September 1, 850 AD
Today, I, Rowena, have five and forty years. Some days, I feel as though I am far older.
Much has happened since Grandfather Atlas departed from this world just four moons past. The king - Caelum Pendragon - was taken by dragon pox, just as many of our kind have been. They say that the Pendragons have always brought balance to the Magical World, though I doubt very much that any of us ever believed it.
It was always just an idea, but here we are, and the Magical World is already beginning to crumble.
Caelum was truly the last Pendragon, and while he fulfilled nearly all of his duties to our world, he failed to produce an heir. Without Pendragon blood on the throne, we will be forced to turn to other methods to keep the balance of this world.
I have spent the past few months travelling with only my husband - who, as the second born son of his family, has taken on the ven Clau name - and daughter for company, trying to find a solution to this problem of ours. While I was making my way through Cambria, I met a lovely woman named Helga who was travelling with a man who introduced himself as Godric Gryff'n'dr.
Helga was meant to marry Godric's younger brother, who they tell me was a very cruel man, years ago. So Godric helped Helga escape, and they have been travelling together ever since. Godric is married to a lovely woman who introduced herself as Adelia, and Helga to a man named Silas. They invited us on their travels and we spoke at length about the crumbling of Magical Britannia.
We have begun making plans. Godric and Helga believe that we will be able to restore a semblance of balance to our world.
I pray that they are right.
September 30, 850 AD
Godric, Helga and I have made our way to Ecosse during our travels. We were required to purchase horses from the Mundanes in Cambria, so that our travels would not be entirely on foot.
We have been discussing ideas that may help the Magical World retain balance. Helga was the one to suggest that we have some sort of system to take in young Magical children so that they may be taught to handle their magic. She was especially adamant that the Mundane-born magicals be given this opportunity.
Our community is already smaller than that of the Mundanes - they grow faster than we do, despite their propensity for disease and war. We need all the Magicals we can find, so that we do not shrink beneath the power of our non-magical counterparts.
Godric suggested that we turn to the Mundane monarch for assistance, and I believe that with time, this idea may be what saves us.
I refuse to watch this world crumble without trying to do something about it.
January 3, 851 AD
On our travels, we have run across a fourth companion. He introduced himself as Sal'zar Slyth'ryn. He harkens from Arabia. He is the same age as myself, Helga and Godric, though we all look far younger, given our magical prowess.
To be fair, most Magicals look far younger than they are because the comparison is the Mundanes. But we four are perhaps more powerful than most, not looking much older than two decades, despite being nearly double that in reality.
Sal has joined us on our adventures, and - as a noble himself - has offered more advice about our plans than we originally had. We have plans to speak to the Mundane monarch in a fortnight, to ask him for assistance. We also have plans to put Helga's plan into action, and have agreed upon a school of sorts, so that we may educate any children who need or desire it.
I pray that the gods bless our endeavors.
January 18, 851 AD
Yesterday, we visited King Aethelwulf to discuss our plight. He seems to be a just king. At least, he heard us out, and offered his assistance.
We need him to act as monarch over the Magical world, and he agreed, with conditions.
His stipulations were that we form a government of our own that answers to one of his men. Essentially, he will be a distant king, and will be the last in the line of communications. It is evident that he wants little to do with our world, but he has agreed to act as the balance we so desperately need.
From this day forth, Magical Britannia answers to the King of Wessex, in whatever form the current King stipulates. And it is our duty to inform each successor of our needs and desires.
Sal says that this agreement is as good as it will get. He says that we are lucky to have gotten this much; the Mundanes fear us, but they are civilized enough that they did not attack us unprovoked, thank the gods.
We are now responsible for pulling together a government and a school for our world. We are now responsible for bringing order and balance to a world that has lost its monarch.
I pray that the gods will lead our footsteps.
June 7, 851 AD
Sal and I are the more influential members of our group, so we have taken the lead on our projects. Sal has decided that Godric will be the most help for the political side of things; though Godric is not a noble, he is from an old family, and knows the way our world works. Helga and I focus on the formation of the school, though our separation in these projects will not mean that we have nothing to do with them. Helga and I still offer suggestions to help the men along, just as they do for us.
Helga and I have decided to locate our school in Ecosse. We have found a place that will be easily hidden from the Mundanes. There is a forest that is home to many magical creatures on one end of the land. At the other is a large lake. It is smooth, and black in color, and in it reside merfolk and a giant squid and grindylows, among other things. The entire piece of land is perhaps five times the size of my family's Manor, and it is bordered by mountains on all sides.
When Helga and I came across it, we fell in love almost immediately. Ric and Sal were suitably impressed, and so I contacted Ragnok, who helped us obtain the land.
Helga and I have started making plans for the layout of the school, because we must have a place before we move on to the other aspects of it all.
