Throughout the world, great and small,

Four young wizards started it all.

From around the country they came to build

A school of magic they wanted filled.

Gryffindor was the bravest wizard of the four.

He wanted students who would open any door.

The lion, his symbol, was to represent

Whoever would strive to any extent.

Ravenclaw was an inquisitive soul

Who knew that foolishness could take its toll.

Her symbol, the raven, symbolized

That intelligence was apprized.

Hufflepuff accepted anybody;

She knew that beauty was a rhapsody.

The badger, her symbol, characterized

That none should go unrecognized.

Slytherin, the last of the group

Picked only pure-bloods out of the troop.

His symbol, the serpent, designated

That only certain ones accelerated.

But later, the four of them split,

The group that had once been tightly knit.

Two sides, divided, they became,

And a united feelingthey never reclaimed.