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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.
22 pages, ebook
First published June 28, 2016
30 people are currently reading
8,860 people want to read
About the author
J.K. Rowling
584books231kfollowersSee also: Robert Galbraith
Although she writes under the pen name J.K. Rowling, pronounced like rolling, her name when her first Harry Potter book was published was simply Joanne Rowling. Anticipating that the target audience of young boys might not want to read a book written by a woman, her publishers demanded that she use two initials, rather than her full name. As she had no middle name, she chose K as the second initial of her pen name, from her paternal grandmother Kathleen Ada Bulgen Rowling. She calls herself Jo and has said, "No one ever called me 'Joanne' when I was young, unless they were angry." Following her marriage, she has sometimes used the name Joanne Murray when conducting personal business. During the Leveson Inquiry she gave evidence under the name of Joanne Kathleen Rowling. In a 2012 interview, Rowling noted that she no longer cared that people pronounced her name incorrectly.
Rowling was born to Peter James Rowling, a Rolls-Royce aircraft engineer, and Anne Rowling (née Volant), on 31 July 1965 in Yate, Gloucestershire, England, 10 miles (16 km) northeast of Bristol. Her mother Anne was half-French and half-Scottish. Her parents first met on a train departing from King's Cross Station bound for Arbroath in 1964. They married on 14 March 1965. Her mother's maternal grandfather, Dugald Campbell, was born in Lamlash on the Isle of Arran. Her mother's paternal grandfather, Louis Volant, was awarded the Croix de Guerre for exceptional bravery in defending the village of Courcelles-le-Comte during the First World War.
Rowling's sister Dianne was born at their home when Rowling was 23 months old. The family moved to the nearby village Winterbourne when Rowling was four. She attended St Michael's Primary School, a school founded by abolitionist William Wilberforce and education reformer Hannah More. Her headmaster at St Michael's, Alfred Dunn, has been suggested as the inspiration for the Harry Potter headmaster Albus Dumbledore.
As a child, Rowling often wrote fantasy stories, which she would usually then read to her sister. She recalls that: "I can still remember me telling her a story in which she fell down a rabbit hole and was fed strawberries by the rabbit family inside it. Certainly the first story I ever wrote down (when I was five or six) was about a rabbit called Rabbit. He got the measles and was visited by his friends, including a giant bee called Miss Bee." At the age of nine, Rowling moved to Church Cottage in the Gloucestershire village of Tutshill, close to Chepstow, Wales. When she was a young teenager, her great aunt, who Rowling said "taught classics and approved of a thirst for knowledge, even of a questionable kind," gave her a very old copy of Jessica Mitford's autobiography, Hons and Rebels. Mitford became Rowling's heroine, and Rowling subsequently read all of her books.
Rowling has said of her teenage years, in an interview with The New Yorker, "I wasn’t particularly happy. I think it’s a dreadful time of life." She had a difficult homelife; her mother was ill and she had a difficult relationship with her father (she is no longer on speaking terms with him). She attended secondary school at Wyedean School and College, where her mother had worked as a technician in the science department. Rowling said of her adolescence, "Hermione [a bookish, know-it-all Harry Potter character] is loosely based on me. She's a caricature of me when I was eleven, which I'm not particularly proud of." Steve Eddy, who taught Rowling English when she first arrived, remembers her as "not exceptional" but "one of a group of girls who were bright, and quite good at English." Sean Harris, her best friend in the Upper Sixth owned a turquoise Ford Anglia, which she says inspired the one in her books.
Although she writes under the pen name J.K. Rowling, pronounced like rolling, her name when her first Harry Potter book was published was simply Joanne Rowling. Anticipating that the target audience of young boys might not want to read a book written by a woman, her publishers demanded that she use two initials, rather than her full name. As she had no middle name, she chose K as the second initial of her pen name, from her paternal grandmother Kathleen Ada Bulgen Rowling. She calls herself Jo and has said, "No one ever called me 'Joanne' when I was young, unless they were angry." Following her marriage, she has sometimes used the name Joanne Murray when conducting personal business. During the Leveson Inquiry she gave evidence under the name of Joanne Kathleen Rowling. In a 2012 interview, Rowling noted that she no longer cared that people pronounced her name incorrectly.
