It’s back-to-school time, Reader. Back to magic school 🪄 that is!
While working on the cover design and artwork for my Boys Love short story collection Walk Me Home, I’ve been taking a break by writing chapters for my ongoing free series ExSpelled and reading Love At Second Sight by F.T. Lukens.
The latter is Magic Realism that features paranormal teenagers at an East Coast high school. And ExSpelled is my magical Dark Academia set in an alternative Belle Époque (Beautiful Era) England and Wales.
And it got me thinking, why is there so much credit given to “that book series that shall not be named” when it’s hardly the first to feature a magical school?
In fact, A Wizard of Earthsea by Ursula K. Le Guin was published in 1968, and The Worst Witch by Jill Murphy in 1974. Both decades before the infamous boy wizard ever hit shelves.
And if you search the shelves and screen, you’ll find a full spectrum of magical school tales. From Little Witch Academia to The Magisterium. And from Blood at the Root to Wistoria: Wand and Sword.
So if all the back-to-school buzz in the air has got you itching to write your own, Reader…
Here are 5 essentials you need to craft your own magical school story🪄
1) The Magical School
In a magical school story, the setting—the school—is arguably a major character in and of itself. So when designing this all-important setting, you have to ask yourself, Reader: What is my school going to be like?
Is it a normal neighborhood public high school that magical teens just happen to attend, like in Love At Second Sight?
Or is it a luxury boarding school only for the noble elite, like in My Next Life as a Villainess: All Routes Lead to Doom!?
Or maybe it’s a massive castle exclusively for magic users, like the island of Roke in A Wizard of Earthsea or Easton Magic Academy in Mashle: Magic and Muscles?
Whatever your choice, put some time and effort into crafting this all-important locale.
2) The Magic
How does your world’s magic actually work? Just like the laws of physics and math, magic systems need to be functional to ground your story. So what about yours, Reader?
Is it language-based? Do they have to recite incantations to summon their magic? And are those words based on an arcane language or something more clever, like the Simon Snow Trilogy’s spells formed from song lyrics and idioms?
Is their magic Theurgy-based? As in, do they call upon a deity/elemental spirit/demon they’ve made a pact with to obtain their magic? The Summoners in Blue Exorcist use Theurgy magic.
What about musical magic? There’s a whole school of cultivators in Grandmaster of Demonic Cultivation who fight supernatural horrors with musical magic, and even one who controls an army of the dead with a flute.
Maybe they were bestowed magic during a rite of passage ceremony, like in The Gorilla God's Go-To Girl. In the story’s setting, youth are blessed with magical attributes by an animal god after selecting a card before entering high school.
What about magical tools? Do they craft their own wands and staves like they do in The Ancient Magus’ Bride? Do they buy their magical tools in a shop specializing in the crafting of said items? Does a grimoire magically appear before them during a rite of passage ceremony when they’re 15, like in Black Clover?
However your magic system works, make solid rules and NEVER violate them.
3) The Prerequisite
What qualifications does one need to attend said magical school?
Is there an entrance exam? Is admittance a matter of lineage? Is there a limited number of spots like our real-world university equivalents?
Keep in mind, a story that sets a high bar for entrance is going to be closer to a magical college or academy and focus more on refining a magic user’s gift. Whereas a story about a school that pretty much accepts anyone with magic will be about learning to use said magic and use it safely.
4) The Subject Matter
What’s taught at your magical school? Is your school divided into different “subjects” like Alchemy, Transmutation, and Potions, with all the students in the same classes, much like our standard schools?
Or is it segmented into schools of magic for students to train to become Arcanists, Summoners, Diviners, Artificers, and Alchemists? Or does it have both?
True Cross Academy in Blue Exorcist is a premier private boarding school in an “academy town,” but it also houses the secret exorcist cram school within it. The former teaches the standard school subjects while the latter trains several types of exorcists with numerous career options after graduation.
5) What Come After?
What do they do after gaining their magical knowledge? Are there guaranteed jobs waiting for them? Or do they have to figure it out for themselves?
Is there a clear goal they’re all working towards, like in Wistoria: Wand and Sword? Where the goal after graduation is being accepted into the Mercedes Caulis and becoming a Magia Vander?
Or do they have a wide range of career paths after graduation, like in The Irregular at Magic High School?
Your magical school will feel a lot more solid and real if what your characters learn has applications outside of the classroom.
I hope this helps you craft your own magical school story, Reader. Because there’s always room in the world for more wonder and magic 🪄
Well until next time, this is your friendly neighborhood storytelling Kat wishing you a wonderfully creative week.
Your cohort in storytelling,
Kat Vancil
🐱
PS 👉 Though Mashle: Magic and Muscles is a parody of a—*cough more famous and now problematic IP—I absolutely adore it. The MC is an authentic, non-stereotyped representation of an autistic person. And his truest desire in life isn’t to be the most powerful magic user ever, but instead to live a peaceful life with his dad.
Honestly, I wish more stories had MCs like Mash. He’s not the perfect prodigy, top-of-their-class genius chosen one. He’s neurodivergent, he can’t use magic, and he’s always one step away from failing. But he’s like so many kids out there. It’s honest and relatable.
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Amey Deo
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