Some Magic School stuff for your pleasure...

[Elder]

Paige as head Mistress:
Why does a girl--that never knew magic existed until a few years ago--get the green light from yonder Elders to run the school? It seems really strange that no Elder pops up and says they'll take that chance (like Leo).
It's really going on blind faith that a relative newcomer to the magical world can be trusted to do such a heavy job...on their own. The least the Elders can do is give her an assistant

Gideon knows them?
Phoebe and Paige never should have been to magic school since the powers were bound right after Pheobe's birth. In all honesty, Piper should be the only sister currently alive that has a hint of the school (and that's only if Grams didn't do some memory hocus pocus on her). Are TCO treated differently? Do they go to Magic School without their powers intact? Hmmm.
You recall when Gideon first is seen, he says "Ah, the Charmed Ones" like he knew them personally in the past.
This is highly suspicious since he should not have gotten the chance to know them at all.
Am I making any sense with this argument?

[charmedno1fan]

Well, in my opinion, the Elders gave Paige the job because she is a Charmed One. The Charmed One's are the most powerful and respected witches around. If anyone could handle a tough job it would be one of them.

The answer is the same for when Gideon said, "Ah, the Charmed Ones." Everybody knows of the Charmed One's. Plus he's an elder. He probably watched down on them all the time. Plus Leo and Piper had to consult with the elder's about getting married. They know them and what they are capable of.

[Lucie]

But it would also make since if maybe they were taken to the magic school before their powers were bound, especially Prue and Piper.

With Paige everyone knew that she wanted and need a little guidance in her life and help to know what she was capable of doing with her life.

[foxfire]

The reason Paige became headmistress was because she was the only one who stood up to the Elders. She was the only one dedicated to not shutting down the school. Sure the teachers didn't want it closed but they didn't do much about it until Paige came along.

[vandergraafk]

Assuming that the Elders (Founders) are not an ad hoc invention (by Season 7) and now exhibit some constancy and internal consistency in their behaviors, I prefer to view the Elders as passive/aggressive in their management style. As long as the Charmed Ones are not engaging in behavior detrimental to the Elders' view (majoritarian?) as to the true and proper behavior of magically endowed witches, the Elders adopt a laid-back management style. Clash with the Elders' assumed expectations (e.g., no amorous relationships between whitelighters and witches), then the Elders will strike back in their own petty and vengeful ways.

Paige saw a need for and understood what Magic School had to offer. As an adopted child and later an orphan cut off from any direct connection to magic, she nevertheless exhibited a fascination for the occult. Her uniquely arranged work area at South Bay Social Services is ample proof of that. Magic School for Paige might have been a way to prepare her for her destiny, had she had the opportunity.

Of course, Paige never would have had the opportunity since Sam, Patty and Grams concluded that the Elders could never ever be apprised of the existence of a fourth sister. Perhaps they rightly suspected that the Elders would react negatively and maybe even denied the original P3 their Charmed destiny. Still, as a social worker, an assistant at that, Paige subordinated her needs to those of her clients. Her selfless act of compassion with respect to Caroline in Charmed and Dangerous is just of one many examples. The Firestarter is another.

Paige was thus forced to challenge the Elders over the looming closure of Magic School. In doing so, she was standing up on principle for the students who would be cast adrift if Magic School were closed. But, she was also making a pointed statement about her own upbringing. A magical life without Magic School risked exposing students to dangers they otherwise might not understand and leaving them on their own with respect to the oddities that set magical children apart.

The Elders were easily won over by her pointed stand. For them, much of their opposition was mere posturing. It compelled the thwarted to take initiative. That's what Paige; and, it allowed the Elders to revert to their typical laid back approach to management of the magical realm. Had Paige botched her management of Magic School, then the Elders would have come down harshly on her. She didn't, and they never did interfere with her running of Magic School. Even Drake, a demon on the mend, was allowed to teach at Magic School.

[pubesy]

paige wanted a place where magical students could feel like they belong. magic school was the perfect place for that

[~B@MeLiSsA30@B~]

I really admire Paige how she stuck up for the school and students.

[whitelightertony]

Also, it's possible that some of the Elders (such as Sandra, perhaps) secretly wanted Magic School to stay open...but they were just too intimidated to voice their opinions to the other Elders who felt (in the aftermath of Gideon's betrayal) that Magic School had run its course.

When Paige stood up to them and fought for Magic School, that restored the faith of any Elders who'd been "on the fence," so they passed the responsibility along to Paige.

[pubesy]

so kind of pass the buck?

[ljones]

Why would they need a magic school run by Elders to teach witchcraft? What was the point in creating this rip-off of the HARRY POTTER saga?

[pubesy]

lol, thats what i always thought!

[whitelightertony]

As a safe haven for magical children/teens to go, since they couldn't be open about their magical identities to the mortal world.

[ljones]

whitelightertony said:

As a safe haven for magical children/teens to go, since they couldn't be open about their magical identities to the mortal world.

