Ilvermorny School Of Witchcraft And Wizardry

House traditions at Ilvermorny

Wampus:

- The Heart of Wampus: a group notorious for its pranks and supporting their house in all of Ilvermorny's sports. They were responsible for last year's seventh-year prank, which is the equivalent of the No-Maj tradition of senior pranks, in which they set off magical fireworks in the quad just outside of the dorms at around 2 in the morning. They are allowed to continue in part because no one knows who is a member except for other members, and in part. After all, their pranks are relatively harmless and usually do not get out of hand (search for the original post for more information on the Heart of Wampus). They are also known for using black and orange smoke bombs at Quidditch games. For Wampus students only.
- The Wampus Dueling tournament: It's the precursor to the inter-house one so that they can see who's the best in the House before they see who's best in the school. These duels can get very competitive, so an adult supervisor has to be there during each one to make sure things don't get out of hand.
- War Eagle: Wampus is the only Ilvermorny House that has its own official fight song. It's called "War Eagle", which is also the official fight song of Auburn University. For the students of Wampus House, it's a battle cry, a greeting or salutation among the Orange and Black. It's believed to have begun during World War 1. It goes like this, but with some differences:

War... Eagle, fly down the field.
Ever to conquer, never to yield.
War... Eagle, never look back.
Fight on, you orange and black.
Go! Go! Go!
On to vict'ry, strike up the band.
Give 'em hell, give 'em hell* (or Hit 'em high, hit 'em low)
Stand up and yell, Hey! War...Eagle win for Wampus,
Power of Dixie Land!

(My apologies to Auburn University)

Pukwudgie:

- We Stand As One United: A group that works to help unify the Houses. The members are anonymous like the Heart of Wampus members. They do random acts of kindness around the school, regardless of their House. Other House members can join, but it started in Pukwudgie and consists of mostly members from that House. Services include cookies for the sick, encouraging notes for the sad and depressed, etc.
- Valentine's Day Dance: The Dance is a Pukwudgie-only dance hosted in the cleared-out basement of the common room. The basement is decorated by the students every Valentine's Day and is filled with music and food at 9:00 p.m., people.

Thunderbird:

- Hammock Night: They have a closet full of just hammocks, and they're charmed to float in the air. It's basically a giant sleepover. We stay up until the witching hour (though people have been known to pull all-nighters - I do not recommend this) playing games and partying and everything with each other, mostly in the main sitting room and the game room downstairs. Caveats: no alcohol or drugs or other illegal substances or activities, and wards are cast between the places where people are actually sleeping (boys and girls are separated).
- Camping in Mount Greylock State Forest: These trips are almost always open to students of all Houses, but the responsibility of planning most often goes to Thunderbird, mostly due to their tendency to take over projects they enjoy and so the other Houses give up.
-The Sadie Hawkins Dance. A tradition dating back to World War II, the Sadie Hawkins Dance is in which the female students invite the male students to come and dance with them. It is open to students of every house but Thunderbird is mostly in charge of planning also due to their tendency to take over projects they enjoy and so the other Houses give up.
- Thunderbird Christmas Party: Like Horned Serpent, Thunderbird also throws a Christmas party on the day before Christmas Eve. Students play games and watch No-Maj Christmas movies, karaoke, music, games, and food. The party begins at 7:00 pm. They join Horned Serpent in going Christmas caroling around the castle.
- Before each Thunderbird Quidditch match, the team gathers in a huddle to perform a special battle cry that aims to inspire the team and motivate the younger players. This battle cry, known as "We Fight!", is a tribute to the Tuskegee Airmen. Furthermore, it includes the official motto of Thunderbird House "Per Aspera Ad Astra," which translates to "Through Adversity to the Stars." The captain leads the chant: "Nothing's difficult. Everything's a challenge. Through adversity to the stars. From the last broom to the last Bludger to the last minute to the last man - we fight. We fight! We fight! We fight! We fight!"

Horned Serpent:

- Trivia Night: Technically speaking, all Houses are invited, but it remains a competition almost entirely among the Serpents. As the name suggests, Serpents gather each lunar month at the first quarter moon to have a trivia competition amongst themselves. The theme for the next month's competition is posted the day after one ends so that competitors may begin studying. There are some nights on which teams of 7 or fewer are allowed, but more often than not, competitors must go solo.
- The Board: a corkboard wall in the main sitting room of the common room. It is covered with announcements as usual, but Serpents pin up many other things. The most common to find is an interesting piece of magic from the most obscure places (not all are necessarily legal). It's purely for educational purposes, though spells have come in handy before.
- Graduating Horned Serpents leave their favorite book on the shelf for the younger students. It's to have the students vary their minds and discover things in a collection that one couldn't find in the library.
- The Horned Serpent Christmas Party: This party is for Horned Serpent students only and is held in the common room. There are games, karaoke, music, watching No-Maj Christmas movies, and food. Students go around the school Christmas caroling, joined by students from other Houses. The party starts at 7:00 p.m. on the day before Christmas Eve when Winter Break begins.