How To Get a Kirin Tor Familiar (WoW Pet)

So I said I'd write a post on how to get this non-combat pet when I finished getting it myself, and I finally did it! It definitely takes a degree of commitment, but if you are trying to widen your flock of cute little companions, then you should definitely attempt to add this purple void walker to your collection!

This pet if given to you by Archmage Vargoth (remember that staff guy that you could summon all over the place and wave at!?) at the top of the Violet Citadel. Simple right? Wrong... In order to gain access to Vargoth's chamber, you must complete the achievement "Higher Learning".

For the achievement, you must read The Schools of Arcane Magic, which are a series of 8 books that spawn all over the Northrend city of Dalaran. The difficult part of this achievement is that the books all spawn randomly, and once they are read by someone, they disappear again in only 3 minutes!!! Most servers have a channel dedicated just to this achievement (usually called something along the lines of "bookclub"), so if you're going to be book hunting, definitely ask around and see if you can join the channel so that people on your server can alert you when a book spawns. I did it without the help of such a channel though, but I am sure it would make it easier.

To start, I will list all the books and their spawn locations. Each book only has one spawn point, which is one nice thing about the achievement, so if you know you've gotten one, you don't have to check that spawn point anymore! Watch out though, because most of the time when you see a book at any of the spawn points, it is going to be a "fake". There are a few different fakes such as discarded love letters, a book about how portals are not meant for garbage, a children's book, and some other things, but they are easy to recognize as fakes because they aren't called "The Schools of Arcane Magic". Do read the fakes though, because then they will disappear and make room for the actual ones to spawn eventually (and some of them are pretty funny).

The Schools of Arcane Magic - Introduction : Spawns in the Violet Gate (the room with the portal down to Crystalsong Forest) 57:61 It will be in on the floor beside one of the two bookshelves in the main room.
The Schools of Arcane Magic - Conjuration : Spawns in the Violet Citadel 31:46 It will be on the first floor on the bottom of the bookshelf to the right as you enter.

The Schools of Arcane Magic - Enchantment : Spawns in the Threads of Fate 44:47 It will be upstairs on the balcony on a box to the right of the doorway as you walk onto the balcony.

The Schools of Arcane Magic - Necromancy : Spawns in the Ledgermain Lounge 47:39 It will be upstairs in the west most room (across from the stairs) on the empty bookshelf.

The Schools of Arcane Magic - Abjuration : Spawns in the Dalaran Visitor Center 52:56 It will be to the right as you enter on the floor in front of a stool with books on it.

The Schools of Arcane Magic - Divination : Spawns in the Violet Citadel 27:52 It will be upstairs to the left (next to the sands of time portal) on the floor in front of the bookshelf.
The Schools of Arcane Magic - Illusion : Spawns in the Violet Hold 65:53 It will be to the left as you enter on a box beside the daily instance quest giver Archamage Timear.

The Schools of Arcane Magic - Transmutation : Spawns in the Ledgermain Lounge 47:40 It will be on the first floor on the western bookshelf that is near the door that exits in the direction of the trade area of Dalaran.

The way I found all of these books was by planting my character in front of one of the spawn points and leaving her there. Every time I'd have a spare moment, I'd log on, check the spawn point, circle around to all the other spawn points, then log out where I logged in. Once I'd find a book, I'd just take that spawn point out of my circle. My circle was Threads of Fate, then Visitor Center, then Violet Hold, then Violet Gate, then Ledgermain Lounge, then Violet Citadel, and then back to the Threads of Fate balcony. I left my character logged in as long as I could, and would glace back at the screen for books whenever I'd walk past my computer or if there was a break in a show I was watching. I didn't have anyone else looking for books for me and didn't join the bookclub channel on my server, and it only took me about a week to get the achievement. If you're not too serious about it, just check the spawn points whenever you find yourself in Dalaran, and eventually, you'll get it! The more patience and commitment you have, the quicker you'll get it done.

Once you complete the achievement, you will immediately receive a book called Schools of Arcane Magic - Mastery in the mail. Read it, and it will teleport you up to Vargoth's room, and he'll hand over the Kirin Tor Familiar. There's not much to see up there, so once you've got your pet, simply read the book again to teleport back down to Dalaran.

Happy book hunting!!!
LGG <3