The Many Secrets of Hogwarts, From Secret Passages to Forgotten History

There seems to be countless secrets that The Castle Of Hogwarts holds dear and there are some secrets that maybe nobody will ever know. Even the staff of the school don’t know many of the secrets such as the Chamber of Secrets. Due to the Marauder’s Map at least seven of the secret passages are made clear to Harry throughout the series despite some of them being closed off since the making of the map. There are also some secrets that are known only by staff of the school considering they need the password to get into Dumbledore’s office and some of the house common rooms. There are also secrets hidden in some of the paintings in the school such as the painting that hides the entrance to the kitchens where someone needs to simply tickle the pear to get it to giggle and show the entrance. There are dozens of other secret passageways varying in secrecy such as the Room of Requirement, to the passageway underneath the Whomping Willow that leads to the Shrieking Shack. There are also secret passages within the school and hidden tricks to getting around such as the vanishing step, or hidden doorways behind bookshelves that lead to other parts of the castle, most of which the castle caretaker Argus Filch knows about and uses to get around the castle faster than the students can.
There are things in Hogwarts that aren’t just secret passages and things that are a secret to everyone, there are also some tips and tricks to help students get around the school without too much trouble. Things that include running from the caretaker’s cat, Ms. Norris to knowing that the paintings in the school might help you in your time of need. There are also things that are widely known such as don’t ever go into the Forbidden Forest because who knows what lurks there and if you can help it don’t go swimming in the lake for fear of the Giant Squid and the Mermen that live there and they aren’t too keen on people dropping in for a visit. Hogwarts seems to be like a normal school in that keeping in the loop with your fellow classmates for the latest gossip and news might keep you on the path to success and in Hogwarts case it might keep you alive.
There are also things that hold historical significance in the school such as the knowledge that the school was built by three main founders, Godric Gryffindor, Salazar Slytherin, Rowena Ravenclaw and Helga Hufflepuff. These are just widely known facts and history of the school. There are also things that might be taught in the school such as the history of the Headmasters at Hogwarts. All of these are outlined in the book “Hogwarts A History” which would be publicly available to all students interested except for the books in the restricted section which of course would be off limits. The Restricted Section seems to be another point of secrecy within Hogwarts as students that wish to access that section need explicit permission from a teacher and even then the students aren’t sure what lies within the shelves of it. The Hogwarts library would also have books on things outside of Hogwarts such as the potential history of the Ministry of Magic and the rise and fall of various wizarding factions. Hogwarts carries countless secrets within its walls and for someone to try and learn every one of the secrets of the school would take their entire lives maybe just focusing on one extensive secret such as the Room of Requirement. There are some secrets within the walls that maybe most people don’t wish to know and might be quite deadly.

Hogwarts, A History: Who Were the Hogwarts Founders?

When Hogwarts was founded, each founder had a wildly different idea of what the future of Wizardkind should look like and should be. This disagreement led to the foundation of the House system. Each founder had an idea of the kind of student they wanted to teach.

Salazar Slytherin believed that magic should be kept within all-magic families; he is known for his distrust of Muggle-born students, and believed that they should not be admitted into the school. Slytherin handpicked his students, and paid particular attention to the qualities he valued—he wanted to teach students who were resourceful and clever, cunning and ambitious. He valued blood purity, a disregard for rules, and also selected students who, like him, were skilled in speaking Parseltongue, the language of snakes (the emblem of Slytherin house). It is believed that those who can speak Parseltongue are in some way related to or descendent from Salazar Slytherin. After his falling out with Godric Gryffindor—and the rest of the founders siding with Gryffindor—Slytherin built the Chamber of Secrets, which housed a Basilisk that Salazar intended for his heir to use to purge Hogwarts of Muggle-borns.

Rowena Ravenclaw is the person credited with the location and name of Hogwarts, which she chose after a dream she had that showed her both a warty hog and a cliff overlooking a lake. It was also Rowena who devised the Hogwarts floor plan—a floor plan that moves and changes like a living being. Ravenclaw was known as the best witch of her age. Her ideal student was creative and clever, with a sharp mind and wit. Ravenclaw disagreed with Slytherin about the value of Muggle-born students, and in fact, many students in Ravenclaw house were actually Muggle-born. She was the original owner of the Diadem of Ravenclaw, which was said to enhance the wearer’s own wisdom.

Godric Gryffindor was known as the best duelist of his age. Gryffindor valued courage and bravery, and picked students that he believed were capable of bold, heroic deeds. He was the founder most in favor of admitting Muggle-borns into Hogwarts, which became a major factor in the splitting of Slytherin from the school. Gryffindor is also the source of the Sorting Hat—when the founders realized there would be no method in place to continue sorting students into the four houses after they died, Gryffindor took off his own hat. The four founders enchanted the hat so that even after they died, the hat would act as a kind of representative and sort students according to their own values.

Helga Hufflepuff chose her students based not on blood purity or any specific traits such as ambition or intelligence. Helga Hufflepuff accepted students of all kinds, including Muggle-borns. Hufflepuff chose students who valued fairness and loyalty, and who were willing to work hard to gain their success. Helga took the students that the other founders would not, and brought them together, teaching them all everything she knew. She also treated them all equally and fairly. Hufflepuff is the one credited with bringing house-elves to work at Hogwarts, where they would not be subjected to the cruelty and abuse that is common among high-class pureblood households who employ house-elves. Helga’s recipes are also the basis of many of the staple foods seen and eaten at Hogwarts feasts—and many of those recipes are still in use.

Each founder had a vision for Hogwarts, and through the House system, each of those visions came to life. Even after death, the four founders of Hogwarts shape the world and the future. While Hogwarts may be their collective legacies, each house stands as evidence of each Founder’s individual impact on Wizarding society.