Private/Closed Ilvermorny School of Witchcraft and Wizardry

[Tailon]

Oh shit JKR has been up to some shenanigans hasn't she welp.

@Rex and myself have been up to some plotting, and as usual we've had to build half a world for good ol' JK, so there's a lot to cover as to what we've added, but the articles on Pottermore concerning Ilvermorny and American wizarding are pretty much required reading, so here they are.

First thing's first, is anyone interested in the basic concept of chronicling a school year at Ilvermorny, possibly wherein some shit goes down? Post in here, let us know.

 

[Aura]

I would be so down for this - the history that JKR provided is already interesting enough, and I bet it would be even more interesting to see where you've gone with it world building wise.

 

[Dwayna DragonFire]

Peg me down as interested, Tai. ^^ Been wanting to do another Pottermore thing for a while.

 

[Tailon]

Alright I won't call it closed just yet but 4 people is certainly enough to talk about the stuff we had to make up and Ilvermorny in the modern day.

Starting with...
Wands
Wands at Ilvermorny are a bit...odd. Because of Dorcus and her disastrous fuck up, Rappaport's law was in effect during the school's formative years, and as a result, students were not allowed to keep their wands or even have one before starting school. As a result, even following the 1965 repeal of Rapaport's Law, the majority of students will receive their first wand on the first day of school (unless they have inherited one), where one of the three great wandmakers will be on hand to assess the wand and it's connection to the newly minted witch or wizard, as well as keeping track of which wands choose students so the school can distribute payment to the appropriate parties.

As mentioned, the majority of wands are made by the three great wandmakers (or their descendants, wizards live a long time so it could be either). Beauvis wands, made exclusively of swamp mayhaw and rougarou hair and noted for both their power and affinity for Dark magic; Jonker wands, noted for their mother of pearl inlays, and made only with the hair of the Wampus cat, and Wolfe wands, made with Thunderbird tail feathers and famed for their affinity toward transfiguration. Despite these famed wandmakers, capitalism marches on, and because of the massive numbers of magical creatures, any number of non sapient cryptid or fearsome critter could provide a suitable core, such as the antler of the jackalope, the hair of a hidebehind, or the spines of a hodag. Just keep in mind the mythical qualities of these creatures and how they relate to the character, and remember that it is no longer possible to create a wand from White River Monster spines, and to please leave the sasquatch alone, they probably wouldn't appreciate having their fur taken, it gets cold further north and frankly it's just rude to treat your fellow intelligent hominids that way.

Curriculum
The curriculum at Ilvermorny, much like the school itself is based on that of Hogwarts in Scotland, and includes the following core classes:

• Astronomy
• Charms
• Defense Against The Dark Arts
• Herbology
• History of Magic
• Potions
• Transfiguration

Flying is omitted, as broomsticks are both conspicuous and inefficient as a method of travel on such a large continent, it is available as an elective instead.
Electives, available to those in their third year and higher are as follows:

• Alchemy (6th year and up)
• Apparition (17 and up)
• Arithmancy
• Care of Magical Creatures
• Flying
• Study of Ancient Runes
• Interpretation of Magical Wampum

Divination is omitted because it's some dumb bullshit and not everyone just has a latent Seer sitting around, Albus. No-Maj studies is also omitted because magical folk aren't as prejudiced against No-Majs in the Americas and aren't so willfully ignorant of their culture.

Transportation
Like Hogwarts, Ilvermorny is reached by train at the beginning of the school year, the Ilvermorny Express leaving from Grand Central Terminal, Platform 6 and 1/2, track 12, at 11:00 AM on September 1st, every year. Unlike Hogwarts, the Ilvermorny Express is on the eastern coast of an enormous continent and serves three nations, as such, Platform 6 and 1/2 is both a train platform and a hub for the Floo Network, lined with hundreds of fires to facilitate the arrival of many Wizarding families on September 1st and in June.

The First Day of School
On September 1st, magical children aged 11 to 17 gather on Platform 6 and 1/2 and board the Ilvermorny Express. The train ride lasts about 4 hours, and on arrival, First years are separated from the other classes, who take their places along the balcony in the Entrance Hall of Ilvermorny Castle and watch the Sorting. Following this, first years are escorted to the wand room to receive their wands or have them inspected by the wandmaker in attendance, while older students are allowed to make their way to their dormitories to unpack and set up, as there is still some time until dinner due to the shorter train ride.

