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| The Duke of Kent School, Surrey |
No, I didn't really go to Hogwarts. It's a shame, admittedly, for I believe I would have been well suited to Gryffindor and would have undoubtedly given Hermione a run for her money in Ancient Runes - 'insufferable know-it-all' that she was. There's also no doubt that hurtling about on a broomstick does sound rather more exhilarating than the offside rules for netball. I'd have preferred a quill to a Parker any day and a banquet instead of porridge, not to mention a magic wand (never actually referred to as a 'magic' wand - that merely goes without saying).
Well, my own personal Hogwarts was indeed a little castle set upon a hill and it did have four very individual and proud houses, so named after four well-known figures in history - Armstrong, Chichester, Hillary and Whittle. There were girls' dormitories and boys' dormitories, a sick-bay, several secret passageways and of course an enormous playing field at the far end of the grounds. Set in the Surrey countryside, our little castle was surrounded almost entirely by forests that, on entering alone, were every bit as scary as the Forbidden Forest. Special weekend visits to the local village, Peaslake, were arranged every so often as a treat for those pupils that lived in the school, and the commencement of term saw each child arrive atop the hill with a large trunk crammed with school necessities. Post was distributed to its eager recipients at meal times (via Matron sadly and not owls) and there was always a teacher to be avoided at all costs, who shall diplomatically remain nameless.
Not wanting to blow my own trumpet, but I was somewhat a Hermione at school; a bit of a keen bean, a book-loving, knowledge guzzling, house-point winning little student, even going so far as to be dwarfed by a headfull of thick, wavy, Hermione hair.
My own little Hogwarts was called 'The Duke of Kent School' and was a boarding school for 3 to 13 year olds. I was there from 8 to 13 and had the time of my life.
My own little Hogwarts was called 'The Duke of Kent School' and was a boarding school for 3 to 13 year olds. I was there from 8 to 13 and had the time of my life.
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| Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry - there is a definite resemblance to DOK |
Pleeease tell me I wasn't the one teacher to be avoided!!!!!!! :)
ReplyDeleteSeriously, I think the similarities to Hogwarts were plenty back in those days! I certainly had some really magic times there. And the days when the mist hovered half way up the hill in the early morning and I climbed through it to school from the Lodge, are part of that magic. Wally, the Hopwood cat, was surely a creature worthy of Hagrid and I am sure I once heard a dragon in the forest!
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No course you weren't Pauline! Although I won't say who it was! I found a picture of your old house on Google, so covered in ivy. Yep, I was trying to think which teacher would have been most like Hagrid / McGonagall etc. Thought maybe Mrs Ives for McGonagall. Who would you assimilate yourself to (if anyone)?
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