Chapter 15: The-Distant-School-Uncovered (I)
Harry and Norton yelped in shock as the two of them were unceremoniously dropped on the ground and trunks were flung around. Fortunately, the trunks remained locked even after getting tossed around. Harry groaned as he rolled over to his back and apparently, Norton wasn't having a much better time.
|Don't worry, son. You will get used to it. I also ended up sprawled like you the first time I took a Portkey| Lily tried to comfort Harry, but it clearly didn't work as Harry noticed the amusement in her voice.
|You know, you should have warned me…| Harry grumbled and Lily simply snickered.
|Son, there are some things you need to experience on your own| Lily said, sounding extremely serious and Harry simply scoffed at her words.
"Welcome, Mr. Potter. Let me help you there" Harry heard a female voice and his hand immediately went toward his Wand as he forced himself to stand up. Norton also shot up from the ground, completely ignoring the uncomfortable feeling.
"Woah! Woah!! Calm down! I am not going to hurt either of you" The voice said and Harry finally found the figure trying to help him. From the voice, Harry already knew that it was a girl and from her looks, Harry would place her somewhere around 16 or 17 years old.
"Who are you?" Harry asked, looking at the girl warily.
"Mr. Potter, my name is Jacklyn Harper and I am a 7th-year student, but right now, I am your guide" The girl introduced herself with a short bow. The girl was quite tall, somewhere around 5'7"... At least, that is what guessed. The girl's eyes were blue and her blonde hair with black streaks was tied in a ponytail behind the back of her head.
Harry noticed that the fair-skinned girl was dressed in the school uniform and from the emblem on her uniform, Harry deduced that the girl was from the House of Wampus. They never informed him that they were going to send someone to receive him, but he should have expected it. After all, Ilvermorny was really looking forward to having him.
"You already seem to know me, but still… I am Harry Potter, please call me Harry" Harry said while extending his hand toward Jacklyn, who accepted his hand with a smile on her face and shook it.
"Please… I don't think there is anyone in the Magical world who hasn't heard about you" Jacklyn scoffed and Harry couldn't help but cringe internally. The person who is responsible for making him famous is going to pay… He was going to make them pay in blood. "And please call me Jacklyn or Jack… I am fine with either" Jacklyn added with a smile as she finally released his hand.
Harry gave her a nod. "Jacklyn, this is Norton" Harry said pointing toward his house elf was just finished gathering their trunks.
"Hello, Norton" Jacklyn waved her hand at Norton, who nervously waved back at her. "Let me call me elf, Norton can accompany him along with your luggage. We have already prepared a room for you until you can find your own accommodation" Jacklyn explained and Harry simply nodded his head in agreement.
Jacklyn nodded her head in understanding. "Logs!" Jacklyn called out loudly and a house elf appeared with a soft pop. Before Logs could ask anything, Jacklyn pointed at Norton and started to speak. "Logs, this is Norton. He is Harry Potter's house elf. Take him to the room we have prepared for Harry and help him with the luggage" Jacklyn ordered and Logs bowed his head.
"Of course, Missy Jackie. Norton bes following Logs" Logs said and disappeared along with two of the trunks. Norton also disappeared after giving Harry a look and he also took trunks along with him. Moments later, Logs appeared and took two more trunks with him after a few seconds, Norton returned and followed Logs' example.
"So, where are we?" Harry asked curiously while looking around.
"We are just outside the Wards of Ilvermorny… We will need to trek a bit to reach the castle. Come follow me" Jacklyn said gesturing toward the dirt road. Harry shrugged before following Jacklyn. Both sides of the road were filled with pine trees and Harry had to admit, it was quite a beautiful sight.
|Hogwarts is much more beautiful| Lily mumbled inside Harry's mind in displeasure.
|Is that jealousy I hear in your voice?| Harry asked in an amused tone.
|Hmph!! Like I care… Hogwarts is simply better than this place, any day, any time| Lily petulantly protested.
|We haven't even seen the school yet| Harry pointed out incredulously.
|Ilvermorny was created in the image of Hogwarts… So, Hogwarts is better| Lily retorted, sounding extremely serious and Harry simply shook his head. Sometimes his mom could be such a child…
"May I ask something, Harry? Of course, if you don't mind" Jacklyn said, breaking Harry out of his musings. Harry simply gestured her to continue. "Why did you decide to attend Ilvermorny instead of Hogwarts? I mean… Everyone thought you will be attending Hogwarts, just like your parents" Jacklyn asked curiously, but she was trying really hard not to sound insensitive.
