The Ilvermorny Cottage

• Type: Residence; Historical Site (Pottermore)
• Location: Mount Greylock, Massachusetts, United States (Pottermore)
• Owner/Residents: Isolt Sayre, James Steward (Pottermore)
• Key Features: A small granite stone cottage that formed the original foundation of the Ilvermorny School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. (Pottermore)

The Ilvermorny cottage was a small granite house built on the summit of Mount Greylock in Massachusetts by the Irish witch Isolt Sayre and her No-Maj husband, James Steward, in the 17th century. (Pottermore) Isolt named the cottage “Ilvermorny” in memory of the cottage in which she had been born in Ireland, which had been destroyed by her aunt, Gormlaith Gaunt. (Pottermore) Initially, the cottage served as the family home for Isolt, James, and their adopted sons, Chadwick and Webster Boot. It soon became the first, informal version of a wizarding school when Isolt and James began to teach the boys magic. When other magical children from local Native American tribes and other settlers sought an education, the cottage was magically expanded to accommodate them. Over many years, this humble cottage grew and transformed into the great granite castle that is now the Ilvermorny School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. The original cottage structure is said to remain preserved at the very heart of the modern-day castle. (Pottermore)

The Ilvermorny cottage itself does not appear in the original seven novels. However, its name is mentioned once in *Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows*. When captured by a group of Snatchers led by Fenrir Greyback, Harry Potter (using the alias “Vernon Dudley”) is interrogated about which magical school he attended. To protect Hogwarts, Harry spontaneously invents the name “Ilvermorny” when pressed, claiming it is a school of magic. This single mention is the name's only appearance in the original book series, where it serves as a quick-witted lie to throw his captors off his trail. The name's significance as a real place was not revealed until supplementary materials were released.

As a small family home, the cottage originally consisted of simple living quarters for Isolt Sayre, James Steward, and their children. No specific rooms are detailed, but the entire original structure is said to be encased within the larger Ilvermorny castle that was built around it. (Pottermore)

For years following the publication of *Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows*, “Ilvermorny” was known to fans only as the fake school name that Harry Potter invented. J.K. Rowling later developed the name into a major part of the magical world's lore on the Pottermore website. She established the Ilvermorny School of Witchcraft and Wizardry as the North American equivalent of Hogwarts and created a detailed founding myth, with the Ilvermorny cottage at its centre. This retroactive expansion of the canon gave a deeper meaning to what was originally a throwaway line in the final book. (Pottermore)