The American Wizarding World. Inspired by the Lore of J.k Rowling by @kiybestrange
Let’s dive into American Wizarding according to J.K. Rowling — as she revealed through Pottermore.
The American Wizarding World
• Magic has existed in North America for thousands of years, long before European colonists arrived.
• Indigenous peoples had their own rich magical traditions, using wands, natural magic, and spiritual practices.
• Witches and wizards among Native communities were often medicine people, healers, and shape-shifters.
🏰 Ilvermorny School of Witchcraft and Wizardry
• Founded in the 1600s by Isolt Sayre (a descendant of Salazar Slytherin) and her No-Maj husband James Steward.
• Located on Mount Greylock, Massachusetts.
• Four houses, each tied to magical creatures from North American folklore:
• Thunderbird → adventurers (soul).
• Wampus → warriors (body).
• Horned Serpent → scholars (mind).
• Pukwudgie → healers (heart).
⚖️ MACUSA (Magical Congress of the United States of America)
• The American equivalent of the Ministry of Magic.
• Founded in 1693 after the Salem Witch Trials, when witches and wizards needed stronger protections.
• Headquartered in New York City during the Fantastic Beasts era (1920s).
• Very strict about magical secrecy, even more so than Britain’s Ministry.
👤 “No-Maj” instead of “Muggle”
• Americans call non-magical people No-Majs (short for “No Magic”).
• This difference in terminology reflects the cultural split between British and American wizarding communities.
• The first famous American wandmaker was Violetta Beauvais (New Orleans, 1800s), whose wands were known for drama and power.
• Shikoba Wolfe, a Native American wandmaker, crafted wands known for using Thunderbird tail feathers.
• Unlike Europe, where Ollivanders dominates, America had several independent wandmakers.
🐍 Magical Creatures & Lore
• North America has its own magical fauna, some inspired by Indigenous stories and folklore:
• Thunderbird – a storm-bringing bird.
• Wampus Cat – a magical cougar with great strength.
• Pukwudgie – small, mischievous, goblin-like beings.
• Horned Serpent – wise, magical serpents with jewels in their foreheads.
✨ Key Differences from British Wizarding
• Stricter secrecy (due to the Salem Witch Trials and anti-witch hysteria).
• No intermarriage with No-Majs was allowed by law until the 1960s.
• Wand legislation was tightly controlled; only licensed witches and wizards could legally carry wands.
• The American magical community was much more segregated and cautious compared to Britain’s more open magical society.
Let’s break down the history of MACUSA (Magical Congress of the United States of America) as J.K. Rowling outlined it on Pottermore and through Fantastic Beasts.
• Founded in 1693, the same year as the Salem Witch Trials.
• Witches and wizards in America realized they needed a central government to protect their kind after many magical people were falsely accused, hunted, or even exposed during the Trials.
• The Trials were exaggerated by Scourers—corrupt witches and wizards who betrayed their own kind by hunting magical people for profit. Many Scourers went underground, and their descendants continued to cause trouble for centuries.
🪄 Early Years (1600s–1700s)
• Modeled after the Wizengamot (Britain’s magical high court).
• Enforce secrecy from No-Majs.
• Establish wand control and magical law.
• The first President of MACUSA was Josiah Jackson, a tough leader chosen for his ability to bring order.
• Headquarters moved frequently during these unstable years to avoid discovery.
• MACUSA became stricter than European ministries due to constant fear of exposure.
• Absolute ban on magical–No-Maj marriage.
• Severe punishments for magical exposure.
• During the American Revolution, MACUSA sided with both British and American wizards at different times—though most supported independence.
• 1800s: MACUSA was headquartered in Washington, D.C., then later moved to New York City.
🏙️ The 1920s (Fantastic Beasts Era)
• By the 1920s, MACUSA was firmly rooted in New York City inside the Woolworth Building (enchanted so No-Majs saw only a normal office tower).
• Seraphina Picquery was President at this time—an elegant but very strict leader.
• MACUSA maintained Rappaport’s Law (1790):
• Total segregation between magical and non-magical communities.
• No friendships, marriages, or even contact with No-Majs.
• This made American wizarding society much more isolated than Britain’s.
• This era was marked by:
• Conflict with the Second Salemers, an anti-witch extremist group.
