Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
HARRY POTTER GUIDE. 41. Wizarding Schools: Uagadou School of Magic
Uagadou (pronounced 'wag-a-doo') was the Ugandan wizarding school, located in the Mountains of the Moon in western Uganda. It was the largest of the eleven wizarding schools, accepting students from all over Africa.
Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
Location: Visitors to the school spoke of a stunning edifice carved out of the mountainside and shrouded in mist so that it sometimes appeared simply to float in mid-air.
History: Uagadou was founded at least a thousand years before the lifetime of Harry Potter, making it roughly the same age as Hogwarts (perhaps even older). Although a number of smaller wizarding schools could be found throughout Africa, only Uagadou stood the test of time and achieved an enviable international reputation. One notable graduate of Uagadou was Babajide Akingbade, who succeeded Albus Dumbledore as Supreme Mugwump of the International Confederation of Wizards. Another student from Uagadou also competed in the Wizarding Schools Potions Championship. At an International Symposium of Animagi held in or around 2016, the Uagadou School Team attracted a lot of press when their display of synchronised transformations nearly caused a riot. Many older and more experienced witches and wizards felt threatened by teenagers who could transform at will into elephants and cheetahs, and Adrian Tutley (whose animagus form was a gerbil) lodged a formal complaint with the International Confederation of Wizards.
Reputation: Uagadou students were famously skilled in Astronomy, Alchemy and Self-Transfiguration. Wands were primarily a European invention, and although African wizards did adopt them as useful tools, Uagadou students preferred to cast spells simply by pointing their fingers or through other types of hand gestures. This technique gave them a sturdy line of defence when accused of breaking the International Statute of Secrecy (they could say they were simply making a random gesture and not intending to do magic).
Recruitment: Students received notice of their acceptance to Uagadou through Dream Messengers, sent by the headmaster or headmistress. The Dream Messenger appeared to the child as they slept and would leave a token, usually an inscribed stone, to be found in the child's hand upon waking. Uagadou was the only school that employed this method of student notification.
Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