July 13, 851 AD
Sal and Ric have drawn up plans for our new government. They call it the Wizengamot, and whenever they say the word, all I can think of is a bunch of old men sitting in a circle and inspecting their bunions. I haven't told the men, of course, because other than the name, there is nothing wrong with the concept.
The idea is to have seven Houses as the main benefactors. For each House, there will be three lesser Houses who contribute to the plans. And of course, we will have one person at the head of it all. He will have no say in the proceedings; he is present to keep order, as well as to be aware of the changes and information so that he may inform King Aethelwulf's middleman of anything important.
In theory, the setup is a good one. I hope that it works out as the men desire.
They need to choose Houses for this situation, as well as a witch or wizard who will converse with the king's middleman. I admit to being curious as to who they will choose, after all, they are limited to Wizarding Britannia; we are the only ones to have lost a monarch, and therefore the only ones struggling with a lack of balance.
Of course, we are also the only ones who relied on a monarch for balance in the first place, so perhaps that has something to do with our situation.
September 2, 851 AD
Hel and I have made progress on the school. At least, we have laid the foundations for it, and I must admit to being quite excited to begin building it. I can already see it in my mind's eye - it will be beautiful.
The school will take a long time to build, though it will go faster once Ric and Sal are available to help out. As it is, though, they are busy enough with their Wizengamot project. They help us whenever they can, but sometimes it's not enough.
I recently learned that Hel is an Enchantress, and a rather gifted one at that. It seems that the four of us, though proficient in all areas of magic discovered so far, have one area that we are each truly gifted. For Helga, it is Enchanting. For Godric, it is Battle Magic. Sal is almost equally gifted in Defense Magic as he is in Potions though he leans more toward the former. And I myself am talented in Runes. I believe this to be a result of my exposure to the subject matter by Grandfather Atlas as a young child.
And so, given our personal strengths, Hel and I have decided to Enchant each stone of the school we are building. On each, I will etch a Rune onto the base, and before putting the stones together, Helga will Enchant them. Our school will be the safest place in the world. It must be. After all, children will be living here. Our future will be here, and they must be protected.
June 14, 852 AD
The school has progressed, but not enough to warrant writing about.
Instead, I am writing to say that Ric and Sal have finally succeeded in forming our government. In total, there are nine and twenty members of the Wizengamot. Each member is a representative of some House in our world.
The main seven are our oldest Houses, which are typically no older than half a century old. Even my House, which is one of the seven, is only around six and a half decades old. We are one of the oldest Houses, which says very little about the age of this world in comparison to that of the Mundanes.
Besides both of my fathers' Houses, Ric's family is represented, as is Sal's. Hel's is the fifth House of the seven, followed by House Blæc , as well as House Cnotta. I tried to convince the men that having both House Peverell and House ven Clau might seem as though they are trying to show favoritism, but no one has made any objections. It seems as though I will be expected to have more than one child in the future.
Some of the minor Houses that Ric and Sal have included are House Wesele, House Bulastrijden, House Brúnas, House Garo, House Kornfuss, House Krabbi, House Plinth, House Grungras, House Hearpere, House Hygge, House Estranger, House Langrbotn, House Liefgut, House Malfeit, House Princepes, House Schaklynbout, and House Púlic.
Ric and Sal have a document drawn up that outlines what the Wizengamot's duties are, what their freedoms are, and the laws of the land, as decided by both the Pendragon family and King Aethelwulf.
I cannot say that I understand the entire thing, but that matters little. I will not personally be involved in that business, and anything I need to know will be told to me by my family or friends.
January 1, 853 AD
I have given birth to a baby boy that Enoch and I have decided to call Holden. He will be the next to sit in the ven Clau seat on the Wizengamot. Helena is very excited that we have finally provided her a younger sibling, but I doubt that will last long. She is a flighty child at nearly seventeen. I hope she will find herself soon.
July 15, 855 AD
With Ric and Sal helping, Hel and I have finally finished the school. It is beautiful, and feels as though it is alive to some extent. I will investigate the sentience further at some other time.
The school is a castle made of Enchanted stones, as I have mentioned before. It has four towers, one for each of our families. The front of the castle faces the Black Lake, and the back faces the forest. Near the front of the school is a large room with enough room to fit thousands of people. It is where meals will be eaten. Directly underneath the Great Hall is the kitchen, and below the kitchen are the Dungeons. The castle has bridges connecting the towers to each other, and all four towers are built down into the same depth as the Dungeons are.
The castle has seven floors, though the towers have more. In the center of the castle, there is a fifth tower that rises up. Inside, parts of the castle are open to the elements, and there are greenhouses. The castle is lit by candles, and has plenty of windows.
