Let's talk about Ilvermorny.
This past Tuesday, J.K. Rowling released the beautiful history of the North American Wizarding School, while also delving into the details that separate this school from others, such as Hogwarts.
Ilvermorny sits hidden away in Massachusetts, as is expected, as MA is the home of the famous "Salem Witch Trials." It would be intriguing to see if, in the future, Rowling releases how the trials affected American wizards that had been attending Ilvermorny and what occurred afterwards. True, Rowling did touch on the subject back in March, when short stories were being published in the Pottermore website. According to the story, the trials caused the magical population to plummet as wizards and witches fled, fearing for their lives. This tragic event caused American wizards to create strict laws, minimizing magical and no-maj interaction.
According to the Pottermore website, Ilvermorny has four houses, just as Hogwarts does. The houses are: Thunderbird, Wampus, Horned Serpent and Pukwudgie. While each American house does share certain similarities and qualities with its European counterpart, Rowling says that there is no equivalence between the houses... Still... that doesn't stop us from comparing our newly sorted Ilvermorny house to our Hogwarts house that we have known for years and come to love.
It's said that each of the Ilvermorny houses embody the wizard as a whole. The Wampus embodies a witch or wizard's body, favoring warriors. The Thunderbird is the soul, constantly seeking adventure. The Horned Serpent is much like the mind, looking for scholars. Finally, the Pukwudgie (while in my opinion, the oddest name, but as I was sorted into that house, I cannot complain. Shout out to my fellow housemates!) is the heart of a witch or wizard, favoring healers.
Of course, fans like myself cannot help but theorize more about what each house says about us. Tumblr user awesomeveragirl theorizes that each Ilvermorny house is a combination of two Hogwarts houses, and using each houses' founder as an example. This user claims that the Thunderbird house is for Gryffindors and Ravenclaws. The Horned Serpent is home to Ravenclaws and Slytherins. Hufflepuffs and Slytherins will fit nicely into the Wampus house. Finally, my fellow Pukwudgies are made up of Gryffindors and Hufflepuffs.
This theory, while intriguing, does not fit into my profile, as I am both Ravenclaw AND Pukwugie. It does make sense, however, that the American houses are hybrid versions of Hogwarts, as J.K. Rowling herself confirmed that hybrid houses do exist in the Harry Potter universe.
What are your thoughts? Is there more to the story of the American version of sorting, or are we so happy to have information, we may just be diving too deep, looking for something that isn't there?
