Photographic Proof That Detroit Is the Home of Ilvermorny, J.K. Rowling’s North American Wizard School (UPDATED)

I’ve got big news for Harry Potter fans. Some of you may have read my earlier post (“Why Detroit Is the Perfect Home for Ilvermorny”), which collected my arguments for why I thought that the Motor City would make an ideal location for J.K. Rowling’s recently announced North American wizarding school. Well, my daughter and I were so eager to get our theory confirmed that we took a drive down to Detroit to see if we could find any evidence of Ilvermorny. And guess what? WE FOUND IT!

You could see Ilvermorny all over the Motown and we had a terrific time checking out the classrooms, the library, the Great Hall – what a school!

I posted the first batch of our Ilvermorny pictures on my Instagram account and I’ve collected some of the best ones below. I have even more to share, so keep checking back to see more snapshots from our amazing school visit. (You can read more of my Ilvermorny theories and tweets, if you follow the #ilvermorny hashtag on Twitter.)

And, fellow Detroiters, if you have additional photographic evidence that Ilvermorny is, in fact, in our beloved city, please share links to the pictures in the comments below. I know the “official” announcement of Ilvermorny’s location hasn’t been made yet, but I am really proud to see so much evidence of the noble wizarding tradition in my hometown. I think Detroit would be (and is) a great home for Ilvermorny.

Our next stop on Detroit’s Ilvermorny campus was the East Hall — this is where the first years take their history of magic and transfiguration classes #detroitisilvermorny #Ilvermorny #HarryPotter #jkrowling #Detroit #detroitisilvermorny @pottermore A photo posted by Tom B. (@buildingalibrary) on Feb 5, 2016 at 6:04pm PST

This is the potions classroom. The Ilvermorny professors are much nicer than Snape or Slughorn #HarryPotter #detroitisilvermorny #Ilvermorny #Detroit #jkrowling @pottermore A photo posted by Tom B. (@buildingalibrary) on Feb 5, 2016 at 6:06pm PST

Took a break in between classes to catch up on our “Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them.” Ilvermorny’s Detroit campus has a fantastic library #fantasticbeastsandwheretofindthem #Ilvermorny #detroitisilvermorny #jkrowling #Detroit #HarryPotter A photo posted by Tom B. (@buildingalibrary) on Feb 5, 2016 at 6:09pm PST

One reason why we’re glad Ilvermorny is in Detroit: It has a remarkable series of Herbology greenhouses. Neville Longbottom would be in heaven #Ilvermorny #Detroit #detroitisilvermorny #HarryPotter #jkrowling @pottermore A photo posted by Tom B. (@buildingalibrary) on Feb 5, 2016 at 6:12pm PST

Did you know that Detroit has it’s own magical passage to Diagonal Alley? We picked up some great wizard swag during our trip to Ilvermorny #jkrowling #Detroit #detroitisilvermorny #Ilvermorny #HarryPotter #diagonalley @pottermore A photo posted by Tom B. (@buildingalibrary) on Feb 5, 2016 at 6:21pm PST

They weren’t serving dinner in the Great Hall during our visit. The house elves had cleared it out for a SPEW meeting. Glad to see Detroit still supporting union labor #Ilvermorny #Detroit #HarryPotter #detroitisilvermorny #jkrowling @pottermore A photo posted by Tom B. (@buildingalibrary) on Feb 5, 2016 at 6:24pm PST

Ack! Ilvermorny has its own Chamber of Secrets! Retreat! #Ilvermorny #HarryPotter #jkrowling #detroitisilvermorny #Detroit A photo posted by Tom B. (@buildingalibrary) on Feb 8, 2016 at 7:35am PST

That is one big pensieve! Ilvermorny features the biggest memory-collecting pensieve on the continent. We go big in Detroit #HarryPotter #Ilvermorny #detroitisilvermorny #jkrowling #Detroit A photo posted by Tom B. (@buildingalibrary) on Feb 6, 2016 at 11:07am PST