Beaversdam Wizarding University

Located in the Northern Woods of Minnesota, Beaversdam Wizarding University was founded in the early 20th century by a a group of no-majs, wizards and witches. Since this school was founded partially by no-majs, it was built as a university catering to both wizards and no-majs.

Beaversdam is one of the wizarding universities most accepting of no-majs. After being founded the school adopted some similarities that were borrowed from the already established wizarding schools around the world. Most noticeably there are a variety of houses that students are sorted into after their freshman year.

The true grandeur of the campus is only visible to those with magical inclinations. To a no-maj, Beaversdam Wizarding University appears as a normal no-maj university and is simply referred to as Beaversdam University.

### Campus and Architecture

Beaversdam Wizarding University sits atop Castle Rock along the shore of Beaversdam Lake in Northern Minnesota. The site was formerly used as a native american fortress and was imbued with magic by ancient Sioux and Anishanabe shamen.

Later Castle Rock became the site of a granite house constructed by Annabelle and James Laurelin to be their home, named after Annabelle's childhood home in Wisconsin. When it eventually became a school, the house became the halls of the Laurelin House.

The castle is built in a nordic architectural style with steep roofs and very tall towers and spires. The walls of the castle are built of granite, red brick, and Minnesota pipestone.

#### Entrances

The main castle has main four entry gates, each facing one of the cardinal points. These gates are original from when the site was the manor house of Annabelle and James Laurelin. In addition to the four main gates are several smaller secret passages providing access to the castle from the surrounding town,

###### Main Gate

The Main Gate faces the town of Beaversdam and is the primary entry to the campus. It is an archway carved into the rock face of Castle Rock leading to a ramp up to the top of castle rock. The crest of Beaversdam Wizarding University is carved into the rock above the gate, and two granite statues of beavers flank the entry.

###### Boathouse Gate

The Boathouse Gate is along the side of Beaversdam facing Beaversdam Lake. This gate provides access from the dock and boathouses to the campus. The boathouse gate features a drawbridge connecting to the stone boathouse dock. A wrought iron overhead gate is located behind the drawbridge. Above the gate is a balcony overlooking the lake. It is via the boathouse gate that students arrive on campus for freshman convocation after a barge ride across the lake.

###### North Gate

The north gate is an entry along the lakeshore at the north end of campus. This gateway has a pioneer look and is a large hinged wooden gate with guard towers on either side.

###### West Gate

Like the main gate, the West Gate is cut into the side of castle rock.

## Academics

Beaversdam Wizarding University offers more than 200 undergraduate majors and concentrations. About 3/4 of these do not require the ability to do magic, but about a quarter of all available programs at Beaversdam require the use of magic and thus are available only to witches and wizards.

### Magic

#### Thaumaturgy

Invented by Hermes, Thaumaturgy utilizes the principles of Hermetic magic used by the Pyramid Priests it was still a cabal of mages, adapted to be fuelled by the inherent magical power of the Quintessence. While it is certainly powerful and versatile, it is organized very differently to the traditional magic; Thaumaturgy is largely unknown to witches and wizards, and universally distrusted and reviled by those who have encountered it.

Such magic violates natural law, and the general rules of ordinary magic, and is universally forbidden outside the United States and Canada. Thaumaturges are subject to an additional statute of secrecy, hiding their existence from even witches and wizards.

The Thaumaturgy Department at Beaversdam Wizarding University is located in an unplottable room deep beneath the school. This area is accessed only through a highly secret entrance that will magically move about in the tunnels beneath Beaversdam. Once one entered the Thaumaturgy Department they entered the Thaumaturgy student lounge.

The Thaumaturgy Student Lounge, is vast, cold chamber with a ceiling as high as that of a cathedral. It is lined with towering book shelves. On these shelves were hundreds of small, glowing glass orbs, with these orbs and books on alternating shelves. The floors are all black marble, from which rise golden columns and ceiling canopy of pure turquoise.

To the side of the student lounge is a hallway leading to the thaumaturgy classrooms and laboratories. Directly in across the room from the entrance is the Thaumaturgy Department Office which includes the student advising center and the faculty offices.

