Ideally playing Hogwarts involves four people: three Player Characters and The Muse.

Each of the three Player Characters represents a new student at Hogwarts, and a main character in their own on-going story (together).  The choices that each student makes depends entirely on that player.

For those familiar with Dungeons&Dragons, a quick description of The Muse would be a “Dungeon Master.”  But unlike a Dungeon Master, The Muse tries to inspire the players to participate in the story telling instead of controlling every aspect of the game.  Together, you are creating a story that should flow like every Harry Potter novel.  Also unlike Dungeons&Dragons, this new story does not have to be lived moment by moment, and may even involve flash-backs to complete details of an earlier experience.  Story books do this; and this is your story.

Hogwarts!  But this is modern day; it has been decades since the fall of Voldemort.  The Muse and the players will have to determine what that means.

What has become of the school?  Has Hagrid expanded the grounds to include more options for student pets and for classes of The Care of Magical Creatures?

Yes he has!

Who is the Headmaster now?  Has Minerva McGonagall stepped into the role or has she retired to spending her afternoons as a cat, napping in the sun beams in The Great Hall?

What is in the Chamber of Secrets?  The Minestry of Magic has been probing the Chamber for years and has been unable to contain the rumors and the news of all the discoveries that threaten to rewrite History.  The Quibbler claimed that there were log books from Salazar Slytherin himself!

… Is it true that Rowena Ravenclaw chose the location of Hogwarts from a list that Slytherin had already compiled?

… Is it true that The Chamber of Secrets pre-dates Hogwarts itself, accessible through an underwater cave in the lake?

… Then is it true that there may be other Chambers at other locations?!

… Is it true that a baselisk guarded The Chamber of Secrets for eons until Tom Riddle drove it murderously mad?

What are Dementors? Why do they consume Magic?

Are they dead?  Undead?  Are they machines, or golems?

A Character Sheet should have at least a minimal set of information but the more descriptive a Character Sheet is, the more helpful it will be for building a story around the character.  

Here is an example from a player who created a twisted parody of “Harry Potter” named “Parry Hotter.”  His House, Wand, and Pet will have been discovered during game play, the rest is embellishment.

Additions like being a talented Seeker, and having Parseltongue, should be appended to Parry Hotter’s Character Sheet when these facts are revealed during the story.  Any possessions, like a Marauder’s Map or Invisibility Cloak or Bag of Barfing, should also be added if found.

Players can use their Character Sheet as a canvas to create.

All aboard!

Harry Potter novels start and end with the school year.  Everyone familiar with the stories should know the routine and the adventures that can happen before even arriving at school!  So Platform 9¾ is the natural place to begin the game...

You make it up!  Typically The Muse controls the pace of the story.

Boarding the Hogwarts Express may be played in a moment-by-moment, turn-by-turn, fashion where The Muse describes the scene and each player makes a decision about what to do next...

For example:

The Muse: You wheel your bag through the large door of the train car, leaving your parents sobbing on the platform.  “Don’t die horribly at school!” they implore.  You now stand in a loading area with carpeted hallways leading fore and aft, lined with doors that appear to be to seating booths.  An adult dressed in a Hogwarts Express uniform sits to monitor the closed front-end door of this train car.  Through the glass of that door, you can see the rear of Hogwarts Express engine.  The hallway door to the back of the train is standing open, leading to another train car with more booths.  What do you do?

Two new players, Nula Luvbottom and Leville Longwood, wave their goodbyes to their loved ones on Platform 9¾  and board the Hogwarts Express, destined for Hogsmeade.

The Muse:

You each find a seat, stash your bags, and prepare for the ride.

The Hogwarts Express blows a cloud of steam with a joyful toot and begins to chug.

The Muse starts the adventure by dealing out cards in Texas Hold’em style:

Luvbottom: 10, 4

Longwood: 10, 9

Shared: 4, J, Q, 3, 7

Best poker hand for Luvbottom: Q, J, 10, 4, 4 (Pair of Fours)

Best poker hand for Longwood: Q, J, 10, 9, 7 (Queen high)

The Muse:

It looks like you share some cards in your hands, the Q and the J. When you share cards, it suggests that you might be sharing an experience together.

So the most important things to address are the Q and J because these are shared by both of you and they are high cards in your hands.

Being face cards, maybe they represent people that you both meet together on the train.

The Muse adds:

Luvbottom, we also need to know what the 4+ 4 means to you because a Pair of Fours is your best Poker Hand.

But first, what do you think the 10 and 10 mean?  A ten is the first card dealt to each player.