• The Obscurus incident in New York (1926).
• Rappaport’s Law was eventually repealed in the 1960s, allowing intermarriage and more relaxed relations with No-Majs.
• By the late 20th and early 21st centuries, MACUSA remained the primary governing body of wizarding America, but with a reputation for being bureaucratic and overly rigid compared to the British Ministry of Magic.
⚖️ Key Differences from the Ministry of Magic
• Much stricter secrecy laws (a legacy of Salem).
• No-Maj segregation laws lasting until the 20th century.
• Wand regulation—unlicensed wizards were not allowed to carry wands.
• Stronger historical focus on hunting down internal threats (Scourers, Dark Wizards).
Let’s explore the magical creatures of North America according to J.K. Rowling’s Wizarding World canon (Pottermore and Fantastic Beasts). Many of these tie directly into Native American legend and Ilvermorny’s history.
🐉 Magical Creatures of North America
• A majestic bird that can create storms as it flies.
• Closely related to the phoenix.
• Sensitive to danger, making them powerful magical companions.
• Wand cores made with Thunderbird tail feathers are powerful but can be difficult to master.
• One of Ilvermorny’s four house mascots (represents the soul, favors adventurers).
• A large, intelligent snake with a gem-like jewel in its forehead.
• Can send visions and telepathic messages to witches and wizards.
• Isolt Sayre (Ilvermorny’s founder) had a deep connection with one.
• Horned Serpent horn is sometimes used in wandmaking.
• Ilvermorny house symbol (represents the mind, favors scholars).
• A magical, panther-like creature with great strength, speed, and mystic sight.
• Inspired by Cherokee legend.
• Nearly impossible to fight due to its speed and power.
• Wampus hair is a wand core material, producing strong, bold magic.
• Ilvermorny house mascot (represents the body, favors warriors).
• Small, goblin-like beings, fiercely independent and tricky.
• Can heal but also shoot arrows tipped with magical poison.
• Originally distrusted witches and wizards, but later allied with Isolt Sayre.
• Some served as Ilvermorny’s earliest protectors.
• House symbol (represents the heart, favors healers).
Wampus Cat (variant from folklore)
• Sometimes considered separate from the Ilvermorny Wampus.
• A terrifying magical cougar that could mesmerize prey with its eyes.
• A nocturnal forest creature that can conceal itself perfectly behind any object.
• Attacks humans, especially No-Majs.
• Dangerous and nearly impossible to detect—except by a witch or wizard.
• A snake that forms itself into a hoop and rolls after its prey at high speeds.
• Strikes with a venomous stinger in its tail.
• A magical beast from Wisconsin folklore.
• Fierce-looking but more mischievous than deadly.
• A magical hare with antlers.
• Found across the American West.
• Mischievous and sometimes aggressive toward No-Majs.
• A dragon-like beast native to Maryland.
• Part-bird, part-reptile, with metallic claws.
• Feared by early American No-Majs.
🐉 Wampus Variants, Thunderbird Kin, and Others
• Many North American magical creatures have ties to indigenous myth and folklore, often blending natural magic with elemental powers.
⚡ Note: Rowling only gave us a handful in detail, mostly tied to Ilvermorny’s houses. But Wizarding World lore hints at a vast ecosystem of magical North American beasts, many still hidden in forests, mountains, and deserts.
Scourers — one of the darkest pieces of American wizarding history J.K. Rowling created. They were crucial in shaping why MACUSA (the Magical Congress of the United States of America) became so strict compared to the British Ministry.
• The Scourers were a band of corrupt witches and wizards active in 17th-century North America.
• Originally, they claimed to be “bounty hunters” tracking down lawbreakers in the magical community.
• Over time, they became mercenaries for hire, motivated by greed and cruelty rather than justice.
• They sold out fellow witches and wizards to No-Majs during the height of witch paranoia.
• Some even actively encouraged the Salem Witch Trials, turning magical folk over to non-magical authorities to save themselves or profit.
• They trafficked magical children, artifacts, and creatures for money.
• Essentially, they were considered traitors to wizardkind.
🔥 Impact on Salem & American Wizarding Law
• The Scourers’ betrayals led directly to the Salem Witch Trials (1692–1693), in which both magical and non-magical people suffered.
