The Harry Potter Compendium
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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 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[]

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

Magical games and sports[]

File:AmericanFlag.jpg

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[]

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.[2]
  • 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 "Sorcerer's Stone" is mentioned in.
  • 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[]

Notes and references[]

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