Luvbottom:  Maybe it means that we are both ten years old.

The Muse:

That could be true.  That would be about the right age for a first year student.

Longwood: Maybe we are both sitting in Booth #10.

The Muse:

Yes; let’s say you meet each other in booth #10 since finding a seat is the first thing you did on the train and 10’s were the first cards dealt to each of you.

Then it looks like you are joined by two other people, Q and J.  Queen suggests female, Jack suggests male.  If these are other first year students then they would not have been to the Sorting Hat yet, so we do not know their Houses.  Perhaps the Q means that the girl thinks Gryffindor is the best House, and J means that the boy wants to be in Slytherin.

The Muse may pause this moment to roleplay the characters….

For example:

The Muse: The boy states “Slytherin House has the tallest tower of the castle!”

The girl retorts: “Godric Gryffindor practically BUILT Hogwarts.  And the towers are all equal!”

The Player Characters may engage in this conversation…. or not!

The Muse continues:

Now let’s consider the 4+ 4 which is something unique to Luvbottom.  Does the pair represent a thing, like something you find?  Or is it an experience?

Luvbottom: Experience. Maybe something I saw.

The Muse: Was it something you saw or found inside the train?  Or something you spotted outside the train?

Luvbottom: Outside.  Perhaps I saw a flying car, like Weasley’s car in the stories.  The 4’s could suggest the four car tyres.

The Muse:  Let’s see if we can use the Spade and Heart suits in the answer.  I have a different idea... You see four athletes from the Slytherin Quidditch team ( 4) racing against four players from Gryffindor’s team ( 4)

Luvbottom: I like that!   They are speeding along the tracks and made a fly-by near the train, much to the delight of us younger students!  I wave!

What happens next?! … This ends the Example but it does not have to end this part of the story on Hogwarts Express.  The Muse or the players may decide to do more on the train or move on to the next part of the journey.

The Sorting Hat has a challenging task since most students do not fit perfectly into any one of the Hogwarts Houses. Consider how the stereo-type of each House is opposite of every other House in some way:

A new student, Don Measley of the poor Measley family, takes his turn sitting for the Sorting Hat.

Not necessarily…

Although the rank of the poker hand does not matter to the Sorting Hat, it may matter to a House like Slytherin.  Perhaps the rank could be used to suggest a family’s wealth.  That could impact the story when the student buys schools supplies too.

Also possible, if the player likes how it suits their character:

* If any Hole cards match the House suit, it may imply having Legacy (one or both parents) in the House.

* The Flop may suggest something about a character’s appearance or how they give first impressions.  What House does this character look like they belong to?

* The Turn and River may indicate the kind of applause from other students.

(* You can improve these ideas... Put on your creative Thinking Hats and Comprehension Diadems.)

At the beginning of the school year, Ollivanders Wand Shop gives a “wand safety” class for all the first-time wand owners before they receive their wands.  “What is a wand?  Where should I point it?”

The art of crafting wands derives from the first known wand: a unicorn horn.

Wands are not enchanted (some rare exceptions) since an enchantment's magic may interfere with a wand’s natural attunement (its ability to align with the user).

Wands are typically crafted from wood around a "core."  The core may be any magically sensitive material.  The choice of core can make certain kinds of spells slightly easier to cast.  Trees naturally sense magical flow and grow accordingly so wood fibers make for an excellent conduit and a sturdy base.  Metals and other materials provide magical balance between the wood and the core, as well as physical balance and added durability.

The appearance of wands ranges widely.

Some features considered “Classical” styling include: a straight or curved grip, spiraling, a strong taper, and awl point.

“Renaissance” styling includes the “duelist” grip (modernly known as a “pistol” grip):

or a hilt (pommel, grip, and guard) :

• •A wand is like an antenna or a compass for magic. It can heighten the senses of the wizard and help orient to the flow of magic: upstream, downstream, and across. A skillful wizard does not fight against the current.  Following the path of least resistance takes less effort and does not cause ripples that can be detected or disruptive. 

• •Using a wand is like using a computer mouse instead of using a touch-pad... a little easier and more precise. 

• •Using a wand is like having a calculator to add numbers. For most people, it is faster and less error prone. 

• •A wand is like an automobile. All cars can get you from Point A to Point B. How well you fit in the driver’s seat matters in the long run. You can drive another person's car but it is going to feel different and may become uncomfortable. 

The player ultimately decides how to describe the wand because the character and the wand need to agree with each other.  More than one wand may choose a wizard, so a player can deal another hand of cards if they truly aren’t happy with the first draw.