• Their actions caused deep mistrust between American magical society and No-Majs.
• After Salem, the surviving Scourers went underground. Many blended into No-Maj communities, marrying non-magical people and hiding their magical bloodlines.
• Centuries later, their descendants often grew into bitter anti-magic families, some of whom became violent No-Maj extremists (like the Second Salemers in the 1920s).
• In response to the Scourer crisis, witches and wizards founded MACUSA in 1693.
• The first priority: hunt down the Scourers and destroy their networks.
• Scourers became a symbol of the ultimate betrayal of wizardkind.
• This legacy explains why MACUSA developed such harsh secrecy and segregation laws (like Rappaport’s Law), much stricter than Britain’s Ministry of Magic.
• Even long after their decline, Scourers haunted wizarding memory:
• They were used as a boogeyman story to warn young witches and wizards.
• Their descendants fueled anti-magic hate movements in the U.S. (like Mary Lou Barebone’s family in Fantastic Beasts).
• They are remembered as one of the great shames of magical history, and part of why American wizarding society became more suspicious, isolated, and law-driven.
The Scourers were greedy, violent magical mercenaries who betrayed their own kind during America’s colonial period. Their treachery created the Salem Witch Trials, led to the founding of MACUSA, and shaped the paranoid, secretive culture of American wizardry.
The Original American Aurors
• When MACUSA was founded in 1693, right after the Salem Witch Trials, its first task was to track down Scourers (corrupt witches and wizards who betrayed their own).
• To do this, they created the first group of American Aurors — magical law enforcers modeled after Britain’s.
• A group of twelve witches and wizards volunteered to become Aurors.
• Hunt down surviving Scourers.
• Protect wizardkind from further betrayal.
• Establish magical law in the New World.
• Their names were recorded, though Rowling didn’t reveal all of them. We know a few historical notes:
• Others were born in the Colonies, including descendants of Indigenous witches and wizards.
• They were chosen for their toughness, courage, and magical skills.
• These Aurors had to operate in a land with few laws, no magical infrastructure, and constant danger from No-Maj hysteria.
• Many were killed in action or disappeared.
• The survivors became legends in the American magical world.
• The American Auror Office grew directly from these first twelve.
• They are remembered in wizarding history as the “Founding Aurors.”
• Their uncompromising fight against the Scourers helped establish the culture of strict secrecy and harsh law enforcement that defined MACUSA.
Rappaport’s Law is one of the most important (and restrictive) laws in American wizarding history. It explains why U.S. witches and wizards lived so differently from their British counterparts.
• Enacted in 1790 by Emily Rappaport, the 15th President of MACUSA.
• Sparked by a disastrous breach of secrecy involving a young witch, her No-Maj lover, and some dangerous magical items.
• A pure-blood witch named Dorcas Twelvetrees fell in love with a charismatic No-Maj named Bartholomew Barebone.
• Barebone was secretly a descendant of the Scourers (anti-wizard mercenaries from the 1600s).
• Dorcas foolishly revealed the magical world to him and even let him handle her wand.
• Bartholomew exposed wizardkind to his fellow No-Majs, spreading fear and paranoia.
• This betrayal nearly blew apart the Statute of Secrecy in North America.
In response, Emily Rappaport passed Rappaport’s Law, which imposed the strictest magical secrecy rules in the world:
1. Absolute separation between magical and No-Maj communities.
• No friendships, relationships, or marriages allowed.
• Witches and wizards could not even share meals or socialize with No-Majs.
• Wands were registered and tracked by MACUSA.
• No unlicensed witch or wizard could carry one.
3. Punishments for violations.
• Harsh legal consequences for anyone exposing magic or mingling with No-Majs.
• Created a culture of isolation and secrecy much stronger than in Britain.
• American wizards lived parallel but totally hidden lives.
• No-Majs were feared and distrusted far more than Muggles were in Europe.
• Intermarriage between magical and No-Maj families became illegal until the 1960s, when Rappaport’s Law was finally repealed.
• In the 1920s, during Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them, Rappaport’s Law was still fully in effect.
• This explains why Newt Scamander was shocked by American wizarding secrecy, and why Jacob Kowalski (a No-Maj) being involved with Queenie Goldstein caused such conflict.
