Godric Gryffindor
An except from A History of Magic by Bathilda Bagshot:
Godric Gryffindor was born around 955 AD. He was one in a long line of prestigious witches and wizards. His birth name was Godric Hummle but he was renamed Gryffindor in the Battle of Villany Rock, where he led the secret attack that destroyed the army of Harriet the Heartless.
Not much is known about Godric's early years except he lived with his parents Arthur and Gwendolyn Hummle and his three older brothers Blake, Drake and Rake. They were some of the earliest victims of Muggle witch-hunting; something that may have helped instilled him to form Hogwarts. You might say that they surely escaped but they were caught unawares and had no time to defend themselves.
We also know he went to live with his aunt and uncle in the small village of Pautna. They were very kind to him. When Godric was ten, he went to a local magic school and was at the head of his class. Unfortunately, nosey Muggles discovered this school and tried to burn all that went there. Godric escaped and posed as an apprentice to the village blacksmith for the next 5 years.
During the third year of his apprenticeship, he met Lucrectia Mossflower, a beautiful young witch of 19. Godric fell in love with her but she considered him only to be a little boy. They did become good friends though and Godric was convinced she would someday see him in a different light. Unfortunately, five months after they met, Lucrectia's house was raided by a Dark Arts wizard who killed every one Lucrectia's ten brothers and sisters and her parents, she alone escaped. She soon left the village, vowing to avenge her family's death. When he was 16, Godric set out in his beloved's footsteps.
He found Lucrectia and she was overcome by the change in the little boy she had left in Pautna. The pair married two weeks after reuniting. Godric was 18, Lucrectia was 23. She had long since avenged the death of her family and was the leader of a huge army that fought the forces of Dark Magic. Together Godric and Lucrectia fought many evil witches and wizards. They had twin boys named Joseph and Brian after Lucrectia's twin brothers who she had lost, but both of them died in childhood.
About a year after they were married they decided to attack the fortress of Harriet the Heartless on Villany Rock. A traitor told their plans and Harriet sent out a surprise attack. In the skirmish that followed Lucrectia was fatally wounded. Godric despaired and almost took his own life. It was his love for Lucrectia, however, that prevented him from doing so. Lucrectia passed the leadership of the army on to him. Before she died, she gave Godric the beautifully cut ruby she wore on a chain around her neck and her faithful mount, a griffin named Tibia. Later, Godric had the ruby set in a gold sword.
Godric swore to avenge her death and that night, led the army around to the back of the dark and gloomy castle. Of the massive duel that followed, not much is known, except that Godric showed so much courage riding astride Tibia, his faithful new mount, that he was given a new, eternal name, Gryffindor. The outcome of the duel is known to all.
Inside Harriet's fortress there were many prisoners most completely downtrodden and oppressed, the spark of life barely upon them. In one cell Godric found a small boy of nine. Unlike the other prisoners, this boy was strong and healthy, and a great deal like Godric at that age. His name was Salazar Slytherin.
Salazar had spunk. When he was five, Muggles had tried to kill his parents. They had gone to Harriet the Heartless for help. Then she was just a witch who ruled a small country around Moonstone Point, later to be called Villany Rock. At first Salazar's family had been happy there, but as time wore on, they watched as Harriet's rule became harsher and harsher toward her weak subjects. Finally Salazar's parents confronted her about their concerns. Harriet the Heartless killed them both. Salazar was taken prisoner and had remained there for the past two years.
Godric took to Salazar quickly and began to teach him how to use his magic. Salazar liked his new teacher and learned fast. In two years time, he had already learned to control his magical impulses when he was scared and angry, and had great strategy. Godric was proud of his pupil and asked his opinion on many things.
Around that time, Godric decided a change in his life was needed and passed the leadership of his army to his good friend, Geoffrey Weasley, an ancestor of today's respected wizarding family. Godric took Salazar to Britain and continued to train the boy.
When Godric was 24, he met the beautiful and incredibly intelligent Rowena Ravenclaw in a fancy restaurant. She had just turned 16. They fell in love instantly, and married a month later. Together they had 11 children, Madeline, Lucrectia, Gabrielle, Tallon, Geoffrey, Godric, Dione, Henric, Salazar, Rowena, and Maureen.
Unknown to Godric, Salazar was resentful of the marriage, he had fallen in love with the older woman and was crushed when he discovered that she thought of him as a child and was in love with Godric. From that point forward, Salazar harbored resentment to his teacher. Godric continued to train Salazar and by the time he was 17, he was an opponent to be greatly feared. Godric realized there was no more to teach the boy so Salazar went out to see the world. At about the same time, Rowena met Helga Hufflepuff, a widowed witch with a son Henric's age. Rowena and Godric became good friends with her and when Salazar returned to Britain eight years later, the Hogwarts Four were finally united.
