Author's Note: Hi guys! I had never really considered writing a Founders story. But someone asked me to do it, and to my surprise, I found that I actually quite liked it. So please tell me what you think! I'll be forever grateful to you.
The Beginning of Everything
Four people. Two wizards, two witches. Each person was as different as the next. And each one had their different views on how a school should be run.
Godric Gryffindor. Helga Hufflepuff. Rowena Ravenclaw. Salazar Slytherin.
Together, they became united as one to make history and create one of the greatest schools ever to be heard of on this earth.
Godric Gryffindor was known as the rebel. With fiery red hair, a broad body, and eyes that blazed like the sun it was hard to not be slightly intimated by his wild appearance. When you first met him, he would be rough and often brash, and not at all sympathetic to whatever plight you might have. If you managed to melt the hard armour he placed around himself, though, he could become as warm, caring, and loving as anyone.
Helga Hufflepuff was the complete opposite of Gryffindor. She was kind, she was patient. Although, if she put her mind to it, she would always get a job done, no matter how tedious or time-consuming it might be. Her face was a sight to see when she laughed; her hair would fall out of its messy bun into a heap around her face, framing her rosy round cheeks perfectly; her eyes would crinkle up merrily, and her mouth would become quite wide with the most dazzling smile you could ever set your eyes upon.
Rowena Ravenclaw was the smart one. She loved a challenging puzzle, or a problem that had to be solved by pure logic. She was elegant, and graceful in the way that the others were not. Her dark hair and blues eyes that pierced you like an icy knife gave her a rather aloof impression. She would often start the conversation up with a quick remark or a witty comeback if you tried to argue with her.
Salazar Slytherin. Many people have speculated over his personality, but it would be safe to say that only his three closest friends really knew him well. Like Ravenclaw, he was a stand-offish person, but unlike her, he preferred to spend his time alone in his own chambers, plotting things only known to himself. He liked the dark shadows, and basked in the pain of others. Needless to say, people disliked him. They hated everything from his haughty, gaunt face to his silver beard to his eyes that were as dark as a dragon's scale. They thought that he was not one to mess with.
These four friends could not be more different – that much we can all agree on. However, they each found the others' differences to be fresh and inviting. They relished being in each others' presence.
Different as they were, they were brought together for one common goal: The ability to teach and hone young witches' and wizards' powers. They savoured the thought of being able to pass on all the things each of them had learned throughout the years. The thought elated them like nothing else could.
"Hello all! I've got a very good idea for you all to hear!"
Helga Hufflepuff came up to her three friends, who were pouring over a couple of scrolls that had several scribbles and sketches on it. Her face was flushed from the icy breeze outside, and her hair was once again a tangled mess. It seemed that no matter how hard she tried, she could just never get her hair to stay put.
"Hello, Helga." Rowena Ravenclaw greeted her best friend by pulling her into a tight hug. "It's nice to see you back safe and sound. We were beginning to worry about you."
"I only went into the village," said Helga, brushing her friend's arm lightly. "Besides everyone knows me there – if I was kidnapped someone surely would've stepped in."
"Because we all know they absolutely love you," said Salazar Slytherin, looking up from the papers for the first time. His black and silver-streaked hair fell into his face, making him look brooding and moody. He eyed the basket of loaves Helga held in the crook of her elbow appreciatively. "That had better be for us and not the house-elves," he said. "I'm in the mood for some of that bread."
"Now, now, Salazar," said Helga, wrapping her hands around the basket protectively. "You can't eat it all – after all, we can't let the house-elves starve!"
"Don't worry, Helga," Godric Gryffindor intervened quickly before Salazar could come up with a harsh reply. "We can split it. We'll each get enough to tide us over till the evening meal, and you can feed the rest to those poor, hungry house-elves."
Salazar dropped his head back to the scrolls rather sulkily, but did not comment on Godric's words. Helga, however, readily agreed and immediately began to dish out the loaves equally, leaving just enough for the house-elves who were in the fours' home.
