It is now six weeks into the school year. A lot has happened since the beginning of term. For one thing, Harry and Hermione are once again back on much better terms with each other. Still, there is a slight tension lingering within the group at times. Umbridge has been an absolute nightmare. Her teaching methods are horrible. She has absolutely disregarded the needed skills the students would need to pass their OWLs. As an attempt to control the uprising the Minister believes Dumbledore is attempting to plan against him, no magic is permitted in or out of lessons. She has even taken to torturing students through the use of blood quills and other variations of torturous practices in of her detentions. Harry has been subjected to them on several occasions. As always, he seems to be letting his newfound temper get the better of him. He has been keeping much more to himself. Also, Hermione and 'Martin' have become great friends. The two of them have taken to finishing their homework together. Hermione has always been the highest-ranking student in her grade where marks are concerned but Martin seems to be up to par with her. It almost seems as if he's holding back though. He claims it's merely due to Hermione's amazing ability to simplify everything so well and she decided to let the matter slide. Lately, his hatred of Umbridge seems to have grown exponentially like most but there seems to be something more behind it. Even he has been submitted to a detention based on false accusations. Umbridge has been very suspicious and hostile to all of the resorted students. She noticed that Martin has also been merging in with the rest of his house. Him and Arthur have taken to provoking one another. For a while it seemed to be through irritation but now it seems more playful banter.

So far Hermione's search in the Library has not been successful. She has gone through every book possible it seems to find out more about this Emrys person but no mention has been found so far. She has even used her position as prefect to access the 'Restricted section' in her search. So far, nobody knows what she has been doing. If they ask she simply claims to be teaching herself what Umbridge refuses to. It's not actually a total lie. Her research has led to the discovery of many useful spells to keep in her arsenal.

On this particular Saturday afternoon, while everyone was outside enjoying the day before the cold finally set it, Hermione was located in the Library. It has already surpassed two hours and she is at a loss. The corner at the back provides a great place to sit and sulk about her shortcomings on the matter. Not one of the books she has looked through has been any help. There have been plenty about the four founders and how they came together to create a magic safe haven for students to learn and grow and she managed to find a few peculiarities but not much. For instance, there is no mention as to whether they actually built the castle for use or merely used a preexisting one. Only speculation has been made on that. She also noticed that the fallout with Slytherin was merely speculation as well. In some books it seems that their separation was deemed mutual. After that particular finding, she had decided to ask Helena more about it but the ghost completely disregarded her question. Now here she is sitting at the back end of the library at a complete standstill. What else do I do? Where else is there to look? She checked the time on her watch and sighed. There is still another hour-and-a-half before I have to get to training. One of the many new requirements for the new house came as training. Every evening at five o'clock, three o'clock on Saturdays, all of the students are required to train through the use of sword fighting, shielding, mace work and the likes. Perhaps that is why Martin and Arthur are on much better terms now. The two had been pushed together as sparring partners quite often. Most of the guys were quite naturals with the likes but Martin had been absolute rubbish. It was almost as if he didn't even try. I wonder if his clumsiness is faked in order to get the others to go easy on him. Anyway, most of the guys had seen how bad he is and have taken him under their wings. Arthur has most of all. Hermione likes Sundays most of all. Instead of training, the students are taught in the ways of horse riding. Stables had been installed at the beginning of term to accommodate the new teaching requirement. It was the only skill of all of these that Hermione picked up quite well but even she was no match for Martin. He seems to be at complete ease on the animals. So far he has become the best at riding them in the entire house. Her skills in terms of training; however, were increasing very gradually. Even then she is still better at it then Martin. Most of her sparring has been with Guinevere or Nimueh. Even though both girls have been very nice, her friendship with Guinevere has far surpassed that which she has with Nimueh who tends to keep much more to herself. She also thinks Gwen had taken a liking to Martin after he stood up to Arthur for her but he seems completely oblivious towards that knowledge.

Now here Hermione is, still sitting at the back end of the restricted section with her legs curled into her and lost in thought. How can there be absolutely no mention of him? She let out a huff and held her hand against the wall for support as she clambered back to her feet. Well this is a surprise. From where she placed her hand the stone caved in slightly. Now, placing her hand completely over the stone and pushing in as hard as she could muster there came a loud clicking sound from a bookshelf to her right. A moment of silence passed before the sound of a loud creaking followed the opening of the now wide-open passage hidden behind it.

Much like the Emrys common room with stairs leading upwards behind the painting, this one also held a tall winding stairway. The ascent upwards is much higher than the other but that was understandable. This led to a single room at the highest point while the other was located beneath many overhead dormitories.