To describe a wand and make it your own consider looking at the Poker Hand in various ways:

… The difference between the high card and the low card in the hand might indicate something like the difference between handle size and point size.

… A Straight (poker hand) might suggest a strong taper.

… A Straight or Flush of more than 5 cards might suggest an extra long wand.

… Very high ranking poker hands (Flush or better) could indicate that the wand has a history, or something else unusual about it.

Suit	Core
	Scale, Bone, Fang
	Hair, Talon, Hoof
	Sinew, Heart-string, Tongue, Vein
	Feather, Horn, Antenna

If you are not familiar with many imaginary/magical creatures then use the Internet to get ideas.  We cannot list them all here but maybe we can narrow down ideas with some questions:

• •How many legs does the creature have? 

• •Can the creature fly? 

• •Does it have scales, fur, feathers, or something else? 

• •What is the category of spell that you wish the core to represent? 

  Fire? Protection? Illusion? Poison? Dreams? Fear? 

  A core may make spells slightly easier to cast if those spells naturally align with the characteristics of the core.  This isn’t a rule we need to keep track of; it is more of a story telling hook, if you wish to use it. 

   

Malco Drafoy, a new Slytherin student, purchases a wand from a Slytherin House recommended vendor, a Goblin who has an expensive selection in a shop under the same roof as Gringotts.

The seven cards come up as:

Hole: 2, 5

Flop: 7, K, 4

Turn: 5

River: A

Best poker hand: A, K, 7, 5, 5 (Pair of Fives)

Time for Malco to use some imagination...

Malco decides to use the Pair of Fives 5+ 5 to describe the body of the wand.  Instead of wood, perhaps the two Fives 5+ 5 represent intertwining twin wing bones from a Five Fanged Vampire Bat.  The 7 denotes a single threaded core of Dire Wolf vein.  The A being at the end of the card draw, will represent one end of the wand, a decorative handle.  And K, being in the middle, will represent engravings along the wand.

Finding an unusable wand is more rare than finding left-handed scissors.  Having a wand which is perfectly attuned only matters at the elite level.  With this in mind, you may skip reading this part unless you are very serious about knowing how comfortable a particular wand will be for a particular wizard.

The Elder Wand had (has?) multiple enchantments: One of its enchantment gave the Elder Wand enhanced attunement, the ability to perfectly align with the wizard who earned it.  Perfect alignment gave the wielder effortless compassing (sensing and directing) with the wand—absolute harmony, and the capability of perfectly silent spell weaving since the wand caused no disruptions or magical leakage.

Imagine a wand’s natural compass alignment as a vector in space. A wizard also has a natural tendency.  The best matching wand and wizard pair will compliment each other (wizard+wand = 0 degrees). When the wizard+wand sum is +/- 90 degrees, the wand and wizard disagree the most. (Imagine holding your computer mouse sideways and trying to use the computer!)  The graphic shows that most wizards fall in the blue zone and most wands fall in the red zone.  It is rare to have a truly bad match.

You really are getting too far into details.  It’s just a game!

A staff offers sensing over a much greater range than a wand does but it does not have anywhere near the accuracy of compassing (sensing and directing).

A staff may be used two handed which can improve its minimal sensitivity and maximum amplification.

Choose a staff as a weapon for summoning a lightening storm from the skies; choose a wand to Accio your coffee.  A wand will provide agility and speed--A wand has quicker compassing while casting spells.

Primarily, staves are used because they may be enchanted without introducing the kind of interference that a wand would have.  As a result, a Hogwarts students who is blind or has another special need may use a staff (and also a wand).

Owls preferred... Owls are magically attuned with their Wizard and they have a high tolerance for charms.  Owls tend to be less disruptive than cats and other common choices.  The ability to fly allows owls to deliver items and unlike other raptors they will not stop for a tasty fish along the way.

However, students who do not have an owl can always use WoWlry, BarnDash, Strigidae Express, or request a delivery owl from the Hogwarts’ Parliament.

The Muse, the Players, and any Spectators, use their collective imagination to build the story.  

The First Rule of Hogwarts is “Talk about Hogwarts.”  During play, The Muse’s main task is to ask questions to the players to help fill out the details of the story through conversation.

Everyone may decide to use whatever cards, dice, or other tools they want to enhance the process of Story Making.  Cards and dice add Randomness to add surprises and spur the creative process.

Draw a single card.

This can be used to determine if “something significant” happens during an otherwise routine daily experience.  This is similar to a “wandering monster roll” or “random encounter roll” in Dungeons&Dragons.

