In order to keep up in Harry's world, there are some things you must be familiar with.
Muggles ~ people with no magical blood in them, like me (and I'm assuming you)
Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry ~ the school where British wizards and witches go to learn how to use their magic properly, but obviously not the only one in the world
Hogworts houses its students in four dorms, each named after one of the founders of Hogwarts. The houses are Gryffindor, Slytherin, Ravenclaw, and Hufflepuff.
Beauxbatons Academy ~ French school of wizardry
Durmstrang Institute ~ Bulgarian school of wizardry
Diagon Alley ~ the street in London where witches and wizards buy thier magical paraphenalia, nearby is Knockturn Alley, where Dark magic items are sold
Gringotts ~ the bank where wizards keep their money, guarded and run by goblins
Quidditch ~ the most popular wizard game that is played on broomsticks while flying through the air. You must get the large Quaffle ball through your goal, while avoiding the Bludgers. The Seeker looks for the Snitch, whose capture ends the game.
The Forbidden Forest ~ students not allowed in or near it, said to have warewolves in it, also houses unicorns, centaurs, and giant spiders
Floo Powder ~ a way for witches and wizards to travel, put some in the fire and tell it where you want to go
Notice that wizards and witches have no use for technology. Everything is lighted by torches. They write on parchment using quills and bottles of ink.
Mail is delivered by owls
The Hogwarts Motto is "Draco dormiens nunquam titillandus," which is Latin and means "Never tickle a sleeping dragon."
If you have more information you'd like to add about the basics or more professors, e-mail them to me. Be sure to put a subject to catch my attention so I don't delete it without reading it!! :-)
