On October 31, 1981, James Potter was not home when tragedy struck; instead, he was out gathering candy. Upon returning, he found his wife, Lily, murdered, but he managed to escape with their fourteen children, adopting a new identity as James Evans in Storybrooke, Maine. By 1986, he raised his fifteen children to protect them from their past. As autumn returned, he faced the challenge of his eldest son preparing to attend Ilvermorny, worrying that their hidden history might disrupt their hard-won peace.