Ilvermorny, Massachusetts

// THIS IS AN OLD CHAPTER. THE NEW CHAPTERS ARE IN VOLUME 2. YOU CAN READ THESE CHAPTERS IF YOU WANT SOME INSIGHT ON WHAT IS GOING TO HAPPEN LATER BUT SOME EVENTS CAN BE DIFFERENT BETWEEN THE OLD AND NEW CHAPTERS.

This August 10, I visit Ilvermorny in secret with Stryga, my parents are not aware that I am here with grandma. She managed to arrange this visit with the headmaster and made me come to her house at the last minute.

I am wearing my Wizard costume which I had remade to adapt to my new size. I took the opportunity to add a sun similar to the one that was on the thunderbird's wings but not identical enough to attract attention, and small silver dots on the fabric to make one think of stars. Anyone would think I'm interested in astronomy and snakes by looking at my coat when in fact it's a trophy reminding me of my victory over MACUSA and the Thunderbird Reserve.

Stryga is also very well dressed, she wears a beige suit, in the style of the 60s with a small hat on her head and her hair pulled up in a bun. Despite the signs of age, she is very beautiful like all purebred Veela.

I'm waiting with Stryga in her living room when I finally hear someone ring the doorbell. I get up leaving Stryga to enjoy her cup of tea in her chair. When I open the door, I come across an old gentleman with cropped white hair wearing a waistcoat with black pants and a white shirt. His outfit was embellished with a gold Gordian knot at the buttonhole. Ephthalius Marrow seems to be a much more modern headmaster than Dumbledore, he has an air of an English gentleman that makes you want to trust him.

"Hello, you must be Sean. My name is Ephthalius Marrow, but you can call me Mister Marrow or Ephthalius if you feel like it."

"Nice to meet you."

"You look exactly like Dumbledore's description of you to me, it's amazing how tall you are." I'm a good two inches taller than the director.

"Dumbledore talked to you about me?"

"Not talk, but rather demand that I stop trying to steal his student from him. He sent me a rather hateful message when you can read between the lines, I guess that means you got my gift? "

"Oh yes, the headmaster almost choked on a piece of bread at the table when he saw me open the package." The headmaster of Ilvermorny laughs heartily when he imagines the scene.

"Sean, let our guest into the house, I don't like being left out of interesting conversations." I hear Stryga shout from the living room, I invite the man to come in and guide him to the living room where he meets my grandmother.

The director freezes and stares at Stryga insistently. Could this be another victim of the Veela charm?

"Madam you are lovely, meeting you is enough to brighten my day." Yes, it is still a victim of grandmother.

"Vile flatterer, sit down, Sean will bring you a cup of lavender tea."

"Thank you for this offer, but unfortunately I'm late, we have to go if we want to have the time to do the whole visit." The headmaster pulls out his wand, a beautiful dark wood wand with an ivory handle, as my grandmother gets up from her chair with a sigh and reluctantly places her cup of tea on the coffee table in her living room.

The Headmaster offers his arm to Stryga, whom she gladly grabs as I place a hand on his shoulder and we Apparate. When my sight returns to normal, a thick wall of fog looms before us, a solitary metal gate bearing the school symbol and a gold Gordian knot is the only thing sticking out of the thick wall of opaque smoke.

"The school is protected by a thick wall of fog; it is impossible to Apparate through even for me. There are portkeys belonging to the school that are specially designed to be able to pass through our defenses, they are usually used to allow groups of students to be transported at specific times. " He uses his wand and a cross movement and two circles with it. "Nebulae Dissipationes. Welcome to Ilvermorny!"

The gate opens, dispersing a whole section of mist revealing the granite castle. This one is much bigger than Hogwarts. I can see multiple towers rising towards the clouds and a waterfall escaping from under the castle to rush down Mount Greylock

"We are currently welcoming more or less two thousand students but the castle is still expanding to meet the increasing numbers of admissions." When I think that it's been several hundred years that Hogwarts has not been enlarged or improved, it is depressing when you see the will to always do more of this school.

A beautiful old collector's car awaits us just behind the gate. The director opens the door for grandma and helps her settle inside. The vehicle moves quickly on the road leading to the castle while Ephthalius continues his explanations.

"We are on school vacation for the moment, the only students present are those who participate in the program to help the integration of children of non-maj. It is a program that was set up some year ago to help non-maj children in difficult situations. Some of them who were part of very religious community like the Mormons encountered difficulties during the appearance of their magical powers. But we also intervene when a student suffers brutality from his non-maj parents, or in quite rare cases, when he finds himself living on the street. In return, we ask them to help a little with the upkeep of the castle. "

We cross a stone arch and the director parks in a courtyard just in front of the main gate of the castle. Two statues can be found on either side of it, a man and a woman. We get out of the car; I think it's a little warmer in here than it was outside the gate.

"This is the main courtyard and the main gate of the castle. This is where the students who use our portkeys arrive, the older students can directly enter to go to the hall second floor which is directly behind the great door and attend the ceremony of the choice. The first graders must wait until they are all present before they can come and participate in the ceremony. The two statues in front of the main door represent Isolt Sayne and James Steward, two of the founders of Ilvermorny with their two foster children Chadwick and Webster Boot. We are so glad to have you here Sean, there have not been any family members of Isolt for almost two hundred years. "

"Why? Are there no more descendants?"

"No, unfortunately the line died out a long time ago. The only surviving family members were in England before your parents moved to Mystic Falls, making you the first member of Isolt's family passing through the gates of Ilvermorny for the last two centuries. You do not realize the symbolic value that your inscription would have for us. "

We advance towards the gates of the castle which opens in front of us. A large round room occupied by four gigantic statues representing a thunderbird, a wampus cat, a horned serpent and a puckwoodgenie is just behind. On the floor is a Gordian knot symbol all in white marble and gold.

"It is in this room that the first graders are chosen by a house. There are four houses here, the adventurers represented by the fiery thunderbird, the healers who have vocation to heal like William the puckwoodgenie, the scholars whose knowledge lights up like the crystal of a horned serpent, and finally the warriors who have the courage and ferocity of the wampus cat who protects his kittens. Students stand on the symbol in the center of the room and if a house accepts them the statue of the animal representing it comes to life. " He notices that my attention is captured by the crystal on the head of the horned serpent. "You want to try?"

"Why not." I stand on the symbol in the center of the room awaiting the reaction of the statues.