J.K Rowling has just revealed a new short story about Ilvermorny, the North American analogue to Hogwarts, along with four new houses as well as a new hero.
The four houses are Thunderbird, Pukwudgie, Wampus and Horned Serpent, which are all based on their founders favourite magical creatures that are home to North America. You can catch it all on Pottermore, as well as attempt to get yourself sorted into one of the new houses.
This also kinda acts as an introduction to the upcoming Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them, which brings Newt Scamander to the US.
So here’s a quick breakdown on what the houses are like. However, each house isn’t an exact comparison to the houses of Hogwarts; despite the school’s founders wanting it to match Hogwarts in experience as closely as possible.
Thunderbird
Named by Chadwick Boot after the creature of the same name, the house is said to be the one that gets adventurers sorted into it. The traits of people sorted into Thunderbird would be similar to those of Gryffindor; being adventurous and courageous.
Pukwudgie
This odd creature is a short gray animal with enormous ears, but is known to be independent, muschievous and not particulary friendly to nonmagical critters. Its a distant relative to the European Goblin (many working in Gringotts) and it uses poisonous arrows to hunt.
Named by James Steward, and mostly because he thought the Pukwudgie was hilarious. The members of this house are incredibly smart and independent, with the closest analogue being Ravenclaw.
Wampus
There isn’t much known about the Wampus except that it’s pantherlike, incredibly hard to kill and is very fast and strong. It’s said to represent the body of a wizard or witch, like how Thunderbird represents the soul and Pukwudgie the heart.
The symbol was selected by William Boot because he fell in love with the creature and its abilities. Those sorted here would be somewhat like those in Ravenclaw or Gryffindor.
Horned Serpent
Here’s your Slytherin analog if you wanted one. Its a horned snake, and the story’s newest hero Isolt Sayre is a Parselmouth, which means there are some in America as well. The students in this house are scholarly, resourceful and of course, highly intelligent.
This is probably just the tip of the iceberg though, there might be more material to wet our appetites before the movie comes out.
Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them comes out 18 November.