The grounds of the castle have plenty of trees and rocks by the Black Lake, and there is about an acre of flat terrain dedicated to whatever the menfolk decide. Hel and I decided to add a house for a groundskeeper down by the forest.
I love this school. It is beautiful and welcoming.
Ric and Sal insist that we need a name for the school, while Hel has mentioned that we need a day to start educating the children. When she mentioned this, I had to point out that we needed to invite children to our school, as well.
Ric was the one to choose the name for the school, and he's been acting like a child all day because of it. The man stumbled across a pig wandering through the school the other day. The pig had some peculiar spots marking its skin, and somehow that inspired Godric to name the school Hogwarts.
I was not approving of the name, but then the others pointed out that since the school was Hel's brainchild, the name Ric's and the Wizengamot Sal's, the first day of school could be of my choosing. And because Hogwarts is near and dear to my heart, the first day is September first, just as my birthday is.
Now all we must do is find children for our school.
August 3, 855 AD
The four of us went separate directions in our search for students. I returned to Britannia, Hel to Cambria, Ric travelled to Éirinn, and Sal volunteered to travel further East. We have agreed to meet back at Hogwarts with our protégés on my birthday.
September 1, 855 AD
Today I returned to Hogwarts with the students I have gathered together. Gabriel Cnotta was the first to accept, and he was followed by Turais and Lyra Blæc and Mykol Langrbotn. Tatum Wesele, Rue Estranger, and Magnus Liefgut also accepted my invitations, as did a number of Mundane-borns. Of the other Houses in our world, none have children old enough to attend as of yet.
Helena has agreed to assist in teaching, she is gifted in Charms. Enoch will teach Potions so that Sal may focus on Defense. Adelia will teach our students about plants and creatures, of both the Magical and non-magical varieties. Silas has agreed to provide lessons in Transfigurations. Ric and Sal have gotten both my husband and Hel's to agree to weapons training. I have no doubt that our students will need such skills in the future.
Hel has returned with a few students to add to our numbers. Her son - Felix - is one of the students who will attend, as will Adaire Zaibine and Sebatan Galbinus. She had less luck in Cambria, in part because there are less people.
Sal has returned with a wife named Aithne, and as many students as Hel. Their names are Solomon Sneeuw and Corvan Magister.
Ric had less luck than the rest of us in Éirinn, only finding Delphine Einfühlung to join us. Of course, his children - Adan and Mikæla - will also join.
Truth be told, I did not expect to find so many students interested as we have. It is no matter. This school is built to house thousands, and I believe we will see growth in the coming years.
October 31, 855 AD
The first few weeks have gone well. The children seem happy and are learning a lot. My friends and I are pleased with the progress we have made. Our world no longer seems as though it is about to splinter.
It is as though we are healing, though I believe it is more similar to having patched up a wound. This is a solution that will hold for a while, but eventually we will need to find a better fix. I pray that this time does not come for many centuries.
On another note, Hogwarts has been changing. I believe that having each stone steeped in Magic has something to do with it. But I also think that the constant presence of Magical beings has caused this change.
The ceiling of the Great Hall no longer has the appearance of stone. Instead, it mirrors the sky at all times of the day. It is quite beautiful. Another change is the suits of armor that have begun lining the corridors. They stand at attention, their armor always gleaming and their weapons sharp. The centermost tower now has gargoyles guarding the entrance, and some of the staircases have begun moving. More than once, I have rescued one of the students from the stairs. Some of the steps act like quicksand - they grab on, and the more one struggles, the faster it sucks them in.
Mykol found out that if you struggle enough, the stair will suck you all the way in and drop you down to the floor below.
The other day, I was walking along the seventh floor corridor, wondering where I had put one of my tomes, and a door appeared. I opened it, and inside was an entire library, though most of the shelves were empty.
Sal tells me that yesterday he was speaking to his basilisk - Jormungand - when a wall in his office opened up. He explored the entrance and found a tunnel heading down into a great cavern. Ric, Hel and I have agreed that he may keep Jormungand in the chamber when he is out.
Ric mentioned that when he was in the centermost tower two weeks ago - before the gargoyles popped up - a phoenix of scarlet and gold entered through the window and promptly experienced its burning day.
Helga tells me that House Elves have been popping up in the kitchens, offering to help out around the castle. She accepted, and ever since, food has been popping up on the table in the Great Hall at meal times.
Gabriel Cnotta has requested Enoch's permission to Court Helena. Enoch agreed, and I do not know if I have ever seen Lena as happy as she is now.
February 14, 856 AD
Gabriel proposed to Helena today, and she accepted. I am ecstatic.
These past few months have been interesting. Hogwarts continues to shift and change - I have leaned against a wall and found myself in a corridor on the other side of the castle. Adan reports having found several passages out of the castle. This confirms that Hogwarts is sentient. She is preparing for an attack, though I do not know when it will occur.
