Potter Fan Claims They’ve Found Ilvermorny
By Ani Bundel
A dedicated Potter fan thinks they have located the location of the American Wizarding School Ilvermorny… in Detroit.
During January’s A Celebration of Harry Potter, J.K. Rowling released the first new writing on Pottermore since the relaunch–short stories concerning some of the other Internationally Accredited Wizarding Schools, including how many there are altogether (11) and the names of several, including Mahoutokoro in Japan, Uagadou in Uganda and Castelobruxo in Brazil. She also revealed the name of the North American Wizarding School–Ilvermorny–but no details. As of today the name of the school links to a promise that information is “coming soon.”
Well, American Wizarding fans have been debating ever since where the school would be located. Many assumed for years it would be in Salem, or at least the North Eastern area where Europeans first settled. Others have suggested the opposite–that the school would be tucked away somewhere away from European prying eyes, on ancient Native American lands, or deep in Creole territory. But one fan had discovered a place with building that look suspiciously like they fit the bill perfectly.
Keeping in mind that this is the drawing that Pottermore provided:
That means the main building is located….
Yes, the
nearly abandoned
city of Detroit is the home of the American Wizarding School. (As a commentor below notes, this is a untrue stereotype. Nearly 700,000 people live there. My apologies.) It’s been tucked away in this city, whose heyday of the mid 20th century has finally passed, making it so that the safeguards that kept the school from prying eyes are no longer as necessary as they once were. Turns out the Grand Army of the Republic (GAR) Building is really the main campus headquarters.
You may think this is a museum, but it’s really History and Transfiguration classes.
Turns out that Belle Isle is also part of campus.
It really is a spectacular “campus” he’s put together. Not just the outsides of the buildings, but the interiors too.
I love the first year student he has posing in all the pictures. According to his blog, BuildingaLibrary, this is his daughter, for whom he is building the library his blog is named for.
Could they be right J.K. Rowling? Is the put upon city of Detroit really the home of the American Wizarding School? (Wouldn’t it serve everyone right if it was?) We can only how she sees this and enjoys this discovery as much as the rest of us.