Hogwarts in Real Life: The Edinburgh School that Operates like Harry Potter's

The United Kingdom is home to prestigious schools like Oxford and Cambridge, but there is another one with a unique feature. It is the private school George Heriot's School, which some might call the Hogwarts of magic and wizardry. You might be surprised, but the truth is that this school isn't inspired by the famous Harry Potter saga; rather, it seems to have inspired J.K. Rowling to create the young wizard's series of novels.

The author of the successful book series has acknowledged on more than one occasion that she wrote part of her stories in the café The Elephant House. Coincidentally, this café overlooks the castle that houses this school, as well as Greyfriars Cemetery, which we will discuss later.

George Heriot's has very demanding (and expensive) admission requirements, but its founder created this school with the intention that any child without parents could study completely free of charge, a wish that continues to be fulfilled today. Coincidentally, Harry Potter also gains access to Hogwarts for free, and as any Potterhead knows, his parents died when he was just a child- the first coincidence.

At this educational institution, all students wear uniforms depending on the house to which they belong: Lauriston, the green house (Slytherin); Raeburn, the red house (Gryffindor); Castle, the blue house (Ravenclaw); and Greyfriars, the white house (Hufflepuff)- the second coincidence. Moreover, these houses accumulate points based on the academic performance of their students or the athletic competitions held throughout the year, which are displayed on boards to see who the best performers are at the end of the year- the third coincidence.

Now, let's return to Greyfriars Cemetery, because if you haven't found enough coincidences so far, here's one more. If you enter this cemetery and closely observe each headstone, you might find two names that sound familiar: McGonagall and Thomas Riddle. And no, the remains of the Hogwarts professor or Voldemort are not in those graves, but it doesn't seem coincidental that two of the most important names from the magical saga are present in a cemetery that Rowling visited.