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CONTENTS
Chapter One
Ron Weasley |
Chapter
One
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 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.
Chapter Two - How Hogwarts Began
Once a long, long time ago, four very different people stumbled upon
one another. There names were the one and only Helga Hufflepuff, Godric
Gryffindor, Rowena Ravelclaw and Salazar Slytherin. They came to a clearing
far away from muggles, where they decided to build a school (castle) where
they would all teach young witches and wizards. When the castle was finished,
the founders argued over the type of witches and wizards being taught
there. Salazar believed that only pure-bloods should be allowed, while
Rowena, Helga and Godric believed that all students who posessed some
power should be admitted. Salazar eventually got so mad that he left the
school. It is believed that he built a hidden chamber that held a monster
in it. When Salazar's true heir opened the chamber, the monster would
be realeased to hurt those, who were not worthy of studying magic. Meanwhile,
the last three founders pondered the question- how would they choose who
would be in each of his/her houses when they died? They came up with the
answer of the sorting hat, which would choose for them. The four founders
still live in Hogwarts today.
Chapter Three
Hogwarts is well known as one of the best schools of sorcery in the world. It is a true feat of magical architecture. It is known for the original way of teaching. But all this doesn't mean that the past of Hogwarts castle has not been dark. Hogwarts was a strange result of a mixture of powers by the four greatest wizards and witches of all time; Godric Gryffindor, the bravest, Helga Hufflepuff, the sweetest, Rowena Ravenclaw, the smartest, and Salzaar Slytherin, the most cunning. All four founders would go through Muggle and Wizard towns and find the kids who had magical power and didn't use it. They would bring the students up to the Hogwarts castle, where they would enter the Great Hall. In the Great Hall, there would be a sorting ceremony, where all four founders would have to choose the students that showed the most promise in their opinion. Each student would then be moved to the founders secret area in the castle where they would spend their free time and sleep. The first years always, and still do, cross the boat by water to show respect to the first ever sorting ceremony, when everyone had to swim across the giant lake to the south of Hogwarts castle to get inside. The giant squid was later placed inside the lake waters to protect the castle from opposing schools, like Durmstrang and Schigwarts. The lake also contains Grindylows and Merpeople, and a couple of exotic plants found only deep in lakes.
As Hogwarts started to get older, so did the founders. As Slytherin was reaching his early 50s, he made a proposal. He wanted Hogwarts to be more selective about who should be allowed to learn. He wanted only pure and half bloods to be allowed at the school, thinking that muggle borns blood was "impure and cowardly". Slytherin then coined the term "Mudblood", which meant "dirty" blood to all muggle borns. Eventually, Gryffindor and Slytherin had a huge duel, and Slytherin ended up leaving the castle. However, it is believed that before he left, Slytherin built a chamber with a giant monster to attack all muggle borns when his true heir arrived at his school. His true heir was to find and open the chamber and use the giant monster to kill all muggle borns in the school. The monster would then go to hibernate for 50 years, and come out once more to kill any more muggle borns left.
Before Slytherin left, however, they had a problem to deal with. They were all growing older, so how were they to pick the students for their houses when they were all dead? Godric Gryffindor thought of the way. He took his hat off, and placed it on the Ravenclaw table. Ravenclaw, smart as she was, magiced some brains into the hat. The hat could now be placed on the students heads, and the hat would look inside their head and call out the name of the house where the student wearing the hat belonged. It is beleived by some that Gryffindor gave some of his powers himself in his hat. The hat was originally called the "Cap of the Houses", then "Thinking Hat", then "Sorting Cap", and is currently known as the "Sorting Hat". The hat was bewitched to sing a song before each sorting, every year a different song, but always about the founders and a sketchy history of Hogwarts/
Every day in Hogwarts, the students sleep unill about 7 or 8 o'clock. Once they wake up, they go down to the Great Hall for orange or pumpkin juice. The ceiling in the Great Hall was bewitched to look like the outside sky, since the first lesson for the first years at that time was Herbology. The sky would tell them what kind of weather to expect for their first lesson, but later turned no more than a decoration as the lesson plans for all years were changed. The normal breakfast consisted of porridge or eggs and bacon. On occasion, such as Christmas or Halloween, the breakfasts change, and after about 20 years after Hogwarts was founded, huge meals were arranged for the first day of every school year. After, or sometimes during or before the feast, the years announcements were to be said. The students sometimes sang the school song after the feast was done and after the desserts were almost gone.
