A Rundown of Everything We Know About Ilvermorny So Far

We run down everything we know about the American wizarding school Ilvermorny so far.

With the brand new Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them movie set in the American wizarding world, fans have been salivating to learn more about the accredited wizarding school that functions as the North american equivalent of Hogwarts. Does it have a respectable headmaster or head mistress on the order of Dumbledore? Where is it located? How does one get their invite? Are there Houses to be sorted into?

While Rowling and Pottermore have been cagey on the details of the history of Ilvermorny, having not yet released any direct information, between Rowling’s “History of magic of North America, some clues from Pottermore’s other writings, and one clever fan who started digging into what’s hiding under the hood in the website’s yet to be revealed sections, we actually might know more than we think.

We may not know the founding date, but we do know around when the school started and a little bit about it’s humble beginnings. We do know who thought having such a school was important and we can extrapolate how it grew over time. And though we still may not know the exact location, we can take a good guess as to where the school is not.

So come along with us while we break down everything we think we know about Ilvermorny so far.

Next: Ilvermorny is a Relatively Recent Academy

1. Ilvermorny is a Relatively Recent Academy

As most students of UK wizarding history are aware, Hogwarts school of Witchcraft and Wizardry was founded at the beginning of the tenth century, by the four greatest wizards and witches of the age, who believed that magic should be taught to all students and that it was important to have a regulated institution in order to teach the safe use of magic, as well as standardize its use throughout wizarding society. We don’t know if Hogwarts was the first wizarding school to be founded, but we do know that the idea at the time was a bit radical–sending children to school for formalized education was not something that Muggles would not really begin to do, outside of the Roman catholic church’s monetarist program, until around the 12th century.

Ilvermorny, on the other hand, was not founded until seven centuries later. Not that their weren’t wizards and witches–the Native American tribes that populated the great North American continent were as magical as any other peoples. But, despite Rowling’s failure to fully explain how diverse the different tribes and populations and customs were across the continent, the fact of the latter is, they were diverse and individualized enough that even though magic hit a high point in their cultures during the 14th-17th centuries, no formalized institution was ever even considered necessary for the entire continent. Each set of peoples was perfectly content to keep their own versions of the magical arts and pass down their teachings through the generations.

Next: Ilvermorny was most likely founded by Europeans Settlers

2. Ilvermorny was most likely founded by Europeans Settlers

With no need for a formalized centralized institution among the dozens of Native American tribes which populated the areas which today are known as Canada, the United States and Mexico, how did Ilvermorny come about then? The first mention of it in Rowling’s history pieces isn’t until the 17th century, when it is then described as “a rough shack containing two teachers and two students.” By that time, settlers from the European continents, including the French in the Northern territories, the Spanish to the southern coasts and what is today known as Florida, and the Dutch and English settlers along the what is today the US eastern seaboard from Maine to the Carolinas.

As we know from our US history classes, most of the lodgings in the new world for these white settlers from the far side of the pond were usually on the order of rough shacks and rude dwellings, as they were without the means or the familiar components to make the sorts of formal dwellings they were used to in Europe. The Native America tribes–who were at that time being ravaged by disease and in some cases outright genocide by settlers determined to take their land–would most likely not have started a school in such a dwelling. Even if they had suddenly changed their minds on the idea of a continent wide formalized education center, chances are they would have placed it much farther west from the East coast, simply to avoid the the continuing germ warfare that the white man seemed to take everywhere he went, and from Rowling’s writings, European wizards did not seem to do anything about.

Next: Ilvermorny is most likely on the East Coast

4. Ilvermorny is most likely on the East Coast

If we take it as a given that the entire concept of a formalized school was one brought by tjhe European settlers to North America, then it only stands to reason that the school exists in the area where they first populated, or only just to the west of it. If the school had been founded by the Native peoples, one would expect it to be a bit more centralized, in order to make it fair to tribes who once populated the areas that are today the states of California and the area known as the Pacific Northwest. But as Europeans–Muggles and wizards alike–did not make it to the West Coast until after the American revolution, it is not surprising their they founded the school in the area where their greatest population center was.

As to where the school, Rowling has not yet revealed the location (though supposedly, the location was revealed to Muggles once during an 18th century incident.) From what has been told, the wizarding community got lucky, in that very few believed the scourer who attempted to reveal Ilvermorny’s location. Though we do know the MACUSA changed headquarters after that incident, there is nothing that suggests the school did. With Rowling’s reveal in her overview on the subject that most wizarding schools are in landlocked, mountainous regions, it is at this point assumed that Ilvermorny is located somewhere along the more northerly part of the Appalachian range, which stretches along the interior east coast, reaching from Newfoundland in Canada southwestward down as far as Central Alabama in the US.