Helga, Godric, Salazar, and Rowena all owned a small castle in which they lived in almost day and night. After they had met and become fast friends, they had saved up their money for ages so that they would be able to buy the castle. Salazar, who had a rich family, had offered to pay for it at the very start, but the other three had insisted that the money come out of their own pockets. Eventually, after much persuading, he agreed with their plan. Now, after having been living in it for several years, the castle was as jolly and cozy-looking as Helga could make it. She prided herself in her decorating skills.
Currently, the four were sitting in the castle's courtyard, which was dotted with Flutterby bushes here and there, and many talking gargoyles. Helga had placed many other Muggle plants around, too, because she thought they were pretty and cheerful-looking. Salazar couldn't have been more disgusted when he first stepped into the courtyard.
"What were you saying – about having some idea or something?" Rowena asked curiously, biting into her bread ravenously. She immensely enjoyed the soft insides collapsing into her mouth, and the nuts' flavour flooding through her mouth.
"Oh, well, what is this all about?" Helga asked, motioning towards the papers lying flat on the table.
"Rowena was trying to design some new kind of . . . thing for our castle," Godric said. "I'm not quite sure w –"
"Moving stairs!" interrupted Rowena, swallowing her bread quickly, and jumping up from her chair in excitement, her eyes shining like the stars. "Can't you imagine it, Helga?" she said dreamily. "Moving staircases . . . each hour or something the stairs would lead somewhere different! Wouldn't that be amazing? Or – I know! – the whole castle could change around! We could enchant walls and doors and those suits of armour that we don't know what to do with!" Rowena's eyes glowed with all the prospects.
Helga's eyes widened, however, and she looked somewhat perplexed. "Wouldn't that be a bit confusing, though, Rowena? I would always forget which stair led to which room. . . ."
"That's exactly what I told her," Salazar said, shooting a triumphant look towards Rowena. She did not look happy.
"Look here, Helga," she said, guiding her to the table and pointing to a particularly complex-looking diagram. "I've got it all planned out – it'll work perfectly, I'm sure of it."
"Well, I dunno . . . ," said Helga. "It seems a bit too complicated."
Rowena shooed her friend's thoughts away impatiently. "It'll work out great," she said. "I –"
"So, what was your idea, Helga?" Godric interrupted quickly before Rowena could say another word about her "wonderful" idea.
"Well, you know how we always talk about creating a school of magic?" said Helga slowly. Her friends' heads bobbed, each of them wondering what she was going on about. "I –" Helga took a deep breath before plunging on. "I think we should actually do it."
"Really?" said Rowena, her interest immediately piqued. "You really think so? I mean, I always thought it was just a childish fantasy of ours – I never thought we would actually do it."
"But why can't we?" cried Helga.
"She's got a point," said Godric thoughtfully. "We could do it, you know. I mean – we are the best witches and wizards around!" Rowena still looked doubtful.
"What do you think, Salazar?" Godric asked his friend, who was gazing off a bit dazedly.
"I think it's an idea," he said finally.
"What?" said Rowena, bewildered. "It's not plausible! We could never do something so – so big! It would be so hard and complicated and it would take so much time and work!"
Salazar raised his eyebrows at her. "And you're saying that your moving staircases won't take all of that?"
Rowena opened her mouth in defence, but clamped it shut just in time. She could see that her friends would not agree with her on this and that they could just not see the simple magnificence of moving stairs. "All right, fine," she snapped. "I still don't think we can do it, though."
Helga jumped back into the conversation eagerly. "There's a much bigger castle – bigger than this one, I mean – that someone's selling! It's over there;" – she pointed to the east – "we could sell this one and buy it!" Her eyes gleamed with anticipation.
Godric frowned at this. "Sell our house? But it took us forever to save up enough money! If what you say is true – and the castle you want to buy is bigger – than it would take a much longer time to save up for that!"
"But we can use that time to plan everything about our school," said Helga earnestly. "It's perfect – don't you see that?"
"I guess it does sound appealing," admitted Rowena, finally showing her yearning to do what Helga had suggested. "Maybe we could do it . . ."
"You were just saying that we couldn't," Salazar pointed out sourly.
