Salazar S Slytherin

> We'll teach just those whose ancestry's purest.
>
> Slytherin's opinion regarding the running of Hogwarts, Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix

**Salazar S Slytherin** (fl. c. ***993***) was a ***pure-blood*** ***wizard***, noted for his cunning and determination. He was regarded as one of the greatest wizards of the age, respectively as a ***Parselmouth*** and as a skilled ***Legilimens***. Slytherin was one of the ***four founders*** of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry along with Godric Gryffindor, ***Helga Hufflepuff*** and ***Rowena Ravenclaw***. He was also the namesake of the Slytherin House.

## Physical description

### Eye color

Grey

He mistrusted ***Muggle-born*** students to the point of proposing that they should not be accepted at Hogwarts. However, when he expressed his opinion to the other Hogwarts founders, they did not agree with him. In response, he left the school, never to return.300px
Slytherin died sometime after creating the Chamber of Secrets, concealing a Basilisk. His intention was to have his heir return to the school and unleash the horror within the chamber. The Basilisk would therefore purge the school of those who, in Slytherin's view, were unworthy to study magic.

## Biography

### Early life

Salazar Slytherin was raised into a ***pure-blood*** family in either ***Ireland*** or ***Great Britain***, where he was either born or raised in a ***fen***-land area. He and his family had the rare ***magical*** gift of speaking ***Parseltongue***. During his youth, he was best friends with Godric Gryffindor.

At some point, Slytherin created his ***own wand***, made of ***Snakewood*** with a core of ***Basilisk horn***. He taught it the unique ability to "sleep" when commanded in ***parseltongue***.

### Hogwarts founder

 File:Salazar Slytherin WWHP.jpg  In ***993***, Salazar Slytherin founded Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry in his adulthood, with friends Godric Gryffindor, ***Helga Hufflepuff*** and ***Rowena Ravenclaw***, though he later severed ties with Gryffindor. He even appeared to have carefully selected members of his own House.

The qualities which Slytherin prized in his "handpicked students" included resourcefulness, determination, and a certain disregard for the rules, along with the ability to speak ***Parseltongue***. He also selected his students according to their cunning, ambition, and ***blood purity***. His House within Hogwarts was symbolised by a serpent, with House colours of green and silver.

Salazar Slytherin was responsible for the construction of the Chamber of Secrets beneath Hogwarts dungeons. It was specifically created for the purpose of purging the school of all ***Muggle-born*** students. The Chamber contained a Basilisk which could be controlled only by his own "true heir", and be used it to purge the school of all Muggle-borns. At least part of the legend was revealed to be true in 1943, when Tom Marvolo Riddle, the heir of Slytherin, opened the Chamber and used the Basilisk to attack Muggle-borns. In the end, this reality turned into mere legend, as recounted by ***Professor*** ***Cuthbert Binns*** to his students one-thousand years later.

He also constructed a secret ***Scriptorium***, which could only be accessed by those who spoke Parseltongue and had the willingness to cast the ***Cruciatus Curse*** on somebody else to enter. There, he wrote ***Slytherin's Spellbook***, a tome that recorded his life and gave further insight into the ***Dark Arts***.

### Leaving Hogwarts

> I always knew Salazar Slytherin was a twisted old loony, but I never knew he started all this Pure-blood supremacy / pure-blood stuff. I wouldn't be in his house if you paid me. Honestly, if the Sorting Hat had tried to put me in Slytherin, I'd've got the train straight back home....
>
> Ron Weasley expressing his disdain for Slytherin's views, Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets

   After founding Hogwarts and co-existing for years, a rift began to grow between Slytherin and the other founders. Slytherin disliked taking students from ***Muggle*** families, seeing them as untrustworthy and unworthy of being taught magic, and tried to persuade the other ***founders*** to only take students from ***pure-blood*** ***families***. However, the other founders didn't agree with Slytherin, particularly Godric Gryffindor.

Eventually, Slytherin and Gryffindor had a bitter and possibly even violent argument over the subject, it is possible that they duelled, or that a civil war of sorts broke out between the houses). Slytherin chose to leave the school eventually, but he had left the Chamber of Secrets and his Basilisk behind, and he later died at an old age.

### Post-mortem

While it is factual that Slytherin constructed the Chamber, a popular historical theory mentioned on the ***Wizards' Ordinary Magic and Basic Aptitude Test*** was that towards the end of his life Salazar reconciled with the other founders and returned to the school and eventually died there. However this theory had never been proven and the presence of the Basilisk at the school long after his death would suggest such a reconciliation did not occur as he likely would have removed the Basilisk from the school otherwise.