Deal two cards (“the Hole”) to each Player involved.  These are not shared; they are personal to each Player Character.

Deal five cards in the middle.  These five cards are shared among the Player Characters: Three cards represent “the Flop” (the surprise).  One card for “the Turn” (a turn of events).  Then one card for “the River” (the direction that fate is flowing).

Now try to find meaning in the cards!  There are no rules; you are limited only by your own creativity.  The following ideas should help get you started:

First, determine the best five card poker hand for each Player Character.

Look at which cards are useful in the hand and look at which two cards are left out.  What could this mean?

How does the difference in poker hands explain the difference in the experience for each player/character?

Do any face-cards represent other people involved?  If so, a face-card in one Player’s hand but not in the another Player’s hand may mean that one Player Character met someone and the other Player Character did not meet that person.

Now start reading the cards in different ways.

Does the order of the cards matter?

For example, if you wish the make a timeline then the Hole or Flop cards might represent something at the beginning of the experience and the Turn or the River might represent the end of the experience.  Create a sequence of events from the cards.

Players should feel like they have control over their fate.

Normally, you will not need to reference the Tables below.  You can use them if you find yourself wanting a word or concept to help think of ideas.  The tables relate concepts to a Suit or a Card Rank.  Each row attempts to assigned four related terms to the correct Suits.  Reading row by row might help you get a feeling for how to compare Suits or Houses.

Can we determine something from the suits by the combination we have?

Maybe.  This will highly depend on the situation.  Try to use the combination of suits to ask yourself the right questions.    Below are examples, not answers...

triple			Example questions
Spades	Clubs	Hearts	No Diamonds. Lacking charm?
Spades	Clubs	Diamonds	No Hearts. Lacking courage?
Spades	Hearts	Diamonds	No Clubs. Lacking seriousness?
Clubs	Hearts	Diamonds	No Spades. Lacking severity?

double		Example questions
Spades	Clubs	Something dark is in motion?
Spades	Hearts	A conflict?  A dilemma?
Spades	Diamonds	Benefits with a drawback?
Clubs	Hearts	Desperation?
Clubs	Diamonds	Wild luck?
Hearts	Diamonds	A love charm?

When confronted with situations of Life or Death, how do we fairly resolve them?

We let the cards dictate of the desires of Fate… Draw!

If Black cards dominate a Poker Hand (if three, four, or five of the cards are Spades and/or Clubs), then we measure the consequences using the table below:

During their Free Time, Daisy Oopsy and Leville Longwood adventure to Honeydukes.

Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry provides a first rate comprehensive education which complies with standards set by the Ministry of Magic to ensure today’s graduating Wizards and Witches are prepared for the modern magical world.  The Ministry recommends coursework that focuses on skill-sets in S.T.E.M. (Statistimancy, Transfigurology, Enchanting, and Magifimatics).

Unlike the Ministry of Magic, we are not going to dictate curricula to you here! You are your own administrator, and you can change anything and everything.

Here we assume that there are 7 years of classes.  Maybe your Hogwart’s term is different.

Some classes may be taken only once on any year.  Some classes might be taken every year for all seven years.  That is up to your Headmaster.

Below, some classes have “Year” suggestions: “early” means probably year 1, 2, and/or 3, and “middle” might mean year 3, 4, and/or 5, and “advanced” might be 5, 6, and/or 7.

Field trip to the Mystic Galleria d’Art

In Hogwarts, Arithmancy is to Magic as Programming is to Computers

Beware: This definition is differs from Wikipedia and Harry Potter sources.

In other words: Arithmancy is the math and logic that controls the behaviors of Enchantments.

“Wingardium Leviosa!” – Nicely done… Now you have a toy that floats. Do you want it to actually be useful? Perhaps use Arithmancy to enchant it to listen to your voice commands and move. Wizards love enchanted brushes and pots that scrub themselves!

Years: advanced

Constellations, Astrology, and portending with Astrometry

Field trip to The Planetarium of London (not the Muggle one in Westminster, the other one… the Magic one where you have to sign a safety waiver.)

