With three schools serving North America, the future of wizardry looked bright in the New World. In South America, the Spanish had erected Escuela En Las Nubes de los Gigantes just north of Machu Picchu in 1733, and the Portugese similarly established El Dorado along the banks of the Amazon in 1665. A need for another school arrived in 1763 when the Treaty of Paris ceded Florida, and therefore St. Augustine, to the British. Los Tres Calderas was no longer in Spanish possession.

An immediate remedy was sought, and with the Spanish firmly established in Mexico and California, it was unilaterally decided by Spain that a school should be built. The establishment of the new school, La Escuela Nueva de los Estudios de Inquisitional, in Taos in 1764 was beset with problems. Spain's silver and gold was running out and few Spaniards were able to contribute to the new school. Without official sanction of the Plenipotentiary Committee, there would be no funds from that body to bankroll the school. More disturbing still was the obvious connection with the more subversive elements within the Spanish monarchy. A few of the wizards and witches of the day denounced the school and its squib headmaster, Martin Gui, a relative of the notorious Bernardo Gui, as forming the school in an effort to put muggle controls on the magical population. As a result, the school suffered not only poor enrollment, but a running deficit for nearly a century, excelling in very little.

While the history of the school was tragic, the students certainly were not. Classes were few, books scarce, and there was plenty of free time to be had. Early students could see that a degree from Estudios Inquisitional would mean little to their careers unless they took matters into their own hands. The answer to their problems was right on their doorstep.

One of the first great transfiguration professors of the New World, Stalking Jaguar of the Taos Pueblo, came to offer her services at the tottering school in 1799. While rejected by the school's administration who hadn't been able to attract a transfiguration teacher, some of the more progressive faculty arranged for Stalking Jaguar to secretly teach transfiguration using Native American methods. The results were simply stellar and other Native American teachers came from nearby tribes to work at the school. By 1808 the school was graduating some of the most remarkable witches and wizards. These graduates knew spells unknown to the Western magical world and had the unique talent of weather control as well as transfiguration spells matched only by the most proficient of conjurers. A graduate of the school, Iago de Santiago, collaborated with Stalking Jaguar to publish the seminal transfiguration tome, Transfigurations Del Mundo Nuevo, in 1822; a book still used in advanced transfiguration classes even today.

Despite the unique and suddenly excellent quality of education, graduates of the Estudios did not tend to go on to positions of wealth. Instead they tended to become explorers, rangers, and teachers. Though Taos is leagues away from anything resembling a large body of water, Estudios graduates, with their ability to influence weather, were highly prized as officers aboard the huge number of merchant and military sailing ships plying the world at the time. The East India Company hired well over 200 graduates alone.

Little change came to the school in 1847 when New Mexico was ceded to the United States save that the name was promptly changed to the more simple and amenable, Pueblo Del Thunderbirds. Though American students were now accepted, it was rare to see them. What did change the school, however, was the arrival of another woman. On December 14, 1868 a little woman dressed all in black crepe, riding in an enclosed landau, arrived at the school and was promptly admitted to the infirmary. There she remained in the Head Nurse's quarters for nearly a year, a silent figure only occasionally seen at the windows or heard weeping long into the night. Students did not know who she was nor did most of the faculty. The Headmistress of the era, the wizend Stalking Jaguar, kept silent.

In time, however, the woman known only as Senora H, became a fixture of the school. A teacher of muggle studies, she retained her black crepe and pensive demeanor, but otherwise came to live within the school as any other faculty member. Senora H rose in regard among the students and faculty as time passed. Her earnest kindness and sharp mind were tempered by a melancholia that gave her a wisdom beyond her young years. As her fortunes improved, so did the school's. Within 8 months of her arrival an anonymous donor started donating thousands and then hundreds of thousands of galleons to the school. Senora H. seemed oblivious to the school's sudden wealth, but more than a few of the school's board members had a suspicion.

In January of 1873, Stalking Jaguar passed away and the Board of Directors of the school began to seek a new Headmaster. Names such as Villareal, Hidalgo, and Casarosada were discussed, but before the first vote was taken, an owl arrived bearing a parchment sealed with the mark of Stalking Jaguar:

January 8, 1873

My Dear Senoras & Senors:

The professor known to all of you as Senora H. came here long ago after I was contacted by her supporters in Mexico. They told to me a story of a dream she had of walking in the desert dressed in black. Senora H was lost, thirsty, nearly mad with grief, and in her wandering she came upon a jaguar who did not attack, but rather led her to a spring of fresh water. Her devoted subjects heard of me and asked me to take her in and care for her; cure her as the doctors in Europe could not. This I did and after much time, she lost her madness and came back into herself.

Senora H was sent to me under darkness. A woman who said she loved Senora H would take her place in her homeland across the Atlantic and no one would know for her dearest friend in France would see to it.

Now I too must ask you to keep a secret until the day of her rebirth comes. As some of you have suspected, Senora H is Empress Dowager Carlota Hapsburg of Mexico, widow of Emperor Maximilian, Archduchess of Austria. I reveal this to you only because it must not be revealed to the muggle world or war and strife will come upon our land. This I have foreseen.

Too I have foreseen that she should be created Headmistress of my beloved Pueblo del Thunderbirds though she is a muggle. She is fair and kind, old though young. She will guide the school well.

I have now departed this world. To you all and to my students, I offer you my greatest gratitude for a useful life.

Your servant,
SJ.

The directors were dumbstruck. Empress Carlota? Mad Carlota? Headmistress? Another muggle? Never again! Debate raged for days about what to do but as Director Hieronymous Weasley glibly pointed out, "Whether she does well or fails, the school will be rich." [see, minutes of same]. While doubtless the board felt obligated to Stalking Jaguar, not a few thought that Carlota's potential millions in donations would be worth a few years of mismanagement. They could always sack her later.

Carlota proved them wrong and under her guidance, Pueblo del Thunderbirds became not only very rich, but also very respected. Carlota offered a balanced faculty of Native American and European instructors. Through the years as the school's fortunes increased she began to host the Occidental and Oriental Accidentals Conference bringing together those professors of traditional Eurasian magic and those teachers of shamanic and tribal magics, revolutionizing magic theory and practice throughout the world. After her death in 1927, the magic district's main street was renamed Avenida de la Reina in her honor and, most illustriously, a new student House was endowed in her name at Pueblo del Thunderbirds.

The T-birds, as they call themselves, of today are still more likely to be found trekking through jungles, climbing mountains, or traveling the world in one way or another. Still the best transfigurists in the world, their skills are highly sought after in the creation of charmed devices. Though they tend to dress like muggles, alumni are easy to spot with their rough hewn wands made of Apache Pine, wrapped with sage, and topped by a round inlay of turquoise. These simple but beautiful wands are made at Pueblo del Thunderbirds itself and by international law, only graduates of the school may own one due to their powerful transfiguration and weather changing abilities. Over the years two wands have gone missing and despite great effort to find them, it is feared they have fallen into the hands of Death Eaters who are using them to change the climate of the entire world.