More than a thousand years ago,
Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry
was founded by four great
witches and wizards,
Godric Gryffindor, Rowena Ravenclaw,
Helga Hufflepuff, and Salazar Slytherin.
As the Sorting Hat told us,
their reason for doing so
was because they had the selfsame yearning
to make the world's best magic school.
And once they did,
each created their own house
to represent the different virtues
they valued and wanted to nurture.
At the time of Hogwarts' founding,
the world was dangerous for witches and wizards,
who were being persecuted
by Muggles hostile to magic.
While certain witches and wizards
discriminated the non-magical too.
Yes, Draco's told me all about you and your parents.
Muggles, aren't they?
For instead of an enormous school,
any passing Muggle would only see ruins
and signs warning them of danger.
As for the building itself,
much of the design and
construction of Hogwarts
remains a mystery to this day.
Even Albus Dumbledore admitted
that he did not know all of its secrets.
But what of the four founders themselves?
What are their stories?
And how did they come to
shape the future of Hogwarts?
Exceptionally brave,
Godric was the most accomplished duelist of his time.
Notably, he wielded a beautiful sword
encrusted with rubies and
fashioned from goblin-made silver.
This sword is enchanted
to always return to a true Gryffindor.
Something Harry Potter would
one day discover for himself.
At Hogwarts, she was known to be deeply talented
at food-related charms.
The Hogwarts feasts have been a staple for centuries,
and some of Helga's traditional recipes
still adorn the tables.
Helga can be seen holding
her golden cup aloft
in her portrait that hangs in the
Hufflepuff common room.
She probably would've adored Hermione,
who wasn't even in her house.
I checked this out weeks ago for a bit of light reading.
Known for her wit and love of learning,
she wore a beautiful diadem that was said
to grant wisdom to the wearer.
Alas, Rowena's story is a tragic one.
Her daughter, Helena Ravenclaw, desired nothing more
than to be cleverer than her mother.
Jealous of her mother's wisdom bestowed by the diadem,
she stole it and ran away.
Legend tells us that Rowena Ravenclaw
would go on to die of a broken heart.
The ghost of Slytherin
that roams the castle forevermore
encased in chains,
which he wore to serve penance for his crime.
Helena Ravenclaw would also
live on mournfully as a ghost,
representing her mother's house at Hogwarts.
Must have been a bit awkward
when you think about it.
Unfortunately, Salazar's cruel ideas
about magical purity
would go on to influence
this very descendant,
who would become one of the
darkest wizards in history.
A thousand years before that, however,
these beliefs shattered the partnership
of the four Hogwarts founders.
The founders of Hogwarts
were originally good friends,
but that changed once it became clear that Salazar
had a very different idea of
what he wanted Hogwarts to be.
Salazar Slytherin wished to be more selective
about the students admitted to Hogwarts.
He believed magical learning should
be kept within all-magic families.
In other words, pure-bloods.
For example, we imagine Salazar would
not have looked fondly on
young Seamus Finnigan here.
I'm half and half.
My dad's a Muggle.
Mum's a witch.
Thankfully, the other three Hogwarts house founders
did not agree with Salazar.
Especially the valiant Godric Gryffindor,
founder of the house that would
one day call to Harry Potter.
Gryffindor!
It was actually due to an argument
between Salazar and Godric
that eventually led
to the former's departure from Hogwarts.
But not before he built a dark chamber
underneath the Hogwarts grounds,
which held a horrific
beast called a Basilisk,
that would go on to affect
future Hogwarts generations.
The chamber became a myth for many years,
as only the heir of Slytherin
would be able to open it
and unleash a beast on
Muggle-born students.
Salazar's descendant, Lord Voldemort,
was successful at this.
First as a student and again
during Harry's second year at Hogwarts.
It is as we feared, Minerva.
The Chamber of Secrets has indeed been opened again.
This was one of the many ways Lord Voldemort
tried to reignite Salazar Slytherin's legacy.
In fact, Voldemort was so fascinated
by the artifacts of Hogwarts' past
he procured the house founders' possessions
to create some of the wizarding world's
most dark and heinous magic.
This included a locket and a ring
once owned by Salazar Slytherin.
But Slytherin's story doesn't quite end with Lord Voldemort.
There was another descendant of his,
an Irish witch named Isolt Sayre,
who would go on to create
her own wizarding school in America,
which she named Ilvermorny.
Isolt's kindness and acceptance
were nothing like that of her ancestor.
And she used her heritage
to tell her own story.
Even burying the remains
of Salazar Slytherin's wand,
once used for evil,
to grow into a powerful Snakewood tree
that held medicinal qualities.
And as for the other house founders,
their wit, kindness, and bravery
can be found running through all sorts
of great witches and wizards
that studied at Hogwarts.
Even future Slytherin students would not necessarily
adhere to Salazar Slytherin's ways of thinking,
proving that Slytherin house's
reputation could be changed.
Before you can take your seats,
you must be sorted into your houses.
To keep the tradition alive
for centuries to come,
the four founders enchanted a hat,
rumored to be owned by Godric Gryffindor,
which was magically able
to sort Hogwarts students forevermore.
Okay ...
Gryffindor!
The Sorting Hat is said to be skilled at Legilimency,
the ability to see inside people's minds.
Pretty impressive
for a hat.
Like with anyone, the Hogwarts founders
had both triumphs and challenges.
Their stories and even their memories
live on at Hogwarts through its students,
its ghosts, its staff, and its teachers.
Remember, these four founders
may have laid the foundations of Hogwarts,
but so many future witches and wizards
would help build upon it
or even reshape their history.
Sometimes for the worse,
but mostly for the better.