"It seems Ilvermorny has quite a history as well," Holly commented a few minutes after she and Harry had opened the book up on the history of the American school.

"Yes," Harry nodded simply.

And she was right. Ilvermorny was founded nearly a millennium after Hogwarts, just 637 years. Starting originally as just a small, rundown shack with only a pair of students, the school was founded by Isolt Saye who, along with her No-Maj husband James Steward, created a stone hut with their adoptive children, Chadwick and Webster Boot. According to the history book, Chadwick and Webster had both hoped to emigrate back to Ireland so they could attend Hogwarts. But their parents were firm, and they could found their school in America.

Thus, Ilvermorny was created. Between the four of them, they created the four Houses of Ilvermorny; Chadwick created Thunderbird, Webster created Wampus, Isolt, due to her fascination and inspiration drawn from Ravenclaw House of Hogwarts, created Horned Serpent, and lastly James created Pukwudgie.

It was inevitable the school would enrol more students, with the couple providing them with wands, not only for their children but for others. There were Native American students of two tribes where magic was highly prized and common. They both shared their magical knowledge and in return for learning about wandwork, Native American magic became involved with the Ilvermorny foundations. The stone hut changed as the school grew, and by 1634, the school had more than enough children involved in inter-house competitions, which were a staple in the school's traditions.

Harry stopped reading by that point and looked around for the Ilvermorny prospectus. "What are you looking for?" Holly asked.

"This," Harry held the prospectus up before he flicked through it, and showed her what he wanted to see. "The inter-house competitions. They're hosted every year. Students from all years and all Houses can participate in them. There's a Transfiguration Tournament, and they hold similar tournaments for Defence Against the Dark Arts, Runes, Charms, and several other subjects. They're a great way of learning more magic and new spells."

Holly became more excited as she saw another side to the competition, one her brother hadn't seen. Harry was a lovely boy but he was more pragmatic than she was. "Do you think we could make new friends?" She clapped excitedly.

Harry looked at her sadly. Harry had long since been cured of the desire for friends. Dudley had made sure of that, and even after Holly had arrived and he'd made sure the Dursleys understood their abuse was no longer tolerated, he still didn't want any. But that didn't mean that he wanted the same for Holly. Unfortunately, while the Dursleys had stopped abusing them largely beyond one or two incidents here and there, their lies had not ended and now, because Holly was known to exist since Harry refused to even allow them to hide her in Number 4 since that was no way to live and because he wanted a better life for his sister. Sadly it hadn't worked that way. Everyone on Privet Drive and indeed everyone in Little Whinging now knew the Potters had abandoned Holly and Harry to the Dursleys.

Harry hadn't paid any attention to the gossipers, and he had made it very clear to Petunia what would happen if she said or did anything to him or Holly about how everyone was talking about them, and what kind of people the Potters were. To be honest it never once seemed to enter the Dursleys' minds Harry genuinely did not care about his parents or what they did or whether they came back. As a result, many of the parents told their children to avoid Holly and Harry, which upset Harry especially when he saw how upset Holly was.

While Holly envied the other girls for their carefree and ignorant lives, she loved her brother and he was enough but she was really hoping that if they got this new life in America, in the MACUSA, with a family who would care for them, she and Harry might finally have the chance to have what other kids had. Friends. A good life.

Holly was not proud of what her parents did. She was unhappy with what they had done, and she despised them for it and while she had dreamed they would come and tell them what they'd done was a terrible mistake, she had felt a lot of that fall apart after she and Harry had spoken to Bloodbringer in Gringotts. The idea their parents had not even bothered to have Harry properly tested to see if he had magic was bad enough, but the implication she would have been abandoned to the Dursleys anyway was horrifying.

Holly needed Harry. He was her rock and he had been the only one to properly care for her growing up; without him, she knew the lessons of life would have been learnt painfully.

Don't laugh.

Don't cry.

Don't outdo precious Diddyduddykums.

Don't ask questions.

Don't speak unless spoken to.

Don't go to the Dursleys for anything. Holly knew precisely what the Dursleys had done to Harry before she'd arrived. She had seen his scars, and she knew she would have suffered the same fate if he hadn't put them in their places, but the Dursleys were now so terrified of them both, especially whenever Harry lost his temper with them whenever they pushed beyond his tolerance

But what horrified Holly the most was the thought about what would have happened if Harry had been tested and discovered to be a wizard, and she would be thrown away to the Dursleys. Would she have even survived the ordeal, or not? What would have happened to them eventually when she discovered their existence? Holly didn't know enough about Hogwarts to know how they recruited their students; would her parents have come for her, offered some stupid excuse or would they have continued pretending she didn't exist while doting on her brothers, who likely didn't even know about her?

