There’s a long history associated with Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry and its founding members in the Harry Potter franchise. We’ve seen snippets of the founders and heard a little of their story, but there’s so much more that we would love to know.
Compromised of Helga Hufflepuff, Rowena Ravenclaw, Salazar Slytherin and Godric Gryffindor, the four founders were friends and then enemies. Here are 10 questions that we’d love to have answered about the founders of Hogwarts.
HOW DID THEY COME TOGETHER?
It’s never been entirely clear who actually brought these four together. Perhaps they had been friends for a long time before their meeting or maybe they were just some of the most well respected and powerful wizards and witches alive at the time.
How they first met is therefore completely unknown, but we’d love to know their origin story, and why they had to assemble. Was it because of the school that needed to be built or did something else ensure their lives intersected?
WHOSE IDEA WAS HOGWARTS?
While Hogwarts is a fantastic idea and one that the wizarding community certainly benefited from, it’s unclear who’s idea it was to found and build a school. Perhaps it was a group effort, or maybe these four were brought together by another entity.
It could have even been at the request of a wizarding government or perhaps an attempt to copy an idea that had been seen internationally. This question could actually answer many more we have about the history of the school.
HOW MANY CONFLICTS WERE THERE?
Salazar Slytherin caused many conflicts with the others. In fact, his ideology about pure bloods, which Death Eaters love to follow, is what ultimately tore the group apart as the other founders simply could not agree with his philosophy.
But how many other conflicts were there before and after this? Did it ever turn into a physical or magical fight between these founders, or were there breakdowns more through verbal rather than physical altercations? It would be interesting to see these four powerful wizards duel.
WHY WAS THERE A TIME OF PEACE?
If there were so many differences that the four founders had to break apart, how did they once call one another “friend,” and even enjoy a long-term period of peace? For quite awhile, as the school was being constructed, the quartet actually got along.
However, there must have been some kind of conflict brewing under the surface, or perhaps everyone hid their true opinions well until they could not hold back any longer. It’s strange that they got along so well.
WERE ANY SECRETS KEPT AMONG THEM?
It’s well known that none of the founders could really be trusted, but were there any secrets kept among them? Perhaps there were details of the design of Hogwarts that they lied about and fought over before coming to a secretive agreement.
There may have even been some sabotage to aspects of the design that the others didn’t know about. And outside of this creative relationship, were there any secrets kept among them as friends as to what they got up to in their spare time?
DID ANY OTHERS REALLY KNOW ABOUT THE CHAMBER?
One big secret we do know about is the Chamber of Secrets. Supposedly none of the other founders knew that Salazar had created this shrine to his own house and put a basilisk in there to strike against the “Mudbloods” when the time was right.
But how did no one else realize that the Chamber had been constructed underneath the castle? Since there were three others involved in Hogwarts’ creation, there must have been at least one who became aware of the Chamber and decided to keep it to themselves.
ARE THERE ANY OTHER HIDDEN ROOMS IN HOGWARTS?
Since there’s a hidden chamber, a secret passage from Hogwarts to Hogsmeade, and the Room of Requirement, there are plenty of other things that could be hidden within Hogwarts that the founders don’t know about.
Each of them may have actually put in their own hidden room, representing everything they stood for. There could still be locations in the buildings that we haven’t seen due to them being so well hidden.
DOES GODRIC HAVE ANY DESCENDANTS?
All the other founders are known to have had descendants,, but there’s never been any mention of Gryffindor’s family. It could well be that he just doesn’t have many descendants, and none are worth mentioning.
However, there’s also the possibility that a character we know well is actually a descendant of Godric, and the information has been kept from us for a big reveal much later on down the line.
ARE ANY ANCESTORS LEFT?
Since some of the other founders do have ancestors, it begs the question of whether there are actually any still left. There could be some that had their family line die out, perhaps due to muggle interference or a lack of offspring.
However, there’s also a huge possibility that the founders each have a descendant left who is waiting to rise once more in the name of each house. Perhaps this is a story that could be told in the future.
WILL WE GET A SPIN-OFF?
So far, the founders have only been mentioned in both the books and films. While Slytherin has played a larger role due to the Chamber, there’s still so much that we don’t know about these characters and their story, especially the creation of Hogwarts.
There’s more than enough material here to create some sort of spin-off about this. Perhaps in the form of a book, a comic or even another film series. It could even be the tale that lends itself to a TV show, perhaps on HBO Max.
