School Matters

So I'm currently reading the first 2 books in a new/old (she wrote them a few years ago under a pseudonym but now that she's famous her publishers are re-releasing them under her own name - all very confusing!) series by Jenny Colgan.  She's my favorite and these books are just as wonderful as her others. I'm hoping these 2 sell well enough that they publish the next 4 because I just love a good series.

But all of that is beside the point.  The point to this post is that I've learned a few things reading these books, some of which is slightly embarrassing to admit.  You see, I read all the Harry Potter books and loved them.  They're some of the best books ever written, in my opinion.  But based on my very limited knowledge - even though I pride myself on knowledge of England - of British boarding schools, I sort of assumed that some of the terms that were thrown about were made up solely for the residents of Hogwarts. It would seem I was very wrong about this.

Prefects exist - and are normally just as snobby as Percy Weasley was.  Different houses also exist.  It wouldn't seem there are points for each house or competitions but girls (My only knowledge is of girls boarding schools as this is what the series is about...) definitely are sorted (unfortunately not by a magic hat) into houses where they reside for their entire time at the school.

Boarding schools also tend to look just like Castles with beautiful towers and huge fire places where students sit around studying for their exams.  Though I'm guessing that's not typical in the real, real-world. : ) 

So there you have it, I'm as shocked by my assumptions as I was when I heard Hermione's name pronounced out loud for the first time and realized I'd been butchering it in my head for the last 3 books.  But you have to admit, even when you read fluff - utterly fantastic and super-amazing fluff, mind you - you still learn something new every day! So, if there is a beautiful castle like girls school on the banks of Cornwall looking for a teacher, I'm now ready to assume my position...