days at Hogwarts

Chapter 740 Arrival at Mount Greylock

After learning the cause of the incident from Loren, Pickley and Nancy were not surprised.

The impact of the Brooklyn werewolf incident still exists, and the No-Maj government of America is still holding the Magical Congress accountable. Since then, Voldemort is not only a wanted criminal in British magic, but also a world-famous wizard terrorist, whose influence is only slightly lower than that of Grindelwald.

"I heard that the Ministry of Magic cooperated with Dumbledore to expel Voldemort and his Death Eaters from the country. Our supervisor always said that your British laws are too weak and that to deal with such dark wizards, they should be executed directly."

Pickley led the way as they left the airport and headed for the nearby commercial street. "I heard that your Ministry of Magic hasn't directly executed dark wizards for decades. The execution chamber on the ground floor has been changed into a trial court, and the prisoners are thrown into the island prison to feed the Dementors of Azkaban in disguise."

Loren glanced at a witch next to him. The Minister-in-Chief had already frowned slightly, so he explained seriously, "These regulations were voted on and agreed upon by all members of the Wizengamot. Dementors cannot be eliminated by conventional means. Using them to guard prisoners can ease the conflict between Dementors and humans and prevent them from causing unrest in Muggle society."

Pickley shrugged his shoulders. "It is difficult to judge whether the law is humane or not, or even whether it is progressive or backward, to abolish the death penalty by handing criminals over to the torture of Dementors."

Hermione opened her mouth but said nothing in rebuttal.

They came to a small handicraft shop, an ordinary shop next to the airport. It was as if they remembered to bring some local specialties for their family and friends just before boarding the plane, so they hurriedly picked a small shop nearby with a sign saying "Handicrafts", and spent several times or even dozens of times the price to buy some deceptive handicrafts.

There was only one clerk behind the counter in the shop. When he saw a few people come in, he was about to stand up to greet them, but after waiting to see the emblem on Picli's chest clearly, he sat back down, looking as if he was too lazy to pay attention.

Loren looked around the small shop. It was indeed full of handicrafts, except for the mirror at the door, the mirror at the counter, and the mirror on the shelf...

With a dozen spyglasses under their spies, they walked into the back room of the shop, and Nancy took down a wizard's hat from the wall, the kind with a pumpkin lantern.

Loren and Hermione looked at each other and realized that this was the key to Ilvermorny. Then they reached out and pinched the brim of the hat, waiting for the magic to hook their navels and drag them into the torrent of space.

"Oh!"

After a brief feeling of being squeezed, the four of them felt a sense of unreality when they opened their eyes again. One moment they were in the urban city of New York, and the next moment they were already on Mount Greylock. In front of them was a dense forest, without any signs of any steel structures, and no smell of fuel.

The air is fresh and the sunset is orange.

In early August, the temperature in London and New York was over 20 degrees Celsius, but it dropped sharply by more than ten degrees in the mountains. This change made people a little uncomfortable. Loren took out two thick coats, gave one to Hermione and put on the other himself.

Nancy rolled up her wizard hat and stuffed it into the small cloth bag at her waist. She explained, "Ilvermorny is equipped with strict defensive magic and alchemical arrays. The door key can only take us to the side of Greylock Mountain. We have to walk the rest of the way by ourselves."

Loren looked at the rugged mountain road ahead and was speechless: "Do you usually have to climb mountains to go to school?"

Pickley couldn't help laughing. "Ilvermorny is also a boarding school. There are school buses to pick us up during the school holidays. Now it's summer vacation, so we can only climb the mountain."

"..."

Loren had a complicated look in his eyes, he felt that it would be more convenient for him to move in space, but he had not been to Ilvermorny yet, and it would be troublesome if he got lost. The best option was to inform the principal to send Fox to pick them up, but unfortunately this was someone else's place, and it would be a bit offensive to come and go freely here.

"Let's climb the mountain and try to get to school before dinner."

The rest of the way was led by Piccoli and Nancy, and the four of them slowly trudged towards Ilvermorny on the top of the mountain. This mountain, which is only a thousand meters above sea level, is higher than expected. There seems to be an invisible peak on its top, leading to the magic school established in the 17th century. The two graduates took Loren and Hermione through many twists and turns, passing through the misty and steep peaks, through the low and narrow secret caves, and finally into a steep and rugged forest path. The deeper they went into the path, the flatter the road became, and the mystery of this magic school hidden on the mountain began to be unveiled.

Loren looked up into the depths of the clouds, and a glow different from the sunset appeared in his field of vision. It was a strong fluctuation of magic and a sign of alchemy.

Hogwarts has the village of Hogsmeade to rely on, but there is nothing outside Ilvermorny.

Loren and Hermione originally thought that Hogwarts in the Scottish Highlands was remote enough. Now they suddenly realized that Ilvermorny was more in line with the traditional concept of a magic school. It was built on a deserted mountain, blocked by rocks, covered by trees, and shrouded in clouds and mist. It used the natural environment and magic to completely isolate it from the prying eyes of Muggles.

"Students at Ilvermorny choose their wands after the Sorting Ceremony...

"The core of the wand is basically those kinds of animals, you know, horned water snakes, thunderbirds, cat-leopards...

“Perhaps because one of the founders is a No-Maj, we are not so opposed to No-Maj technology…”

As Nancy introduced the customs and culture of Ilvermorny, everyone arrived at Ilvermorny.

The school castle is built on an incredibly regular flat ground on the top of a mountain. From a distance, it appears to be ancient trees and clouds. Only when you get closer can you see the outline of the castle. There are two huge statues at the main entrance.

"This is the founder of Ilvermorny, the witch Aesop Sayre and her lover James Stewart." Hermione looked up at the magnificent statue. "It's unbelievable that Mr. Stewart is an ordinary person who can't do magic."

"Because of this, Ilvermorny School of Witchcraft and Wizardry is recognized by the people as the most democratic and impartial magic school."

There was admiration in Nancy and Pickley's eyes. Only after graduation, when they actually came into contact with No-Maj's and entered the Magic Congress, did they deeply appreciate the greatness of this couple from hundreds of years ago.

"One of the greatest schools of magic."

Loren added that this person can be terrifyingly rigorous at times.

Hermione smiled and looked down at the stone platform at the foot of the statue, on which was engraved the emblem of Ilvermorny.

Like Hogwarts, there are four animals carved in the four directions, symbolizing the four colleges of the school. The top one is a thunderbird with spread wings, and on the left and right are a long-horned water snake and a Pukki shooting an arrow. The animal at the bottom looks like a rabbit at first glance, but the stripes on its back indicate that it is a swift leopard.

Entering the foyer, Loren and Hermione were both a little dazed. No one had expected that there were bright incandescent lights on the ceiling of this mysterious magic school.

Turning left along the corridor, we entered a round hall. Nancy's voice echoed in the room: "When new students enter school, they will first be taken to the round hall for testing. This is our Ilvermorny sorting ceremony."

The rotunda connects the upper and lower floors. The top floor is a circular terrace. The middle floor is evenly distributed with four wooden statues symbolizing various colleges. The bottom floor is a circular stone platform with a huge Gordian knot painted on it.

Nancy turned to look at the two of them and blinked, "Do you want to try it?"

(End of this chapter)