Hoghs Ortha, or the Founding of Hogwarts
Lady Owl
Standard Disclaimer Applies. Also, I am not a historian, and speak neither Arabic nor Gaelic. All non-canon personages and information are freely available on the internet; most comes from wikipedia. The information I consider interesting is cited by page, otherwise assume wikipedia... Apologies in advance for any errors.
Stone reflects sunshine, on this glorious autumn day. Pennants fly from the tops of mismatched towers. Seven stories stand on the top of a cliff, above the lapping waves of the black lake. A tangle of old-growth forest surrounds the castle grounds. Tucked under the edge of the forest sits a small cottage, from which smoke rises. We see hoops, greenhouses, a set of paths, and, in the distance, a small village.
This castle – the finest school of magic in all of England, protector of generations of witches and wizards, the oldest surviving European secondary school, a repository of magical knowledge built at the height of the European Dark Ages – houses Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.
Witness the story of its founding.
A man sits cross-legged behind a small table. A book lays upon the table; to its right is a stack of paper, a small blue ceramic vessel, and a feather. His beard is short and black, and his eyes are sharp.
The room is brightly light, from a courtyard visible through the pointed arch. The wood of the table gleams.
A small cough arises behind the copyist.
"سلام" says a graceful figure, clad in a pale blue robe. Copper embroidery runs up and down the sleeves of the robe. Her hair is brown, and covered with a pale yellow scarf (1).
The copyist returns the greeting: "وا عليكم".
"عفوا يا سيدي. قد أشارك الجدول الخاص بك؟" the woman asks. Her voice is clear, if accented.
"yes, بالطبع." the man answers. He clears a space at the table, and offers the woman the pillow on which he has been sitting.
She smiles. "مرحبا، my name is Rowena mac Causantin mac Aeda. This" - and she gestures to a tall man wearing a sheathed Frankish sword (2), behind her - "is Godric mac Harald, my protector."
"Salaam, Godric. I am Salah al-Zarif (3). Welcome to the Bayt al-Hikma. Have you been in Baghdad long?"
"Salaam," Godric replies, "but no, we arrived two days ago. The lady Rowena came to see the library, and she will not be delayed." The warrior looks at the woman, and laughs softly.
"Forgive me for my interest, but it is unusual to see a woman here."
"If we had such a library at home, in northern Alba (4), it would likely also have few female visitors... Are you from Baghdad, or the empire, then, sir Salah?"
"No, I am from al-Andalus. But I have been here for three years, making copies of the important texts for the Caliph's libary in Cordoba."
"I see. What are you working on now, if I may ask?"
"This is the mathematical text Brahmasphutasiddhanta, although I regret to say that it is an Arabic translation, not the original."
"You honor your Caliph with this work. I wish that we had such dedicated scholars, but sadly, I don't believe there would be any place to safely keep such books, other than in my own chambers..."
"Truly?"
"She speaks truth, sir Salah. My lord king is not interested in books, and the scriptorium would likely not accept secular texts."
"And you, sir Godric? Are you interested in books? You do speak the language of learning (5)..."
"I have studied, sir, but I'm afraid I'm no scholar... I can read well enough, but I never learned to write (6)."
The Andalusian gives a non-committal "hmm" and settles down to his book. The room returns to its previous stillness.
The warrior settles himself against the wall, under the glass window, while his charge browses the bookshelves lining the non-windowed walls. Leather bindings, sewn onto paper signatures with silk thread, cover love poetry, mathematics, science, philosophy, medicine, religion, and – of course – magic. She chooses a work by the famed geometrist Ptolemy.
Seating herself opposite of the scholar, she opens the book and begins to read.
The light is clearer, less golden, when the lady speaks again: "Sir Salah, do you ever dream of the perfect building?"
"Lady, I need not dream; I have seen it. In Granada, there is a fortress built of light and water. It is beautiful."
"Describe it for me, please."
"There is one main building, and a wall with many towers. The walls are white-washed stone with mosaics and arabesques. And, everywhere, there is light. Large windows, although without the glass that we have here, courtyards with orange trees and flowing fountains. (7)"
The conversation pauses.
Salah considers, "If I could live in such a building, I would like quarters on the ground floor, with a view onto water – a reflecting pool, or a fountain, or a lake. With a beautiful geometric mosaic floor, and other art in the room."
"And I, I think, would like quarters at the top of a tower. With large windows, so the wind could flow in during the summer."
