Cameron turned 11 a few weeks ago so I thought it would be fun for him to actually get his Hogwarts letter. Of course, we don’t live in Britain so it didn’t seem to make sense that his letter would come from Hogwarts. I vaguely remembered a reference to Americans from Salem Witches Institute in one of the books so I went searching and sure enough, it’s in Goblet of Fire. I adjusted the name of the school a little bit to allow for wizards, too, and made it so Cameron’s letter came from The Salem Institute of Witchcraft and Wizardry.

I ordered a plush owl from Amazon to deliver the letter to Cameron. Cameron named his owl Festus. He was absolutely thrilled with his letter. His grin got bigger and bigger as he read. I pretty much copied the letter Harry received in Sorcerer’s/Philosopher’s Stone. I changed the name of the school, of course, as well as the headmaster, deputy headmistress, and things specific to getting to Hogwarts (for example, the Salem Express leaves from Platform 14 7/8 in Union Station in Washington DC).