Rowling was born to Peter James Rowling, a Rolls-Royce aircraft engineer, and Anne Rowling (née Volant), on 31 July 1965 in Yate, Gloucestershire, England, 10 miles (16 km) northeast of Bristol. Her mother Anne was half-French and half-Scottish. Her parents first met on a train departing from King's Cross Station bound for Arbroath in 1964. They married on 14 March 1965. Her mother's maternal grandfather, Dugald Campbell, was born in Lamlash on the Isle of Arran. Her mother's paternal grandfather, Louis Volant, was awarded the Croix de Guerre for exceptional bravery in defending the village of Courcelles-le-Comte during the First World War.
Rowling's sister Dianne was born at their home when Rowling was 23 months old. The family moved to the nearby village Winterbourne when Rowling was four. She attended St Michael's Primary School, a school founded by abolitionist William Wilberforce and education reformer Hannah More. Her headmaster at St Michael's, Alfred Dunn, has been suggested as the inspiration for the Harry Potter headmaster Albus Dumbledore.
As a child, Rowling often wrote fantasy stories, which she would usually then read to her sister. She recalls that: "I can still remember me telling her a story in which she fell down a rabbit hole and was fed strawberries by the rabbit family inside it. Certainly the first story I ever wrote down (when I was five or six) was about a rabbit called Rabbit. He got the measles and was visited by his friends, including a giant bee called Miss Bee." At the age of nine, Rowling moved to Church Cottage in the Gloucestershire village of Tutshill, close to Chepstow, Wales. When she was a young teenager, her great aunt, who Rowling said "taught classics and approved of a thirst for knowledge, even of a questionable kind," gave her a very old copy of Jessica Mitford's autobiography, Hons and Rebels. Mitford became Rowling's heroine, and Rowling subsequently read all of her books.
Rowling has said of her teenage years, in an interview with The New Yorker, "I wasn’t particularly happy. I think it’s a dreadful time of life." She had a difficult homelife; her mother was ill and she had a difficult relationship with her father (she is no longer on speaking terms with him). She attended secondary school at Wyedean School and College, where her mother had worked as a technician in the science department. Rowling said of her adolescence, "Hermione [a bookish, know-it-all Harry Potter character] is loosely based on me. She's a caricature of me when I was eleven, which I'm not particularly proud of." Steve Eddy, who taught Rowling English when she first arrived, remembers her as "not exceptional" but "one of a group of girls who were bright, and quite good at English." Sean Harris, her best friend in the Upper Sixth owned a turquoise Ford Anglia, which she says inspired the one in her books.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 122 reviews
Shelved as 'can-t-continue-never-gonna-happen'
November 30, 2016As much as I get excited by the title when I saw it on ŷ..
And As much as I wished to have an Actual book of Ilvermorny, the 'American' Hogwarts..
But this is NOT A BOOK..,yet.
It's still one story, Not as ,
May be later they will do. about its rich world..
ِAnd who knows...may be it'd contain more schools' information..those hot spots around the world..
Our World.
Please, Make it a real e-book
Mohammed Arabey
6th Sep. 2016
And As much as I wished to have an Actual book of Ilvermorny, the 'American' Hogwarts..
But this is NOT A BOOK..,yet.
It's still one story, Not as ,
May be later they will do. about its rich world..
ِAnd who knows...may be it'd contain more schools' information..those hot spots around the world..
Our World.
Please, Make it a real e-book
Mohammed Arabey
6th Sep. 2016
September 23, 2016
I decided to catch up on all the things I missed on Pottermore in the last two years I have been inactive on the said site. Here’s what I picked: Ilvermorny School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. It follows the story of Isolt “Morrigan� Sayre, one of the founders of the said magic school, an Irish witch who was on the run from her aunt who raised her. She is a descendant of Salazar Slytherin and the famous Irish witch and Animagus Morrigan.
I adore this tale. It is a quick read that gave me satisfaction in discovering the origin of Ilvermorny. I always love unearthing stories of how things came to be.
My favorite thing about it, which made me enjoy it most, is the idea of James’s character. He is Isolt’s co-founder. He is quite fascinating because he’s a Isn’t that awesome? I think that made everything more splendid.