Years: early

Both ordinary and extraordinary Biology

Field trip to The Dragon Boneyard

Year: middle

Understanding the Wizarding economy

The History of Goblin banking, Economics and Accounting, Franchising

Field trip to a local Counting Room or financial institution

Field trip to The Court of Exchequer (where The Slate Magifimatica resides)

Year: advanced

Magic and the Mind, and all spells that target entities.  Psychology, Illusions, Telepathy

Field trip to The Hospice for Incurable Curses

Field trip to The Hall of Mirrors or Not

Recognizing Dark Magic, Creatures of the Void

Avoiding harmful Magic

Protections from Dark Magic

Countering Dark Magic

Magical Provenance

Seeking knowledge through magical means

Foretelling, Dreamwalking, Clairvoyance, Extra Sensory Perception

Field trip to The Oracle of Y

Field trip to The Hall of Portents

Magic and Objects,  Animation (sometimes also called Charms)

The first semester is The Study of Ancient Runes

Field trip to Central Stonehenge (the newest Stonehenge with all the modern upgrades)

Field trips to various locations (because Enchantments are everywhere)

Broom Handling

Hogwarts weeds out the weak fliers starting First Year.  Don’t become a splat!

Year: 1

Plants!

Field trip to the Greenhouse of Carnivores

Field trip to the Hidden Botanical Gardens

A massive topic attempting to encompass everything that happened everywhere ever

Can we even trust the History books or are they just filled with Ministry propaganda?

Field trip to the Museum of Magic

Includes various class types: foreign languages, reading comprehension, structured writing, spelling and grammar…

Magical Translation

Field trips will depend on the Language

Coursework including studying The Compendium of Creatures and interacting with live animals in The Care of Magical Creatures

Field trip to The Royal Magical Managerie

Wizards need Math.  Math and Magifimatics.

Year: early and middle

Boring!

Field trip to Dullsville

A wide variety of studies including but not limited to: instruments, vocals, theory and composition, and marching band

Field trip to the SynchroNymphony (a driadic symphonic extravaganza)

Magical Ingredients, Fires and Brewing, Cauldrons and Containers, Elixirs and Tonics, Applications and Ointments

Cauldrons come in one, two, and three-Witch sizes.  The most complex brews never require more than three Witches working together.  The largest Cauldrons support seven Witches working together but are for ceremonial purposes only.

Field trip to the The First Enclave to see The Great Cauldron (which is large enough for 13 Witches!)

Acting!

Field trip to the Opera of the Phantom

Shape Shifting, Transmutations, Disfigurements, Alchemy

Field trip to St Mungo's Hospital for Magical Maladies and Injuries

If we wish to truly “role play game” Hogwarts, how do we quantify a character’s skill level?

Characters can have an Experience Level in any subject matter. Each level represents hours of that character’s experience, with a 200 hour base (explained below).  Each level requires 200 more hours than the previous level did.

For example: Level 4 Potions would mean that the character has:

1*200 + 2*200 + 3*200 + 4*200 = 2000 hours of Potion related experience (the minimum for Level 4).

This is like working a 40 hour per week job for a year.  Let us say a year is 50 weeks so: 40 * 50 = 2000 hours.

A Hogwarts student might gain 10 hours per week of experience per class. About 300 hours per year.

This means that a Hogwarts’ education (a high-school diploma) gives 7 years * 300 hours of education in each class. This would be 2100 hours total per class, which is Level 4. See below:

“Expert” level begins around 10000 hours which is Level 9.

How can this Experience Level number be used?

What is true?  Surely misinformation is a real force even in The Wizarding World.  The History books have had a 1000 years to be rewritten to benefit political interests.

With this in mind, The Muse and Players of Hogwarts do not need to learn all the Harry Potter History and trivia.  That would be a daunting task!  

Feel free to build a new History of Magic and to add your own lore to your own Harry Potter universe…

Salazar Slytherin unhooked a scroll from the leg of the owl that just swooped into his study window.  News from the war front—A massive winged dragon laid claim to a powerful Goblin stronghold, Bardulok.  Bardulok, where the Goblins have thwarted every assault by Wizards.  But one winged monster sends the Goblins fleeing?  Curious.

Chromeate, they named it… a silver scaled magic eater.

Dragons love Magic.  They will build nests atop piles of magic baubles and coins.  The Magic sustains them, heals them, helps them to grow.

Goblins love Magic too, and they love to hoard it as much as Dragons.  No doubt Chromeate smelled a Magic trove at Bardulok.

How are Dragons so well attuned to finding sources of Magic?

That is a question that Slytherin tried to answer before.  He examined the remains of Dragons without revealing any clues.  He became even more determined.

Salazar was too young in his skills to risk an encounter with a mature silver Dragon, and certainly not Chromeate.

He concluded that he should attempt to keep a baby Dragon as a pet and study it… And so he did.  But as far as finding sources of Magic, he soon realized that this strategy wasn’t going to yield much information.