After breakfast in the Great Hall, the lessons would begin. In the very first year of Hogwarts, the lessons were Charms, taught by Rowena, Transfiguration, taught by Godric, Herbology, taught by Helga, and Potions, taught by Salzaar. Later, several other classes were added, such as Defence Against the Dark Arts, Astronomy and History of Magic, and things like Study of Ancient Runes and Divination was available to all above, and including, third year. These electives are chosen during their second year near the final exams, and all students can choose as many electives as they want, as long as they choose at least two.
Hogwarts has gone through several teachers and headmasters. The job of headmaster was taken by Armando Dippet before he died in 1949, and Albus Dumbledore, considered to be the greatest wizard of all time by many people, took his job as headmaster. The job of Defence Against the Dark Arts was taken by many, and several beleive the job to be jinxed since many teachers lasted only a year in that position. There has only been a few ghost teachers in the history of Hogwarts, the only one currently teaching being Professor Binns, of History of Magic.
The Hogwarts Coat of Arms (see picture above) was created by Helga Hufflepuff herself as a gift to Hogwarts on its 50th anniversary. The beautiful engravements showed the Gryffindor lion, the Slytherin serpant, the Hufflepuff badger and the Ravenclaw eagle. All of the animals represented what that house was like, and since then, those animals are the official pictures for the houses. The giant H in the middle was added to the seal years after it was created, to show that all four houses were all part of Hogwarts. The coat of arms is pure gold, and was magically painted using a Hueing Charm. Later, the school uniiforms included a pin with the Hogwarts seal on it which is pure gold, just like the actual one.
The exams at the end of the year were always a dread to the students. All of the teachers would choose a certain thing to test them on. Before every exam since 1872, the teachers gave out Anti-Cheating Quills which would explode in your face if you cheated. A lot of the exam topics were more hands-on, such as the exam for potion first years in 1987, when all the students had to make a Swelling Solution in less than 10 minutes. It has happened on occasion that after a major event, the student exams would never occur. The first time this happened was in 1942, when the Chamber of Secrets was first opened and a girl died.
The castle of Hogwarts was very hidden from muggles. Hogwarts was founded when many of the worst witch burnings were taking place, so a lot of precautions were taken. Hogwarts is unplottable on a map, and, to muggle eyes, the castle looks like an old ruin with a sign saying DANGER: DO NOT ENTER, UNSAFE instead of a magestic castle. The castle also makes electronic things no longer function and go haywire. The train to Hogwarts, the Hogwarts Express, is in Platform 9 3/4, which is completely unaccessable to muggles. The entrance to the platform involves running through the barrier in Kings Cross station, which magic people can run through as though its not there.
Hogwarts is designed to be very secretive. Most of the doors in Hogwarts are password protected. The headmasters office is behind a gargoyle, which springs alive if you say the password. Many statues will open secret areas if you pull it in the right place. Some of the doors are behind portraits and paintings. Some of the doors are trap doors in the ground, and some of the doors aren't really doors, but walls that are just pretending. There are 142 staircases in Hogwarts, several of which rearrange themselves on certain days at certain times, so the same staircase can bring you to Potion Class on Tuesday, and the bathroom on Saturday. Some of the stairs aren't really there, so you have to jump them. Some of the stairs are invisible at 2:00 in the morning, as a precaution to keep kids in their beds at night. There is no way to apparate in Hogwarts, to make sure no students are apparating underaged.
The Tri-Wizard Tournament is a 700 year old competition between the three greatest European schools of all time: Bauxbatons, Durmstrang, and, of course, Hogwarts. Every year, the Goblet of Fire, a large, old goblet with blue and white flames dancing around the rim of it, selects the 3 students, all from different schools, who are most worthy of becoming champion. There are then three tasks-each scattered throughout the year. All the champions participate in each task. The heads of each school, and sometimes two additional people, will be judging the tournament. During one particularly nasty task in the tournament of 1792, the cockatrice the champions were supposed to catch went on the raampage, injuring all three heads of the schools.
In conclusion, Hogwarts has had quite a history as a school, and has been a success in some areas, and has done less than optimal in others. Hogwarts is still the best school for sorcery in all of Europe, and still contains a history not even this book can hold. Many things are still secrets about Hogwarts. The mysteries will eventually become revealed, and this book will need yet another revision. Until then, good luck in Hogwarts!
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