For Harry Potter fans everywhere, it turns out there’s another school of Witchcraft and Wizardry which failed to send us a letter when we turned 11.
In the run up to the release of the film ‘Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them’ in November, author JK Rowling has lent fans all over the world with another spectacular window into the legends of the magical world – the Ilvermorny School of Witchcraft and Wizardry in North America.
Rowling released a new chapter about Ilvermorny on the Pottermore website, free for online reading and consumption.
“Far across the oceans and thousands of miles from the legendary Hogwarts. High atop Mount Greylock, hidden by forest, cloud and spell, stands one of the greatest secrets of the Magical World,” is how a clip about the school describes it.
According to the chapter, the school was founded by an Irish witch Isolt Sayre.
As a child, Sayre was imprisoned by an evil witch in Ireland. She escaped to the New World in 1620, and built the school in Massachusetts, North America, “where it is concealed from non-magic gaze by a variety of powerful enchantments.”
Ilvermorny’s four Houses – Horned Serpent, Pukwudgie, Thunderbird and Wampus – are named after magical creatures. In the chapter, Rowling describes the different proclivities of the four Houses as: “Horned Serpent favours scholars; Wampus, warriors; Pukwudgie, healers; and Thunderbird, adventurers.”
You can read more about Ilvermorny in Rowling’s illustrative chapter on Pottermore.
There’s more to be excited about though, as it looks like some of the characters and creatures from the chapter will also appear in the upcoming film ‘Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them’. The film is set in New York City, 70 years before Harry Potter’s story begins. Rowling will turn screenplay writer for the film, starring Eddie Redmayne.
Separated by time, the seas, and in a different continent, the magic of North America’s Hogwarts, Ilvermorny, still promises to enthral. It goes without saying that Potter fans can wait no longer to discover more magic.
(At The Quint, we are answerable only to our audience. Play an active role in shaping our journalism by becoming a member. Because the truth is worth it.)