Chapter 20- The Founding of Hogwarts
Gryffindor paused for a moment before speaking again. He looked at the wall on the far side of the room, his gaze hanging slightly over Salazar Slytherin. Though he didn’t quite know the cause, Harry was conscious of an excitement in the room, a sort of expectant electricity that radiated from each of the founders. Something great was about to happen…
At length Gyffindor spoke. “Well, it’s fairly obvious that we didn’t call this gathering just to exchange simple pleasantries.” He took a deep breath, as though preparing himself to take a big step. He looked first at Helga Hufflepuff, who was sitting across the wooden table, then to Slytherin, then straight at Harry. “Well, we’ve been toying with the notion of starting an academy of magical learning for quite some time now. I believe it was Helga,” here he nodded at Hufflepuff, who nodded back politely, “who first suggested the idea of an institution designed to train young witches and wizards and teach them how to harness their talents. A school...” here he looked at each of the founders again, “…of magic.”
Godric Gryffindor paused. Slytherin and Hufflepuff were watching him expectantly, as if anticipating what would come next.
“Well, my friends. I believe the time has come. It is time to make our dream a reality.”
Helga Hufflepuff’s face broke into a grin. Salazar Slytherin leaned back in his chair, arms folded and an amused smile on his face. Harry could only guess what Ravenclaw was doing. Each of the founders appeared to be contemplating what had just been said. Godric looked at them expectantly. Ravenclaw was the first to speak.
“I agree,” she said in her clear, monotone voice. Gryffindor’s anxious face broke into an excited grin.
“As do I,” said Slytherin. His gaunt, narrow face showed little emotion, though his eyes sparkled with excitement.
The three of them looked at Hufflepuff. She looked back at them cheerfully, then laughed her pleasant little laugh.
“Oh come now you silly people. You all know I’ve been ready for years!” she said in a motherly, almost scolding tone.
“Excellent!” roared Gryffindor. “Now, I will be totally frank with each of you. Before the war I thought the idea of a school of magic was ridiculous. I didn’t see the need for such a place. Our people were strong and seemed to be getting along just fine. Now that I am back, however, I see how scattered and unfocused we are. There’s no purpose, no discipline! We must teach our youth to harness and control their magic. Only then can they accomplish great things!” he finished passionately.
“I concur,” came the smooth voice of Ravenclaw. Godric turned his noble head to look at Harry. Slytherin and Hufflepuff did the same. “We need discipline. There is so much knowledge lost because our people do not pass it on. We teach our children only the most rudimentary of spells then leave them to discover the many secrets of magic on their own. Magic is a sea, a vast ocean of knowledge that no witch or wizard could come close to mastering in one life time. We need to gather the knowledge we have, need to write it down and immortalize it so we may pass it on to the next generation. Only then can we reach our full potential.” The other three founders nodded their heads in agreement. Slytherin spoke next.
“Well spoken, as usual, Mistress Ravenclaw,” he said with a slight bow in Harry’s direction. “I agree entirely. Our people have only begun to discover their potential. We have been endowed with a special and most unique power. It is our destiny to harness this power, to shape and master it so that we may take our rightful place as leaders over the other races. We must train our youth, we must teach them!” Slytherin spread his arms towards the other founders. “And I cannot think of four people more worthy nor able to do so!” At this Godric bowed his head slightly towards Slytherin. Hufflepuff gave a dismissive wave of her hand.
“Posh!” she said, though Harry noticed she was blushing slightly. “You’re an old snake-charmer, that’s what you are Salazar. Yet I agree with you entirely. There is so much good that can be done, so many we can help. Starting a school for our young ones is just what we need to become a force for good. Why, it took me decades to learn even the most basic healing spells, to think how much easier it would have been if I had had a teacher when I was a young. No matter, that time is past,” she shook her chubby head, “but I will not stand by and let my knowledge go to waste. We’ve waited long enough, let’s get started!”
“Then we are all agreed,” Slytherin said in his deep voice. His face was once more impassive. “It is time to start our school of magic. I suppose the first question would be where exactly do we start it?”
“I knew you’d ask that Salazar, and I know just the place,” Godric said immediately. He had a grin on his face as though he had been waiting for this moment. “Came across it years ago when me and Randolph Fezziwig were hunting Mountain Trolls in the western mountains. It’s an old castle, built by the ungifted ones. Has been deserted for a century. Wretchedly small place, as most of their buildings are, but nothing we couldn’t spruce up a bit.”
“Where is it located?” asked Rowena Ravenclaw.
