afford supplies, the school is more than happy to purchase them so long as they are repaid at a certain point.