Slytherin already had skills with languages but interacting with his pet Dragon inspired him to develop Parseltongue, a set of serpentine languages.  Unfortunately, his young Dragon did not have any experience with seeking Magic, and therefore the best plan seemed to be to let it go.  He made sure through Enchantments that he could track the Dragon’s location, and through Charms that it would return when bidden so Salazar could ask it about what it had learned.

The Dragon roamed.  When it returned, it never reported finding any single “Source of Magic.”  It took years to pass before patterns emerged from Salazar’s mappings of the Dragon’s journeys.  “Gaps” existed in the trails on the map, he noticed.   There are places that Dragons did not care to go.  When asked, the Dragon simply expressed no interest in those areas.  Salazar endeavored to find out why.

Traveling, Slytherin found himself on a high cliff above a lake, a place that would become the foundation of the greatest school of Magic for centuries to follow.  But at this time, no Hogwarts existed; not even in Slytherin’s own imagination.  The lake looked barren and the wind carrying the spray of waves smelled metallic and not sweet.  The bedrock that would hold the future keep had no Magic.  Worse even; the land itself made Salazar uneasy.

With his hand, Salazar could feel a kind of coldness in the rock that made his skin prickle.   But he did not let this sense of eeriness stop him from hunting for answers.  Something was here and he intended suss out what!

Wizards Rowena Ravenclaw and Salazar Slytherin strolled through a dale of grassy knolls.

Small houses punctuated hillocks cleared for farming, and between the hills, well trodden paths had been widened into roads; the largest were lined with a low stone wall or hedgerow.

“There is wild magic here.  Raw.” observed Rowena.  “Untrained wizards live in these houses.  More than one.  Many!”

Salazar smiled “You are gifted with your senses Rowena!  I wanted you to see this for yourself.”

“This is a miracle!” Rowena added “So many… I’ve never seen anything like it!”

Salazar’s smile widened “Indeed!  We will finally have the Wizards we need to stand against the Goblins!”  Slytherin knew the cause of this new Magic but remained silent.

“Nevermind your war, Salazar.” Rowena tried to end that subject.  “We have a duty right now to help all these people.  We must Obliviate anyone whose mind has been muggled by experiences that have broken their reality.”

Salazar nodded as Rowena spoke and he interjected “Agreed.”  He pointed and said “There is a lake in this direction” and the two turned onto a small path.

Rowena continued as they walked, “And everyone who has the gift must be trained!  Without proper schooling they will be worse than useless as Wizards—they will be destructive.”

Pleased with how quickly Rowena assessed the situation, Salazar informed her “We are of the same mind!  New Wizards need education.”

The two walking Wizards exchanged ideas until the afternoon sun became red through the clouds.  Eventually Rowena concluded “To build a real school, we should speak with Helga.  She has all the connections.”

“It will be better coming from you, Rowena.  Helga and I like to argue!” confessed Salazar.

“I know that Helga loves to spar with you, Salazar, but only because you match her experience with the rules of law.  She admires the challenge!  She respects your ideas.  But even so, I will speak with her myself first.”

At dusk they reached a lake.  Rowena could sense magic from the waters, powers woven into the wilderness.  “The Earth here is alive…” she said quietly, almost to herself.   “I can taste Magic in the air.”

“The valley is just the beginning.  There’s even more Magic to be seen.” stated Salazar, enjoying the view over the lake.  Lights in the distance danced across the surface of the water.  “A lovely hamlet” Slytherin noted.  They call it “Hogsmeade.”

“If you could cure deafness, would you?” Salazar tries posing a question to Helga as they finish their wine.

“Of course!” chimes Helga with a tone that implies that the question is silly and suspicious.

Salazar elaborates “What if I have a solution that cures everyone everywhere all at once?”

Helga, playing along, raises a dubious eyebrow “Do you?”

“No… This is a hypothetical question... an ethical question” answers Salazar.

Helga raises her cup and has a sip while she gives the question a few moments of thought.   Then she replies “It sounds like you would deny people a choice.  Whereas you and I may agree that hearing has its advantages, some people would see your cure as an attack on ‘deaf culture.’  Therefore, I would say that it is unethical.  It would be unethical to deny everyone, anyone, a choice.”

Slytherin accepted the answer with a short bow.  He continued to hide his secret.  The secret that he had already set a magical cure in motion... But not for deafness--A cure for Muggledom, and a solution to win the war against the Goblins.

A shadow moved along the wall.  Startled, Salazar Slytherin’s heart leapt inside his chest.  He sat at his desk in his underground study, surrounded by magical defenses of his own making, and yet he sensed no creature, no life, no Magic or Spirit enter his room.  And yet there it is!