They can't be open about their magical identities to the world as adults. Do you expect them to hang around the Magic School, when they grow up? Are parents of magical children actually expected to give up the guardianship of their children and ship them off to Magic School, to be tutored by the Elders?

If these kids want to be witches so badly, they can apprentice themselves to adult witches. Why be taught by a group of beings who seemed to know less about magic than witches?

[Fourever Charmed]

elder said:

Gideon knows them?
Phoebe and Paige never should have been to magic school since the powers were bound right after Pheobe's birth. In all honesty, Piper should be the only sister currently alive that has a hint of the school (and that's only if Grams didn't do some memory hocus pocus on her). Are TCO treated differently? Do they go to Magic School without their powers intact? Hmmm.
You recall when Gideon first is seen, he says "Ah, the Charmed Ones" like he knew them personally in the past.
This is highly suspicious since he should not have gotten the chance to know them at all.

Actually he says, "And the Charmed Ones! Lovely to see you again, although you probably don't remember meeting me, you were just little girls."

I think the thing that struck me most funny was that they were acting as if Paige was Prue. (He didn't address just Piper and Phoebe, and as we know, The Elders never could've met Paige. I guess we blame that on the writers.) I think it's odd, but not completely out of the question that Piper and Phoebe could've met Gideon.

We know that Prue and Piper lost their memories of everything related to their powers from Phoebe's birth back due to the binding spell. Since Gideon addressed them as the Charmed Ones, plural, he had to be referring to Piper and Phoebe, which would mean that they met him after Phoebe's birth. Because they were "little girls" that would probably mean Phoebe wasn't an baby, though with such a phrase, it's still a possibility. Either way, they probably wouldn't remember a fleeting meeting between Gideon and Penny and/or Patty. (Basic function of the brain makes us forget things unless they're pretty important moments.) Any magical talk probably would've been hush-hush, so the sisters wouldn't have been involved anyway. (And even if the sisters had been exposed to magic, Grams easily could've and would've performed memory magic on them.)

So honestly, I don't find Gideon having met the sisters (Piper and Phoebe) as little girls to be too much of an inconsistency. It can be explained easily with the way their childhoods pertaining to magic were.

Now, as far as Leo knowing Gideon, I do take some issue with that. Leo said that Gideon was his mentor, and fought for Piper and Leo to be together, yet Leo never mentioned him to Piper before. I find that just a tad hard to believe, if Gideon was really such an influence on Leo's magical life as we're supposed to believe.

[marienomad]

ljones said:

Why would they need a magic school run by Elders to teach witchcraft? What was the point in creating this rip-off of the HARRY POTTER saga?

Oh yeah. This is such a rip off. Also, what does Magic School focus on? How do defeat demons? What about seeing the future? Healing via herbs?

[ljones]

Actually he says, "And the Charmed Ones! Lovely to see you again, although you probably don't remember meeting me, you were just little girls."

How is this possible? Prue was at least four years old when the adult Charmed Ones made their trip to the past in March 1975. In a little over seven months later, Phoebe was born and their powers were bound by Penny. Exactly how would Gideon have a chance to know the girls? Did he briefly visit the Halliwell household in the 1970s? What was he doing at the Halliwell home in the first place?

[whitelightertony]

They can't be open about their magical identities to the world as adults. Do you expect them to hang around the Magic School, when they grow up? Are parents of magical children actually expected to give up the guardianship of their children and ship them off to Magic School, to be tutored by the Elders?

They never really made it clear whether Magic School is meant to be more of a "day school," or if they actually have dormitories to house some of the students. Perhaps it's a combination of both?

At any rate, giving these magical kids a safe place to go during their youth would help them with adjusting to adulthood, where they have to hide their magic as adults. It would, in theory, at least, teach them responsibility and how to make wise choices.

If these kids want to be witches so badly, they can apprentice themselves to adult witches. Why be taught by a group of beings who seemed to know less about magic than witches?

Because they were born magical. You seem to be stuck in the mindset of how you feel Burge/Kern *should have* portrayed witchcraft...but that simply wasn't the reality of the Charmedverse.

[whitelightertony]

How is this possible? Prue was at least four years old when the adult Charmed Ones made their trip to the past in March 1975. In a little over seven months later, Phoebe was born and their powers were bound by Penny. Exactly how would Gideon have a chance to know the girls? Did he briefly visit the Halliwell household in the 1970s? What was he doing at the Halliwell home in the first place?

Patty and Grams probably brought Prue and Piper to Magic School for baby Phoebe's Wiccaning, right before they bound the girls' powers.

[pubesy]

maybe gideon met the girls but did not introduce himself as an elder. he could have met them in the house.....any excuse to meet the future charmed ones

[~B@MeLiSsA30@B~]

I never really thought about it if Gideon knew the girls before they got their powers. I know he was Leo's mentor, but as for the girls, I have no idea.