Ilvermorny School of Witchcraft and Wizardry

"The great North American school of magic was founded in the seventeenth century. It stands at the highest peak of Mount Greylock, where it is concealed from non-magic gaze by a variety of powerful enchantments, which sometimes manifest in a wreath of misty cloud."

- Description of the school Ilvermorny School of Witchcraft and Wizardry is the American wizarding school, located on Mount Greylock in modern day Massachusetts. It accepts students from all over North America. Students of this school, as at Hogwarts in Scotland, are sorted into four houses.

When Newt Scamander travelled to New York in the 1920s, he met people who were educated at this school.

Location
Ilvermorny Castle is located on top of the highest peak of Mount Greylock in the Berkshires of Western Massachusetts.

The castle was once a granite stone house constructed by Isolt Sayre and James Steward to be their home. When it eventually became a school, the cottage kept expanding until it became a castle. The frontdoors are adorned with marble statues of Sayre and Steward on either side. It is concealed by several enchantments which sometimes makes the school like a wreath of misty cloud.

History
Ilvermorny was founded during the early seventeenth century after 1620, 630 years after Hogwarts, and the school was originally just a rough shack containing two teachers and two students. Ilvermorny was originally a stone cottage constructed by Irish immigrant Isolt Sayre, and her No-Maj husband James Steward. It became a school when their adoptive children Chadwick and Webster Boot hoped they could return to Ireland so they could attend Hogwarts. Isolt then promised they could build their own school at Ilvermorny with the objective of home-schooling them.

Thus, the school started with just the couple acting as teachers and their two adopted sons, Chadwick and Webster Boot, as students. Each of them named one of the four Houses: Chadwick created Thunderbird, Webster created Wampus, Isolt created Horned Serpent, and James created Pukwudgie.

Eventually, the school enrolled more students, and the couple were able to provide wands not just for their children but for the other students too. These students were Native Americans of the Wampanoag and the Narragansett tribes who shared their knowledge of magic in return for being taught the technique involved with wandwork. Therefore, Native American magic became involved in the foundations of Ilvermorny. Over the next few years, the school grew even more and by 1634, there were enough children for inter-house competitions.

For a time, the school acted only as a day school, with only James, Isolt and their family as the only live-in residents. News of the new school reached Europe, and Isolt's wicked aunt, Gormlaith Gaunt finally located her niece. She made her way to the school, and cast a curse on James and Isolt from a distance to put them in a deep sleep, in hopes to kill them and abduct their new-born twin daughters. She didn't know, however, about Chadwick and Webster, and when she cast a spell in Parseltongue to disable Isolt's wand, the brothers' wands (which had the core of Horned Serpent horn) alerted them of the danger. Chadwick went to hold off the Dark witch while Webster attempted, to no avail to awaken their parents. Webster joined the duel and the couple were awakened by the cry of their infant daughters. While James went to protect the babies, Isolt tried to join the fight, but her wand was useless, being disabled prior. In the duel the whole family was driven to the bedroom, and Isolt called out to her late father William for help, and was answered by her old friend William, a Pukwudgie. The Pukwudgie killed Gormlaith and from that day on, William and his family acted as the school's security and maintenance staff.

By the 18th century, Ilvermorny became a granite castle and more teachers were added to cope with the growing number of students. By this point, the school had become a boarding school. Ilvermorny reached the same reputation other schools of magic had and the founders had concealed their school by clever enchantments, some of which made it look like a misty cloud to No-Majs.

During the 18th century, one of Ilvermorny ex-students, Dorcus Twelvetrees, revealed to a No-Maj named Bartholomew Barebone the location of the school, among other information concerning the wizarding community. However, it turned out that Bartholomew was the descendant of a Scourer, and he revealed all the information he got from Dorcus to the No-Maj community, including Ilvermorny's address. It led to one of the greatest ever breaches of the International Statute of Secrecy, but also the passage of Rappaport's Law, which effectively segregated the No-Maj and wizarding communities. When first years arrive to Ilvermorny, they are sorted into their house and then they are taken to another area where they get to choose (or be chosen by) their wand. Prior of the repeal of the Rappaport's Law, students were not allowed a wand outside of school until they were seventeen.

By the 1920s, Ilvermorny had been flourishing for more than two centuries and was widely considered to be one of the greatest magical educational establishments in the world. As a result of their shared education, all witches and wizards who attended are proficient in the use of a wand.

Sorting
There are four houses at Ilvermorny - Horned Serpent, Wampus, Thunderbird and Pukwudgie. When a student starts their education at Ilvermorny, they step onto a Gordian Knot on the floor in the centre of the entrance hall with large wooden statues of the mascots for the four houses facing them. The carved statues react if they want the student in their house. The older students watch in silence from a circular balcony on a floor above them as the new students are sorted. The carvings react by:


 * Horned Serpent - The crystal in the carving's forehead glows.
 * Wampus - The carving roars.
 * Thunderbird - The carving beats its wings.
 * Pukwudgie - The carving raises its arrow.

However, sometimes more than one carving will try to select the same student and so the student is then able to choose the house they prefer. This happens very rarely. Sometimes - as rare as once a decade or even a generation as in the case of one student - a student will be selected by every house. Seraphina Picquery, who was President of MACUSA 1920 - 1928 is known to have had this honour. She chose Horned Serpent.

After the sorting, the student is brought to a room where they are chosen once more, this time by a wand. Prior to the end of Rappaport's Law, children could not have a wand prior to schooling and had to leave their wand at school during school breaks and could only take the wand out of school when they reached seventeen years of age.

Reputation
As might be expected of a school part-founded by a No-Maj, Ilvermorny has the reputation of being one of the most democratic, least elitist of all the great wizarding schools. Students are also well versed in the use of a wand.

Uniform
The robes of Ilvermorny are blue and cranberry. The colours honour Isolt and James: blue because it was Isolt's favourite colour and because she had wished to be in Ravenclaw house as a child; cranberry in honour of James's love of cranberry pie. All Ilvermony students' robes are fastened by a gold Gordian Knot, in memory of the brooch Isolt found in the ruins of the original Ilvermorny cottage.

Classes
Defence Against the Dark Arts is one of the subject which has been taught at Ilvermorny since the 17th century. One of the teachers was Rionach Steward, the daughter of Ilvermorny founders Isolt Sayre and James Steward. Another known subject at Ilvermorny is Charms. Chadwick's Charms Vols I – VII, which was written by founder Chadwick Boot are standard textbooks for Charms class at Ilvermorny.

Known students

 * Chadwick Boot (graduated)
 * Webster Boot (graduated)
 * Rionach Steward (graduated)
 * Dorcus Twelvetrees (formerly)
 * Seraphina Picquery (graduated)
 * Porpentina Scamander (née Goldstein)
 * Queenie Goldstein

Behind the scenes

 * Ilvermorny is the only known wizarding school to have been co-founded by a No-Maj.
 * In an interview shortly before the release of in 2000, J. K. Rowling responded  to a question about whether American children could attend Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry by stating, "No, they have their own school. You'll find out in Book 4." Ilvermorny, however, was not mentioned in the fourth book. It is likely that she refered to Castelobruxo, the South American wizarding school.