Ilvermorny students live in smaller, two person dormitories, as the Hogwarts method of every student of the same gender and year in a single room would be inefficient for the relatively larger student population. Each dorm contains two beds and is connected through a bathroom to the room next to it.

That's pretty much everything that's relevant to figuring out a character bio and wiring a first post. I was thinking about starting everyone's first posts with a flashback to their sorting and wand, let me know what you think of that.

 

[Aura]

That sounds pretty good to me - a flashback should let us skip over the less interactive things quickly. I just have one question though...

No-Maj studies is also omitted because magical folk aren't as prejudiced against No-Majs in the Americas and aren't so willfully ignorant of their culture.

Given the strict segregation of the magical and No-Majs communities due to Rappaport's Law (which, I'm assuming is still in place), shouldn't there be some degree of prejudice or at least a lack of understanding? Given the apparent severity of the segregation, I'd be quite surprised if children raised in purely magical communities didn't really grasp No-Maj culture at all. Did you decide that Rappaport's Law had been lifted or something along those lines? Because it just doesn't make a lot of sense to me.

 

[Tailon]

Rapaport's Law was repealed in 1965.

 

[Aura]

... Please excuse me for I am a freaking idiot.

 

[Rex]

Name: Damian Cosmo Yates
Gender: Male
Age: 16
Appearance: At 5'11" and 160lbs, Damian is one of those tall and thin students. He has a healthy complexion, with short auburn hair and blue eyes. When out of uniform, he prefers blue jeans and simple gray t-shirts, adding a red hoodie when the weather gets cold.
Personality: The son of a No-Maj born wizard father and a No-Maj mother, Damian spent most of his life, and, indeed the time he spends away from Ilvermorny, immersed in American culture. This has, on occasion, lead to him to feel out of place among his magical peers, though thankfully fifty years out from the repeal of Rappaport's Law, his heritage isn't exactly a secret that weighs heavily on him. Despite this, he tends to be quite secretive. Though kind enough and friendly, he doesn't make friends, tending to wall off his inner feelings from others. He is intelligent, but somewhat lazy.
House: Horned Serpent
Wand: Ebony and Hidebehind fur, 12 and a quarter inches, slightly springy.
Pet: Male tabby cat, named Daredevil.
Family: No-Maj born wizard father, Lewis, and No-Maj mother, Scarlett. Damian is an only child, and was never really that close with either set of grandparents or the rest of his extended family.
Love Interests: None.
History: Despite being a wizard, Damian's father rejected work in a magical field, instead following his father, Damian's paternal grandfather, into medicine. He is a surgeon who uses his magic to aid his patients, and it was at work that he first met Damian's mother, a fellow surgeon named Scarlett. They hit it of well, dated for a time, and eventually married. When Damian was born, his father retired from the hospital, officially to be a stay-at-home dad, but he also opened a potions shop on the side to gather together the necessary funds to pay for Damian's schooling.

Damian idolizes his father, and intends to follow him into No-Maj medicine as soon as he's finished schooling. His father is an Animagus, a bear, and Damian has been working to follow in his father's footsteps in this way, as well. Despite being only a sixth year student at Ilvermorny, he is already extremely close to being ready to try the magic. As one would expect, this means that Transfiguration is his best subject. He also shows similar talents to his father in the fields of Potions, Alchemy, and Herbology, and he is versed in Charms. Though he is intelligent enough to get all his subjects, his laziness has lead to his grades being mediocre in the rest of his subjects.
Classes: Alchemy, Arithmancy, Astronomy, Charms, Defense Against the Dark Arts, Herbology, History of Magic, Potions, Study of Ancient Runes and Transfiguration.

Spoiler: Wand Cores: Hidebehind Fur

The fur of the Hidebehind is as strange a core as the creature it comes from. Hidebehind wands prefer secretive users, the bigger and greater number the secrets, the more the wand is drawn. They are naturally skilled at Transfiguration, coming from a creature that can shift and warp its body to disappear behind even the thinnest of trees. The stalking, secretive, nature of the Hidebehind makes these wands terrible at dueling. Indeed, their users have a reputation for dishonorable conduct, including shooting curses at unsuspecting backs rather than face an opponent head on.