“Somewhere to the north-west. It’s nestled in the midst of a mountain range. Nice place. There’s a sizable lake right next to it.”
They were talking about Hogwarts, Harry realized suddenly. He had never known it had been an old muggle castle. Perhaps it was time to read Hogwarts: A History.
“Is it secluded from the Ungifted’s?” asked Hufflepuff.
“Well, there is a village maybe two or three leagues away, but they keep clear of the castle. Think it’s haunted. Arthur Fezziwig and myself went to investigate the place after hearing about it from an old farmer. Turns out it was just an old highlander ghost from Scotland with an affinity for tapestries. Nice chap. Wouldn’t mind us moving in at all. Would probably enjoy the company.”
Hufflepuff giggled. “Oh bless them, afraid of a mere ghost. As if it could ever harm them.”
“Perhaps we should arrange a visit to this place,” said Slytherin. “Though I should like to know how you plan to hide it from the…” Slytherin paused briefly and raised his eyebrows in a smirk, “…the Muggles.”
Harry started at the mention of muggles. It was the first time he had heard any of the founders mention them, though he realized now that they had been referring to them this whole time as “the Ungifted Ones.” The other founders seemed to be surprised as well”Godric gave a slight frown and Hufflepuff gasped, though she giggled a bit. Ravenclaw hadn’t done anything noticeable.
“Do be a good chap and don’t call them that, Salazar,” Godric said in way of reprimand, though his voice was friendly.
“Really, Godric, I shall never understand this unnatural fondness you have for those creatures,” Slytherin returned good-humoredly. “They have no gift and are jealous of those who do. They are also silly little creatures who understand less about reality than a common animal. We are meant to lead them.”
“I don’t know, you’d be surprised with how intelligent they can be,” Godric replied with a slight smile and a shake of his head. “Why, just the other day I was traveling through Nottingham and I saw the most fascinating thing. One of the Ungifteds had constructed some sort of contraption on the river bank that used the current to turn a large wheel and grind the town’s food. Simply amazing. I tell you, with their inventions and machines, I wouldn’t be surprised if someday the Ungifted Ones are able to do nearly everything we can.”
Slytherin shook his head, unimpressed. “I hear that more often than not the Ungifteds get their limbs stuck in those atrocious machines and have them ripped off. They then spend the remainder of their lives with a stub for an arm, unless someone as charitable as Madame Hufflepuff comes their way. As for them being able to do what we do”Posh. You show me a Mugg…” he stopped mid-sentence and looked at Godric, who had raised his eyebrows. “I apologize, an Ungifted One…”
“Thank you.” Godric said with a smug smile.
“…that can fly or throw fire, and then I’ll believe they have some intelligence. Until then, a pox upon their machines and inventions.”
Harry puzzled over what had just happened. It had seemed perfectly normal that Slytherin would use the phrase “Muggle”. That was what he and everyone else had called non-magical people ever since he had entered the magical world. Apparently, however, the phrase was still new and meant something bad. Perhaps it was like saying “Mud-blood” in the present.
“But back to the subject at hand,” Slytherin continued, “How will we keep the place hidden from the Ungifteds?”
Ravenclaw answered in her even, text-like voice. “There are numerous charms we could employ, Salazar. It shouldn’t prove too difficult. There are other, more pressing issues we will have to address. For instance, what students we will accept? How old should they be? How young? What will we teach them? Which of us will teach what subject? How will we determine who is worthy of our instruction? A great deal of planning and preparation must go into this.”
“Rowena, once again your clear, cold logic points us in the right direction,” commented Godric. “Where do you suggest we begin?”
The other two founders looked at Harry expectantly. Ravenclaw said nothing at first. It was an odd feeling to have three powerful, grown-up wizards staring at you waiting for an answer and not being able to say anything.
“I think the best way to begin this venture is to invoke the adnexium charm.” She slid her chair back and stood. “Are you all familiar with the spell?”
She looked at each of the founders in turn. Hufflepuff shrugged, Godric shook his head. Slytherin frowned slightly and answered, “The name only.”
“Allow me to explain. Adnexium is a bit of old magic that binds two or more people together. In it a group of people uniting under one cause”precisely as we are at this moment”pledge to give their whole heart and effort to that cause. The charm serves as a sort of bond, or a covenant between those people. As long as each of the participants gives whole-heartedly to the cause it will prosper. If any should depart from the covenant, he or she becomes an enemy to the cause and will fight against it. As I said, it is old magic. I think it will serve as an effective starting point, a way to galvanize and unite us for the challenging task that lies ahead. What think you?”
