J.K. Rowling just dropped 6 bombshells about American Hogwarts

Say goodbye to everything you thought you knew about schools of witchcraft and wizardry.

In a new origin story for Ilvermorny that J.K. Rowling just posted on Pottermore, the author has revealed everything fans need to know about the American school of magic. Not only does Ilvermorny have vastly different founders, it also introduces new concepts you won't find at Hogwarts. 

Gone are houses like Slytherin and Ravenclaw, replaced by houses like Pukwudgie and Thunderbird. Also gone is the classic Sorting Hat, replaced instead by an enchanting new method. 

Here are the six most revealing and important new things we learned about Ilvermorny.

1. Meet Isolt Sayre
Ilvermorny's origin can be traced back to a pure-blood Irish girl named Isolt Sayre, born around 1603. Her father is a direct descendent of "the famous Irish witch Morrigan."

Sayre's parents were attacked and killed when she was five, but she was rescued by her mother's estranged sister Gormlaith Gaunt … who turns out to be the real killer, as well as a fanatic pure-blood. Using dark magic, she forced Sayre to live with her for 12 years, until the girl finally escaped, stealing her aunt's wand (which originally belonged to … Salazar Slytherin!) because she was never allowed one. She was also obsessed with Hogwarts, fantasizing about going to school. 

Sayre cut off her hair and fled to America on the Mayflower, pretending to be a Muggle boy named Elias Story. She then escaped to the mountains and happened upon two magical creatures, the Hidebehind (a "nocturnal, forest-dwelling spectre" that can hide behind almost any object) and the Pukwudgie ("short, grey-faced, large-eared creature distantly related to the European goblin"). She befriends the Pukwudgie and names him William, after her father. He then introduces her to more magical creatures, like the terrifying Horned Serpent. 

2. Sayre starts Ilvermorny to educate her children
We later learn that Sayre marries a Muggle named James, and the two adopt and care for Chadwick and Webster, two little boys orphaned by a deadly Hidebehind. Sayre finds a way to make the boys some wands (with the help of the Horned Serpent) and they start a little home school. The name "Ilvermorny" honors the name of the cottage Sayre was born in, which Gormlaith destroyed.

Other magical children from the nearby Wampanoag and Narragansett tribes join, so Sayre and James learn how to make wands for them, too. And thus, a Hogwarts-like school begins.

2. There are four new houses (and no Sorting Hat)

Though you cling to your identity as a Gryffindor or Slytherin, American witches and wizards will have four new houses to identify with: Horned Serpent, Wampus, Thunderbird and Pukwudgie. The names are based on the favorite animals of Isolt, James, Chadwick and Webster. 

Plus, there's no Sorting Hat method. Instead, students will stand by magical walls and wait for a sign from enchanted wooden carvings representing each of the houses. 

The Horned Serpent's crystal in its forehead will light up, the Wampus will roar, the Thunderbird will beat its wings and the Pukwudgie will raise its arrow in the sky. Very rarely, multiple houses will pick a student, leaving the choice up to the young witch or wizard.

Here's some more details about the houses:

Horned Serpent: This house represents the mind and "favors scholars."

Wampus: Named for a strong, magical panther and favors warriors. Represents the body.

Thunderbird: Represents the soul and favors adventurers.

Pukwudgie: Named for a tricky creature "distantly related to the European goblin," and favors healers. Represents the heart.

There's already a quiz on Pottermore to find out to which house you belong. 

3. Bye black robes, hello blue and cranberry
Unlike Hogwarts, students won't be wearing black robes everywhere. Instead, the school colors are blue and cranberry, chosen in honor of Isolt and James. 

"Blue because it was Isolt’s favourite colour and because she had wished to be in Ravenclaw house as a child; cranberry in honour of James’s love of cranberry pie," Rowling writes. "All Ilvermorny students’ robes are fastened by a gold Gordian Knot, in memory of the brooch Isolt found in the ruins of the original Ilvermorny cottage."

4. Gormlaith returns 

You know she had to! Rowling writes that Gormlaith heads to America, furious that Sayre married a Muggle. She curses Isolt and James into an enchanted slumber, and renders Sayre's wand useless by uttering "a single sibilant word in Parseltongue."

She's eventually destroyed by the family and the surprise help of William the Pukwudgie. Slytherin's wand is later buried, and an "unknown species of snakewood tree" grows in its place. The leaves have strong medicinal powers, a testament to the goodness and nobility of Salazar. 

5. Sayre's descendants keep the story going
Chadwick becomes an accomplished wizard "who authored Chadwick's Charms Vols I — VII, which are standard texts at Ilvermorny." He also marries a Mexican healer named Josefina Calderon, and their family remains well-known in American wizarding history.

Webster essentially becomes an Auror, doing some work in London. He settles down with a Scottish witch and his descendants are educated at Hogwarts. 

James and Sayre's twins, Martha and Rionach, are vastly different. Martha is a Squib and chooses to live as a No-Maj. Rionach teaches Defense Against the Dark Arts at Ilvermorny, speaks Parseltongue, and never marries. 

6. The possible new Hagrid?
There seems to be a new Hagrid-type character — William the Pukwudgie, who protects the school, though he "laughs at the idea that he is the original William." Except … no one knows how long Pukwudgie's live, and this William is extremely defensive of the Sayre statue at the entrance of the school. He also lays flowers on her tomb on the anniversary of her death every year. 
 

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