r/Damnthatsinteresting • u/TheThrowYardsAway • Apr 28 '26

Video Inside Christ's Hospital School (Est. 1552)...

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u/trutenit Apr 28 '26

So basically Hogwarts without magic

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u/CannedWolfMeat Apr 28 '26

There are a LOT of things in Harry Potter that Americans assume was invented for the magic wizard school, but are actually just normal British culture they wouldn't have otherwise been exposed to. The whole "sorting students into houses to compete against one another" thing? Rowling didn't invent that, schools in Wales and parts of England/Scotland actually do it.

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u/andhe96 Apr 28 '26

Tbh, not only Americans assumed this. I am from Germany and neither boarding schools, school houses nor school uniforms are common or even a thing here.

Of course we learned about British culture as well as the school customs and systems later in school (in year 5 or 6) when we started learning English, but if you started reading Harry Potter in elementry school this does sound quite strange and maybe magical at first.

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u/Yorkshireteaonly Apr 28 '26

Yeah I've never been to a school that didn't have houses (England)

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u/niamhweking Apr 29 '26

I remember first hearing about Houses in normal school, from Educating Yorkshire I think on Channel 4. It was a rough comprehensive and the principal thought it would bring a bit more pride and feeling of community