He froze as his entire body responded to a moment of terror--This shadowy figure turning, revealing a cowl and tattered cloak covering a skeletal humanoid body.  A Specter of the Grim Reaper!?  Has Death come to claim me!?

Within the cowl, a round mouth widened, blacker than any shadow.

Slytherin instantly recovered from his hesitation.  No!

He pivoted out of his chair leaving an illusion of himself sitting where he just sat.

The shadow rushed forward, its tattered clothing shifting uncannily as if blown by a wind that moved differently than the air in the room.

The illusion of Salazar began rotating like a whirlwind of smoke caught in a funnel aimed into the black round mouth.  The Specter devoured the illusion of Slytherin in a single long breath.

Salazar’s life flashed before his eyes...  Everyone depended on him to succeed, the entire Wizarding World needed him, his work!  Everything that he built around him.  His Chamber of Secrets.   Here, where instead of finding a Source of Magic, he found the opposite—a Sink of Magic:  A Hole in Existence.  Magic does not come from here, it returns through here.  I have found a puncture into the Void!  And I shall plug it!  Slytherin had struggled to dam the Hole as it responded like a river changing its course.   Like grabbing water in a fist, it could not be held tightly.  Slytherin developed new Enchantments and tried different approaches, until finally, after years, he succeeded...Magic, instead of draining, began to accumulate.  Magic grew until the very rock shimmered from it.  Magic overflowed out through the waterways turning the lake into a majestic realm of boundless depths.  Magic flowed through the roots and into the forest, awakening ancient spirits of walking wood, and all manner of life.

The Specter before Slytherin moved faster than he expected.  He had barely reached his wand in time to raise it, but the light he summoned from his wand did not help illuminate his foe.  The darkness around the Specter consumed the light before it could even cast a shadow.  And a sharp coldness struck him, penetrating his chest, sapping his power.  He fell to his knees.  I need more light!  I needed more light!   Salazar felt the Specter drawing his strength away, his Magic was fading.  Another cold surge hit and he collapsed, lying supine.  No!

Then, with his back to the stone, he felt what he needed, warmth, overflowing Magic, moving through the rock… enough to banish a thousand Spectres--an entire lake of Magic, an entire forest of Spirit!  With everything and everyone he loved depending on him, he willed the Magic through himself and into a dam against the Void.  Expecto Patronum!

Light!  A sound like the scales on a great dragon’s tail coiling against themselves echoed in the room as a pure light circled from wall to wall. The light spiraled inward encircling the Specter as would a constricting serpent ensnaring its prey.  The Specter attempted another strike at Salazar but the coils of light closed tighter, blocking its motion.  The Specter turned its attention to the serpent of light.  Its black mouth struck repeatedly.  But the light seemed undiminished.  The Specter was trapped!

Salazar regained his feet and better observed the Specter held captive by his serpent, now fully enwrapping it.  The serpent’s viper-like head facing downward over its prey.

Slytherin filled his lungs and released a shout of rage, victory, and relief!

With clenched fists he glared at the Specter who tormented him.  You will suffer!

Slytherin inspected the Specter for any signs of Goblin Magic but could not sense anything at all.  Nothing period.  How does this apparition exist!?

He willed the serpent to crush the Specter and it tightened mercilessly. Do you even feel pain?

And then it was gone.  Vanished.  It did not Apparate as would a Wizard.  It simple ceased to be.  It makes no sense.

Not alive. Not dead. Not undead. More like golems built in some frightful parody of human form.  Creatures or machines of “Anti-Magic” (Void), whose origins and purposes remain unknown.  They appear to prey on Magic and those who use it.  Thankfully they’re as dumb as ants!

“Possibility exists in the realm between the absolutes of Everything and Nothing.  Existence begins within the Big Bang caused by the collision of equal antithetical Gods.  Pure opposites in balance, the Immovable Object and the Irresistible Force, one fighting for Order and the other for Chaos, hold the door open for a Reality between the extremes.  A Reality with less than Everything but more than Nothing.  Order within Chaos and Chaos within Order—a Universe of Spirit and Magic and Meaning, surrounded by Void, by Anti-purpose.  And there at the borders, creatures of Darkness emerge where Void mixes with Magic.” – Salazar Slytherin

Life itself exists between the Fire of Chaos and the Order of Ice – In either extreme lies destruction, a place devoid of information, a place of no meaning.  The Void.