One girl the Basilisk actually killed was a ***ghost*** known by the name of Moaning Myrtle. The opening to the Chamber of Secrets is located in the bathroom she now haunted, and can only be opened by speaking Parseltongue, as Slytherin could. Riddle opened the Chamber again in ***1993*** through the use of one of his seven Horcruxes, his diary. Using the bit of his soul encompassed by the diary, he possessed Ginny Weasley and forced her to do his bidding. While he still attacked Muggle-born students, his ultimate goal was to lure Harry Potter into the Chamber and kill him.

The locket was recovered by Harry Potter, and was later destroyed by Ron Weasley with Godric Gryffindor's sword. This act of destruction removed all of the Horcrux's power.

There were also portraits of Slytherin hung at ***Hogwarts Castle***, one guarding a secret shortcut between the dungeon's antechamber and the ***Entrance Hall*** side room. The password required to gain access to said shortcut was *Mortal Dread*. The other was hung at the ***Headmaster's office***, part of the ***Headmaster portraits*** gallery.

In the ***1997–1998 school year***, Slytherin's heir, Riddle (now known as Lord Voldemort), realised his ancestor's wish of purging the school of Muggle-borns via another method: by taking over the ***Ministry of Magic*** and using ***falsified propaganda***. Voldemort managed to have Muggle-borns evicted from the wizarding world, and at the end of the year, Voldemort even claimed that Hogwarts no longer needed Sorting, and that Slytherin's symbols, shields and colours would suffice. After Voldemort's death, all of this was repealed, and Slytherin's ultimate desire ended in failure.

However, even after Voldemort's death, Salazar Slytherin's bloodline survived through Voldemort's secret daugther ***Delphini***, whom he conceived with ***Bellatrix Lestrange***. As of ***2020***, Delphini was the last known survivor of the Slytherin bloodline.

## Physical description

 File:Salazar Slytherin (full size).gif
> Then, as Harry drew level with the last pair of pillars, a statue high as the Chamber itself loomed into view, standing against the back wall... It was ancient and monkeyish, with a long, thin beard that fell almost to the bottom of the wizard's sweeping stone robes, where two enormous grey feet stood on the smooth Chamber floor.
>
> Description of the Statue of Slytherin, Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets

The statue of Salazar Slytherin in the Chamber of Secrets depicted an "*ancient and monkeyish*" man with a "*long thin beard that fell almost to the bottom of his sweeping robes*". His beard was white in colour. ***Marvolo Gaunt***, a blood relative, was similarly described as being ***monkey***-like in appearance.

## Personality and traits

Salazar Slytherin was known to possess great cunning and determination, qualities he prized in students of Slytherin House. At one point, the Sorting Hat referred to him as "*power-hungry Slytherin*". He seemed to stop at nothing to get what he wanted; this was proven when he constructed the Chamber of Secrets to purge ***Muggle-borns***, despite the fact that the other founders disagreed with his beliefs. This unrepentant ruthlessness mixed with ***pure-blood supremacist*** views would later be adopted by numerous descendants of his, the infamous Voldemort not least of all.

Slytherin was also quite proud and vain, as he went to the trouble of immortalising his image in the Chamber of Secrets in the form of a titanic statue standing several dozen feet tall, something that the other three founders were never known to have done. An effigy of such proportions would certainly reflect a grandiose image of oneself. This love of grandeur was apparently passed onto his bloodline as well, as the descending ***Gaunt bloodline*** ended up squandering their fortune for self-indulgent lavishness long before the generation of ***Marvolo***, who continued to flaunt the little heirlooms he had left in front of others.

Slytherin was said to be one of the greatest wizards of his age, with extensive ***magical*** abilities, particularly in ***Legilimency***. When considering Sorting a student into Slytherin, the ***Sorting Hat*** looks for Slytherin's traits in the student, including cunning, determination, ambition, and resourcefulness.

## Magical abilities and skills

> It matters, because being able to talk to snakes was what Salazar Slytherin was famous for. That's why the symbol of Slytherin House is a serpent.
>
> Hermione Granger informing Harry Potter of Slytherin's ability as a Parselmouth, Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets

* ***Parseltongue***: Salazar Slytherin was one of the earliest recorded ***Parselmouths*** and used this ability to control a Basilisk. His house's symbol was a ***serpent*** due to this, and he passed this trait on to his descendants.
* **Legilimency**: Slytherin was said to have been a skilled Legilimens.
* ***Dark Arts***: There are rumours that he originally built the Chamber of Secrets as a place to teach students Dark magic as an ***academic class***. Indeed, he was capable of casting the Killing Curse and the ***Imperius Curse***, which were not ***unforgivable*** during his lifetime, and was skilled in the handling of ***cursed*** objects, showing him to have been a powerful ***Dark wizard***.
* ***Wandlore***/***Wandmaking***: Slytherin created his ***own wand*** of ***Snakewood*** and ***Basilisk horn***. He also taught it the unique ability to "sleep" when instructed.
* **Basilisk breeding**: Slytherin managed to breed a Basilisk and kept it alive in the Chamber of Secrets for over one thousand years, surpassing its average nine-hundred year lifespan.
* ***Charms***: With the combined abilities of the other founders, he helped to bewitch the ***Sorting Hat*** into a sentient and talking magical object with personality, to ***sort*** students well after their lifetime. He could also produce at least a non-corporeal Patronus.