Rowena speaks again: "Can you image what it would be like to walk into a hall, with a ceiling like the sky? Not just fresco or mosaic, but – with magic – as though the entire roof were glass? As though there were no ceiling, but the rain and snow would never enter?"
"I think that would be beautiful."
Godric enters the conversation: "A hill fort, over a lake, with large walls and a tower... Easily defensible if Mael Coluim decides you're too much trouble, my lady."
"What is this?" enquires Salah.
"She isn't only here to see the library, Sir Salah. And our lord king might not be pleased if she returns home only to construct a fortress."
"Did you say your name was Mac Causantin Mac Aeda, lady? Daughter of your lord king's predecessor?"
"You see the problem then. Our lord king has kindly requested that my lady not disturb the succession. And, since she's my charge, and her brother (8) passed away recently, I thought that it would be best that my lord king not have unfortunate thoughts. (9)"
"Ah. My condolences for your brother, Rowena."
"Thank you... I will direct them to his widow, when we return."
"I don't mean to pry, but... do you want to return home?"
"Honestly, I'm not sure. I like home. But, it's tedious to sort through politically-motivated marriage offers... If I could be home, and build a library like this one, I would." she pauses again.
"You could, you know. Swear an oath to your your lord king that you will never marry. Hire a wizard to bind an unbreakable oath, if he will not take your word."
"Luckily, I shall not need to hire a wizard, Salah. I can bind it myself," Rowena replies mildly.
The scholar gives as much of a bow as he can, sitting cross-legged behind the table. "My apologies, lady witch, I meant no offence. I myself am a wizard."
The warrior sighs, "and I, as well."
"I took no offence, Salah. It was a good idea. I wonder if Mael Coluim would accept my oath."
"Certainly he would, it gives a ruler prestige to have wisdom and knowledge in his land."
"Maybe he would think so, but you well know that the Monastery would never support him challenging them."
"The Monastery at Deer? You might be right. They gain too much by being the only true scriptorium in Alba. Particularly since they finished the Book of Deer (10)..."
"Also, the Monastery of Northumberland. Not only would they not support a secular library for religious reasons, we both know that Northumberland has lost a great deal in Mael Coluim's raiding (11). And, frankly, they would be deathly against anything that would make his reign more stable."
"Yet, there must be a force that could support you against them?"
"You don't honestly believe that either Rome or Constantinople would support a secular library against a monastery?"
"No. They would both certainly take the opposing argument."
"Look, that's not what I meant. For one thing, neither Pope Agapetus II not Constantine Purple-born -"
"-the Empress Helena Lekapene (12), you mean-"
"-yes, anyway. Neither of them has the space to move now. Agapetus's power is restricted by the Roman Prince Alberic II; and he's boxed in by the two Italian Kings Otto I (13) and Berengar II. And Helena Lekapene must be busy enough fighting around Germanicea. It would be extraordinarily unlikely that either of them would turn out of their way because of a small library in Alba."
"Speaking of Otto I: how certain are we that he will not interfere?"
"Well, geographically-speaking, he'd be closer to us-"
"-us? Sir Salah! I am pleased that you will join this endeavour!"
"-and, his goal is to emulate the great Charlemagne, 'the protector of Christendom.' (14) I rather expect that he would be willing to put pressure on Mael Coluim not to allow this secular library."
"Don't forget that he's married to Eadgyth of England. So, he benefits from the instability caused by the uncertainty of the lady Rowena's marriageability."
"But, can we discourage him?"
"I believe so... His heir Liudolf is young, but ambitious. It's not unlikely that they will clash over Lombardy. After all, neither father nor son is currently married; and Adelaide of Lombardy is just widowed, beautiful and wealthy."
"And Liudolf certainly wouldn't benefit from having half-siblings. (15)"
"True. And if Otto is on campaign, he won't have much energy for us."
"We probably won't need to worry about the Franks, either."
"No, Louis d'Outremer has enough to worry about in his seat (16). Consider the pressure he's under from the Robertian Hugh and his other nobles.
"If we needed the help, I'd be willing to bet that we could convince the Countess Vermandois to support us. (17) An appeal to 'women as leaders of people and family' might well be successful..."
"I'm not happy to mention it, but remember that Amlaib Cuaran just took the throne of Northumberland..."
"And, the Viking's certainly not restrained by pro-Christian beliefs with all of his raiding of churches; plus, he's well knowns as a supporter of poets and skalds (18)."
"Yes, but a womanizer."
"Which means, we won't need to worry about him wanting to marry Rowena himself."