Absolute Order, Ice		Devoid of meaning
Chaos within Order		Meaning
Order within Chaos		Meaning
Absolute Chaos, Fire		Devoid of meaning

The Earthly foundation of Hogwarts lends itself to Magic.  The Hogwarts grounds border two heavily enchanted magical realms, a lake and a forest, both famous for Magic.

The castle itself acts as a gateway to the spirit world, allowing ghosts to freely roam its halls.  Items within its walls become bewitched or magically enhanced.  Rowena Ravenclaw’s diadem and Helga Hufflepuffs cup are two examples of magical items infused with extra power by mere proximity to Hogwarts.

Salazar Slytherin is one of the most influential Wizards in History.  His name has been attached to a Manifesto of “Wizard Superiority” that spawned terms like “pure bloodedness” that many Wizards use to justify entitlement and birth-rights.

But has the truth about Slytherin been perverted by bigots and power mongers?

Let us try to answer this by taking a closer look into human nature; Wizards are human after all...

Did the four founders of Hogwarts love and respect each other?  Surely they did.

Hufflepuff, Gryffinder, and Ravenclaw would not choose to work with Slytherin if he were a biased arse with an intolerance for Wizards born from new bloodlines.  He could not have had such an outward political agenda so obviously contrary to their ethics.

Slytherin believed that it is better to have Magic than not to have Magic.  True.  Historians with a self interests have warped that message into “Being a Wizard is superior to being a non-Wizard” and therefore “Wizards have rights above non-Wizards.”

The Wizarding World has always voted against human slavery but human nature is endless quest for dominance and justification to increase one’s own rank in society.  So in the name of the great Slytherin, Wizards continue to bond under a perverted message.

Rowena dedicated her life to the study of Magic.  She understood education, lessons plans, curricula, teaching strategies, and how to administrate.

“A people person”

Helga was the most charming (pun intended) of The Founders.  She spent half of her time developing friendships throughout the Ministries.  Where other Wizards would find themselves bound with red-tape, Helga would be two steps ahead.  Without using any powers of prediction, Helga knew of things before they happened from her network of insiders.  Politically, Helga could have been Minister of Magic but she did not have the ambition to lead or desire to be hindered by the difficulties of leadership.  She loved Hogwarts and made it her life’s focus.

Where Hogwarts and The Founders had material needs and wants, Gryffindor had legendary powers of procurement.  The Harry Potter stories allude to Godric’s abilities as a provider: We see the Sword of Gryffindor coming to those in need, and The Room of Requirement appearing when someone needs it.  It isn’t clear whether these enchantments came from Gryffindor himself or from the bewitching nature of Hogwarts and the mysterious spirits that give Hogwarts a will of its own.

Dumbledore positioned himself at Hogwarts for its power, not simply for the love of students and their education.  He was not quite the loving grand-fatherly figure he was portrayed to be in the Harry Potter movies.

He had the Deathly Hallows.  It is no coincidence that the Cloak of Invisibility, Elder Wand, and Resurrection Stone were all still within him realm of influence.  He knew of their existence and of their limits.  Dumbledore knew that the Deathly Hallows did not make a person immortal.  They provided a good ruse for Voldemort to pursue.

Dumbledore feared Harry Potter’s connection to Voldemort because he did not want Voldemort to learn too much.  Hogwarts itself would “naturally” resist Voldemort’s efforts to scry inside its walls but Voldemort would not be hindered if fed visions through Harry Potter’s eyes.

Dumbledore needed to conceal a couple vital secrets...  Firstly, Dumbledore figured out that Harry Potter was himself a Horcrux, and that meant that Harry Potter needed to die before Voldemort could finally be slain.  And secondly, Dumbledore knew the mysterious secret of true resurrection...

Why was Dumbledore waiting in a kind of Limbo in the “afterlife” where Harry Potter spoke with him?  Was he just hanging around until he could speak with Harry Potter?  Not really… Dumbledore was waiting for confirmation of Voldermort’s death before he himself could trigger his own resurrection.  He could not risk Voldemort learning about another way to come back to life.  If he returned too early, Voldemort would figure out how it was done, and then he could never be permanently defeated.

The secret was not very deep after all--Why did Dumbledore have a Phoenix?

Hagrid had the instructions.  “Strict orders” that he would follow at the correct time.  He didn’t understand them; didn’t need to; didn’t want to;  didn’t even know what for.  Dumbledore and Hagrid both knew he couldn’t keep a secret so Hagrid never asked questions nor endeavered to understand anything.  

“Put my ashes in the urn.”  There’s already ashes in the urn.  Should I clean those out?  Nope, “strict orders.”

Resurrection...  The power of the Phoenix.

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