## Possessions

* ***Wand***: Slytherin owned a ***wand*** made of ***Snakewood*** with a ***Basilisk horn*** ***core***. It was passed down through the generations until it was stolen from Gormlaith Gaunt by her niece Isolt Sayre, and later buried on the grounds of Ilvermorny School in North America.
* ***Locket***: Slytherin owned a locket which he passed down to his descendants. It was later turned into a Horcrux by his descendant Tom Riddle.
* **Basilisk**: Slytherin owned a Basilisk and kept it in the Chamber of Secrets.

## See also

* Rowena Ravenclaw
* Helga Hufflepuff
* Godric Gryffindor
* Serpent of Slytherin Template:C
* ***Slytherin's Locket***
* Tom Riddle
* Chamber of Secrets

## Etymology

The name **Salazar** is originally a Spaniard name. Salazar is a surname meaning old hall (from Castilian Sala (hall) and Basque zahar (old). The name originates from the town of the same name: Salazar, in northern Burgos, Castile. Although nowadays northern Burgos is not a Basque-speaking region, it was during the early Middle Ages when the surname appeared. Its origins are also related to a certain noble family, the Salazars, that held a fief in the area. During the 10th century, the surname appears as mentioned in Navarre, where it spread and there even exists a Salazar Valley. It later also spread to the rest of the Basque Country, being specially common in Biscay during the 15th century. During that time, Lope García de Salazar, a famous writer, took part in the Reconquista of Cuenca, where he was granted a fief and founded a notable family.Template:Fact

Alonso de Salazar Frías was a 16th-17th century Spanish inquisitor who is famous for convincing the Spanish Inquisition that most of the witchcraft cases were based on insanity and confessions made to stop torture, rather than accurate cases of people associating with the devil. He was able to stop convictions based solely on testimony.Template:Fact

According to J. K. Rowling, however, Salazar Slytherin was named after the Portuguese dictator, António de Oliveira Salazar, who ruled from 1932 to 1968.

Meanwhile, *Slytherin* may refer to the words "sly" as well as "slithering", which is the form of locomotion of snakes, possibly referring to his rare ability to talk to snakes called parseltongue.Template:Fact

