The History of Ilvermorny
Hello everybody, and welcome to your first lesson on American History and Law! For those of you that don't know, I am Professor Lucy or Megara. I teach the Magical Legends & Lore class alongside this one and I am also Head of Pukwudgie House! With that in mind, I thought what better than to have our first lesson our very own school, so without further ado, let's dive into the History of Ilvermorny!
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Ilvermorny was founded by Isolt Sayre in 1627 on Mount Graylock in Massachusetts. Isolt came to America to escape from her aunt Gormlaith Gaunt, who kept her locked up away from civilisation trying to instil blood supremacy into her due to her Morrigan and Slytherin Heritage. When Isolt arrived in America (having disguised herself as a man named Elias Story), she vanished into the mountains around her. It was here where she met her famous Pukwudgie companion, William. You see, William had encountered a Hidebehind (a creature that Professor Carmen will no doubt teach you about at some point during the course of her Creature Care lessons) and was about to be disembowelled when Isolt cast a curse that made it flee. It was because of this, that William said until his debt was repaid, he would be bound to serve her. So, Isolt named him after her late father and the two went on their merry way.
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William introduced Isolt to many creatures on their journey together including the Wampus and the Horned Serpent, which two of our illustrious houses are named after. One day, William and Isolt came across the very same Hidebehind that had caused the two to meet in the first place, however, this time, the Hidebehind had managed to kill two adults and severely injure two children. William and Isolt made quick work of the Hidebehind, killing it before Isolt took the two boys back to her shelter. William wasn't too happy about this and Isolt, furious with his treatment of the boys cast him away after saying that carrying one of the boys back to the shelter was repayment for saving William's life. William then disappeared leaving Isolt to nurse the two boys back to health.
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Webster and Chadwick Boot survived their attack from the Hidebehind and to Isolt's surprise were magical. Isolt waited until the two were in better health before heading back to give their parents a proper burial. It was here that Isolt met James Steward. She watched as he marked the Boot parent's graves before he picked up their wands, gave one a casual wave and flew into a tree and knocked himself out cold. Isolt took him back to the shelter and helped nurse his concussion.
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As it turns out, James was very useful to have around; he kept Isolt and the boys entertained and even helped Isolt build a stone cottage for them to live in which she named Ilvermorny. Eventually, the two married and adopted the Boot boys. Isolt told them stories of Hogwarts which the two boys yearned to attend, however, Isolt promised that she would find them wands and start a school of magic right in their cottage. The two boys wanted houses like Hogwarts so the family of four put their heads together and came to a decision: Horned Serpent which is said to represent the mind and favour scholars, Wampus, which is said to represent the body and favour warriors, Pukwudgie, which is said to represent the heart and favour warriors and Thunderbird which is said to represent the soul and favour adventurers.
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The school gained a good reputation over the years and catered to a number of students, it was this reputation that allowed Gormlaith to find Isolt. Chadwick was now 16 years old and Webster was 14, Isolt and James had also welcomed twin girls: Martha and Rionach. Gormalith sent a powerful sleeping curse at the house which sent James and Isolt into an enchanted sleep, however, Gormlaith didn't know that her subsequent attack on the house would wake the two boys. The Boot boys entered into a duel with Gormlaith, which in turn woke up their twin sisters. The cries of fear and the love that Isolt and James had for their children overpowered the sleeping curse and woke them up. Having put Slytherin's wand (which Isolt carried) to sleep, Gormlaith managed to drive the family up the stairs into the bedroom of Martha and Rionach, it was here fearing that her family was lost; Isolt called out for her dead father. However, with a clatter, William the Pukwudgie appeared and fired a poisoned arrow directly into Gormlaith's heart, killing her. Throughout the gratitude, William merely grumbled that all that Isolt had to do was call his name throughout the years and he would have returned. It is also rumoured that James mentioning that he had named one of the houses after him, William decided to move his family into the school to act as security/maintenance for the school.
And that brings us to present day where we still have a team of Pukwudgies still loyally serving our school; it also brings us onto your assignments.
