J.K. Rowling just told us all about the North American magic school Ilvermorny, and we are SO intrigued by the new houses

J.K. Rowling keeps expanding the magical universe over on Pottermore, and we couldn’t be happier about it. With the forthcoming release of Fantastic Beasts and Where To Find Them, she’s being more generous with new tidbits about the magical realm than normal, and just told us all about North America’s school for witchcraft and wizardry, Ilvermorny (say that one three times fast!).

Here’s a teaser trailer, with some amazing information about Ilvermorny, posted to the Pottermore Twitter account:

Don’t you get chills just watching? You can read all about Ilvermorny on Pottermore, but the most interesting part to us was the sorting process.

The thing is, the only sorting hat is at Hogwarts, so they use something instead called the Gordian Knot. Students stand on the symbol of the Gordian Knot, which is set in the middle of the stone floor, and everyone waits for these enchanted stone carvings on the sides of the castle walls to react.

The houses are as follows: Horned Serpent (represented by a “great horned river serpent with a jewel set into its forehead”), Thunderbird (a creature that “can create storms as it flies”), Pukwudgie (“a short, grey-faced, large-eared creature”), and Wampus (“a magical, panther-like creature that is fast, strong and almost impossible to kill”).

Rowling writes, “In silence the school then waits for the enchanted carvings to react. If the Horned Serpent wants the student, the crystal set into its forehead will light up. If the Wampus wants the student, it roars. The Thunderbird signifies its approval by beating its wings, and the Pukwudgie will raise its arrow into the air.”

We’ll have to wait for the movie to come out to see which of these houses align with the Hogwarts counterparts of Gryffindor, Slytherin, Ravenclaw, and Hufflepuff — or if they’re something else, entirely.

We are so excited to see this school in action on Fantastic Beasts, and this full posts is definitely worth reading. Go have a look for yourself!

The post J.K. Rowling just told us all about the North American magic school Ilvermorny, and we are SO intrigued by the new houses appeared first on HelloGiggles.