Round 1 – The Facilities/Grounds

A huge component of the school experience is the environment itself.  And to be honest, both schools score rather high in this department.

Xavier’s offers a mansion, complete with campus grounds, a basketball court, full kitchen, and secret lab in the basement.  In many ways it’s the ultimate blend of boarding school and college campus. In addition, it offers young mutants the chance to be around others like them, free from judgement and persecution; something which runs rampant in the X-Men universe.  

Hogwarts on the other hand is an elaborate castle many times larger, which boasts moving stairways, paintings that talk, interactive ghosts, and more than enough magical hijinks for a young troublemaker to stay busy. Either one would be awesome, but the simple fact is Hogwarts is much larger, and everything within it comes to life too.

Winner – Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry

 

Round 2 – Curriculum

The very purpose of school is to educate, therefore no comparison can be complete without an analysis of how effective each school is at educating the youth.  Hogwarts offers a myriad of courses in Defense Against the Dark Arts, Transfiguration, Herbology Potions, Divinations, and many other magical based classes to help young witches and wizards develop their powers.  Concurrently, Xavier’s does teach young mutants to harness their powers, but also teaches the standard high school curriculum as well. In the films alone we see Xavier teaching Physics, and Storm and Wolverine taking on History.  We can then assume they also include English, Math, and so forth.

This seems to be the area where Hogwarts is lacking. Certainly their students are taught how to use magic, but the closest subject to real world applicability is Muggle Studies.  At no point are they taught Economics, Biology, Math, Literature or any other subject which will help them advance in the real world. This educational parameter most likely is the cause for their strict isolationist policy towards the Muggle world.

Winner – Xavier’s School For Gifted Youngsters

Gringotts Bank has to be run by goblins probably because not a single witch or wizard from Hogwarts ever studied Mathematics or Economics

Round 3 – Teachers/Staff

Where would school be without teachers?  They are the driving force of education and the subject of the well-deserved Teacher Appreciation Week (don’t forget to thank your old teachers on Facebook).  

This match-up is probably the closest of all the categories. Both schools have amazing staff who are powerful and willing to do anything to protect their students.  The X-Men are a team of superheroes, which is incredibly difficult to top, but Hogwarts can’t be underestimated. In the wizarding world of Harry Potter, working for the school is one of the most prestigious positions one can attain.  Albus Dumbledore is considered by many to be the greatest wizard in the world, and he chooses to use his skills and powers to help educate. In a world full of people with magical powers, it says something that he is considered the most powerful – so much so that Voldemort waited until he was dead before he dared to move on Hogwarts.

But it’s also not just about power either. Hogwarts also has a beloved groundskeeper, Hagrid, a less beloved caretaker, Filch, and an array of paintings and ghosts to add to the overall effect of it.  It may be a slight edge, but it’s an edge nevertheless.

Winner – Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry

As much as we all love Wolverine, let’s face it, he probably isn’t the best teacher.  He’s too prone to anger and the second a student mouthed off, he wouldn’t be above using corporal punishment…with this adamantium claws!

Round 4 – Safety/Security

As much fun as it would be to attend either of these beacons of education, safety and wellbeing is paramount to a pleasant learning environment.  If one does not feel safe, one will struggle to learn in their constant state of fear.

The X-Mansion certainly has a target on its back from people like Colonel William Stryker, and even Apocalypse.  But the school itself is just an ordinary mansion estate and fortunately for the students and staff, Magneto typically stays away from it. He believes very much in the mutant cause, respects Xavier and wouldn’t dare attack the school or try to harm students inside.  

Hogwarts is an entirely different story. The fact that the school was the site for a full scale wizarding war which left many students and staff dead speaks volume. But even if we discount that point, there is a variety of dangers lurking within its walls. A tree that attacks people, trolls, a vicious three-headed dog named Fluffy, staircases that move, chess sets that come to life and attack, and many other potential lawsuits.  When the Chamber of Secrets was open, Dumbledore remarks that, “Hogwarts is not safe anymore.” But when was it ever truly safe to begin with? If it existed the real world, it would have been shut down for child endangerment years ago.

Winner – Xavier’s School For Gifted Youngsters

Hogwarts sends 11-year-old students into the Forbidden Forest as a “school sanctioned” detention.  Could you even imagine if a school in real life sent 6th graders on a walk through a rough neighborhood at midnight as a punishment?  There would be a storm of lawsuits and the school would get shut down for sure.

Round 5 – Extracurricular Activities

Student achievement can take a school far, but it’s often sports and other activities that puts a school on the world map.  

Hogwarts has an impressive reputation in the world of Quidditch, as well as competing with other schools in the Triwizard Tournament.  However, as impressive as these are, Hogwarts is really only just a school. In addition to being a school, the X-Men double as a crime fighting team.  Storm, Cyclops, Beast, Jean Grey, and Wolverine all teach subjects during the day, but when the world is in danger they respond to the call, often recruiting older students like Iceman, Rogue, and Shadowcat to join the team.  No matter how many tournaments Hogwarts might win, they simply can’t compete with a school whose teachers go around the world fighting evil as superheroes.

Winner – Xavier’s School For Gifted Youngsters

Hogwarts is a great place, but what other school teaches you to the state standards, then also trains you to be an awesome looking team of superheroes?!

Final Winner – Xavier’s School For Gifted Youngsters

 

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