I pray to all the gods that it is not in my lifetime.
I have been busy researching four artifacts that were given to us by the Goblins. They were gifted at Yule, and the motion has proclaimed us four and our families friends of that warrior race.
To Helga, they gave a golden goblet decorated with badgers. To Sal, they gifted a golden locket with a snake etched into the surface. Godric received a sword made of silver and set with rubies, his name is etched into the blade. I was given a silver diadem set with sapphires. The Goblins mentioned that these creations - all Goblin made - might have special properties, and when I discussed the matter with Ragnok, he assured me that these were gifts that the Goblin race would never dream of repossessing. It made me wonder why; after all, Goblins are notoriously possessive of their creations.
I have finally discovered the properties the Goblins hinted at. Hel's goblet will turn anything into food and drink. It is an advanced form of transfiguration because the food may have been anything, but it is certainly food once it is removed from the cup. It tastes as food does, and is as nourishing as any food I have ever eaten.
Sal's locket protects the wearer from anything, be it spells or weapons. When the wearer is attacked, a solid shield forms all around them, protecting them from harm while also allowing them to attack their enemies with either spell fire or weapons.
Ric's sword appears to never dull, and it takes in that which makes it stronger. Interestingly, the sword also returns to its owner when the call. Once I discovered that, Ric made use of the ability, and caused the sword to disappear when I was attempting to study it.
My diadem is perhaps less complex, though no less useful in its simplicity. Simply put, the diadem allows the wearer to take in and retain knowledge at an otherwise impossible rate. It is a very useful artifact, and its beauty allows me to wear it at all times.
The Goblins have fueled my search for knowledge.
May 1, 860 AD
The school has grown. Each year we gain new students, and they have started joining us at ten and one years of age. They tend to stay until their magical maturity at ten and seven, though many stay longer than that. Those that leave us go out into our world and make great changes. Some pursue higher education in certain areas, and of those, some start their own businesses, while others return to us. Those that return are often found in classrooms, teaching the children.
With growth comes change, and the most noticeable has been the development of Houses. At Hogwarts, Houses are like families, and the loyalty shown is reminiscent of familial Houses. Ric, Sal, Hel and I are the heads of the Houses, and the students of each of our Houses stay in one of the corner towers.
The students are separated by traits we value most. For me, that is wit. For Hel it is kindness; Sal appreciates cunning. Ric appreciates courage.
The Houses help our students find their families away from blood, and yet none of them are segregated from each other based on their House. In fact, this system seems as though it makes their experiences easier to deal with; despite the students' differences, they are all loyal and hard working.
I believe these changes are for the best.
Lena and Gabriel were married a few years ago, and just last week Lena gave birth to twins, both of them boys, and named them Cassius and Calvin.
June 5, 865 AD
Enoch was seen performing magic yesterday. The Mundane who saw him was terrified, and attacked unexpectedly. Enoch is dead and buried. My heart lies with him.
June 11, 865 AD
In her grief, Lena fled the country yesterday. I find myself weakening each day. I fear that I will not live much longer.
Gabriel has left to follow Lena. He misses her, and wishes to bring her back to the castle. I pray that they return before I die.
Holden is miserable after the death of his father, and has turned to Sal and Ric and Hel for comfort. I cannot find it in myself to comfort him when I am in just as much pain as he is.
Where do we go when we die?
June 20, 865 AD
Lena and Gabriel have returned as ghosts. Lena ran into trouble as she fled, and by the time Gabriel found her, she was taking her last breaths.
He was taken by surprise and killed by the same man who murdered Helena.
I find myself sicker than ever.
Lena will not speak to anyone. Her grief is too great; she has lost her father, has lost her life, has lost the ability to comfort her children and husband.
Gabriel is just as silent as Helena for the same reasons. He is silent because he feels as though he has failed his wife and his family.
I pity them.
July 1, 865 AD
Aithne has given birth to Sal's first child. She named their son Enoch and named Holden Godfather. I am glad that she has given my son something to live for.
Yesterday, Sal's younger brother visited. I was unaware that my friend had a younger brother, but after meeting him, I understand why we were never introduced. Sal's brother - Ephraim - as well as the rest of his family find Mundanes distasteful at best. At worst they believe them to be no better than cattle with impure blood.
Ephraim offered to hunt down the Mundane who killed Enoch and dispose of the man. Sal and Ric became furious and forcibly removed Ephraim from the castle.
I wish that Ephraim's words wouldn't hurt Sal's reputation, but I have already heard the whispers. I pray that Sal is strong enough to withstand them.
September 1, 865 AD
Soon I will join Enoch in the afterlife. I give my blessings to my family - of blood and choice. I bid you change the world. Statera Familia et Officium.