"But, we can't be sure that he'd help us. He's unpredictable. We know he allied with Mael Coluim in the past, but he may want to expand his own territory north..."
"Can we use his weakness for women against him? Lady, would you be willing to approach him?"
"...It would depend how I would swear to Mael Coluim later. As long as we can specifically word my oath against marriage, without preventing me from convincing Amlaib Cuaran..."
"Lady! As your guardian, I cannot allow this!"
"Oh be quiet, slayer of Griffins! I will not have you and your – frankly, Muggle – ideas of chastity interfere with my wishes, especially if I need not remain pure for marriage. Do your job, and let me do mine!"
There was a pause in the conversation, where Salah al-Zarif fiddled faintly with his quill.
"And, if it does work, what then?" he asked.
"I approach Amlaib Cuaran; return to Alba; swear to Mael Coluim. Then, we must find a location and build this white fortress of which we've dreamed. Return to this library, ask permission to copy texts for our new library-"
"-I don't anticipate any problems on that front; the Caliph was very pleased when I first arrived, and asked the same of him-"
"bring the copies to our new library. And voila, no more uncertainty or wasted knowledge..."
"Excuse me, lady. Mind if I ask whether you plan to offer shelter to your sister-in-law?"
"Pardon, Salah, my sister-in-law is Helga van Hoofelbosk, my brother's widow. She hasn't left Alba because she's caring for her children. Before we left, she'd hoped that they were simply too young to be any challenge to my lord king, but that state will not be true forever. And, yes. I would hope that you both would accept her as a fourth library keeper."
"Naturally."
"You know, Rowena, it might even be beneficial for the library as well... After all, she has land in the interior forests."
"I'd forgotten. I saw, once, one of my brother's lands, near the village of Hochs Madair, where they grow the dye. Above the village is a hill, a dark lake, and an fearsome forest. She might be convinced to donate it to the library, in exchange for us bringing the books."
"I had a thought, Rowena, Godric. Here, the library is attached to a magical madrasa (19). It would certainly be a grand thing to construct, not just a vast library, but a madrasa to train other young Maji."
"Circe! That is a clever idea! It would keep the library running when we are long gone, as well as provide knowledge to others without the ability to travel all the way here."
"And possibly pay to feed the community... (20)"
"One thing that should be considered, though – I hope you understand – I don't mean to limit anything: if we truly mean for this to benefit students, we must keep to the madrasa-maktab separation. We do not have time to teach students how to read, as well as advanced transfiguration theory. We must expect the students to already have their primary education... And this may mean that we cannot accept muggle-born students."
"You mean, because they won't have had any primary schooling, whereas the magical-born students will likely have educated parents."
"I expect that this distinction will be especially true once the school enrols the children of the first students."
"You may be right. But at the very beginning, we need not worry about such things. None of the students will have parents who were our students, and we will certainly need to expend more time with the first classes to teach them basics."
"In any case, Salah, why don't we plan that we will accept all magical students – regardless of parentage – for the first few classes, and then see what we chose to do from there?"
"This is a good plan. A trial run. To be fair, let's give it a nice round number – say 50 (21) years? And, if I do not believe that we should continue accepting the muggle-borns afterwards, I may go on my own way..."
"Of course, Salah. But, let's not be hasty."
"What shall we call this library and school of ours?"
"Let's call it Hoghs Ortha, for an incantation and the town below."
Hoghs Ortha accepted its first class of students in 965ce, though it was only officially founded in 993ce under the charter of Cinaed mac Mael Coluim, king of Alba. During the transition from Gaelic to middle English, it became known as Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, a name which has confused and under-impressed students since.
Salah al-Zarif did give the muggle-born students their 50 year trial. However, he remained unconvinced of their preparation for such advanced studies when he left the school in 1015ce with the goal of opening a primary school. The wizard had, by that time, raised a pet basilisk – whom he called Kanza. Upon his departure, Salah sealed the entrance and the many windows of his chambers, locking Kanza inside. He promised to return for her when he had succeeded constructing a new school. He was unsuccessful, and died in 1066ce, while supporting the Witenagemot's chosen King of England (22), Harold II, over the invading Duke William of Normandy. At the time of his death, unconfirmed rumours circulated that he had taken a wife and had a child. Due to the unfamiliar nature of his true name, the Albans called him Salazar Slytherin.
Rowena mac Causantin mac Aeda stayed with her school until her death. The origin of the name Ravenclaw is unknown. However, historians have three guesses. First, the moniker could refer to Salah al-Zarif's compliment that she had the "wit of the raven." Second, it could be an unflattering comparison to her aquiline nose. Third, it might be a reference to her relationship with Amlaib Cuaran, who carried the Viking raven standard. Though she never married, her affair with the Viking King of Northumberland gave her a daughter – Helena.
