We’re about to get schooled—on the North American wizarding world, that is.
J.K. Rowling promised that we would learn more about Ilvermorny, the North American wizarding school, prior to the release of Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them. It turns out we’re not only getting that, but hundreds of years of wizarding history in a planned week-long reveal. Entertainment Weekly and the Telegraph have the announcement video, which reveals that everyday at 9am ET we’ll get another piece of history delivered right to our screens on Pottermore.
The history in North America will take us from the origins of magic in the 14th century all the way to the 1920s—present-day for Newt Scamander and his friends. The first piece of history, which takes us from the 14th to 17th centuries, arrives on Pottermore on Tuesday.
The teaser video hints at some of the things we’ll see. Along with the origins of magic and Ilvermorny (which may be in Canada, not the U.S.), we’ll get insight into a much different wizarding history—one that is much darker than what happened across the pond.
It includes the legend of Skin-walkers (Native American wizards), who are seen changing into an eagle (similarly to Animagi) and wandless magic, the true story of the Salem Witch Trials (a tragedy that the wizarding world remembers to this day), more about the Magical Congress of the United States of America (MACUSA), the severity of North America’s total isolation from No-Majs (this continent’s muggles), and some of the wizarding roles during wartime.
But we’ll also receive information on some lighter aspects of the world such as learning about MACUSA Madam President Seraphina Picquery and her stance on Prohibition, the wandmakers of North America, and why wizards need a wand permit in America.
We can imagine students at Hogwarts nodding off if this history lesson came from Professor Binns, but from Rowling herself? Count us in!
H/T Entertainment Weekly & Telegraph | Screengrab via Telegraph
