--- description: And it may play a role in the upcoming spin-off movie, 'Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them.' title: J.K. Rowling Confirms American Version of Hogwarts Exists image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt45dff285b82200bf/6987ea905f570f1f1cb19150/ap819857956093-copy.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [Entertainment](/section/entertainment/) ## Entertainment Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close * [movies](/tag/movies/) ## movies Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # J.K. Rowling Confirms American Version of Hogwarts Exists by [Devan Coggan / Entertainment Weekly](/author/entertainment-weekly/) ## Devan Coggan / Entertainment Weekly Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Jun 9, 2015 2:24 PM CUT  Author J.K. Rowling at the Empire State Building in New York City on April 9, 2015. Author J.K. Rowling at the Empire State Building in New York City on April 9, 2015.Evan Agostini—AP by [Devan Coggan / Entertainment Weekly](/author/entertainment-weekly/) ## Devan Coggan / Entertainment Weekly Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Jun 9, 2015 2:24 PM CUT American _Harry Potter_ fans [may not have received their Hogwarts letters](http://www.mtv.com/news/2179722/jk-rowling-letter-from-hogwarts/ "undefined"), but that’s just because there might have been a U.S. equivalent of the witchcraft and wizardry school that dropped the ball instead. On Twitter, J.K. Rowling has confirmed the existence of an American version of Hogwarts, and it may play a role in the upcoming spin-off movie, _Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them_. When fans asked her about the possibility of an American magic academy, Rowling cryptically tweeted: “That information will be revealed in due course.” She soon followed up with a few more details about the mysterious school. > [](https://twitter.com/jk%5Frowling/status/607276093540827136) > [](https://twitter.com/jk%5Frowling/status/607277795543273472) > [](https://twitter.com/jk%5Frowling/status/607455436581806081) > [](https://twitter.com/jk%5Frowling/status/607457246637912064) > [](https://twitter.com/jk%5Frowling/status/607458078427082752) Set 70 years before the events of _Harry Potter_, _Fantastic Beasts_ follows the story of magizoologist Newt Scamander, a Hogwarts alum who ends up in New York. Rowling’s tweets suggest that although he won’t visit any sort of American school, he will meet its students (or former students). Furthermore, the school isn’t located in New York, and it has “immigrant” and “indigenous” roots. Rowling herself is writing the screenplay for the film, and longtime _Harry Potter_ director David Yates is returning to direct. Warner Bros. announced last week that [Eddie Redmayne will star](http://www.ew.com/article/2015/06/01/eddie-redmayne-officially-joins-fantastic-beasts-and-where-find-them "undefined") as Scamander. _Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them_ arrives on Nov. 18, 2016. _This_ [_article_](http://www.ew.com/article/2015/06/09/jk-rowling-american-hogwarts "undefined") _originally appeared on_ [_EW.com_](http://www.ew.com/ "undefined")_._ ### Harry Potter Illustrated Edition Illustrations  Harry Potter Jim Kay—Bloomsbury Publishing Plc.  Hermione Granger Jim Kay—Bloomsbury Publishing Plc.  Ron Weasley Jim Kay—Bloomsbury Publishing Plc.  Draco Malfoy Jim Kay—Bloomsbury Publishing Plc.  Rubeus Hagrid Jim Kay—Bloomsbury Publishing Plc.  Hogwarts Grand Hall Jim Kay—Bloomsbury Publishing Plc.  Dragon Alley Jim Kay—Bloomsbury Publishing Plc.  Hagrid Jim Kay—Bloomsbury Publishing Plc.  Harry Potter Jim Kay—Bloomsbury Publishing Plc.  An owl Jim Kay—Bloomsbury Publishing Plc.  The Golden Snitch Jim Kay—Bloomsbury Publishing Plc. _Read next:_ [_This Is What American Hogwarts Could Be Like_](http://time.com/3915950/american-hogwarts-jk-rowling-harry-potter/?iid=time%5Freadnext "undefined") [_Listen to the most important stories of the day._](http://time.com/newsletter/the-brief/autoplay/?xid=spl-fullbrief-article "undefined") ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/3914081/jk-rowling-american-hogwarts/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/3914081/jk-rowling-american-hogwarts/"},"headline":"J.K. Rowling Confirms American Version of Hogwarts Exists","datePublished":"2015-06-09T14:24:17.000Z","dateModified":"2026-05-11T05:03:08.697Z","description":"And it may play a role in the upcoming spin-off movie, Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them","url":"https://time.com/3914081/jk-rowling-american-hogwarts/","keywords":["movies","Books","Harry Potter","Fantastic Beasts"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt45dff285b82200bf/6987ea905f570f1f1cb19150/ap819857956093-copy.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Devan Coggan / Entertainment Weekly"}],"articleSection":"Entertainment","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt45dff285b82200bf/6987ea905f570f1f1cb19150/ap819857956093-copy.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Author J.K. Rowling at the Empire State Building in New York City on April 9, 2015.","caption":"Author J.K. Rowling at the Empire State Building in New York City on April 9, 2015.","creditText":"Evan Agostini—AP","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/entertainment/","name":"Entertainment"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/movies/","name":"movies"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/3914081/jk-rowling-american-hogwarts/","name":"J.K. Rowling Confirms American Version of Hogwarts Exists"}}]},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"VideoObject","name":"After the Deathly Hallows: Harry Potter Characters 16 Years Later","description":"Harry, Ron, Hermione, Ginny, Luna, and Neville are at the 2014 Quidditch World Cup. See what they've been up to since they defeated Lord Voldemort.","thumbnailUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/CoCYWOyv/poster.jpg?width=720","uploadDate":"2014-07-08T19:48:23.000Z","contentUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/CoCYWOyv.m3u8","embedUrl":"https://time.com/3914081/jk-rowling-american-hogwarts/","duration":"PT1M8S","potentialAction":{"@type":"SeekToAction","target":"https://time.com/3914081/jk-rowling-american-hogwarts/?jw_start={seek_to_second_number}","startOffset-input":"required name=seek_to_second_number"}}] ```