Like most stories out there, I have a problem with this one. Guess what is it? It’s not a full-length novel! The plot was so gorgeous and I would have fallen madly in love with it if I got to see more of it. Wouldn't it be wonderful if readers got to visit Ilvermorny's every corner and grasped every struggle that James and Isolt went through in building it? Maybe it would be lovely if we could read about the professors, the classes, the students and how they feel towards going to school there. Also, I wanted to know how James was treated by the students. He is very different than all of them. Wouldn’t he be oppressed? How would Isolt approach the issue? I have so many questions and concerns regarding it! This kind of story deserves at least four-hundred pages of exploration, in my opinion.
I adore this tale. It is a quick read that gave me satisfaction in discovering the origin of Ilvermorny. I always love unearthing stories of how things came to be.
My favorite thing about it, which made me enjoy it most, is the idea of James’s character. He is Isolt’s co-founder. He is quite fascinating because he’s a Isn’t that awesome? I think that made everything more splendid.
Like most stories out there, I have a problem with this one. Guess what is it? It’s not a full-length novel! The plot was so gorgeous and I would have fallen madly in love with it if I got to see more of it. Wouldn't it be wonderful if readers got to visit Ilvermorny's every corner and grasped every struggle that James and Isolt went through in building it? Maybe it would be lovely if we could read about the professors, the classes, the students and how they feel towards going to school there. Also, I wanted to know how James was treated by the students. He is very different than all of them. Wouldn’t he be oppressed? How would Isolt approach the issue? I have so many questions and concerns regarding it! This kind of story deserves at least four-hundred pages of exploration, in my opinion.
September 23, 2018
Link for anyone who wants to read this (which I would highly recommend!):
May 23, 2017
How do you feel when someone offers you only a single spoon of chocolate pastry? You get craving to eat more, right?
That's exactly how I feel every time I read J.K.Rowling's write-up about wizarding world. Come on, JKR, I want more.
Why do you keep teasing us with such magical stories when you have no intention of writing proper books about the enchanting wizarding world you created and the one we love so SO much? This is really not fair. *sobs*
That's exactly how I feel every time I read J.K.Rowling's write-up about wizarding world. Come on, JKR, I want more.
Why do you keep teasing us with such magical stories when you have no intention of writing proper books about the enchanting wizarding world you created and the one we love so SO much? This is really not fair. *sobs*
October 17, 2020
A quaint history--quite wonderfully conceived. I'll let it go at that.
November 2, 2020
My favourite magic school other from Hogwarts. A fun background story, nothing special. 2.5 stars.
July 11, 2020
Rowling siendo una diosa creando historias desde siempre.
December 25, 2016
This was a great look at Ilvermorny...the history behind how it was founded and info about it's house's.
October 29, 2017
I would totally be in that Thunderbird house, just saying.
August 31, 2018
This should be made as a full length novel...
August 29, 2020
I've always been wondering how JK Rowling would create a magical world for other countries and so far with new stories of these other schools in other countries I haven't been disappointed.
Each have their distinct cultures and strengths and I love that. I'm looking forward to learning more about the world and the people in it as always.
Each have their distinct cultures and strengths and I love that. I'm looking forward to learning more about the world and the people in it as always.
November 20, 2017
I love J.K. Rowling and I will love Harry Potter forever! new information and new witchcraft schools are always welcome <3
August 8, 2016
This was a cute and short story putting the heart of Ilvermorny's history in focus, why and how it was founded. I find it charming and encouraging that one brave girl, a descendent of Salazar no less, could escape and create a life not only for herself but help others heal and grow strong in a place so different from home.
William, that son of a Pukwudgie got to my heart, and I do believe that its him after all this time. Bitter as he may be, he had a big heart and stayed loyal to those who deserved it. He made sure her legacy would be secured for the future generations of witches and wizards, even though he and his family had sworn to loathe humans.
It's not Hogwarts, and I loved it. Showing that there is more in the world than only one school. However, we knew there were more since we encountered them in Goblet of Fire we had not heard much in depth about their history or their values as we did Ilvermorny's. I hope to encounter more of this place soon since I've taken it so dearly to heart.