#### Necromancy

Necromancy is the practice of magic or black magic involving communication with the dead – either by summoning their spirits as apparitions, visions or raising them bodily – for the purpose of divination, imparting the means to foretell future events, discover hidden knowledge, to bring someone back from the dead, or to use the dead as a weapon. Early necromancy was related to – and most likely evolved from – shamanism, which calls upon spirits such as the ghosts of ancestors. Classical necromancers addressed the dead in "a mixture of high-pitch squeaking and low droning", comparable to the trance-state mutterings of shamans. The necromancy taught at Beaversdam is based largely in Native American shamanic tradition and has no functional parallel in European and British magical tradition.

Beaversdam's necromancy department is located in the crypts deep below the school. The entrance is via hidden door in the south tunnels near the entrance to the Wendigo House. The student lounge, located just inside the entrance to the department has the feel of a Mayan Tomb. The room is lit by flickering candles and is made of grey granite blocks. To the side of the room are hallways to the laboratories and classrooms as well as the Necromancy department office.

#### Wildlife Magibiology

Wildlife Magibiology was the study of magical creatures. Wizards and witches in this field are referred to as Wildlife Magibiologists. There were many different sub-categories in this field, such as Dragonology and Basilology relating to the study of a particular magical creature.

The Wildlife Magibiology Department is located in a dungeon beneath the main dining halls, The entrance is via a secret door hidden in the walls of the Wildlife Biology department zoo. Just inside the entrance is the Wildlife Magibiology Student Lounge, it is here that students can gather before and after classes. Off the student lounge are a maze of hallways deep in the dungeons leading to the collection of magical creatures.

The wildlife magibiology department features multiple animal enclosures in the dungeons, containing a large collection of captive Unicorns, Erumpents, Dinosaurs (recovered via time travel), Dragons, Thestrals, Basilisks, Phoenixes, and many other creatures. Within this maze of hallways are the classrooms, laboratories, and department offices for Wildlife Magibiology.

#### Alchemy

Alchemy is an ancient branch of magic, a philosophical and protoscientific tradition that was historically practiced in China, India, Africa, Arabia, and Europe. In its Western form, alchemy is first attested in a number of pseudepigraphical texts written in Egypt during the first few centuries AD.

Alchemists attempted to purify, mature, and perfect certain materials. Common aims were chrysopoeia, the transmutation of "base metals" (e.g., lead) into "noble metals" (particularly gold); the creation of an elixir of immortality; and the creation of panaceas able to cure any disease. The perfection of the human body and soul was thought to result from the alchemical *magnum opus* ("Great Work"). The concept of creating the philosophers' stone was variously connected with all of these projects.

The Alchemy Department at Beaversdam is located in a dungeon beneath the basement of the Hall of Sciences. Entrance was via a rotating wall section that entered the "hidden library". From the hidden library one has to locate a hidden door behind a book case to enter the Alchemy Department. One only has to notice the dragon statue on the bookcase, turn it in a particular combination, and then the bookcase will open. Behind the bookcase is a staircase going deep into the dungeons below.

At the base of this staircase is the Alchemy Student Lounge which is a dark rock cut chamber in the granite bedrock. This room features a small fireplace, as well as seating for alchemy students to converse between classes. Off this room are alchemy classrooms, alchemy laboratories and the alchemy department offices.

One of the alchemy labs also features a secret entrance that leads to a corridor filled with ever burning fiendfyre. This is to protect the vault where alchemy students have lockers to store their philosopher's stones.

### Student Life

No-Maj and wizarding students are segregated at Beaversdam with a "separate but equal" policy being enforced on the campus. Wizarding houses and other areas restricted for the magical only are hidden from no-majs.

There are 6 no-maj houses, and four magical houses at Beaversdam. The no-maj houses include Pendragon, Laurelin, Papirhvit, Honingbie, Tømmerhugger, and Trianin.

There are also 4 wizarding houses which include Reinsdyr, Wendigo, Firedrake, and Mermadrin.

Students live in the freshman dormitories for their first year, and are then sorted into their respective houses at the start of their second year.

### Tuition and Fees

Students can pay tuition and fees using a variety of currency options. A variety of wizarding, No-Maj Fiat, and No-Maj Crypto currencies are accepted by the cashiers office at Beaversdam. The Dragot, US Dollar, and Bitcoin are the most popular currencies for payment of tuition and fees at Beaversdam Wizarding University.

