Andy Wilbert

Backstory

I've been fascinated with Hogwarts for as long as I can remember. It was the place of dreams for me. My mom would tell me stories of her time at Hogwarts instead of the fairytales other five-year-olds heard before bedtime. Sometimes, My dad and I would make storytimes, just to learn more about Hogwarts. He was an artist. Having never seen Hogwarts, he would draw photos of the castle while it was being described by mum.

A year before my enrolment letter arrived when I was ten, Dad came home with a flyer he found posted at the Ministry. Even though he was a muggle, my dad visited the Ministry frequently to help out with day to day operations. We are quite a strange family, the witch teaching in a muggle school, and a Muggle helping out at the Ministry.

Back to the flyer, it was a camp that was taking place at Ilvermorny! All young witches and wizards welcome, ages nine to twelve, whether they were attending Ilvermorny, Planning to attend, or just wanting to visit. I jumped at the opportunity and sent in my application by owl. A response came back one week later, with all the intake information for this camp.

Not having attended Hogwarts yet, my wand was purchased in Winnipeg, Canada so that I'd be able to practice magic with everyone else at the camp. All of us that were not attending Ilvermorny were sorted into their houses. An official sorting for those who were enrolled to attend in the future, but just a mock trial for kids like me. I turned out to be in Thunderbird.

We learnt so much about magic and education and the school at our camp, it was a truly amazing experience. Going into Diagon Alley after my letter to Hogwarts, a few of the internationally successful books were already in my satchel. We got a few free textbooks while there. Many just turned into reading material in Hogwarts, but a few saved a couple of galleons at Flourish and Blotts. Magical Theory, The Standard Book of spells, and Beginner's Guide to Transfiguration to name a few.