• Queenie and Jacob’s romance directly defied the law.
Rappaport’s Law was a harsh segregation law that kept witches and wizards completely separate from No-Majs for nearly 200 years. It was born out of betrayal, fear, and paranoia — and shaped American wizarding society to be far stricter than Europe’s.
By the mid-20th century, U.S. wizarding leaders recognized the law was:
• Impossible to enforce (magical and No-Maj societies overlapped too much).
• Outdated in the modern era of growing civil rights and social integration.
• Actively damaging the magical community (stunting cultural growth, creating fear).
So in 1965, after intense debate, MACUSA repealed Rappaport’s Law, declaring it unnecessary and unjust.
🌎 Effects on Modern American Wizarding Society
1. Mixed Families Flourished
• Wizard–No-Maj marriages and friendships became legal.
• A new generation of half-blood and mixed-culture wizards emerged, bringing diversity and resilience.
• Magical children of No-Majs were no longer stigmatized or hidden.
• Wizards could freely enjoy and adapt No-Maj culture — music, fashion, food, technology.
• American magical arts absorbed influences from jazz, cinema, literature, and more.
• Magical communities in cities like New York, New Orleans, Chicago, and Los Angeles grew vibrant and diverse.
• Ilvermorny admitted students from more varied backgrounds.
• No-Maj-born children (like “Muggle-borns” in Britain) now had open pathways to magical education.
• Curriculum modernized, reflecting wider perspectives and new magical practices.
4. Shift in Politics & Law
• MACUSA softened its image, moving from a paranoid enforcer of secrecy to a modern bureaucracy.
• The Auror Office was redirected toward real threats (rogue wizards, dangerous creatures) instead of policing personal relationships.
• More cooperation with international bodies (like the British Ministry of Magic) became possible.
• By the 2000s, young American wizards grew up with a more open, integrated identity.
• Quodpot and magical pop culture thrived alongside No-Maj sports and entertainment.
• Discrimination didn’t vanish (old pure-blood families and Scourer-descendants still carried prejudice), but society as a whole leaned progressive compared to its past.
The repeal of Rappaport’s Law in 1965 transformed the American wizarding world from a fearful, isolated society into a modern, multicultural, and outward-looking community. It opened the door to mixed families, richer culture, freer education, and stronger international ties — laying the foundation for the wizarding America we imagine in the 2000s.
The journey to Ilvermorny School of Witchcraft and Wizardry isn’t described in the same detail as the Hogwarts Express, but J.K. Rowling did reveal how students typically arrive at the school.
🏰 How Students Get to Ilvermorny
• Ilvermorny sits atop Mount Greylock in Massachusetts, hidden by strong enchantments.
• To No-Majs, it appears only as a ruined, abandoned stone structure.
• To witches and wizards, it’s a beautiful enchanted castle, often shrouded in mist.
• Students gather at the base of Mount Greylock.
• They travel by various magical means (since America never had a central train system like the Hogwarts Express):
• Apparition (for older students or parents).
• Portkeys provided by MACUSA or the school.
• Brooms (common among young witches and wizards).
• Some families use magical creatures or enchanted vehicles.
• From there, students follow a hidden enchanted path that leads up the mountain and reveals the school to them.
• Unlike Hogwarts, students don’t take a long train ride together.
• Instead, the magical journey often ends directly at Ilvermorny’s Entrance Hall.
• There, they are sorted immediately by the carvings of the four house creatures (Thunderbird, Wampus, Horned Serpent, Pukwudgie).
• Each carving reacts to claim students — and if more than one responds, the student chooses.
🧳 Key Difference from Hogwarts
• Hogwarts has a shared cultural ritual with the train ride from Platform 9 ¾.
• Ilvermorny’s arrivals are more varied and individual, reflecting America’s size and diverse magical communities.
• What unites students is the sorting ceremony, not the journey itself.
Ilvermorny students don’t ride a single magical train. They reach the base of Mount Greylock by portkey, broom, apparition, or other magical travel, then ascend the enchanted mountain path to the castle.
Wands at Ilvermorny and in American wizarding schools are a fascinating subject, because they worked very differently from how Hogwarts students used them in Britain.
