Whimsical Magical Boarding Schools MASTER POST (with moodboards for each of the 8 houses)
*I've already about this here and here but I just want to make a master post including all the moodboards for each house of the 2 main magical schools in my world. I've also updated the house names for the rival all-girls school.
Magic is in the environment and magical creatures are able to use it naturally since they can generate magic from within, but humans can't. Although as the years go by, there are humans born with an aptitude to harness magic (mages) but they must use a medium or conduit, and perform a process or ritual, to harness magical energy and make the magic "behave," since they don't have a magical source within them. That means the magic has to be prepared first.
Kinds of Magic: The kind of magic that mages can do are limited. They are able to make the magic "behave" in any of these forms:
1 Transformation Magic - transforming one's physical form
2 Binding Magic - barriers and containment
3 Illusion Magic - projecting vivid imagery
4 Divination Magic - getting information about the past, present of future
More kinds of magic exist in this world, but those 4 types are what mages can do SO FAR. (It's like how the periodic table is technically infinite but those are just the elements we have discovered so far. It's also the same case for the magic in this world.)
It seems limiting, but the techniques and how these kinds of magic can be harnessed are a lot. It's all up to creativity and imagination. The history of Magic was full of trial and error, with ancient mages experimenting and determining what materials the magical energy can be efficiently channeled into. Different magic schools have developed and specialized very different techniques to conjure and harness magic. This has turned magic into a kind of art or craft.
The 2 Main Magical Schools
St. Succulent is a large magical all-boys boarding school nestled between the woods and the bay somewhere. This school has 4 houses where a student can be sorted into through some sort of Magical Treasure Hunt where the items they pick up determines their aptitude for a certain magical discipline. Each of the houses specialize in one of the 4 magical disciplines as well as a specialized craft to be able to conjure that magic.
The story revolves around the adventures of four 3rd yr students who have just become the Headboy for each house. The younger students turn to them for their problems, magic or otherwise; the headmaster usually goes to them if there's a need for magical errands; and they usually hold meetings to discuss whatever weird magical phenomena is plaguing the school.
The Houses:
The Menagerie - The House of Transformation
Students of this house prepare various magical desserts and other food to be able to transform their body parts into toy parts. The preparing and cooking of the food is the magical process that imbues the food with transformation magic. They then consume the food, and as the body metabolizes it, they are able to transform their limbs and other body parts into toy parts. Like a rubber lobster claw for a hand or rubber springs for feet. The spells don't last really long but they have the advantage of being able to quick-change.
Aesthetic/Vibe: Very retro birthday party full of confetti and bright colors and those ugly desserts from the 50s
The Filigree - The House of Binding
This house teaches sewing, embroidering and other forms of stitching to be able to conjure different kinds of barriers and other containment spells. These spells can be used for protection, traps or cages. Some practitioners can even bind a person's will from doing a specific action. The magical ritual is in the tedious and process of making the wards. These can be in the form of lace doilies, rosette ribbons, embroideries on clothes, ruffles etc. The more time and energy in preparing these wards, the more potent the spell.
Aesthetic/Vibe: A grandma's floral living room full of ruffles, lace and of course needles.
The Mesmery - The House of Illusion
Perfumes and other fragrances is the arsenal of this house. Students learn to gather ingredients and prepare perfumes to be able to conjure illusions. They store these perfumes in frosted vials in different shapes. They can layer these fragrances for a more potent spell. The kind of illusion magic taught here is mostly to obscure information and smudge the details of reality, and also to disorient a target by projecting surreal and unnerving imagery onto the environment. They are usually slow and subtle spells that trap a target inside an illusion without knowing it.
Aesthetic/Vibe: A misty dream full of disembodied voices and smudged faces
The Reliquary - The House of Divination
Being sorted into this house requires the student to be a collector of antique and sentimental objects. The more sentimental the object is, the more potent it is. The students then assemble these objects and try to attune it into a divine signal. A practitioner may attach a phone receiver to an old teddy bear's head to listen for omens; or maybe they can use a saint statue's halo as a monocle to look for clues about a place's past. The magical ritual is in the process of collecting and assembling these objects.
Aesthetic/Vibe: If you cross an antique shop with an old attic full of haunted objects
Our Lady of Nectar is the all-girls rival school of St. Succulent which is located on the other side of the woods. I made this school to contrast St. Succulent's magical techniques. This institution teaches their own signature techniques for each of their own corresponding four houses.
There is an annual "prank war/treasure hunt/" held between the schools where they are tested in using their magical skills effectively (and also to satiate the egos of each of the schools headmasters)
The Houses (renamed after poisonous flowers):
House Mandragora - The House of Transformation
Students of this house use gemstones as conduits for magical energy, which they fashion into various jewelry. They then wear the jewelry in order to transform various parts of their body. A tiara might make them grow horns or a bracelet might transform their hand into a scaly appendage with sharp claws. Their spells last longer than the boys of Menagerie due to the nature of their technique but it is more taxing on the body since it uses more energy.
Aesthetic/Vibe: An exclusive neon-soaked night club from the 80s that is also a jewelry store
House Foxglove - The House of Binding
Being sorted into this house requires the student to learn and employ wood carving as the medium for binding magic. It is usually in the form of tiny wooden totems or carvings on wooden furniture or furnishings. This binding technique overwhelms with the weight and sturdiness of wood compared to Filigree's entangling stitched wards. This technique can easily be bypassed though due to the organic nature of wood.
Aesthetic/Vibe: A folkloric forest cottage that is a cover for a secret cult
House Hemlock - The House of Illusion
Students here use old speakers and lo-fi recording equipment to use sounds as a medium for illusions. They are like lo-fi producers using recorded sounds and emitting them through speakers, usually carried like a backpack in the field, to blast sounds that from glaring and distracting illusions. These illusions are fast and loud and distracting, unlike Mesmery's slow and subtle fragrances. Although this house's illusions don't last as long.
Aesthetic/Vibe: A 70s recording studio crossed with a chapel where audio equipment is venerated
House Belladonna - The House of Divination
Paper and other printed ephemera is the main magical medium of this house. They have collected a lot of old magazines, loose newspaper pages, tickets and coupons, postcards etc. that are filed and organized into a multitude of folders. Practitioners of this technique usually carry binders and folders in the field. They divine by stapling, gluing and connecting loose papers; encircling words, symbols, letters etc. that could mean something as a whole. They are like answering a long exam but the results are considerably more accurate than Reliquary. Although their paper paraphernalia are usually discarded after use unlike Reliquary's assembled objects.
Aesthetic/Vibe: A library that is also a bureaucratic filing office
That's it for now!
Do tell me what house you would like to be in! It doesn't matter if it in the boys or girls school.