Magic is a rare and largely hereditary gift, very rarely showing itself outside of bloodlines that have long since produced powerful sorcerers. The standard test for such, called a wand test, occurs at age six. Parents wishing to test their children must purchase a wand, as they are absolutely necessary for the casting of any and all magicks. The child, wand in hand, will then be put through a series of simple tests to determine their magical aptitude. Most children will fail to register any meaningful results; only those from a sorcerous bloodline typically excel, though there are occasional, rare, exceptions.

While, by law, anyone with magical talent may attend any public school they wish, virtually all such students attend a private magical academy instead. Similarly, the privat magical academies are technically open to admission for anyone–so long as they are able to pass a magic test. In practice, it means that there is an almost total separation between the magical and mundane school systems. For instance, in Greenford, the home city of the Magnolian Academy, the majority of local students attend the Greenford School District, which is an ordinary K-12 school. Magnolian Academy students, on the other hand, while they do include some locals, are mostly recruited elsewhere and live on campus as boarders.

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