• When Isolt Sayre and James Steward founded Ilvermorny in the 1600s, most magical children in America didn’t have wands.
• Wandmaking was still developing in North America, and imported European wands were rare.
• At first, students used found objects (sticks, carved wood, heirlooms) to channel magic, or practiced wandless spells.
⚒️ The First American Wands
• The first great American wandmaker was James Steward himself, though he wasn’t a wizard — he learned wandlore by helping Isolt and working with magical materials.
• Later, American wandmakers like Shikoba Wolfe and Violetta Beauvais became famous, supplying Ilvermorny students with true wands.
• Ilvermorny eventually became not just a school but also a distributor of wands to young witches and wizards, ensuring they could study magic properly.
⚖️ MACUSA and Wand Control
• Rappaport’s Law (1790) changed everything:
• It required that all wands be registered with MACUSA.
• Children were not allowed to carry wands outside of school until they came of age.
• This meant students only used their wands on school grounds under supervision.
• In contrast, at Hogwarts, students could keep their wands with them year-round.
• Students at Ilvermorny typically received their first wand upon admission (unless their family already owned one).
• Wands were kept at the school during the year and locked away when students went home for the summer.
• This policy was meant to prevent exposure to No-Majs and reflected America’s stricter magical secrecy laws.
✨ The Symbolism of the Wand
• Getting your first wand at Ilvermorny was seen as a rite of passage.
• Because of scarcity and regulation, wands were considered precious, personal treasures — maybe even more so than in Europe.
At Ilvermorny, students usually got their first wand when they started school. Unlike Hogwarts, they couldn’t freely keep wands outside the castle because of MACUSA’s strict laws. The school was both a place of learning and a safeguard for magical tools.
American witches and wizards don’t get as much spotlight as their British counterparts, but J.K. Rowling did give us a roster of important names in the Wizarding World of North America.
Here’s a list of known American wizards and witches (canon from Pottermore / Wizarding World and Fantastic Beasts):
🏛️ MACUSA Presidents & Leaders
• Josiah Jackson – first President of MACUSA (1693), chosen for his toughness after Salem.
• Emily Rappaport – 15th President, created Rappaport’s Law (1790).
• Seraphina Picquery – President in the 1920s (Fantastic Beasts), elegant, strict, and highly respected.
• Isolt Sayre – Irish-born witch who fled to America and co-founded Ilvermorny in the 1600s.
• James Steward – her No-Maj husband, co-founder of Ilvermorny, helped create early American wands.
• Martha Steward & Rionach Steward – Isolt and James’s twin daughters, among Ilvermorny’s first students.
• Shikoba Wolfe – Choctaw wandmaker, famous for wands with Thunderbird tail feathers.
• Violetta Beauvais – New Orleans wandmaker, her wands were dramatic and powerful (favored in dueling).
• Johannes Jonker – son of a No-Maj, talented wandmaker who popularized horned serpent horn cores.
• The First Twelve Aurors – the original magical law enforcers in America (names not all given, but legendary).
• Abraham Potter – one of the first MACUSA members, distantly related to Harry Potter’s line.
• Porpentina “Tina” Goldstein – MACUSA Auror, later Newt Scamander’s wife.
• Queenie Goldstein – her sister, a Legilimens with a rebellious streak.
• Percival Graves – Head of Magical Security at MACUSA (actually impersonated by Grindelwald).
• Mary Lou Barebone – leader of the Second Salemers, a No-Maj extremist group; descendant of Scourers.
• Credence Barebone / Aurelius Dumbledore – Mary Lou’s adopted son, an Obscurial.
🏫 Ilvermorny Founders & Legacy
• Chadwick Boot – one of Ilvermorny’s earliest students (adopted by Isolt and James).
• Webster Boot – his brother, also raised at Ilvermorny.
• Their descendants became part of the Boot family in Britain (notably Terry Boot at Hogwarts centuries later).
• Bartholomew Barebone – Scourer descendant, caused the breach that led to Rappaport’s Law.
• Dorcas Twelvetrees – pure-blood witch who naively revealed wizarding secrets to Bartholomew.
American wizarding history features figures like Isolt Sayre (Ilvermorny’s founder), Emily Rappaport (strict lawmaker), Seraphina Picquery (1920s MACUSA President), the Goldstein sisters, wandmakers like Shikoba Wolfe, and legacy families like the Boots and Potters.
