Every Headmaster leaves behind a legacy for the school, be it in the minds of the students or upon the school itself. This Headmaster wanted to leave a lasting impression.
The enchanted ceiling at this school of Witchcraft and Wizardry was not always a feature of the school, it was done during the Renaissance, by Akhnon Cashir, the Headmaster of that time. He formalized the tradition of leaving a legacy for the students when it was time for the Headmasters to leave. It was a particularly difficult enchantment, and no one yet has figured out quite how he did it. It remains one of the mysteries of Hogwarts.
-Hogwarts, a History (Author Unknown)
The end of the year feast was particularly resplendent that year. The students chattered and laughed in the Great Hall, as they anticipated going home and showing off their knowledge gained to friends and siblings.
The candles shone brightly, hovering in the air below the cold stone ceiling. The tapestries hung bright and blue with the crest of Ravenclaw, that year's winning house. Along the four tables, food vanished as each plate was either consumed by the students or summoned back to the kitchens by the house-elves.
As the last platter disappeared, the Headmaster of the time, Akhnon ibn Cashir, stood up. He raised his arms for silence and attention, and was instantly granted it. The students stared at him attentively, awaiting the usual end of the year speech. They received something quite different.
"Students of Hogwarts," the elderly Headmaster began in his Arabian accent, dispelling the last of the whispering students. "Students, I regret to inform you that I will be stepping down this year, and my place will be filled by another Headmaster. I am leaving this school not out of dislike for it, or any of its inhabitants, but out of a desire to learn more magic and to see many more things before I depart from this world. I have learned as much as I could ever wish about Hogwarts, School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, and will always remember it fondly."
Just as he was about to sit down, he started and remembered something. He straightened again and looked over the student body with his dark brown eyes. Fixing his robes of deep blue with astronomic patterns, he opened his mouth to speak again.
"And in case any of you, students and staff, were not going to remember me fondly, I have decided to leave you a legacy designed by my own family in the deserts. For when the people were trapped inside, hiding from the world and weather, this spell was created, so that nature and the mystery of the skies should never be forgotten or lost."
And with that mysterious speech, the Headmaster pointed his wand, a long one made of a brushy sort of light bushwood, up towards the stone ceiling and called an incantation in a language none of the others there knew. "Circum caelos saxum faciunt unum postridum et lumos namomnes."
Some of it was in Latin, but for the most part, the incantation was in another language, an older one with a different feel of magic to it. The Headmaster held his wand up high as light and dark and sparks streamed out of his wand. It went the ceiling and seemed to melt it away, giving it the feel of the night sky outside. The breathtaking ceiling of the Great Hall was now the breathtakingly beautiful sky outside.
As the last of the Milky Way and the stars therein flew from Headmaster Cashir's wand, the man sat back down, content with his impressive spell, and finished his treacle tart, the constellations whirling over his head.
The students were reluctant to leave the Great Hall that night, for they were all fascinated by the stars whirling above them in full detail and in impressive clarity. Slowly they all filed out, to sleep for the last night of the year in the castle.
After the last student filed out of the Great Hall, headed for their respective dormitories, the Headmaster slumped into his chair. The magic had tired him greatly. And it wasn't even finished yet. He stood with some difficultly and cast spells upon the ceiling to make it meld with the skies and always reflect the outer working of the cosmos. And longevity spells, so that the enchantment would never fade away, leaving the normal ceiling there in its place.
When it was finally completed, the Headmaster went to his study and packed up his belongings as he was also to leave on the morrow.
The next day, all of the teachers went early to the Great Hall to gaze upon the spectacular ceiling again to find that they had been preceded by some of the students, who had also risen early. The lightening ceiling still showed traces of four constellations. The four were the wizarding star patterns of Draco, the Badger, the Lion and the Raven. The four most powerful houses of magic in recorded history. They twined together and showed forever that Hogwarts would remain as long as these stars in the sky.
Former Headmaster Cashir smiled and walked out of what used to be his school, proud of what it was and had become.
Headmaster Akhnon ibn Cashir vanished after he retired from Hogwarts. No one knows where he went, but the enchanted ceiling at Hogwarts remains as a testimony to the brilliance of this particular teacher of astronomy and Headmaster of Hogwarts forever, with no signs of fading.
-Great Spells and Enchantments of the Renaissance (Mikal Andre Dipardo)
Read and Review please! It makes me happy. This is a collection of explanatory one-shots, so if you have ideas, I'll add them in. Review again!