"I take it back now," she said haughtily. "I think it's a wonderful idea."
"Wonderful or not – it'll require us to start planning now. Like right now," said Godric.
"Well, let's start then!" Helga said. "I'll go get some more parchment and quills!" And just like that she dashed off into the castle.
"She has too much energy," Salazar observed.
Rowena's and Godric's eyes were now possessed with a kind of fervor Salazar had never seen before, though. They were getting just as excited as Helga was. And Salazar couldn't deny that the idea's potential was starting to get to him, too.
"Let's begin with just brainstorming!" said Helga, throwing rolls and rolls of yellowish parchment onto the table. Godric suddenly made a tremendous dive to save a bottle that was full of ink which Helga had accidentally dropped in her rush. "Oops, sorry," said Helga sheepishly as Godric emerged covered in inky black stains.
He brushed her apology aside. "No matter." He was becoming as impatient as Helga was to start. "Let's get on with this thing!"
"We should decide on a name first," said Rowena, pulling out a parchment and quill from the large pile, and laying them smooth on the table.
"Oh – I know!" Helga said, beaming. "Hogwarts!"
"What kind of name is that?" protested Salazar. "It sounds like a hog and a . . . wart . . . ! What a horrid name!"
"It does have a certain ring to it, though," said Godric. "I can just imagine it – Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry."
"Godric, that's perfect!" cried Rowena and Helga at the same time, smiling widely at him. Rowena quickly jotted down the name before Salazar could object further.
"There we have it then: Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, run by the four greatest witches and wizards of all time: Godric Gryffindor, Helga Hufflepuff, Rowena Ravenclaw, and Salazar Slytherin!" Godric announced grandly.
"That sounds superb," said Rowena, grinning widely.
"What classed should we teach?" Helga asked.
"Well, the basics obviously – potions, magical plants and creatures, charms . . ." Godric started.
"What about transfiguration?" asked Rowena. "And astronomy – history of magic even! And how about a study of ancient runes? Those have always interested me. . . ."
"Those sound brilliant," said Helga. "We should include a class about Muggles, too!"
"Muggles?" scoffed Salazar. "Why do we need to learn about them?"
"Well – do you have any other suggestions?" shot Godric.
"Defence Against the Dark Arts," said Salazar immediately.
"That's good, Salazar!" said Rowena, who was trying to write down all their ideas as quickly as she could. "Anything else?" she asked, tapping the paper with her quill once she had finished.
"If we think of something we'll be sure to tell you," said Salazar drily.
"Are we each wanting to teach several subjects ourselves – or recruit more teachers?" Godric asked.
"I would say recruit," said Rowena. "It would be easier on us . . . and that way our students won't get bored with our faces in every class."
Godric laughed loudly. "That's for sure! I know I would – if I were a student."
"We'll have to start looking out for more teachers then," said Rowena, making a side note.
"We should make this school unique somehow," muttered Salazar. "Something to set us apart from other schools."
"Yes, but what?" asked Helga, her face scrunched up as she thought hard.
"I've got it!" said Godric. "Since there are four of us there should be four divisions!"
"What do you mean?" asked Rowena, speaking also for Helga and Salazar.
"Each division – House, that's it! – can contain students with different qualities! For example, Rowena's House would contain smart students. Helga – kind and loyal people! My House would have the brave!"
"Of course! We should name the Houses after ourselves – our last names – Gryffindor, Ravenclaw, Slytherin, and Hufflepuff! They sound amazing together!" said Helga.
"We should define each . . . Houses' qualities more clearly, though," said Rowena. "For example: I want the people in my House to be smart and witty. I want them to be devoted to their studies, have an open mind for seemingly impossible tasks, and – most important of all – be themselves and not care about what other people think of them."
"Like I said, I want my House to be filled with those who don't mind adventures, those who are noble, and those that'll do anything for their friends," said Godric decisively.
"I'd like the people with ambition . . . the ones that are cunning . . . those that will know their own value and be true to their beliefs," said Salazar slowly.
"I don't really care who I take!" said Helga. "I'll just get the loyal ones, the hardworking ones, the nice ones. Those kinds of people make me happy!"