“An excellent idea,” answered Godric.
“Agreed,” said Hufflepuff.
“Agreed,” muttered Slytherin. “How does it work?”
“First we need a symbol or a token of the promise. This can be any object, though the magic is more powerful if the object has symbolic value to the promise being made.” The other founders began looking around the room for such an object. Apparently Ravenclaw had already picked one out. “This table should work perfectly.”
Harry studied the table, which wasn’t hard as Ravenclaw was looking directly at it, caressing the top with her pale hand. It was a common wooden table, about six feet in diameter and made of a light colored wood. Of all the objects in Godric Gryffindor’s den it was probably the least special, the least magical
Godric and Salazar Slytherin seemed to be confused as well. They looked at each other quizzically, trying to figure out why the table would work perfectly. It was Hufflepuff who understood first.
“Four legs…four of us. Different backgrounds, different histories, all coming together to support a common cause, the education of youth”brilliant!” she mumbled.
Godric Gryffindor laughed. Salazar Slytherin raised his eyebrows, impressed.
“Next, you will each need to stand and remove your wands.” A general creaking of chairs sliding across the floor as each of the other founders stood. “Now, this spell uses a small bit of each of us, a piece of our essence, if you will, to form the covenant. Your own patronus, in other words.”
“First, we need to touch wands.” Here she held out her arm over the table, wand in hand. The other founders did likewise, joining the tips of their wands above the middle of the table.
“Now I will recite a simple oath, pledging each of us to the task of starting a school of magic. When I am done, if you agree with what I have said, say ‘adnexium’ and touch your wand to the table. If we are all of one mind the spell will activate and this table will become the sign of our covenant. Understood?”
The electricity had come back into the air. Each of the founders nodded solemnly.
“Very well. Let us begin. Adnexium!” Immediately a hard, grey light like illuminated iron began to come from the tip of each wand. The four streams of light shot into the center of the table, and the point at which they met became a blinding white light. Ravenclaw began to speak again, though now her voice was loud and harsh.
“We, Rowena Raveclaw, Helga Hufflepuff, Godric Gryffidor, and Salazar Slytherin, pledge to ourselves and to one another that we will devote our whole energies to the foundation of a school of witchcraft and wizardry and that we will be true to one another. This is our oath. Adnexium” Slowly Ravenclaw brought her wand out of the cross and lowered it to the table, the grey light stretching from her wand to the other three.
As the point of her wand touched the table a blinding white light flashed in the room. Harry thought he saw the shimmering white form of a bird soar into the center of the light. On cue the three remaining founders called out”Gryffindor in a loud voice, Hufflepuff in a slightly trembling one, and Slytherin in little more than a hiss”“Adnexium!!” and slowly brought their wands to the table as well. As they touched it three consecutive bursts of light filled the room, and again Harry thought he saw three white blurs jump from each of the founders.
Harry squinted his eyes, straining to see what was going on. For some reason the white light had begun to dim, and he found he could look directly into it. Then he noticed that it wasn’t just the light, but the entire room around him was beginning to fade, as though he were slowly waking from a dream. Realizing that he was about to be pulled out of the diary, Harry fought for one last glance of the founders. The last thing he saw was the plain, wooden table, only now it was bright white and had strange scorch marks in it…
It was gone. He was out of Gryffindor’s den. Slowly a new room began to come into view, one with a stone floor. Expecting to find himself back in the Headmaster’s Vault, Harry was surprised to find that he was in an entirely different room, one he had never been in before. He was looking straight at a tall bookshelf, crammed with old, important looking books. The room had a strange, bluish hue to it. Trying to look around to see the source of the blue Harry found that he still couldn’t move his head. Apparently he was still in the diary. Studying the bookcase more carefully (as there was nothing else he could do) he noticed that, while most of it was full, the top shelf was conspicuously empty. As he stood musing on this, a voice suddenly called out.
“Acclaronius!”
Almost immediately the blue room began to fade, and Harry found himself back in the cold, dim vault, with the diary of Rowena Ravenclaw open before him. The words were flying across the page, but slowly, slowly, came to a stop, until he was staring once again at a page full of stationary, archaic words.
He took a deep breath. It was a lot to take in. Taking a couple minutes to let his head clear, Harry sat at the desk and thought about what he had just seen. There was so much to consider, so much he didn’t understand. Remembering Dumbledore’s directions to come see him when he had finished, Harry moved away from the desk and made his way out of the Headmaster’s Vault.