THE FIFTH FOUNDER ⚡️ [h.p./founders era]

Thirteen

The building of the school went by much quicker than I anticipated. After Godric drew up a plan that we all could agree on, Lois sent tens of witches and wizards to help construct the castle. Towers shot up into the sky and concrete creatures were sculpted right before my eyes.

The tedious, brick by brick process of building the castle was sped up, leaving the most fun parts to Godric, Helga, Rowena, Salazar, and I. Godric charmed the staircases so that they would move, allowing for faster travel between floors if planned correctly.

Rowena charmed the ceiling in the Great Hall to reflect the weather outside, which meant that the sun shone brightly, bringing life to the room.

Salazar and Helga both hid secret chambers in the castle, refusing to tell anyone how to enter.

"If no one knows, what is the point?" Rowena asked with a scoff.

"If someone truly needs the room, they will know how to access it." Helga said cryptically, and Salazar nodded along.

But later, he pulled me aside.

"I want to show you my room, in case anyone ever has to use it, you'll know how to get in." He told me. At first I was confused.

"I thought if anyone needed it, they would just know?" I said, repeating what Helga said earlier.

"Yes, well, my room is a bit different from Helga's." He held out his hand for me to take. After giving him a questioning glance, I took it.

He led me to the second floor into an empty room.

"Is this it?" I joked, and he shook his head almost impatiently.

He tapped his wand on one of the tiles on the floor and it disappeared, revealing a pathway underground.

"How do I know you're not leading me down there to murder me?" I said, looking in cautiously.

"Have I ever given you a reason not to trust me?" He raised his eyebrow, and when I gave no answer, he held out his hand for me again.

Into the passage we went, and I stayed quite close to him, in fear of losing my way in the dark tunnel.

Once we made it to the bottom, we were met by a door with five snakes etched into it.

Salazar whispered something that sounded like a foreign language and the door opened, revealing another chamber behind it.

"What is this place?" I asked, walking in beside him.

"I want it to be a place to hide, in case anyone tries to attack the school again. It's underground and impossible to reach unless you go through the second floor, where we were. I'm still working on it, but in case we need it, I wanted someone else to know." He led me around, showing me all the detail in the layout of the room.

"Do you think we will need to use this room often?" I asked, fearing the worst.

Images of the fire flashed through my mind and I was terrified of that happening again.

"I should hope not. I've been speaking with Godric about putting up protective spells to keep muggles away, but he keeps on insisting that we allow muggle parents to visit their children if they would like to." Salazar sighed, and I could tell he was fighting with everything he had not to roll his eyes.

Godric was stupidly reckless.

~

To house their students, Rowena and Godric both chose towers. While the two of them seemed to be competing, I didn't want my students to have to climb a million steps every day. Helga seemed to feel similarly, as she chose the spot next to the kitchens.

Salazar chose the dungeons, which was a little depressing to me.

I thought about where I would want to stay for a terribly long time, and after over analyzing every space in the castle, I chose the far side of the Great Hall. It was the perfect spot: close for meal times, near the entrance for outdoor activities, down the hall from the library.

To enter, I charmed the doorknob to ask for a password so other students from other houses would not be able to enter.

Once inside, I created a secret passage to the library for quick access. Then, I charmed the flames in the fireplace to burn purple, casting a violet glow onto the rest of the room. The common area was cozy, intended to be a resting place after a long day. There were plenty of seating areas spread throughout, with blankets and pillows. I provided a bookcase full of extra supplies such as quills and ink, because I knew I would have a few forgetful students. Above the fireplace, I charmed the bricks to show a carving of an elephant, running about the room. The mighty creature would always be watching over the students.

Next, I focused on the individual rooms. I kept the boys' dorms on the opposite end of the room as the girls', casting a few protective spells in the girls' hallway.

Overall, I was quite pleased with my house.

The next problem we faced was how to sort the students. The obvious solution was to let the students choose, but how would they know which house they would truly excel in at such a young age? The next option was to give them a test, but what questions would we ask other than the obvious?

We needed something to choose for us, something that was wiser than a piece of paper.

"What if we charm a hat?" Rowena suggested one day, speaking softly since Helena was asleep in her arms. Helena was a faulty baby, only wanting to sleep in her mother's arms during the middle of the day. "We can place the hat on each student and the hat decides which house they will go in."

"That is an idea." Helga nodded vigorously. "But do any of us have a hat?"

"I know a hatter." Godric said. "I can talk to him and see what he could do for us."

And then it was settled: my future students would be decided for me because a hat said so.