Godric's oldest, Madeline, was 10 when the biggest wizard/witch burning ever recorded took place. This was the last straw to Godric. He had been affected by Muggle witch-hunting all his life and finally decided to do something about it. He spoke to his wife and his two closest friends, Helga and Salazar. Together they came up with the idea of a school where students studying magic could live all term. They decided to call it Hogwarts. To this day, no one knows why this name was chosen.
They built the school like the Mid-Evil castles of the time. It was huge and sprawling was huge and sprawling with, an armory, Great Hall, tons of secret passageways, and a few Wizarding twists. Helga bewitched the ceiling of the Great Hall to look like the sky outdoors. She loved the outdoors and wanted the Hall to reflect that. Salazar put in many pranks, there were invisibility steps halfway a staircase that you had to remember to jump, doors that opened only if you tickled them in exactly the right spot, doors that led somewhere different on Fridays, and doors that weren't actually doors but walls pretending to be doors. Rowena put an expanding charm on the library so it held as many books as need be. Godric enchanted several of the suits of armor so they moved when no one was looking.
It was seven years before Hogwarts opened for the first time. Godric, Rowena, Salazar, and Helga decided to group their students into four houses, each one of them being the head of their house. Each house was named after its' head, and the students in each house had the characteristics of it's head. Each founder also chose an animal to be his or her house's mascot. Godric chose the lion because of it was the symbol of bravery, something he wanted his house to be known for.
The founders decided to invite any children age 11 to 17 with great magical potential to join Hogwarts. Godric was very firm on this matter, but Salazar didn't agree. He believed that only children with complete wizard ancestry should be allowed to enroll, as Muggles were untrustworthy. However Rowena and Helga sided with Godric and Salazar was overruled.
The original teachers were Geoffrey Weasley, who taught Dueling, Sapphius Snape, the Potions master, Molly Garnett, the Transfiguration teacher, ,Lina Willow the Herbology teacher, Alexandra Whistle, the Charms teacher, William Hooch, the Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher and Charles Finch, who taught History of Magic.
Hogwarts was a great success and was soon considered the very best school in the world. Unfortunately, Salazar and Godric were drifting apart. Godric knew that the magical community was not complete without Muggleborns. Salazar would not agree and the two, once close friends, were now mistrustful of one another. Godric even thought that Salazar might be studying the Dark Arts.
Finally, 20 years after the school's founding, Godric and Salazar fought a massive duel in which all spectators were killed by curses deflected by the participants. This included Godric's oldest daughter Madeline, and four students, Ella Silva, Susan Smoke, Michael Prewitt, and Franklin Velt. The students received medals of honor, and Salazar left the school upon his defeat, though not before cursing Godric, and his family. Legend says that Rowena's health took a turn for the worse after this, and she was never the same, though it was six years before she finally died.
After Salazar left the school, things settled down considerably. Sapphius Snape became head of the Slytherin House. Godric passed the rest of his life with Rowena, their children, and grandchildren, in a town outside of Hogwarts called Hogsmead that they formed for members of the wizarding community. Eventually, Helga's son opened Honeydukes, and Godric opened The Three Broomsticks, and Hogsmeade became a popular destination for Hogwarts students. Rowena died when she was sixty, Godric mourned for four years. He always believed that Salazar shortened her life span.
After Rowena's death, Godric became rather eccentric, and began searching for a way to bring his beloved wife back to life, and to become immortal. He rarely spoke to anyone except his granchildren, and stopped returning to Hogwarts for the school year. At that time Lina Willow took over his position of head of the Gryffindor House.
Godric disappeared mysteriously when he was 78. His legend will live forever.
A/N: This was my first attempt at fan fiction- EVER and it's not exactly the best. Written in August of 99', I just recently edited, cuz some of it was just bad. I only changed a few small things here or there, I mean, it wasn't THAT bad before. I know this may sound a little unrealistic, but hey, after 1000 years the founder's story must have been embellished a *little* doncha think? I guess we can call this a romanticized account. : )
Oh, kudos ta all you who reviewed the first version of this, especially Dance Girl and Scott R. You are kewl peeps.
Oh. Disclaimer: I don't own Godric Gryffindor, or his sword, or Rowena Ravenclaw, or Salazar Slytherin, or Helga Hufflepuff, or Hogwarts, or Hogsmeade, or The Three Broomsticks, or Honeydukes…. Yada yada yada *pouts* They all belong to J. K. Rowling, and probably Scholastic and some other peoples. My work was inspired by Rowling, and I do not take credit for any of her stories. A History of Magic is a book mentioned in the Harry Potter series, and I don't own it (or its author) either. Kay? Everything else is mine, except for Tallon and Dione Gryffindor, who belong to themselves. I think. Anything else that resemble somebody elses original work was not done on purpose… oh, Mossflower was derived from the Redwall series by Brian Jacques, but I don't think you can sue me for that. Besides, it wouldn't be worth it to sue me. I don't have any money. *sticks out tongue* See you in the land of Fan Fics! Tootles!