No-mages typically pay $45,914.00 per year in total expenses including tuition, room and board, and supplies.

### Governance

Since Beaversdam is a combined wizarding and no-maj university, there are two separate governance systems in place in order to maintain wizarding secrecy. The highest position at Beaversdam is that of President. They made all major decisions regarding the strategic direction of the university, and had the power to override any decision made by any lower administrator at the school. The president must be a wizard or at least a squib as they need to be aware of the magical aspects of the university.

## History

### Founders

Beaversdam was founded by a group of powerful witches and wizards as well as squibs and no-mages who had discovered magic by happenstance. They sought to improve the wizard and no-maj relations by establishing a university where wizards and no-mages could collaborate while still maintaining wizarding secrecy.

#### Nitzana of the Wendigo Clan

Nitzana was the clan mother of the Wendigo Clan in the Leech Lake band of the Anishinaabe tribe. She was a powerful necromancer and a very talented witch. She believed that necromancy and other forms of dark magic could be used for good purposes and sought to include dark magic in American wizarding education. She joined the order of the white rose, seeking to restore access to the hill cleft for Anishinaabe ritual purposes.

She was aware of the creations of Cadmus Peverell and knew of the powers of the veil and resurrection stone. She later discovered a means of multi-year time travel which was far superior to British Time Turners.

Loxias Klos

#### Tilar Trianin

Tilar Trianin was a very talented witch who was skilled in beauty related charms. As a teenager, she attended Ilvermorny School of Witchcraft and was in the Horned Serpent House. She discovered a lost spell while searching for a book on the constellations of the Narnian sky. This spell was on a torn out book page that had allegedly been left behind by a time traveler visiting from England.

She had found one of the most powerful beauty spells, but the spell was very unstable, and needed much work to get it to function properly. Wizarding higher education was unavailable in America the the time so she had to seek out other talented witches, and was drawn to the powerful necromancer Nitzana in Beaversdam.

Tilar Trianin would later prove to be a great spell innovator, and thanks to Nitzana she discovered a way to use a Time Winder for inter-world travel. She later discovered that the beauty spell she found was a Narnian spell and only worked properly whilst in Narnia. Narnia had much stronger magic than our world, but magic there worked much differently. She also discovered that Narnian Unicorn Blood was a very powerful multiplier for beauty.

In order to foster spell innovation she joined the Order of the White Rose to work on founding America's first wizarding university. Despite being the youngest of the founders she established the Spell and Charm innovation department at Beaversdam. Her primary academic work was on the application of spells from other worlds.

She also founded the Trianin House which became the house for the beautiful and visionary amongst the no-maj students at Beaversdam. She had noticed how no-majs were able to use charmed objects and sought to improve cooperation between wizards and no-majs as a way to help solve the Scourer threat that plagued American wizarding society.

She was onto a major spell innovation, and went to Narnia to test out the beauty spell, and was successful. The spell granted beauty beyond the lot of mortals for a period of one hour once returning from Narnia. She then won the Miss Minnesota crown in 1926 as a way to prove that the spell was actually effective.

Later that year she sought to find a way to stabilize the spell she had just discovered, and tried to charm various objects to contain the spell. She traveled extensively in time and space that year to visit places such as the Temple of the Muses, and Shangrilla. Using the various relics there she created a series of charmed objects including a Narnian glass rhinestone which later became the Star Glass, as well as various wands that failed to contain the beauty spell. These failed attempts to contain the spell led to her tossing these various objects into the Mississippi River as they had not served their function.

Unfortunately this became an obsession of hers, and she focused entirely on containing the spell to hold onto her title. Despite being bold and visionary, her selfish and vain side kept her from advancing further in her spell work. Ninaa Papirhvit tried to talk some sense into her, but she just attacked and refused to give up on holding her title as long as she could. She cast the killing curse on Ninaa, but it backfired as Ninaa had been immortalized using a Philosopher's Stone.

