Chadwick Boot

"Chadwick became an accomplished and well-travelled wizard who authored Chadwick’s Charms Vols I – VII, which are standard texts at Ilvermorny."

- Chadwick's latter life

Chadwick Boot (b. 1618) was a wizard and one of the four co-founders of Ilvermorny School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. He was also the founder of Thunderbird house. Chadwick was the brother of Webster Boot and the husband of Mexican Healer Josefina Calderon.

Chadwick was skilled in the area of charms and wrote a seven volume book set, called Chadwick's Charms. His book series is still in use at IIvermorny and the Calderon-Boot family remains one of wizarding America’s most prominent today.

Biography
Chadwick was born around 1618 in Ireland to Mr Boot and Mrs Boot. He had a brother, Webster, who was younger by two years. As a child, he travelled with his family to the New World with the Plymouth settlement in search of adventure.

One day, they ventured into the forest where they were attacked by a Hidebehind. His parents were killed but he and his brother were saved by William, a pukwudgie, and Isolt Sayre who nursed them back to health. They were eventually joined by James Steward, a No-Maj who had travelled with the Plymouth settlement too and who had gone in search of the family when they did not return. Chadwick and his brother formed a bond with them both and even though James was scared of their magic at first, he eventually came round. James helped them build Ilvermorny Cottage on Mount Greylock.

The four lived together at the cottage and Isolt and James were soon married. Isolt told them stories of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. They both yearned to be able to return to Ireland so they could attend the school but Isolt would not explain why they could not. The brothers were instead promised wands when they turned eleven and that they could make a school of magic at Ilvermorny.

This idea caught Chadwick and Webster's imaginations and they thought about how the school ought to be. It was to be based upon Hogwarts, and they wanted four houses but they thought naming the houses after themselves would sound ridiculous. They decided instead to name them after magical beasts, with Webster coming up with the house Wampus, named after the indigenous magical creature.

When Chadwick turned eleven, Isolt made good on her promise and she and James made Webster a wand made from prickly ash with a shard of horn from a Horned Serpent as the core. Webster and Chadwick were joined at the school by two other families, although theirs was the only one that lived at Ilvermorny.

By 1634, the school had grown and now included Inter-House competitions which was an idea given by Webster. Chadwick and his brother were also joined by Isolt and James' twin daughters, Martha and Rionach Steward.

However, when Chadwick was sixteen, Isolt's wicked aunt, Gormlaith Gaunt discovered she was living at Ilvermorny. Gormlaith travelled there to make Isolt pay for leaving her and cast a spell over her and James which put them in a deep sleep.

Gormlaith did not know Chadwick and Webster were also staying at the house because she had never heard of them. Therefore, the spell she cast did not affect them. She also didn't know that they had powerful wands made with the horn of the river serpent. Gormlaith had cast another a spell in Parseltongue which made other wands become inactive, but these wands were not stopped by her spell and in fact, recognised the sound of the ancient language and emitted a low musical note to warn their masters they were in danger.

This made Chadwick and Wesbter wake and leapt out of bed. As he had been having nightmares about the figure of an old witch creeping through the trees, Chadwick looked instinctively through the window and saw Gormlaith creeping towards the house. Even though Isolt had never spoke of Gormlaith to them, Chadwick had heard her talking of Gormlaith several times. Chadwick sent Webster to warn their parents while he ran to stop Gormlaith.

Chadwick parried her curse expertly and they began to duel. Within a few minutes Gormlaith, though far more powerful than Chadwick, was forced to concede that the talented boy had been well taught. Even as she sent curses at his head in an attempt to subdue him, and drove him back towards the house, she questioned him about his parentage for, she said, she would be loathe to kill a pure-blood of his talent. Meanwhile, Webster was unable to wake their parents, so he joined Chadwick in his duel against Gormlaith.

Gormlaith had underestimated them and the twin cores of the brothers wands increased their power. However, Gormlaith's strong Dark magic was enough to match them. Gormlaith promised them mercy if they could prove their pure-blood credentials, but Chadwick and Webster were only determined to stop her reaching their family. The brothers were driven back inside Ilvermorny: walls cracked and windows shattered, but still Isolt and James slept, until the baby girls lying upstairs woke and screamed in fear.

It was this that pierced the enchantment lying over Isolt and James. Isolt screamed at James to go to the girls as she ran to assist her adoptive sons, with Slytherin’s wand in her hand. However, when she reached Gormlaith, she realised her wand was loyal to her aunt. Gormlaith drove Isolt, Chadwick and Webster backwards up the stairs, towards the place where she could hear her great-nieces crying. Finally she managed to get the doors open to their bedroom, where she was prepared to kill the family.

However, Isolt cried out for her murdered father, William but instead she summoned William the Pukwudgie who appeared on the windowsill and killed Gormlaith with a poisoned arrow, saving the family.

Chadwick later became an accomplished and well-travelled wizard who authored Chadwick's Charms Vols I – VII, which are standard texts at Ilvermorny. He married a Mexican Healer named Josefina Calderon and the Calderon-Boot family remains one of America’s most prominent wizarding families today.

Personality and traits
Chadwick was described as intelligent yet temperamental.

Magical abilities and skills

 * Duelling: By the age of sixteen Chadwick was a skilled duelist, he was able to face the powerful dark witch Gormlaith Gaunt on even terms along with his brother.
 * Charms: Chadwick was skilled in charms, as he authored a seven volume book set on the subject.

Possessions

 * Wand: Chadwick obtained his wand on his eleventh birthday by his adoptive parents. It was made of prickly ash with a Horned Serpent horn core.

Etymology

 * The name Chadwick originates from a surname which was derived from a place name meaning "dairy farm belonging to Chad" in Old English. The name Chad derivates from the Old English name Ceadda which is of unknown meaning, possibly based on Welsh cad "battle".

Behind the scenes

 * Chadwick and his brother Webster are the youngest known founders of a Wizarding School, as well as the only known founders to attend said school as students.

Notes and references
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