The thought of meeting Harry, not knowing who he was, and being resentful towards him, was a nasty and horrible one, but Holly could see it playing out in her mind.

"Yeah," Harry said, hoping that he wasn't getting their hopes up. In truth, friendships had been the last thing on his list of things he wanted to do, but the idea was a comforting one, in a way. He put the prospectus away, his mind singing with thoughts relating to learning more about magic.

Tugging the history book closer, the Potter siblings learnt more about the school, finding out Ilvermorny was a day school, with James and his family being the only live-in residents. Unfortunately, Isolt's past was rapidly catching up with her, for news of the new magical school had reached Europe, and it had reached the attention of Isolt's cruel aunt, Gormlaith Gaunt, who was a vicious Dark witch.

"Gormlaith Gaunt? The woman Bloodbringer told us about?" Holly recognised the name.

"Yeah," Harry whispered. "Gormlaith made her way to America, to Ilvermorny. She attacked James with a dark curse," he made an unhappy face, just thinking of the dark arts books he'd bought. He felt a tug on his shirt and found himself looking into the unhappy emerald-green eyes of his sister. Holly wasn't happy. "You still want to read those books now, after reading that?"

Harry bit his lip. While he understood the theory of those books, the attraction behind using dangerous spells, as he looked into Gormlaith's unsavoury reputation which was recorded in the pages of the books, the list of her crimes which were not vaguely printed but were extremely detailed listed the things she had done; kidnapping, attempted line theft, use of all three unforgivable curses against human beings, cruel dark magic experiments, attacks on muggle families which went into experiments of necromancy…Harry decided there and then he would only use a few dark arts spells, and would not commit these types of crimes.

"I won't, not now," Harry didn't know exactly what he could say to make Holly see he was not going to do anything stupid. "But I won't throw those books away," seeing Holly frown, Harry went on, "I bought those books so I could learn how to protect you, us both. I won't apologise for this, Holly, but sometimes the ends do justify the means. When you came here, I promised to look after you. I kept you safe. You gave me a purpose. I don't plan to become a monster, an evil, heartless beast. I love you, Holly," Harry gently cupped her cheek. "I'm not going to apologise for that."

Holly's glare faded and she softened. In truth, she knew only too well her brother was doing this to protect her but she didn't want him to lose himself. "Just be careful, you big dummy!" She ordered.

"Dummy?!" Harry gasped in mock outrage before he tickled her.

Once she was left breathless, Harry turned his attention back to the book.

Gormlaith's attack took Isolt and James by surprise, but she didn't know about Chadwick or James; had she focused on them instead of her niece's newborn twin daughters, things would have turned out differently. Gormlaith had come to Ilvermorny to get revenge on her niece and to kidnap the newborn girls, but she didn't know Chadwick and James had Horned Serpent wands, which detected her use of parseltongue, the language of snakes.

Gormlaith had used its power to disable the wands used by James and Isolt, rendering them defenceless, but in the resultant duel, Chadwick fought the dark witch while his brother tried to revive his parents. The fight took them to their bedroom where she summoned William, her father, but another William, a Pukwudgie arrived and finally ended the Dark Witch with a poisoned arrow, and from that day forward, William and his family became responsible for the security and the maintenance of the school, a duty they held to that day, and their history and valour was celebrated by modern-day Ilvermorny students.

After the death of Gormlaith, the consequences of the attack reverberated not only in Ilvermorny and America, but in Britain; both Harry and Holly knew the Gaunts were punished severely by their cousin branch family, the Ashwoods, but in America, Isolt and James were buried Isolt's wand outside the grounds. She didn't want to keep the wand as it was the final reminder of her unhappy childhood. Harry could understand and appreciate that. Within a year, a snakewood tree grew from the ground, and any attempts to prune or kill the tree failed.

Snakewood, according to the book, was a magical wood with many properties, one being it was semi-sentient and the leaves possessed healing properties. Today the Snakewood tree was revered, and its leaves were used in healing potions and research undertaken by the students, and a small festival took place yearly to commemorate the event and to remember what the family did for Ilvermorny.

Holly ran her fingers over the photo, looking at the moving picture of the festival held in 1954, and a picture of the leaves being used in healing potions.

"What?" Harry asked.

"Mm?" Holly blinked and then smiled. "Oh, I was just wondering how the tree grew like that, and if Isolt even knew it would grow."

