Notes: 1/ Thank you to Nobody for telling me that it's Rowena Ravenclaw and Helga Hufflepuff!
2/ The next chapter should be coming some time soon, but I can't make any promises
3/ See Chapter 1 for all disclaimers.
Chapter 2: Reflecting
Many centuries ago, the four greatest wizards of the time got together to build Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. They built Hogwarts as a place where the magically inclined could learn all there was to know about magic away from Muggles. This was so that the young witches and wizards would be able to practise their magic safely, and so that they were safe from persecution from Muggles.
Shortly after the school was completed its creators Godric Gryffindor, Salazaar Slytherin, Rowena Ravenclaw and Helga Hufflepuff became very aware of their mortality. They realised that they would not always be there to pick the students they wanted for their houses, so they created the Sorting Hat. They also realised that any spells they used now to protect the school might become ineffective as time passed, or that new spells may be found which would better protect the school. And so they created me.
The concept of me had been devised by Godric Gryffindor and Salazaar Slytherin. They were the two most headstrong of the quartet who had built this great school and wished for their school and their secrets to live long after they had passed away. Together with Rowena Ravenclaw and Helga Hufflepuff they researched the necessary spell to create me and to bind me to whoever might be in control of Hogwarts at the time. I have always been unquestioningly loyal to the head of Hogwarts, because that was they way that my creators wished it to be.
They created me as an eighteen year old girl. They thought that I would find it easier to learn that way. Plus when their students began to arrive I was able to help them settle in. Hogwarts only accepted children of 11, as anybody older was judged to be able to control their magic well enough so long as they hadn't maimed or killed anyone. For many of the new students it was their first time away from home, and having a not-quite-adult around seemed to make the transition easier.
But before the students began arriving the four great wizards and witches taught me everything they knew. And they told me the secrets of the castle. I was shown every nook and cranny of the castle. They showed me the secret rooms that no-one else was to know about. Salazaar had made sure that I was a Parselmouth, and he showed me his Chamber of Secrets and the basilisk he was leaving there to rid the school of any unwanted elements when he was long gone. Rowena Ravenclaw showed me the secret library she had built containing all the rare books that she had collected over her long and eventful life. All these secrets they entrusted to me, but I was unable to reveal them to anyone, only use the information to protect Hogwarts from an outside attack.
And they taught me to do things that they weren't capable of themselves. The castle was an extension of me and they taught me how to control it properly. They taught me how to feel people moving about within the castle, how to distinguish between different people. And Salazaar Slytherin took care to make sure that I knew how to distinguish between a Muggle and a wizard. Together the four of them taught me how to control the movements of the castle. How to open any door from any point on the castle grounds, how to move the staircases to where I wanted them to be and how to move the walls in the dungeons. It was amazing how much I was able to learn each day from my teachers.
I remained as a person at Hogwarts for several years. I sat in on most lessons, never knowing when I might learn something new. And when I wasn't in lessons I was helping Godric, Salazaar, Rowena and Helga with their research. I helped them develop some of the most powerful, and useful spells of the time.
But all good things must come to an end. Godric fell out with Salazaar, and neither would talk to each other, or leave the castle. In order to prevent either of them doing anything drastic Rowena and Helga released me from my human form. I returned to being nothing until the next headmaster of Hogwarts required me.
I was called a few times over the years, but never for any length of time. Calling me took an awful lot of skill and power from the headmaster. Keeping me here also wore on the headmasters, but not too much. It just meant that they were not at their most powerful, something that no great wizard likes to know. I could sustain myself by eating occasionally, and the magic that the school grounds were imbued with provided enough magic for me to be able to perform spells.
I smile wryly at my reflection. That is another reason why I am always loyal to the headmaster of Hogwarts. I need the school to exist and for the levels of magic here to be high, otherwise I can't exist. I finish brushing my hair and change in the large night shirt at the end of my bed before slipping into bed. Tomorrow the students would be arriving.