## Behind the scenes

* Despite the quote attributed to him of Slytherin "only teaching those whose ancestry is purest", Slytherin has long accepted ***half-blood*** witches and wizards into its ranks (most famously Severus Snape and Tom Riddle), and in rare cases, ***Muggle-borns***.
	+ However, the above is likely done as a matter of necessity, as there are presently no longer enough pure-blood families in existence for Slytherin to sustain itself on just them (something even the genocidal Voldemort and Death Eaters understood, if only begrudgingly).
* Slytherin was the featured "***Wizard of the Month***" for June 2007 on ***J. K. Rowling***'s website, where he was profiled thus: "One of the four celebrated Founders of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, Salazar Slytherin was one of the first recorded ***Parselmouths***, an accomplished ***Legilimens***, and a notorious champion of ***pure-blood*** supremacy".
* In the film, the statue of Salazar Slytherin only covers his head, compared to the book where it was full-body. It was revealed in Page to Screen that the Chamber is flooded so that the rest of the statue below his head is submerged beneath the water.
* Both pictures of Slytherin in the ***Wizard of the Month*** and at the Famous Cards depict Slytherin with steepled fingers.
* Salazar Slytherin appears as a portrait in the "Forbidden Journey" ride at Universal Orlando, where he expresses his dislike for Harry Potter and Albus Dumbledore. He is also the only one of the four Founders to appear in behind the scenes footage of the ride. A DVD extra shows the actor being dressed up on set.
* Although it was briefly speculated in *The Chamber of Secrets*, Harry is not, in fact, a direct descendant of Salazar Slytherin, though he *is* still distantly related to him; Voldemort is descended from Slytherin and the second Peverell brother, while Harry is a descendant of the third.
* Though Voldemort is a descendant of both Salazar Slytherin and Cadmus Peverell, there is no evidence that Slytherin is an ancestor of Peverell.
* The depiction of Salazar on his Chocolate Frog Card bears a striking resemblance to Verminous Skumm, an antagonist from *Captain Planet and the Planeteers*.
* Slytherin built the Chamber of Secrets to allow his heir to purge the school of Muggle-borns. However, after the chamber's failure, Voldemort accomplished Slytherin's wishes with another method: by taking over the Ministry of Magic and creating the ***Muggle-Born Registration Commission***.
* Although it has been suggested that Salazar Slytherin was from the Fens in eastern England, it is not confirmed. It would make sense if Slytherin came from Ireland, as that would mean that the four founders of Hogwarts would have originated from the four main countries that make up a vast majority of Hogwarts students. Scotland (Ravenclaw), Wales (Hufflepuff), England (Gryffindor) and Ireland. Ireland does not have snakes, it is unknown when and where Slytherin discovered his Parselmouth abilities, and the Gaunt family, his descendants, have lived in both England and Ireland.
* He is played by actor ***Ken Bones*** in Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince (film).
* His dislike of wizards and witches with ***Muggle*** parentage may have stemmed from the political climate he lived in, where magic users were persecuted and actively hunted by Muggles.
* Since snakewood is not naturally found in what Muggles call the Old World, it is likely that Slytherin travelled to ***North*** or ***South America*** or to ***Australia*** to acquire the wood for his wand. Given that travel between the continents at the time being exclusive to the wizarding world and the vikings of the muggle world, this is not an implausible scenario.
* In 2019, a new species of pit viper discovered in Arunachal Pradesh, ***India*** was named *Trimeresurus salazar*, after Salazar Slytherin.
* Although his only known descendant in ***2020*** was ***Delphini***, Salazar may have descendants in ***America*** via ***Martha Steward***.
	+ Martha, however, was a ***Squib***, and she married ***a Muggle***, so if there were descendants of hers in America, they most likely would be Muggle-born wizards, or Muggles, so ironically Salazar Slytherin may have had descendants who were in the two categories of people he hated most.

## Appearances

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* Template:COS Template:1st Mention Template:Statue Template:Portrait
* Harry Potter and the Prisoner Of Azkaban (film) Template:Portrait
* Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince (film) Template:Portrait
* Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Part 2 Template:Statue

## Notes and references

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1. ↑ 1.00 1.01 1.02 1.03 1.04 1.05 1.06 1.07 1.08 1.09 1.10 1.11 1.12 1.13 1.14 Template:COS
2. ↑ Template:COS - "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." Binns says this late in the year 1992. Given that Slytherin would be of age by the school's founding, the latest he could be born is 976.
3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 In 1994, the Sorting Hat says, *Shrewd Slytherin, from fen.* Ireland is known for several fen-land areas; therefore, some have suggested Slytherin might be from Ireland, as that would represent all four kingdoms in which Hogwarts serves. However, there are also fens in Eastern England in Norfolk, Suffolk, Lincolnshire, and Cambridgeshire. Although Salazar Slytherin's region of origin has never been confirmed, the parallel structure of the Sorting Hat's song suggests it is related, but unique, to the other founders.
4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 4.3 Template:COS
5. ↑ Template:WWHP
6. ↑ 6.0 6.1 6.2 6.3 6.4 6.5 JKRS - Wizard of the Month
7. ↑ 7.0 7.1 7.2 7.3 7.4 Template:WW
8. ↑ 8.0 8.1 8.2 8.3 8.4 8.5 8.6 8.7 Template:COS
9. ↑ 9.0 9.1 Template:COS
10. ↑ 10.0 10.1 Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (film)
11. ↑ Template:WW
12. ↑ Template:HL (In the Shadow of the Study)
13. ↑ WOMBAT Test 3 from JKRS (Archived at The Harry Potter Lexicon)
14. ↑ Template:COS
15. ↑ Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows (film)
16. ↑ Template:COS DVD (Disc 2 - Dumbledore's Office)
17. ↑ 17.0 17.1 Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows (film)
18. ↑ Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows (film)
19. ↑ Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows (film)
20. ↑ 20.0 20.1 Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince (film)
21. ↑ Template:WW
22. ↑ 22.0 22.1 Template:LEGO
23. ↑ Template:WW
24. ↑ Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince (film)
25. ↑ Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince (film)
26. ↑ https://twitter.com/jk\_rowling/status/852974465587847168
27. ↑ Ken Bones's profile on IMDb
28. ↑ Wikipedia - Snakewood
29. ↑ A new species of green pit vipers of the genus Trimeresurus Lacépède, 1804 (Reptilia, Serpentes, Viperidae) from western Arunachal Pradesh, India