"Perhaps she didn't. But I can understand why she buried that wand. It was a reminder of the pain she had gone through. This book reveals she lived an unhappy life because she was a prisoner of Gormlaith."

"What do you think she planned to do with Isolt's daughters, Harry?"

"I think she planned on abusing them the way she abused their mother, although she would have likely done more to get them on her side," Harry didn't even have to think about his answer. "Isolt's parents were both murdered by Gormlaith, and she was abused for the next twelve years. Isolt's mother was a Gaunt, and she rejected her family's beliefs. Brave woman."

"And Gormlaith didn't like that," Holly nodded before she frowned as she flicked through the chapters detailing Isolt's past. "It says here Gormlaith didn't allow her to go to Hogwarts. She believed teaching Isolt was better than letting her go."

"It was control," Harry rolled his eyes when he realised what Gormlaith was trying to do. "I've read a few books and novels about brainwashing. She didn't want Isolt to become as liberal as her mother." Harry sighed and took the book and he flicked back to the chapter they'd been reading, seeing that Isolt and her husband both remained as joint Headmaster and Headmistress, watching and guiding their students as the school transformed from a house into a massive castle. Isolt was the one who decided on the blue of the traditional Ilvermorny robes because she had longed to go into Ravenclaw as a child, a dream snuffed out by her cruel aunt.

Harry ground his teeth together. He promised there and then - another to add to the list - that Holly, no matter what she wanted would see her dreams come true. If she wanted to be an actress, he would help her however he could. If she wanted to be a herbologist, he would ensure they had a damn good greenhouse. If she wanted to be a Horned Serpent, he would point her in the right direction of libraries and archives and give her teasers and brain puzzles to work on.

He wanted her to be like Isolt Sayre, a woman who never gave up.

Xxxx

After pouring over the Ilvermorny history book, their minds swimming with the different tales of the school's earliest years and the meanings behind the different Houses and what their qualities were, the Potter siblings settled down and began more research into the wonders of magic. While Holly was reading a book about Unicorns, Harry was reading a pair of books on Charms and Transfiguration, and he played around with the different spells; Harry had mastered many of the concepts over the years, but the books gave him new approaches.

"Wingardium leviosa," Harry flicked his fingers, picturing the marble he was playing with lifting off.

Holly gasped in awe when she saw the marble shooting up into the air until it punched through the ceiling with the speed of a bullet. "Ooh, wow!"

Harry clicked his fingers sheepishly. "I wasn't planning on it being so powerful," he admitted. "I only hope the Dursleys didn't notice anything when it happened."

Holly nodded. In truth, neither sibling truly, really cared what the Dursleys did. "Don't you think it would be a better option if we just waited until we met a wizard, one who'd give us wands?" She was referring to one of the leftover remnants of the Rappaport law which meant Ilvermorny would provide them with wands. "And then wait until they teach us?"

"Where's the fun in that?" But Harry had to admit his sister had a point.

Xxxx

"Comb your hair boy!" Vernon snapped at Harry as he and Holly stood in the hall. Marge was outside and walking up the path.

Harry, in response, clicked his fingers and a small flame appeared. "Keep your manners," he hissed.

Vernon swallowed. "Y-You can't do that freak stuff-!"

"Don't tell me what to do, if you know what's good for you!" Harry snarled. "If you or that bitch outside hurt me or Holly, I'll burn this fucked up house to the ground!"

"With you two freaks in it?" The moment the words were out of his mouth, Vernon regretted it as he began choking.

"Be careful, use that word again and I'll rip your son's tongue out!" Ignoring the scared way Dudley clapped his hand over his mouth in a futile gesture to protect his tongue against his scary freak cousins, Harry cancelled the spell and let Vernon slump down when the doorbell went off. Harry waited a moment before he got to the door, and Marge Dursley strode inside escorted faithfully by an old dog, throwing her suitcase into the sibling's stomachs.

Uncaring if Marge saw it, Harry threw the bag to the ground and watched as Marge hugged Dudley, cooing over him. Harry and Holly both knew Dudley only put up with his obnoxious aunt's hugs because he was well paid for it, but Harry often wondered if the woman even noticed the £20 notes in Dudley's fat hands.

Harry and Holly stood in the doorway to the living room, watching as Marge took the room in she shrugged off her coat, and her eyes suddenly caught sight of the siblings. Instantly her fake smile faded and she sneered at the pair of them. "Still here, are you?"

Harry rolled his eyes. How many times had the fat bitch said that to them?