Helga van Hoofelbosk – called Hufflepuff - and Godric mac Harald – called Gryffindor - loyally and bravely played their parts in the founding of Hoghs Ortha. The descendants of Helga's four children include an English family called Smith. Godric mac Harald stayed with the school until shortly before his death, when he retired to his home village in the wild moors.
1Non-Muslim citizens were required by the Abbasids to wear "honey-colored hoods," see wiki Yellow_badge; I am uncertain if this applied to non-Muslim visitors as well.
2The typical sword available in Europe during the 10th century was "single-handed, with a double edged blade length of typically around 90 cm... [with] a tight grip, long deep fuller and no pronounced cross-guard." See wiki Viking_Age_arms_and_armour
3According to www . genealogy . About . Com, of the four Founders, only Salazar Slytherin has a first name that is not etymologically a first name. Rather, Salazar is a Spanish surname. Given fact that the majority of Spain circa 950ce was Umayyad, it appears likely that Salazar is a contraction of some Arabic name, as Saladin was a contraction of Salah al-Din Yusuf ibn Ayyub. See wiki Saladin.
4JKR and most fanon seems to have dropped "Hogwarts" into a classical Disney-esque Medieval Europe. However, Hogwarts, near to present-day Dufftown, Scotland, circa 950ce would have been prior to the unification of either England or Scotland. This would be in the kingdom of Alba, north of the kingdom of Northumberland, and to the east of the kingdom of Orkney. See wikimedia East-Hem_ and East-Hem_
5A made-up title to reflect the fact that during the European Dark Ages, the Islamic world was experiencing its Golden Age.
6This was fairly standard for high-born, well-educated figures. Charlemagne (150 years earlier), could read in multiple languages, but could not write. See wiki-answers Could_Charlemagne_Write
7This appears to be a decent description of the Alhambra after it was made into a royal palace in the 14th century. I am unsure how much of this ornateness existed while the building was only a fortress. See wiki Alhambra
8This personage is an author's invention.
9It's been suggested that Mael Coluim forced the retirement of the previous king of Alba, Causantin Mac Aeda, to a monastery, in order to claim the kingdom. See wiki Malcolm_I_of_Scotland
10The oldest surviving example of Scottish Gaelic writing is from the 10th century. See wiki Book_of_Deer
11See wiki Mael_Coluim_I_of_Scotland
12The wife of Constantine the Purple-Born, de-facto ruler of the Byzantine Empire during her husband's reign. See wiki Constantine_VII
13The Holy-Roman Emperor, whose empire happened to include northern Italy. See wiki Otto_I,_Holy_Roman_Emperor
14See wiki Otto_I,_Holy_Roman_Emperor.
15See wiki Otto_I,_Holy_Roman_Emperor.
16See wiki Louis_IV_of_France, which says that "Nonetheless, his reign was filled with conflict, in particular with Hugh the Great, count of Paris."
17Luitgarde of Vermandois was half-sister to Hugh the Great, and married to one of the most influential nobles of the Frankish court, Theobald I, count of Vermandois. Plus, her daughter Emma – later duchess consort of Aquitaine – sent her husband the Duke William V to a monastery for excessive drinking and womanizing, before setting herself up as reagent for her son. I imagine a daughter like that learned it from somewhere... See wiki Luitgarde_of_Vermandois and Emma_of_Blois
18See wiki Amlaib_Cuaran
19In the Abbasid Empire, or elsewhere in the Muslim world, circa 950ce, a madrasa would not exclusively have meant "religious school." Instead, it was more of a "broad secondary school" that a student attended after the maktab, or "elementary school." That is, in a maktab a student learned reading, writing and grammer – from the Qur'an – and in a madrasa, read specialized texts and learned math. See chnm . gmu . edu / cyh / teaching-modules / 459
20Most transactions in Alba circa 950ce were conducted by barter – typically with cows. The first Scottish coins were minted under King Dabíd mac Maíl Choluim, in the 12th century. See wiki David_I_of_Scotland. For special circumstances, Viking or English coins could be used. See wiki History_of_the_English_penny.
21It seems to fit fanon that life expectancy is positively correlated (somehow) to magical ability. So, Albus Dumbledore lives to be more than 100, and it would make sense that the Founders should live significantly more than that.
22See wiki Witenagemot