New Waters Conservatory

New Waters Conservatory was founded upon the death of Calvin James Reilly at the turn of the century, as specified in his will and testament. Reilly left his palatial estate, New Waters, to be turned into a school for talented magical youth. Reilly, born in O'Raghallaigh, Ireland, attended school in the Old World but dropped out during his sixth year and immigrated to the United States to find his fortune. C.J. Reilly moved out west during the California Gold Rush, where he contracted syphilis and struck it rich. However, it was his later investment in the new railroads that ultimately made him one of the richest men in the United States. During the Civil War, Reilly contributed funds to ALAMMO. After the war, Reilly’s fortune grew substantially with the new railroad revolution. He remains a famous figure in both the wizarding and Deficient worlds, albeit a controversial one due to his voracious sexual appetite and his views on Deficient integration.

“I’d rather be a pauper than a ‘puff.” - Calvin James Reilly, on being sorted into Pufflewuff and his reasons for leaving Dogfarts as a teenager.

Structure
Students arrive at school via the New Waters Express, a train that stops in every major US city but which only takes an hour to get to campus regardless of where a passenger boards. The train is lovingly referred to by students as “Old Reliable.” NWC boasts four different families that students join after their first year at school. Until that time, students are known as “orphans” and at the end of their first year, are “adopted” by one of the four families. Unlike most other wizarding schools, students are not sorted, but get to choose which family adopts them. The families are named for the four cardinal virtues: Fortitude, Justice, Wisdom, and Temperance.

Comparisons to Salem
The California school is sometimes referred to as the “Salem of the West Coast.” During the Gold Rush, witches and wizards from the New England area (who of course held Salem in great esteem) who migrated to California founded a new school in the same classic style.

California and Salem, being the most similar schools, have a well-known and long-standing rivalry. While Salem is still generally considered to be “higher-class,” proponents of the California school claim that this is only because of age, and not due to any real academic superiority.