She was however able to split her soul and turn the Miss Minnesota Tiara into her horcrux, completing the containment of the beauty spell within the Tiara. The killing curse then backfired, leaving her dead within the Magic Circle at the Hill Cleft. Ninaa Papirhvit remained dead for 4 days before a resurrection on All Saints Day of 1927. There were no witnesses to the creation of the horcrux so it went completely unnoticed as the Tiara went to the next Miss Minnesota and back into the no-maj world.

#### Ninaa Papirhvit

Ninaa Papirhvit was one of the few successful female alchemistresses in the United States. Despite being a no-maj, she was able to do alchemy surprisingly well. She studied at Harvard and became one of America's finest alchemists. She became aware of ancient hermetic traditions and was the only female member of the Order of the Golden Dawn. She was able to notice magical creatures and sought to use their unique properties to complete alchemy's Magnum Opus. She was able to forge a Philosophers Stone from Unicorn Blood, Phoenix Ash, Diamond Dust, and Dragon Fire under the sound of a Siren's Song.

She was the only American to be able to create a philosopher's stone and she befriended Nicholas Flammel. She was also spell innovator and discovered a way to spin gold from humble straw using the Philosopher's Stone. She joined the Order of the White Rose as a way to help make sure alchemy was taught to American Wizards and no-mages and saw the need for higher education within the wizarding community.

At Beaversdam, she founded the Papirhvit House which favored inventors and creative innovators. She also established the university's departments of Alchemy, Chemistry, Physics, Meteorology, Engineering, Biology, Architecture, and Botany.

She would later discover that her Philosopher's Stone was much more powerful than the one Nicholas Flammel had. She was able to resurrect herself on the fourth day after being struck by a killing curse in a duel with Tilar Trianin. She was no match in this duel as she was a no-maj and could in no way utilize a wand. This resurrection was an unheard of feat for any witch or wizard in years past. Furthermore the stone was able to make the killing curse backfire on Tilar.

After her miraculous resurrection on the 4th day, she named the stone, the "Lazarus Stone" in reference to Lazarus being raised from the dead on the 4th day. After her resurrection she went on to further understand the mysteries of how the stone worked.

She also created many powerful relics during her experimentations including the "Weather Staff" which control all shades of weather, The Silver Fountains, The Levistone, and a Silver and Gold Apple Tree. She ultimately began living a "half life" due to the effects of the Lazarus Stone and she eventually stopped drinking the elixyr. In 1958 she placed the Lazarus Stone within an enchanted vault within the Papirhvit House walls and it was later charmed such that the stone would randomly be discovered by a True Papirhvit when it was most needed. It would give powerful protections and enhance their scientific ability, but it was charmed such that it would be lost again before a student could suffer its curse.

Marie Christiansen

Chester Pendragon

Throger Tømmerhugger

Teleri Mermadrin

Dalinah Honningbie

Gregor Von Montebur

#### Charles Thomson

Charles Thomson was a no-maj who happened upon one of Tilar Trianin's discarded magic wands while walking alongside the banks of the Mississippi River. He decided to fashion the wand into a conducting baton and had no idea that it had ever been a magic wand. He noticed that the choruses and orchestras he conducted sounded better than they used to and he became one of the greatest conductors and his fame soon grew throughout the nation.

For many years, Thomson's name was synonymous with choral music in the country. The Order of the White Rose noticed his sudden rise to fame, and they quickly noticed that he had somehow found one of Tilar Trianin's long discarded wands. He was introduced to the Order of the White Rose and as a devout Lutheran he originally had a strong aversion to magic.

He ultimately joined the order, having seen how magic can benefit no-majs even if they don't know anything about it. He sought to improve relations between the wizarding world and the church to hopefully work towards an end to the persecution of wizards at the hands of no-majs, and help continue Tilar Trianin's legacy.

He came to Beaversdam in 1937 where he eventually founded a world class music school. He lectured each summer for 20 years at the Paul Christiansen Choral Schools throughout the United States and directed numerous orchestras and choirs. He was past president of the Minnesota Music Educators Association, director of the Minnesota Orchestra for 25 years and chair of Beaversdam's Department of Music for many years.

He ultimately decided that the the special baton would be given to the department chairman of the Music Department. It has a habit of turning up in off places around the music department when a professor needs it most.