Harry seemed to think for a bit… "There are several reasons…" Harry trailed off with a contemplative look on his face. He obviously wasn't going to reveal his real reason to her. "I wanted to avoid all the Pureblood tripe" Harry added with a shrug and Jacklyn nodded her head in understanding.
"I see… Well, you don't have to worry about there here. There is a strict policy against Pureblood bigotry or any other type of bigotry in our school" Jacklyn explained cheerfully with a big grin on her face.
"So, what can you tell me about classes?" Harry asked with a glint of interest in his eyes.
"Well, we have six core subjects… Charms, Transfiguration, Defense Against Dark Arts, Herbology, Potions, and History of Magic. Then we have twelve elective subjects. Though there are only seven subjects you can choose from in your third year. A student can opt for 3 subjects at most… The electives you can opt for in your third year are, Astronomy, Arithmancy, Care of Magical Creatures, Xylomancy, Muggle Studies, Study of Ancient Runes, and Magical Theory" Jacklyn explained with a thoughtful look on her face.
"What are the rest of the five electives?" Harry asked with interest clear in his voice.
(A/N: I looked up the internet to see if I can find if Ilvermorny has OWLs and NEWTs like Hogwarts, but unfortunately, I didn't find anything concrete. There is something different on different websites… So, I decided to go with Ilvermorny Fandom. If you want to check it out, here is the link- https://ilvermorny.fandom.com/wiki/Excruciatingly_Aggravating_Graduate_Level_Exam)
"The rest of the five electives are only available after you finish your Excruciatingly Aggravating Graduate Level Exams aka EAGLEs, which is equivalent to your Ordinary Wizarding Level Exams aka OWLs from Britain, but much harder. Just like OWLs, the EAGLEs take place at the end of the 5th year… According to your EAGLEs, you will be able to opt for at most two of the five remaining electives" Jacklyn explained, and Harry nodded his head in understanding, so Jacklyn simply decided to continue.
"You need to get at least an A in Herbology, Potions, and Magical Theory to opt for Healing. You will need at least an A in Herbology, Potions, Magical Theory, and Arithmancy to opt for Alchemy. Then you will need at least an A in Arithmancy, Magical Theory, and Runes to opt for Spell Crafting. Then you will need at least an A in Charms, Runes, and Arithmancy to opt for Enchanting and finally, you will need at least an A in Charms, Transfiguration, and Defense to opt for Dueling" Jacklyn finally finished her explanation.
Harry rubbed his chin… A lot of subjects piqued his interest. "Can I drop any of the core subjects?" Harry asked and Jacklyn couldn't help but snicker after hearing his question.
"You gave no idea how many firsties have asked that question" Jacklyn continued to snicker. "The answer is yes, you can, but you can only drop any of the core subjects after finishing your EAGLEs" Jacklyn answered and Harry nodded his head in understanding, and for the next couple of minutes, he simply continued to walk beside Jacklyn in complete silence as he pondered about everything he heard.
"What electives did you take?" Harry questioned, looking really interested.
"In my third year, I took Arithmancy, Magical Theory, and Runes… You need to take at least two electives and after my EAGLEs, I took Dueling" Jacklyn revealed proudly.
"I see… Thanks for helping me out" Harry thanked Jacklyn genuinely.
"No worries… It was my duty. So, did any of the subjects interest you?" Jacklyn asked and Harry rubbed his chin thoughtfully.
"Yes… What can you tell me about Magical Theory?" Harry asked curiously.
"It is a completely theoretical subject, but it is an extremely important subject. It can help someone to recognize Spells… There are a lot of Spells out there and it is simply impossible for a person to learn all of them, but Magical Theory can help you recognize a Spell. Ah… It is hard to explain in words, you will understand when you read a book!" Jacklyn groaned in frustration.
Harry gave the girl a look… Jacklyn didn't look like a muscle-head, so the subject, Magical Theory must be something complicated. He decided that he will look for the 3rd year book in the library if he was allowed.
"Look up, Harry. We are finally here!" Harry was brought out of his musings when Jacklyn exclaimed cheerfully from beside him.
Harry looked up and the castle finally came into his sight… |Holy…| Harry muttered in his mind as his jaw hung open and his eyes grew wide in awe… The castle of Ilvermorny was huge…
|Hogwarts is still better| Lily petulantly insisted even though her voice didn't sound convincing…
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