When Rappaport's Law was in effect, wizards and witches owning Hidebehind fur core wands were under the most suspicion of coming from a mixed parentage - one magical parent, and one No-Maj parent - due to the size and scope of such a secret. These generations of suspicion, and the general secretive nature of these wands, are the biggest contributors of modern day weariness towards their carriers.

 

[Tailon]

Bio!

Name: Lena Andrés
Gender: Female
Age: 16
Height: 5' 8"
Weight: 148 lbs
Hair: Dark Brown
Eyes: Dark Brown
Clothes: When not wearing school robes, Lena favors simple outfits consisting of jeans and a t-shirt (usually referential or a band shirt) or a skirt and button up, depending on the activities planned for the day.
Personality: Cheerful and bright, Lena is always friendly and happy to help others, though she is not especially excitable, and generally enjoys a calm atmosphere.
House: Thunderbird
Wand: Redwood and Thunderbird tail feather, 14 inches, Swishy
Pet: N/A
Family: Born to a No-Maj father from Guatemala (Luis) and a witch mother from England (Cadence). She has no siblings.
Love Interests: nah
History: Lena's mother attended Hogwarts in her youth, as most magical folk in the UK do, and often regaled her with stories of that schooling and told her of how it would compare to her future at Ilvermorny.

Cadence owns a magical bookstore in Los Angeles, which Luis helps to run; as a result, Lena grew up around books her whole life, and though she isn't particularly studious, she has a great love for fiction and writing as a result.

Spoiler: Bio Template

Name:
Gender:
Age:
Height:
Weight:
Hair:
Eyes:
Clothes:
Personality:
House:
Wand:
Pet:
Family:
Love Interests:
History:

 

[Dwayna DragonFire]

Name: Charlotte Moore
Gender: Female
Age: 16
Height: 5'5"
Weight: 125 lbs.
Hair: Dark Brown, long.
Eyes: Brown
Clothes: Normally likes to wear dresses in combinations of black, white and purple. She likes a sort of feminine, gothic style, though she will wear pants if it is cold.
Personality: Normally very soft-spoken and shy, Charlotte likes to explore and see new things. She has a great respect for how people feel, and often likes to spend her time at the library. Humble, but can sometimes be shrewd if someone is insensitive to another's feelings.
House: Thunderbird
Wand: Laurel Wood and Ogopogo Scale Core, 10 3/4 inches, Quite Flexible. The core's properties seem to hold an affinity for Charms work, particularly when it comes to concealment.
Pet: Owl
Family: Father: Trent Moore, No-Maj, Alive. Mother: Rose Moore, No-Mag, Alive.
Love Interests: N/A
History: Born in Vancouver, Canada, Charlotte lived a pretty regular life in a poor neighborhood. Learning from a young age to be grateful for what she had, her parents have always been very loving and supportive of whatever she wanted to do. Bullied a little bit at her school, she found out she had magic when she accidentally set a boy on fire, and was scared of her magic for a bit. When their family was approached and she was told she was a witch, her parents were surprised but nonetheless supportive of this new journey in her life. She has since been enjoying her time at Ilvermorny school, even though she has very few friends to speak of.

 

[Mr.RMA]

Name: Forrest Powell
Gender: Male
Age: 16
Height: 6'3
Weight: 190
Hair: Black, Short and Messy
Eyes: Hazel
Clothes: Aside from the expected robes, for 'casual' wear, Forrest often wears dress slacks with an argyle sweater underneath a tweed jacket, with a number of pockets both inside and out, allowing him to carry around whatever might be convenient for him.
Personality: Pragmatic, yet ambitious, Forrest adheres to a personal risk:reward policy. If a potential outcome is profitable enough, he'll be more than willing to jump headlong into danger, but there has to be a clear beneficial outcome within the realm of possibility. On rare occasions he'll break this rule he's set for himself, but only in the most dire of circumstances concerning matters near and dear to him. He takes studying seriously if the subject matter intrigues him, but a less captivating course will not receive similar treatment, and his wide range of grades, from some of the highest marks to... some rather below-average ones, is testament to this mindset.
House: Horned Serpent
Wand: Swamp Mayhaw, Rougarou hair core, 13 ¼ inches
Pet: Dragon Toad
Family: Father: Elias Powell; Squib; Alive. Mother: Laura Bellefontaine; No-Maj; Alive. Brother: Everett Powell; Wizard; Deceased.
Love Interests: N/A
History: Born to a car-dealer for a father and a real-estate agent for a mother, Forrest learned from a very early age how important it was to say the right things to the right people. He was a teacher's pet in school, perhaps not always the smartest in the class, but the one that nonetheless knew what each instructor appreciated the most from their pupils. He knew how to play the game that was the American education system... which meant the sudden supernatural peculiarities that seemed to follow him around near the end of the third grade were... rather hindering in his eyes. He tried to hide such inexplicable phenomena away from others, and thanks to his upbringing he did a fairly good job of it. Still, it eventually became too much to cover up and, frightened that he'd somehow destroy far more than his future ambitions, he finally confided in his parents about what was happening. The response was... not what he'd expected. His father explained the magical blood that ran through his family, making it clear this wasn't a freak incident, Forrest had the same blood, and unlike his father, he could make use of it. Though he felt lingering remorse that he couldn't partake in the normal life goals he'd aspired to, when that door closed a literally magical door opened in its place, and there was plenty opportunity there.

