At the summit of Mount Greylock in Massachusetts, hidden amid swirling clouds and mist, stood North America's famous magic school—Ilvermorny School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. It was protected by many powerful spells that made it invisible to those without magic, and it would only reveal itself when wreathed in cloud and fog.
In the seventeenth century, at the very beginning, the school had been no more than a crude stone cottage, two teachers, and two students. Now, after more than two centuries of flourishing growth, Ilvermorny School of Witchcraft and Wizardry's granite cottage had become a magnificent, enormous castle.
To commemorate its founders, Isolt Sayre and James Steward, their marble statues had been erected on either side of the main gate of Ilvermorny Castle.
Near the castle, a number of bow-carrying Pukwudgies served as guards. From time to time, they vanished and reappeared around the school, or transformed themselves into porcupines or cougars.
These North American magical creatures were distant relatives of Goblins. They were similarly short, standing around two to three feet tall in human form, with noses larger than those of European Goblins, very long ears and fingers, and gray, smooth skin that sometimes gave off a glow.
A lone Gordian Knot Tree stood in the courtyard outside the hall, its canopy like a giant umbrella, its stem straight and its leaves lush and elegant, tall and upright like a work of art. Its dark-brown leaves were arranged in spirals at the top of the straight stem, looking extraordinarily dense.
The castle gates stood open on both sides, offering a direct view of the magnificent circular hall, above which arched a glass dome.
Inside the hall, at the height of the second floor, a wooden balcony had been built to encircle the hall. Other than that, there was