At first appearance everything was pitched black. But suddenly the burst of flames from candles around the room sprang to life. Located in the dead center of the room sat a large round table surrounded by four large chairs. Each chair construed a different founder she realized. They were red, yellow, blue and green. Around the room hang cobwebs everywhere. Dust is piled high on every surface and the room lets off a musty odor. When was the last time someone entered this room? She vaguely wondered. What stood out to her the most was the ceiling. It seems spelled to always portray the starry night sky. I suppose it makes sense. The top of this tower is meant to hold the Astronomy classroom. So why has nobody ever found this before?

She slowly began to make her way around the octagonal room. She noticed four bookshelves, each located at the wall behind a corresponding chair. This must have been the private study of the founders. She thought again. Looking at each of the chairs, she decided to head to the bookshelf located directly behind the yellow chair. These must have belonged to Rowena. She slowly set to work reading through several of the books located here. Many of these are journals. They talked about the founders' early lives. They talk about how the four of them met and the situations arising around them. Apparently the decision to build a school came with the increasing fear by muggles. It drove them to… a second purge? What was the first one? She continued reading on and on. The more she read the more fascinated she became. The book she is reading through now depicts all of the hidden secrets that Hogwarts has to offer. The Room of Requirement! So it is real. And she kept reading. Still there is no mention by them of any fifth founder. She is slowly beginning to grow more and more worried until she picks up a book she had barely noticed before lying alone on its side on top of the bookshelf just barely in sight. What was inside it her face up like a Christmas tree.

These are my personal accounts of Hogwarts founding. It was signed at the bottom by Rowena Ravenclaw herself.

"After much searching, my comrades and I believe we have found what we are looking for. Positioned high a top the steep cliff side and encased within the borders of the far stretched forest of Albion stands the mighty castle. Our search for the truth behind all of those traveling legends has proven fruitful. We camp outside for the night before we begin our excursions inside jus morrow. ~Rowena"

"The castle has surpassed anything we could ever have imagined. None of those tales regarding it being a long lost wonder could possibly have prepared us for what we have found. I can sense it. Magic is reverberating all around us, the likes of which I have never seen before. This must be it. Our long search for a suitable environment where magic can strive so tremendously has been found. Not the real trials begin. ~Rowena"

"The first several days passed without too many obstacles. Certain enchantments have been placed around these corridors. Everything appeared to get along all right until he showed up. Angry is an understatement. Never have I seen a man with more rage than he when the arrival came. This peeks Hermione's interest. Godric often let his temper get the better of him but this was a whole new level. I suppose we all assumed that this castle was up for grabs; that we could do with it what we wished. The boy's arrival had awoken a tirade within Godric who told the youngster to get lost, that his search for the castle as well was a pointless effort because it has already been claimed. Oh how wrong we were. The boy asked what we could possibly need the castle for. When we told him he smiled and spoke of the brilliance in our plan. We didn't think much of his appraisal until he spoke of allowing our use of the castle to do so what we intended. The thought of him giving us permission had us al scoffing at the absurdity of it all. After all, here is a boy less than half our age that acts like the rights to his place are his. I suppose we shall see as upcoming events unfold. ~Rowena"

"Not only does the boy give us his wishes but now he desires to oversee the process. I suppose it could mere curiosity that he has stuck around. My suspicions of him have not changed. Too many things do not add up. He speaks of magic yet holds no wand. He speaks with wisdom far beyond someone only twenty-three summers as he claims to be. Recently I have looked further into his eyes and witnessed so much grief. Out of mere pity I think have played on our hearts to allow him to stay. Be that as it may, I will figure out what he is hiding if I do so until my last breath is drawn. ~Rowena"

Hermione looks at her watch again and is shocked to see the time. Not only did she miss training this afternoon but also time has already flown by. If she hurries now perhaps she could make it for the last half-hour of dinner. Scurrying to her feet she is now at a crossroad. Do I take the book with me or leave it here for safekeeping? She ended leaving the book where it was. The risk of damaging or losing it is far too great. Not to mention, it was likely hidden with good reason. If certain events have been hidden from the public for a millennium then there must be a reason for it.

She arrives at the Great hall and makes her way to the short rectangular table designated for her house. As always, Nimueh and Gillie are both present. She has noticed that not once has she eaten at the round table or eaten with any of those presently sitting at it regardless of the fact that both Martin and Gwen are there. Why don't I ever sit with them? For some reason it just feels so natural not to.

Nimueh and Gillie greet her with smiling faces. It turns out she arrived far too late and only desert was left but Nimueh surprised her with food she had smuggled during the feast because she had know Hermione would be hungry. The remainder of time spent at dinner was with laughter and funny remarks until it was time to head the common room once again. Everything Hermione learned she decided to keep to herself. It's better this way. She thought. When they asked her where she was during training she merely said she had an awful headache and simply couldn't make it. When she went to bed that night Hermione could hardly sleep. She is far to eager to get back to that hidden room and learn more from Rowena's book.