Hogwarts before Hogwarts

Hogwarts before Hogawarts

 [listen to the video above before reading to get into a magical mood] 

A long...long time ago there was a place in Scotland. A place you and I most likely cannot find. To us it would look like an old abandoned castle. But to many others, it was home. A place created for them, where they would be accepted without being ...Different. You see, life was not easy in these days. Wizards and witches were seen as evil and heavily discriminated against. One day around the year 900 two witches and two wizards could not bear it anymore. And secretly started their own school. Their names? Godric Gryffendor, Helga Hufflepuff, Rowena Ravenclaw and Salazar Slytherin. They called their school: Hogwarts: school of Witchcraft and Wizardry.

Each of them had an idea of characteristics the ideal student should possess. Godric wanted students to be brave, have nerve, be daring and be chivalrous. Helga preferred students to be hardworking, dedicated, patient, loyal and fair playing. Rowena on the other hand wanted peers to be intelligent, to have wit and be full of knowledge. Salazar was more a fan of ambition, and resourcefulness peers... But most of all he wanted them with pure wizard blood running through their veins.

But all these different views on what the ideal student was supposed to look like... a fall out was bound to happen... Salazar was furious the other houses would recognize peers who were not pure-blood wizards... or witches. However, the other three houses were standing strong. Every wizard should have the right of learning how to use their ability, right? Well not according to Salazar... So he left. But not before he created the chamber of Secrets, where he kept a horrible muggle-born eating monster.

But before this fall out, way before this fall out, the separate houses were created. And each student was being handpicked by the four founders. They placed the students in the house they believed would help the student develop and expand their knowledge in the magical arts. But as the founders grew older and older they faced a problem. Who would pick the students after they were gone? So Godric Gryffendor came up with a plan. He pulled off his hat and suggested they would enchant it, so that the hat could place the right student in the right house for them, even after they had vanished from this world. And so they did, and that is how the sorting hat. Was created. And every year the hat would sing a song. Each year different. And so he sung in 1991:

Oh you may not think I'm pretty,

But don't judge on what you see,I'll eat myself if you can findA smarter hat than me.You can keep your bowlers black,Your top hats sleek and tall,For I'm the Hogwarts Sorting HatAnd I can cap them all.There's nothing hidden in your headThe Sorting Hat can't see,So try me on and I will tell youWhere you ought to be.You might belong in Gryffindor, Where dwell the brave at heart,

Their daring, nerve, and chivalrySet Gryffindors apart;
You might belong in Hufflepuff,Where they are just and loyal,Those patient Hufflepuffs are trueAnd unafraid of toil;
Or yet in wise old Ravenclaw,if you've a ready mind,Where those of wit and learning,Will always find their kind;
Or perhaps in SlytherinYou'll make your real friends,Those cunning folks use any meansTo achieve their ends.
So put me on! Don't be afraid!And don't get in a flap!You're in safe hands (though I have none)For I'm a Thinking Cap!

But who was the man who wore this hat before it became the sorting cap? Godric Gryffindor was a muscular, red haired giant man with a beard growing till his stomach. He appreciated the brave and daring most of all. He was born in a place named Godric Howllow's a small village in England. Godric was nicknamed "the best duelist of his time". Despite no one knowing when or how Godric died, he left behind an astonishing legacy. His close friend, whom he also decided to create Hogwarts with, was called Salazar Slytherin.

Salazar was from a Fen, this is why he can speak parseltongue, the gift to speak with snakes. Which is very rare, even more rare than seeing a wizard, even more rare than being a wizard...Slytherin is also known for his lust for power... which was unstoppable. When handpicking his students he also selected them on being a parselmouth.. or not. After the whole taboo about accepting muggle-borns or not, a horrible fight started between the houses. And Salazar seemed to be on his own. Rumor has it Salazar even battled his best friend, Godric, over this argument. Or even that a civil war of sorts broke out. After all of this Salazar left Hogwarts. All this because of his distrust of muggle-born wizards and witches. Despite all of this Salazar is still considered one of the greatest wizards of his time.

A part of the group of friends was Rowena Ravenclaw. There is a speculation that she came up with the name Hogwarts. One night she was asleep and dreamt of a warty hog who led her to a place ... a cliff near a lake, the place where Hogwarts is located. Rowena also came up with the idea of the floors always changing. Besides that not much about her is known. Except for her tragic story. The one in which she fell fatally ill and could not even say a last goodbye to her beloved daughter who fled from her with her diadem. What is also known is that her best friend was Helga Hufflepuff.

Helga was a witch from Valley Road, in Wales. She was not specific on the kind of students she would accept into her house. Instead she took in all the peers the other houses rejected. Teaching and loving them equally all she had learned being a witch. Teaching them all how to grow close and become strong in their own special way. Helga had many charms... but the legacy of her food stayed alive, even after her death.

And so throughout the years the members of the houses had been picked by the sorting hat as they would have been picked by the original four founders. Gentle and with care they have been taught the arts of witchcraft... well most of the time.. Not really. Oh and don't forget!

Your journey is about to start, but safely you must go,

And so the Hogwarts Sorting Hat tells all you need to know.

These benches are not safe for you if you are still too small.

You must be more than goblin-sized, 48 inches tall.

Now rid yourself of objects that might poke or scratch or fall.

Take jewelry, cell phones, all loose change and stow them, one and all.

To keep your treasures safe and sound, Smart Lockers are supplied.

Gringotts-made and wizard-proofed, for all you need to hide.

And now, a warning; do not ride if flying makes you queasy.

If pregnant or else sore in back or neck, then leave, it's easy!

You've traveled far, you're very near, the waiting's been long,

But smoking, drinking, or eating while in line are very wrong.

Now thank you all for listening. My safety lesson's done.

We hope you live to tell the tale, and most of all, have fun!"