Van Pelt Fountain

Van Pelt Fountain
Continent	North America
Location	Brakebills University, New York, United States of America
Notable inhabitants	Charlie Quinn
Appearances
Series	The Magicians

"Ugh, I never liked this thing."
"Eliot says it's enchanted as shit."
"Supposedly it's bottomless, so you know the Psychics love it. Suicide fountain."

―Alice Quinn and Quentin Coldwater

Van Pelt Fountain, also known as Woof Fountain, is a fountain named after Dean Van Pelt on Brakebills campus. Following his transformation into a Niffin, Charlie Quinn remained dormant in the fountain until 2016, when his sister, Alice drew him out.

History

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Suicide Fountain

"Someone killed themselves in the fountain?"
"Try 15 students and one Dean. Van Pelt. Fountain's named after him."

―Brakebills students

The fountain was named after Van Pelt, a former Dean of Brakebills. It eventually earned a reputation as the "Suicide Fountain" due to the high rate of suicides committed in it, including 15 students and Van Pelt himself, and became a popular landmark for Psychic Magic students.

Niffin Incursion

Charlie tries to help Emily Greenstreet.

"It was a lot, it was- it was too much. I begged him to stop, but he wouldn't, and that's when it went out of control. It burned right through him... until he wasn't there anymore. He was- do you know what a Niffin is?"

―Emily Greenstreet about Charlie Quinn's transformation

In 2010, Emily Greenstreet attempted an advanced spell to alter her appearance to appeal to her professor, Mischa Mayakovsky, whom she was having an affair with. When the spell backfired and disfigured her face, Greenstreet ran to Van Pelt Fountain intending to kill herself until Charlie Quinn tried to help her. Using a combination of multiple spells, Charlie attempted to reverse the effects of Greenstreet's spell but lost control of the magic, causing it to overwhelm him and transform him into a Niffin.

Woof Fountain bites back.

In 2016, six years later, Alice Quinn enrolled at Brakebills to investigate her brother's death. After initially failing to summon him, Alice and Quentin Coldwater used a locator spell to find the site of Charlie's death, arriving at the Fountain. No longer dormant, Charlie attacked two students, causing the Fountain to be shut down for investigation.

Charlie appears to Alice.

When Alice and Coldwater returned, the former used a ritual to summon Charlie to the fountain. Appearing before his sister, Charlie began tormenting the two before Alice began casting a spell meant to reverse his transformation. However, Coldwater realized Alice was losing control of the spell and bound Charlie to a Niffin Box instead, sealing him away.