No, it's not Harry Potter

March 2, 2016 7:56 PM

When I was a kid, I read a book about a magical school on top of a mountain. They had to evacuate down the mountain for some reason (a blizzard?). This was depicted on the cover, with a blue background. I think the head teacher may have used a wheelchair and had a pointy goatee. I could, however, be totally wrong about that, including the gender of the head teacher. (I'm confident there was a woman on the school's staff.) What was it?

I'd get this book out of the library while visiting my grandad in Yorkshire in the mid-nineties, so ages 8-11 or so. I think it was relatively contemporary (80s or 90s)--I remember being able to tell Biggles was at least a bit dated and didn't think that about this book. The library's copy of the book was neither old nor new, but likely got relatively little circulation. Probably about 180 pages long, same as practically every other book aimed at that age group.

I can't remember if the whole society was magical or if it was like Harry Potter with magical and non-magical people. I'd be willing to bet that the book was British.

posted by hoyland to Grab Bag (9 answers total)

Wizard's Hall?
posted by superlibby at 8:26 PM on March 2, 2016

I don't have firsthand knowledge, but I did find a Goodreads list with 92 books about schools of magic! Maybe one of these rings a bell? (Note: some of these books had multiple versions, with different cover art; click on the titles if you're interested in viewing all the covers.)
posted by duffell at 8:26 PM on March 2, 2016

Maybe Escape to Witch Mountain (the novel, not the movie)?
posted by limeonaire at 9:26 PM on March 2, 2016

Best answer: Could it have been The Blood-and-Thunder Adventure on Hurricane Peak? This was the first thing to come to mind when you said evacuating down a mountain being depicted on the cover (including cement shoes!). It's been a while since I read it, but I think there was a school, with plenty of magic and silliness.
posted by Secretariat at 9:57 PM on March 2, 2016

The Secret of Platform 13?
posted by blixapuff at 12:36 AM on March 3, 2016

X men had all of that in one of the movies a few years ago. Wheelchair and all, although I think the students helped carry professor x down the mountain in the snow while explosions happened in the background.I never read the comics so I don't know if it might have been there too, with q matching cover, but it's possible.
posted by lollusc at 1:55 AM on March 3, 2016 [1 favorite]

Like this one maybe? In the movie there was more snow.
posted by lollusc at 1:59 AM on March 3, 2016

Response by poster: Secretariat, I'm pretty sure you've got it.
posted by hoyland at 4:04 AM on March 3, 2016

Was it The worst witch?
posted by guy72277 at 1:19 AM on March 7, 2016