Movies - The Hogwarts Founders

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This article refers to the founders of Hogwarts, the school in J.K. Rowling's fictional Harry Potter series.

The four founders of Hogwarts school - Godric Gryffindor, Helga Hufflepuff, Rowena Ravenclaw and Salazar Slytherin - lived some time in the tenth century on the island of Britain. They were and are considered the greatest wizards of their age, and indeed among the wizard community they have achieved an almost mythic status; their remaining relics are highly prized, and it is a mark of deepest pride to be descended from one of them, as the Gaunt and Smith families show.

Very little is known about the four founders. Only Slytherin has been described in any detail, largely due to his having constructed the Chamber of Secrets.

Godric Gryffindor

Godric Gryffindor hailed from a moor, a wild, windswept area of heathland. The West Country, where Rowling was born and grew up consists of large tracts of moorland, and moors are also found in mid-Wales, Scotland and the north of England. Gryffindor praised courage, determination and strength of heart above all other qualities. He also seems to have been the most in favour of allowing Muggle-borns into the school. His only known relics are the Sorting Hat and the silver sword Harry used to kill the basilisk, both of which are currently kept in the office of the headmaster. He was initially a great friend of Salazar Slytherin.

"Godric" is an Anglo-Saxon name meaning "he who rules with God" or "he who rules well." This would lend credence to the idea that Godric was the unofficial leader of the four founders. "Gryffindor" comes from the French "Gryffon d'or" or "golden griffin," the ancient symbol of courage, echoed in the lion that is the symbol of Gryffindor house.

Gryffindor and his house are symbolized by a gold lion on red.

A historical Saint Godric has many interesting connections with the Potter family. Among them are his protection of a stag from pursuing hunters, allowing snakes to warm themselves by a fire, and black hair. However, Rowling has refuted the theory that Harry Potter is an heir of Gryffindor.Though there is a thoery that it could be Dumbledore, JK Rowling says this "would be a profitable line of inquiry."

Helga Hufflepuff

Helga Hufflepuff came from a broad valley, and favoured honesty, fair play, and hard work. A relic of Hufflepuff, a small golden cup, was once owned by distant descendant, Hepzibah Smith, until it fell into the hands of Lord Voldemort. The golden cup may now be a Horcrux.

Her , which was written by Rowling, describes her as having "brought people from different walks of life together to help build Hogwarts" and being "loved for her charming ways."

Her last name could be a contraction of "I'll huff and I'll puff", the cry of the big bad wolf in The Three Little Pigs, signifying the hard work Hufflepuffs are famous for.

Hufflepuff and her house are symbolized by a black badger on yellow.

Rowena Ravenclaw

Rowena Ravenclaw was a witch admired for her incredible creativity. She is said to have conceived the ever-changing floorplan of Hogwarts. Ravenclaw House thus values in its members a sharp mind, wisdom, and cleverness.

The Sorting Hat described her as "Fair Ravenclaw, from glen," (suggesting a Scottish or Irish origin) and as a good friend of Helga Hufflepuff.

Her name, Rowena, is Gaelic and means "red-haired". Ravenclaw and her house are symbolized by a bronze eagle on blue in the books and a silver raven in the movies.

Salazar Slytherin

Salazar Slytherin came from a fen, an area of marshland in Eastern England, (particularly Norfolk, Lincolnshire, and Cambridgeshire) and was a Parselmouth, a wizard with the rare ability to speak to snakes. Slytherin, more than any of the other founders, was selective as to who he would allow into his house. Not only did he favour resourcefulness, determination and ambition, he also refused anyone who wasn't at least partly of "pure" wizard heritage, and is widely credited with beginning the "pure-blood" ideology followed by such families as the Malfoys and the Blacks (save for Sirius Black), and embraced by his last descendant, Lord Voldemort. Ironically, Voldemort is only half blood, and thus somewhat in conflict with his ancestor's ideals by the virtue of his existence.

According to the Sorting Hat, Slytherin was originally great friends with Gryffindor. However, the disagreement between Slytherin and the other founders about whether to allow Muggle-borns into the school became so heated that eventually Slytherin left, but not before completing his own addition to Hogwarts, the Chamber of Secrets, beneath the Hogwarts lake. Knowing that any of his descendants would be able to speak parseltongue, he placed a basilisk (a giant serpent that only parselmouths can control) in the chamber, assuming that one of his heirs would be able to use it to purge the school of impure students. Eventually, his last remaining descendant, Tom Marvolo Riddle (better known by his assumed name, Lord Voldemort), discovered the chamber and set loose the basilisk (this resulted in Riddle killing his first victim, Moaning Myrtle, while still in school).

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