Ooo, I love this one 🍽️🪄 — food and drink in the American wizarding world isn’t described in as much detail as Hogwarts’ feasts, but we can piece together canon mentions and expand with what J.K. Rowling hinted at on Pottermore/Wizarding World, plus parallels to U.S. magical culture.
🍔 Food & Drinks in the American Wizarding World
• Students likely eat in a Great Hall equivalent, enchanted to serve food.
• Unlike Hogwarts’ traditional British fare, Ilvermorny meals would reflect New England and North American cuisine, with magical twists:
• Clam chowder (possibly self-stirring).
• Cornbread & stews enchanted to stay warm.
• Cranberry sauces and pumpkin dishes (pumpkin is big in both magical worlds).
• Maple-sweetened pastries from northern forests.
• Magical creature-inspired treats, like Thunderbird-shaped cookies.
• Butterbeer may exist in America, but locals would have their own drinks:
• Maple Mead – sweet, magically warming.
• Firewater Cider – enchanted apple cider with a kick.
• Sasparilla Soda – fizzy, spell-bubbled drink popular with young wizards.
• Moonshine Mash – enchanted Appalachian brew, highly regulated by MACUSA.
• Chicory Brew – wizarding coffee alternative common in New Orleans.
American wizarding candies would mirror Honeydukes but with U.S. flair:
• Pukwudgie Pops – sour candies that bite back.
• Thunderbird Taffy – crackles like lightning on the tongue.
• Horned Serpent Licorice – twists into serpent shapes when unwrapped.
• Wampus Fudge – chewy and fierce, rumored to give strength.
• Salem Witch’s Toffee – darkly sweet, with “burnt sugar” magic that smokes when eaten.
Places like New York (MACUSA’s HQ) or New Orleans (wandmaking hub) would have their own wizarding cafés and pubs:
• The Blind Pig (Fantastic Beasts) – underground speakeasy in New York run by the goblin Gnarlak. Served illicit magical drinks, likely jazz-filled atmosphere.
• Wandmaker’s Café (New Orleans) – said to serve enchanted chicory coffee that “reads your fortune in the foam.”
• Appalachian Spell-Pubs – rustic wizard bars serving spiced stews and magical moonshine.
• Indigenous magic users contributed foods with natural enchantments (corn, beans, squash, herbal teas).
• Immigrant wizarding families (Irish, Italian, African, Jewish, etc.) brought magical twists to their foods, creating a diverse magical cuisine unique to the U.S.
American wizarding food & drink is more regional and culturally diverse than Britain’s. At Ilvermorny you’d see New England–style magical meals, while wizarding pubs in New York or New Orleans would serve enchanted versions of local dishes, alongside unique sweets and magical beverages.
What J.K. Rowling Actually Revealed (Canon)
• Rowling gave us very little detail on American wizarding food and drink.
• The only explicitly mentioned American magical establishment serving drinks is:
• The Blind Pig – a speakeasy in New York from Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them (1926).
• It served illegal magical drinks (though none are named).
• On Pottermore, she expanded Ilvermorny’s lore, but no sweets, drinks, or feasts were described the way Hogwarts feasts and Honeydukes treats were.
• No mention of whether Butterbeer, Pumpkin Juice, Chocolate Frogs, Bertie Bott’s Every-Flavour Beans, etc. exist in America.
• No canon U.S.-specific wizarding candies or drinks have been named.
• Since the Statute of Secrecy existed on both sides of the Atlantic, it’s reasonable to assume some magical goods crossed continents.
• That means things like Butterbeer and Chocolate Frogs probably exist in the U.S., either imported or locally produced.
• However, because American magical culture developed differently (stricter laws, cultural diversity, regional magic), it’s highly likely they also had their own sweets, candies, and beverages — but Rowling never described them.
I created a set of American wizarding sweets that feel like the cultural counterparts to the iconic British ones (Chocolate Frogs, Bertie Bott’s, etc.), but flavored with American folklore, creatures, and traditions.
🍭 American Wizarding Sweets (UK Equivalents)
➡️ Thunderbird Truffles (US)
• Storm-crackling chocolate truffles that spark tiny lightning when bitten.
