Hogwarts A History

"Hogwarts was founded over a thousand years ago - the precise date is uncertain - by the four greatest wizards of the age. The four school houses are named after them: Godric Gryffindor, Helga Hufflepuff, Rowena Ravenclaw, and Salazar Slytherin. They built this castle together, far from prying Muggle eyes, for it was an age when magic was feared by common people and witches and wizards suffered much persecution. For a few years, the founders worked in harmony together, seeking out youngsters who showed signs of magic and bringing them up to the castle to be educated. But then disagreements sprang up between them. A rift began to grow between Slytherin and the others. Slytherin wished to be more selective about the students admitted to Hogwarts. He believed that magical learning should be kept within all-magic families. He disliked taking students of Muggle parentage, believing them to be untrustworthy. After a while, there was a serious argument on the subject between Slytherin and Gryffindor, and Slytherin left the school. Reliable historical sources tell us this much, but these honest facts have been obscured by the fanciful legend of the Chamber of Secrets. The story goes that Slytherin had built ahidden chamber in the castle, of which the others knew nothin. Slytherin, according to the legend, sealed the Chamber of Secrets so that none would be able to open it until his own true heir arrived at the school. The heir alone would be able to unleash the horror within and purge the school of all who were unworthy to study magic." -Professer Binns

Hogwarts was founded over a thousand years ago - the precise date is uncertain - by the four greatest wizards of the age. The four school houses are named after them: Godric Gryffindor, Helga Hufflepuff, Rowena Ravenclaw, and Salazar Slytherin.

They built this castle together, far from prying Muggle eyes, for it was an age when magic was feared by common people and witches and wizards suffered much persecution. For a few years, the founders worked in harmony together, seeking out youngsters who showed signs of magic and bringing them up to the castle to be educated.

But then disagreements sprang up between them. A rift began to grow between Slytherin and the others. Slytherin wished to be more selective about the students admitted to Hogwarts. He believed that magical learning should be kept within all-magic families.

He disliked taking students of Muggle parentage, believing them to be untrustworthy. After a while, there was a serious argument on the subject between Slytherin and Gryffindor, and Slytherin left the school.

Houses
There are four houses, each named after one of the founders of the school.

Gryffindor
Gryffindor looked for bravery, courage, daring, and nerve in his students, and so the symbol of Gryffindor is a lion. The house colours are red and gold, and the house ghost is Sir Nicholas Mimsy-Porpington .

Ravenclaw
Rowenna Ravenclaw looked for clever students who were eager to learn, and so the symbol of Ravenclaw is the wise, honourable eagle. The house colours are blue and bronze, and the house ghost is the Grey Lady.

Slytherin
Salazar Slytherin looked for cunning and ambition in his students. The symbol of Slytherin is a snake, not because it is associated with these qualities, but because Salazar was famous for being a parselmouth the gift of being able to talk to snakes. The Slytherin house colours are green and silver and their ghost is the Bloody Baron.

Hufflepuff
Helga Hufflepuff's hand picked students were loyal and unafraid of hard work. Their house animal is a badger and the house colours are yellow and black. The fat friar is their resident house ghost.

The Sorting Hat
However, the four founders faced a problem. As they hand-picked their students themselves, how would future students be placed into houses? It was Gryffindor who came up with the solution - the Sorting hat. He bewitched one of his own hats, so that each year, during the Sorting ceremony, the first years could put on the hat. It sifts through their thoughts and places them in the right house!

Ghosts
Sir Nicholas Mimsy-Porpington of Gryffindor is an Elizabethan ghost. (nicknamed nearly-headless Nick somewhere around 1900). His nickname is this because he was hit forty seven times with a blunt axe, and there is half an inch of skin and sinew holding his head onto his neck.

Hundreds of years ago an earl, John Dudley, tried to take over the English throne with his accompliace, Lady Jane Grey. They where beheaded, but Lady Jane's ghost is still said to be walking around Dudley Castle. Her nickname has been for the past several decades, The Grey Lady ghost (of Ravenclaw house).

The Bloody Baron is the Slytherin ghost, he's gaunt and covered in silver blood stains. He is the only one who can control Peeves, and most of the other ghosts avoid him.

The Fat Friar is a friendly Hufflepuff ghost who believes in giving second chances.

Peeves is a poltergeist. The only person in the castle who makes any real impression on him is the Bloody Baron. As opposed to the other ghosts, he comes in technicolor, rather than the standard pearly-gray. His aim is to cause as much mischief as possible.

Moaning Myrtle is a ghost that haunts a girls' bathroom on the second floor. She was killed by the Basilisk somewhere around 1950
Prof. Binns of the Hogwarts history department is the only teaching ghost (although one can question whether his students are actually taught anything by him). He's certainly the only soporific ghost. Despite his own lack of tangibility, Binns also is a stickler for good, hard facts: he soundly denies the old stories about the Chamber of Secrets for lack of solid proof.

The Chamber of Secrets
The story goes that Slytherin had built a hidden chamber in the castle, of which the others knew nothing. Slytherin, according to the legend, sealed the Chamber of Secrets so that none would be able to open it until his own true heir arrived at the school. The heir alone would be able to unleash the horror within and purge the school of all who were unworthy to study magic.