Next: Ilvermorny may have been based on Hogwarts

4. Ilvermorny may have been based on Hogwarts

With all the signs pointing to it being European wizards bringing over the idea of formalized, centralized education of magic to the North American continent, it is not surprisingly that what we know if Ilvermorny sounds rather Hogwarts-like. Western ideals–both Muggle and wizard–were adopted across the globe during the colonial period where those from the tiny islands like England slowly conquering the entire planet. And when those settlers brought their ideas–and then insisted on them as the standard for everyone to follow–they most times imitated what they knew from home.

In this case, wizard and witch settlers coming over from Great Britain and founding a school somewhere along the eastern side of the North American continent would have structured it to follow what they already knew –Hogwarts. So when Rowling revealed on Twitter last year that she knew “what houses” the American characters we would meet in Fantastic Beasts “had been sorted into,” it was a clue that the structure of Ilvermorny mimics that of Hogwarts. Though there are not four founders, those who founded it were used to a four house system. Therefore, that’s what they put in place at Ilvermorny. We can also surmise from this that the classes are probably similar, with students taking such subjects as Potions, Transfiguration and the like.

Next: Ilvermorny has Four Houses

5. Ilvermorny has Four Houses

As was revealed over the weekend, the result of Ilvermorny’s being based on the Hogwarts model does indeed mean that it has four houses. Exactly how the Sorting Ceremony works is not actually clear at this time, since the Hogwarts ceremony is based on Godric Gryffindor’s transfigured hat, into which the four founders injected their personalities and priorities for picking students. But nevertheless, the students are sorted. The houses, as is typical of Europeans wishing to vaguely honor the peoples who they once displaced, are named after magical creatures appropriated from Native American magical culture:

• Horned Serpent: “Horned Serpents are a creature that figures in the folklore of many indigenous peoples of North America. They are typically described as dragon-like serpents with horns and long teeth. They are often associated with or said to control the weather, particularly rain, lightning, and thunder. Magical abilities ascribed to them include shape-shifting, invisibility, and hypnotic powers.”
• Wampus: “The Wampus cat is a creature that features in the folklore of various indigenous peoples of the southeastern United States, variously described as some kind of fearsome variation of a cougar.”
• Thunderbird: “The thunderbird is a legendary creature which features in the mythology of certain indigenous peoples of North America. It is especially prominent within the cultures of the indigenous peoples of the Pacific Northwest, and is frequently featured in their art, songs, and stories. However, versions of the thunderbird are also found in the traditions of peoples of the American Southwest, Great Lakes, and Great Plains regions of the continent. Accounts of the thunderbird and its characteristics vary, but it is often described as a very large bird, capable of generating storms and thunder as it flies.”
• Pukwudgie: “The Pukwudgie is a creature that appears in the folklore of various indigenous peoples of North America, notably the Wampanoag. It is typically described as two-to-three-feet tall and human-shaped, but with a larger nose, ears, and fingers and smooth, grey skin that sometimes glows. Its magical abilities include disappearing and reappearing, partial or complete transformation into a porcupine or cougar, and creating fire.”

Next: Ilvermorny Is Widely Respected As One of the Top Wizarding Institutions

6. Ilvermorny Is Widely Respected As One of the Top Wizarding Institutions

Despite Ilvermorny’s humble beginnings and relatively recent founding, in the last two centuries its reputation has shot through the roof. Much like the two major countries that dominate the North American continent, both of whom are just as recent (and just as young) have grown to be major power players in the world, so to has the magical institution that teaching their young wizards and witches, and is widely respected as one of the best schools in the world.

This is doubly impressive due to the terrible undercurrent that pervades American wizarding society, at least when we will first experience it in 1920. One of the things that Rowling’s writings on the History of Magic in North America is the oppressive regime that those who practice magic in the United States live under, as their magical government insists on a completely segregated society from the Muggles who they still must needs live amongst. In that sort of atmosphere, it would be hard to imagine that young wizards and witches would be able to stretch their talents to their fullest ability, and that many wizarding families of means would most likely send their children overseas to other countries that are more hospitable to their talents and provide better opportunities in life, causing magical “brain drain” on the population. And yet, that does not happen. Ilvermory has managed to turn itself into a premiere institution, despite it’s government’s clamping down on any one or anything whose magic gets out of line.

How do they manage that? Who has been able to guide the school to such heights, despite the tenor of the times? Whoever that is, I hope we get to meet them. They must be the Greatest Wizard or Witch of Their Age.

Next: Has Jamaal Charles Lost a Step?

What else do we think we know about Ilvermorny? Is there anything you are looking forward to learning? Sound off in the comments.