• Collectible cards feature famous American witches & wizards (MACUSA presidents, Ilvermorny founders, wandmakers).
🍬 Bertie Bott’s Every-Flavour Beans (UK)
• Licorice-like strings that magically shift flavors (sometimes delicious, sometimes awful).
• Known to “swipe” across your tongue like a cat’s rough tongue — hence the name.
• A sparkling maple-flavored drink that glows faintly under moonlight.
• Favored at Ilvermorny feasts during autumn.
• Mini enchanted pies (apple, pecan, or pumpkin) that steam like they’re freshly baked, even after days in a satchel.
➡️ Salem Sour Sticks (US)
• Candy sticks that fizz, spark, and “hiss” like a witch’s potion.
• Named as a cheeky reclaiming of the Salem Witch Trials.
➡️ Pukwudgie Pralines (US)
• Sweet-and-salty nut pralines that “poke” you with a little spark before melting into sweetness.
• Popular in New England wizarding communities.
➡️ Snallygaster Sours (US)
• Sour, crunchy candies that make you belch out tiny puffs of harmless flame.
•Inspired by the dragon-like beast from Maryland folklore.
➡️ Appalachian Spellfudge (US)
• Dense, magical fudge that strengthens spellcasting focus for a short while.
• Rumored to be a favorite of young Ilvermorny students before exams.
These sweets mirror the fun of the British wizarding treats but tie into American magical culture — creatures (Thunderbird, Wampus, Snallygaster, Pukwudgie), regional flavors (maple, praline, apple pie), and bits of history (Salem).
J.K. Rowling never gave us a clear picture of the American wizarding world after the 1920s, but we can piece together what it likely looked like in the 2000s (the same time Harry Potter was at Hogwarts and later an Auror) using canon from Pottermore/Wizarding World, Fantastic Beasts, and logical worldbuilding.
🌎 The American Wizarding World in the 2000s
⚖️ Government: MACUSA in the 21st Century
• Rappaport’s Law (the no-No-Maj contact law) had been repealed in the 1960s, so by the 2000s, U.S. wizarding culture was far less isolated than in the Fantastic Beasts era.
• MACUSA was still the central government, but it was viewed as bureaucratic and rigid compared to the British Ministry of Magic.
• By this time, MACUSA had likely modernized — with divisions for Aurors, Magical Law Enforcement, Creature Regulation, and International Magical Cooperation (to coordinate with the Ministry of Magic, especially during Voldemort’s return).
• Wizards in America were more openly mingling with No-Majs (marrying, socializing, blending families).
• Magical communities probably flourished in major cities (New York, New Orleans, Chicago, Los Angeles), but still hidden with strong enchantments.
• Ilvermorny alumni formed a large, diverse middle class of witches and wizards.
• The legacy of Scourers and Second Salemers lingered, but anti-magic prejudice was much weaker than in the 1920s.
🏫 Ilvermorny in the 2000s
• By Harry Potter’s time, Ilvermorny was thriving as one of the most prestigious schools in the world, rivaling Hogwarts, Beauxbatons, and Durmstrang.
• Its sorting tradition (Thunderbird, Wampus, Pukwudgie, Horned Serpent) continued.
• Modern students likely had easier access to wands, magical textbooks, and supplies than earlier centuries, thanks to established American wandmakers.
• Ilvermorny probably had its own magical sports (including Quodpot, a U.S. invention, alongside Quidditch).
• Quodpot was hugely popular — a fast-paced, explosive cousin of Quidditch, invented in the U.S.
• Professional Quidditch leagues likely existed, though not as prestigious as in Europe.
• Wizarding music, cinema, and magical performance arts would have developed their own American flavor (think wizarding jazz, blues, Broadway-like charms).
• American magical sweets, drinks, and cafés would have become as iconic as Honeydukes and The Three Broomsticks were in Britain.
• The Blind Pig (a 1920s speakeasy) was likely replaced or modernized by newer magical bars, coffeehouses, and clubs by the 2000s.
• By the time of Voldemort’s return (1990s–2000s), MACUSA would have been in contact with the Ministry of Magic in Britain.
• However, MACUSA was known to be less cooperative and more isolationist than European ministries.