"That's because they're just like you," Rowena said pointedly.
"We've made so much progress!" said Helga happily, gazing over Rowena's shoulders at all the notes she had made. "I can already picture our school so clearly!"
"I've got an excellent idea, Rowena!" Godric said suddenly. "How about we use your moving staircase idea in this castle Helga's told us about?"
Rowena squealed excitedly. "Do you mean it?"
"Of course!" boomed Godric.
Helga and Salazar looked like they wanted to complain, but they didn't because they could see how much it meant to Rowena. When an idea was sparked in her head there was little you could do to convince her to not put it into action.
"It'll be entertaining for the students, don't you think? I think they'll find it very fun," said Rowena passionately. "Helga, do you know exactly how big the castle is?"
"No . . . .I'm not quite sure. Sorry, Rowena,' said Helga.
"We'll just have to make a trip there to see then," said Rowena, scribbling down another note. "I can't properly plan the stairs if I don't know the proportions of the castle. . . ."
The four friends stared at each other. Each of them was filled with a kind of joy that they had never felt before. They were doing it. They were actually doing it. Finally, they were going to create a school for children to attend and to learn the noble art of magic. They all knew now, despite their previous assumptions, that they could really pull it off. They could really accomplish something great.
"Wait a moment," said Godric abruptly. "We haven't thought of something: Do you think that parents will want their children to attend our school?"
"I don't see why not," said Rowena reasonably. "After all, not many mothers like to teach, and the same goes for the fathers. It'll be almost like free education. We'll just have to charge people for the supplies, I suppose. . . ."
"There are not many witches and wizards around here, though," said Salazar. "We'll have go out into the country and scout for more."
"That'll be tough," said Helga. "The world's so . . . big."
"I'm sure we won't have to explore the whole world," Godric assured her. "Just this area, I think. I mean, it would take forever if we went around the whole earth."
"Indeed it would," said Rowena, her eyes widening at the thought. "We couldn't possibly traverse the whole earth in just a matter of a few years. Once the basics of our school are figured out, though, we should start finding magical folk immediately."
Salazar, Godric, and Helga all agreed with her.
"When we go to the castle to check it out we'll need to look for certain things. Like a place for a kitchen, for example," said Rowena. "Or a library," she added.
"A kitchen!" said Helga blissfully. "We could employ the house-elves to work with us! And we'll need a place to eat all the yummy food the house-elves cook up!"
"We'll need rooms for the students to sleep," Godric put in. "We should have a special place too – a magical place. I'll have to think on that . . ."
Salazar didn't say anything while his friends speculated on what the castle needed and what it didn't. His mind was already busy forming plans for a secret chamber; a place where he could escape to whenever he felt like it. He was just about to voice his plan when something stopped him. It was supposed to be a "secret" chamber, wasn't it? Why should he tell the others? With that final thought, Salazar kept his mouth shut and decided to not contribute further to the planning of the castle. Neither Godric or Helga, nor Rowena ever suspected that Salazar was hiding something from them.
As the days and weeks and months passed the fours' plans for "Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry" became more detailed, more complex, and altogether more enjoyable to think about. They walked around the castle Helga had mentioned several times and declared it perfect. After that, they began to shout around the town near them – Hogsmeade – about their new school. To their surprise, scores of people came up to sign their children up or volunteer to teach a certain subject.
Godric, Helga, Rowena, and Salazar were all thrilled with the response they had received, and little by little their "idea" evolved into a full out movement. They eventually saved enough money to buy the castle, and Rowena and Helga spent weeks and weeks and weeks making everything look just right. Meanwhile, Godric and Salazar went searching for prospective students and, to their immense delight, they found many.
The four didn't know that they had just created something that would last forever. They didn't know that they had become a legend. They didn't know that this – this was the beginning of everything.
A/N: Wow! That was quick! I probably won't ever turn this into a longer story (I have ideas . . . but they're not sound), so don't hope on it (I'm not quite sure if any of you would want more anyway).
So yeah! Thanks for reading this; I hope you liked it! And please review.