William, that son of a Pukwudgie got to my heart, and I do believe that its him after all this time. Bitter as he may be, he had a big heart and stayed loyal to those who deserved it. He made sure her legacy would be secured for the future generations of witches and wizards, even though he and his family had sworn to loathe humans.
It's not Hogwarts, and I loved it. Showing that there is more in the world than only one school. However, we knew there were more since we encountered them in Goblet of Fire we had not heard much in depth about their history or their values as we did Ilvermorny's. I hope to encounter more of this place soon since I've taken it so dearly to heart.
April 19, 2017
ONE WORD.
AMAZING!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
It feels like I'm back to the wizarding world - but in a new dimension. Ugh. Idk why but I instantly fell in love with the name "Rionach" lol. I hope I can use it for a boy's name but I just realized it's a girl's name.
TBC (review)
AMAZING!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
It feels like I'm back to the wizarding world - but in a new dimension. Ugh. Idk why but I instantly fell in love with the name "Rionach" lol. I hope I can use it for a boy's name but I just realized it's a girl's name.
TBC (review)
August 29, 2016
A lovely short story that explained how the American wizarding school came to be. It's always fun to delve back into the brilliant world Rowling created.
September 22, 2016
Pretty interesting. I can't believe I actually waited this long to log on and read it, though.
October 16, 2016
It could be just "one page" but is really, really long.
I like a lot this story by J.K, I want to read the story as a book, srly.
I like a lot this story by J.K, I want to read the story as a book, srly.
October 26, 2016
MAKE IT A REAL BOOK ABOUT MAGIC IN NORTH AMERICA <3
July 31, 2019
I love fake history!
October 17, 2016
I think the only thing I need to say is... This should be a book, and I totally loved this story.
January 3, 2018
This is a very interesting story about the foundation of the Ilvermony School in the US. It sheds light on the founders, their stories and origins, how the houses were created, how the school developed and even the problems that happened with ancestors (again related to Salazar Slytherin). It is a very short text but very interesting and enlightening about the story and development of this school.
March 12, 2018
Akoze fajn sa to citalo, ale som dost sklamana z tolkej podobnosti s Rokfortom, kde nechala Rowlingova fantaziu? To sa na nu vobec nepodoba.
October 21, 2020
You’re a wizard Harry!
Fun short story. Not as grandiose as Hogwarts but still interesting!
Fun short story. Not as grandiose as Hogwarts but still interesting!
Read
January 1, 2023Let's gooo, book number 1 of 2023!
December 31, 2020
It would be really cool to see a series written around this school as well.
February 20, 2017
Only JK can make me cry in such a short story. It was beautiful
September 17, 2018
Pukwudgie.
I had dreams of being a Thunderbird or a Wampus.
Slytherin forever.
I had dreams of being a Thunderbird or a Wampus.
Slytherin forever.
December 22, 2017
I can't help myself. This is a brief origin story, but I obviously had to read the history of Ilvermorny. I always struggle with the idea of two very inexperienced wizards dueling with a dark wizard and winning, and find it odd that James is named James (considering this is already a very important name in the wizarding world) but I LOVE that he lives as a muggle amongst wizards for the majority of his days. He is fully accepted, and even revered in the American wizarding world. Maybe this can give some of us hope of doing the same. Okay, just kidding.
Kind of. :)
Let's face it: anything Jo writes about my favorite books, I'll read.
P.S. For the record, I was sorted into Thunderbird House.
Kind of. :)
Let's face it: anything Jo writes about my favorite books, I'll read.
P.S. For the record, I was sorted into Thunderbird House.
December 16, 2024
It was great to read so much about the history of the only american school of witchcraft and wizarday. Though unlike hogwarts' history it rvolves around an individual and her family rather than a set of people. Even the initial idea and purpose behind Ilvermorny is a bit different than of Hogwarts, still it's quite interesting and similar at many levels . The references of the school and the overall plot of the first part of fantastic beasts movie series makes this piece of writing even more desirable and relevant. The way Jo explores and narrates the magical world is simply outstanding. It could well be the next movie project for WB from the magical world of JK Rowling.
November 24, 2016
A short but also quite long story written on one page. This is reminds me about the stories of Beedle the Bard, only this is a story about how the American Wizarding School came to be. I love this story a lot. By the way, I've sorted in Thunderbird house of Ilvermorny School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.
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