• U.S. Aurors may have monitored Voldemort’s rise but saw it as “Britain’s problem,” unless it spilled into international affairs.
• Since American magical society often mirrored No-Maj society more closely, by the 2000s wizards in the U.S. may have been more experimental with magical–technological hybrids.
• Enchanted radios, televisions, even magical versions of early computers (though Muggle tech doesn’t usually mix with magic).
• Possibly, younger wizards explored magical equivalents of the internet for spell research, communication, or even gaming.
J.K. Rowling never directly wrote about how the American wizarding world intersected with slavery, we can explore it carefully by combining canon hints with historical context and magical parallels.
The American Wizarding World During Slavery (1600s–1800s)
• Rowling described MACUSA as founded in 1693, shortly after the Salem Witch Trials.
• The Scourers (rogue magical mercenaries) often sold out their fellow wizards — some may have profited off the slave trade by betraying magical or No-Maj individuals.
• We know that by the late 1700s, American magical society was already rigid, secretive, and segregated (especially after Rappaport’s Law, 1790).
• She never said how slavery was addressed in wizarding America, but given that magical governments often reflected their No-Maj counterparts, slavery had to have cast a shadow over the magical world as well.
🧙 Wizards & Slavery: Likely Realities
1. Magical Families and Slaveholding
• Some wizarding families in the South likely mirrored wealthy No-Maj plantation owners, using enslaved labor while hiding their magic.
• Enchanted plantations may have existed, where slaves were magically bound as much as physically chained.
• The moral divide would have run deep: some wizards benefited from slavery, others resisted or helped enslaved people escape.
2. Ilvermorny During Slavery
• Founded in the 1600s, Ilvermorny admitted all magical children regardless of blood or background.
• But given Rappaport’s Law (1790–1965), children of enslaved No-Majs and wizards might have been excluded, hidden, or endangered if their existence risked exposure.
• It’s possible some secretly attended through magical resistance networks.
3. Resistance & Underground Magic
• Some magical folk, especially from Indigenous and African diasporic traditions, likely used magic to aid enslaved people escaping bondage.
• Charms of concealment on the Underground Railroad.
• Protective wards in safe houses.
• Magical folklore blending with Hoodoo, Voodoo, and African spiritual practices.
• Wizards sympathetic to abolition may have joined these efforts, but secrecy laws (and prejudice) limited how openly they could act.
• MACUSA was focused almost entirely on secrecy and control, not morality.
• Likely turned a blind eye to slavery among wizards as long as it didn’t endanger exposure to No-Majs.
• This fits Rowling’s depiction of magical governments elsewhere (e.g., the Ministry in Britain tolerating house-elf slavery for centuries).
• The legacy of slavery would remain in wizarding communities just as in No-Maj society:
• Old wizarding families with wealth tied to enslavement.
• Distrust between magical communities descended from enslaved people and those from privileged lineages.
• Cultural survival: African magical traditions profoundly shaped American wizarding practice (particularly in the South and New Orleans, where wandmaking traditions flourished).
Williamsburg in the American Wizarding World
1. MACUSA Moves There (1760)
• In 1760, the Magical Congress of the United States of America (MACUSA) relocated from an enchanted building in the Appalachian Mountains to Williamsburg, Virginia. 
• Williamsburg was chosen because it was the home of Thornton Harkaway, who was then President of MACUSA. 
2. Crups Incident & Secrecy Breach
• Thornton Harkaway kept Crups (a magical breed akin to Jack Russell terriers that are very protective of wizards) at MACUSA’s Williamsburg location. 
• These Crups attacked several No-Majs (non-magical people) in Williamsburg. This caused a serious breach of the Statute of Secrecy. 
3. Aftermath: President’s Resignation & Hospitalization for No-Majs
• As a result of the attacks and the exposure, Thornton Harkaway was forced out of office in disgrace. 
• Williamsburg became the first city in the United States in the wizarding timeline to host a psychiatric hospital for No-Majs who “saw things” during that time (i.e. who witnessed magical phenomena) as a way to deal with people impacted by the Crup attacks. 
4. MACUSA Leaves Williamsburg
• Following these events, MACUSA did not stay long in Williamsburg; it moved on (eventually to Baltimore, etc.).
