History of Magic 101

"You all know, of course, that Hogwarts was founded over a thousand years ago - the precise date is uncertain - by the four greatest witches and wizards of the age. They built this castle together, far from prying Muggle eyes, for it was an age when magic was feared by common people, and witches and wizards suffered much persecution."

-- Professor Binns  

For thousands and thousands of years, magic was manipulated through potions, rituals and chants, and sheer will. Rudimentary wands and magic staffs were used, but sparingly, and even then, they were only for those who were sorcerers and/or held high positions in their civilizations. The wand was first introduced to sorcerers and high ranking officials by Ollivander in 382 B.C. They did not go public until sometime around 551. Even though they were made available to everyone, wands did not really take off until the 1300s, during what is considered as the modernization of Magic. (The opening of Hogwarts in 991 is also credited with the boom in in wand use throughout the United Kingdom. While traditional magic continued to be taught at home, this practice eventually fell to the wayside as students found the wand as a more effective and easy means of channeling their magic.)

About around this time, growing distrust, on the part of Muggles for wizards and witches, began to grow and increase the tension between the two branches of society. This compels the four greatest wizards and witches of the time to establish Hogwarts.

In 991, Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry was established by Godric Gryffindor, Helga Hufflepuff, Rowena Ravenclaw, and Salazar Slytherin, or the "Hogwarts Four". Their mission was to create a school where young people of the wizarding world could study and be trained in the magical arts they needed to become skilled, fully-trained wizards. Godric Gryffindor believed that anyone who showed magical ability should be allowed to attend Hogwarts, where as Salazar Slytherin believed that only pure-blood witches and wizards should be allowed to attend Hogwarts. Each of the founders took a group of students to be in their own house and even though they had differences of opinion about who should be trained, the house system helped them all to work together.

For a number of years, this arrangement worked just fine. However, as the years went by, the differences between Gryffindor and Slytherin began to grow until it tore a serious rift within Hogwarts. In the early 1000s, the growing friction between Gryffindor and Slytherin erupted into violence, with the result that Slytherin left the school. Legend has it that before he left the school, Slytherin built a secret chamber somewhere in Hogwarts that only his true heir would be able to open. This chamber, called the Chamber of Secrets, is said to contain a monster that would finish his "noble purpose" of killing all the Muggle-born students at Hogwarts.

At this point, the Wizarding World begins to withdraw and hide itself from the Muggle World.

Please answer the following short questions and PM them to me, using proper heading including your name, year, house and HO ID. In the subject title please put the assignment title you are turning in.

1) Why weren't wand as popular as they are now when they were first created?

2) Who were the Hogwarts Four?

3) Why was there so much tension between Gryffindor and Slytherin?

4) What is the Chamber of Secrets?

5) Do you think the creation of Hogwarts made it easier for wizards ti seperate themselves from the Muggle world?