 

[Tailon]

By the way if you've chosen a wand core based on a cryptid or fearsome critter not mentioned on Pottermore please include a description of the core's properties, if only its magical strengths.

 

[Aura]

Sorry about the delay guys - assignments are evil.

Name: Niles Armstrong
Gender: Male
Age: 16
Appearance: Niles stands about 5'10", with a more muscular build than average for a 16 year old. He has dark skin, dark brown eyes, and long black dreadlocks that he keeps pulled back into a pony tail most of the time. One of his ears is pierced with a small silver sleeper earring. He almost always is seeing wearing thick leather hiking boots, and has a tendency towards fairly casual clothes - tee shirts and jeans or khaki shorts. Most of these tee shirts are some shade of blue with a dumb pun.
Personality: He's about as laid back as they come. Niles is a very flexible guy, and it takes a lot, or a few very specific things, to get him angry. This usually makes him a reasonably likeable guy just due to how accepting he is. Unfortunately he this relaxed nature of his also comes into play with things like deadlines, and rules. This usually lands him in detention for wandering into class late, coffee in hand, or wandering around at night. It also means his marks in most subjects aren't anything more than average due to how lax he is with his study. The only exception to this is probably Care of Magical Creatures, which he studies with a fascinated passion, and tends to spend a lot of time out of class helping out the teacher. This is pretty indicative of how he spends his time. Niles loves to be outdoors doing fairly hands on work, and tends to spend a fair bit of time exercising outside. This is actually how he stays so relaxed, as he sweats all of his stress away.
House: Pukwudgie
Wand: Hornbeam, White River Monster Spine, 10 1/2 inches, unyielding
Family: Catherine Armstrong (mother), Alec Armstrong (father), Mira Armstrong (younger sister, first year), Philip Armstrong (grandfather, deceased)
Love Interests: None.
Pet: A Barn Owl named Owlegbra
History: Niles was born into a wizarding family, and a fairly well off one as well. As a result he had the advantage of not freaking the hell out when strange phenomena started showing up around him. After an incident involving a freezer getting a little out of hand (Catherine was angry at him for not doing his chores and he just wanted her to chill out a little), his grandfather Philip took him under his wing to try and teach the young boy how to control his magic, lest they all freeze to death by the end of the year. After a little while, and figuring out that Niles really struggled to control his ability, Philip started letting the young boy use his wand which had much better results, even though the wand fought him at almost every turn. This wand contained a White River Monster Spine, and had been passed down the Armstrong family for generations, although only to those with similar enough personalities to stand using it for long enough until it adapted to them. After about a year however, Philip fell horribly ill, and wound up in hospital for many months. Niles visited frequently, always eager to show his grandfather what new little thing he could do (which usually resulted in chaos for the nursing staff), until one day when he was there and thought his grandfather was just dozing for a sec, until he noticed he'd stopped breathing. Niles was left Philip's wand, and was adamant that he was going to use it for the rest of his life. His parents tried to convince him to let them buy a wand that had actually picked him, but they never succeeded at it, and thus Niles started his first year at Ilvermorny with a wand that usually refused to do pretty much anything. This affected his marks pretty badly, but instead of getting angry about it, he slowly developed a personality of not giving a damn. Over time however, the wand has started to take on his own personality, although it still often refuses to do things that his grandfather would disapprove of. While Niles usually pretends to be annoyed about it, deep down he kind of likes it as it feels like Philip is still around.

 

[Tailon]

RP is up and running.