Godric Gryffindor

**Notice:** This **article** uses content directly taken from the Godric Gryffindor **article** at the Harry Potter Wiki, and is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike License.

## Biographical Information

### Born

* 10th Century (Godric's Hollow, Age Unknown)

### Occupation

* Teacher at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry
* Founder of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry

### Loyalty

* Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry
	+ Gryffindor
* Gryffindor Family

### Species

* Wizard
* Spirit (Currently)

## Family Information

### Family Members

* Mikael †  (Son-In-Law)
* Dahlia †  (Daughter)
* Esther Mikaelson †  (Daughter)
* Freya Mikaelson  (Granddaughter)
* Finn Mikaelson †  (Grandson)
* Elijah Mikaelson †  (Grandson)
* Niklaus Mikaelson †  (Grandson)
* Kol Mikaelson  (Grandson)
* Rebekah Mikaelson  (Granddaughter)
* Henrik Mikaelson †  (Grandson)
* Mathias and Freya's Unborn Son †  (Great-Grandson)
* Hope Mikaelson (Great-Granddaughter)
* Josie Mikaelson (Adoptive Great-Granddaughter)
* Scorpius Malfoy (Great-Great-Grandson)
* EJ Malfoy (Great-Great-Grandson)
* Grayson Lightwood (Adoptive Great-Great-Grandson)
* Andrea Malfoy (Great-Great-Granddaughter)
* Lizzie Malfoy (Great-Great-Granddaughter)
* Caroline Lightwood (Adoptive Great-Great-Granddaughter)
* Arden Lightwood (Adoptive Great-Great-Granddaughter)
* Salem Malfoy (Great-Great-Granddaughter)
* Nik Mikaelson-Malfoy  (Descendant)
* Ava Mikaelson-Malfoy  (Descendant)
* Ares Mikaelson-Malfoy (Descendant)
* Athena Mikaelson-Malfoy (Descendant)

## Supernatural Information

### Wand

* 9¾", White Oak, Phoenix Feather (Formerly)

## Physical Appearance

### Eye Color

* Green

**Godric Gryffindor** was an English pure-blood wizard and one of the four founders of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. He had two daughters Dahlia and Esther who would be known as two of the most powerful witches. He was great friends with Salazar Slytherin, but opposed him when he later thought that they should not accept Muggle-born students at Hogwarts. It is unknown when he died. In his honour Gryffindor's birthplace became known as Godric's Hollow. Godric Gryffindor's portrait still remains at Hogwarts.

## History

### Early Life

Gryffindor hailed from a moor which was known as Godric's Hollow, a small West Country village in England. He was described as being "the best duellist of his time".

### Hogwarts Founder

Said to be one of "*the four most brilliant witches and wizards of the time*", Godric Gryffindor founded Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry in his adulthood, with friends Salazar Slytherin, Helga Hufflepuff, and Rowena Ravenclaw, though he later severed ties with Slytherin. He even appeared to have carefully selected members of his own House.

Gryffindor was said to have praised courage, determination, and strength of heart above all other qualities. Indeed, he selected students for his house based upon their daring and bravery, according to the Sorting Hat. He also was the most in favor of allowing Muggle-borns into the school.

The founders, however, were unsure of how they would sort the students when they were dead. To solve this, Gryffindor took off his hat and all four of them enchanted it so that it could sort the students long after their deaths. It was, from then on, known as the Sorting Hat.

Gryffindor was initially a close friend of Salazar Slytherin, but over time their friendship deteriorated. After a number of years of working peacefully together, Slytherin eventually grew apart from his fellow founders due to his distrust of Muggle-borns, and his belief that they should not be accepted into Hogwarts. When Slytherin failed to convince Gryffindor and the others to accept his ideas, he chose to leave the school. Unbeknownst to Gryffindor, his former friend built a hidden chamber within the castle, in which he hid a basilisk that his heir would later use to try and purge the school of Muggle-borns.

It is unknown how or when Gryffindor died, though he left an enduring legacy.

### Post-Mortem

A portrait of Gryffindor hung at Hogwarts Castle guarded a secret short cut between the seventh-floor landing of the Grand Staircase and the Entrance Hall side room. The password required to gain access to said shortcut was *Starshine*. Gryffindor left two known relics: a goblin-made sword (adorned with rubies) and the Sorting Hat. The two items share a particular bond; whenever a "true Gryffindor" needs it, the Sword will let itself be pulled out of the hat.

Godric's sword was capable of acquiring powers from those it had slain and thus was imbued with venom from Harry Potter's defeat of the Basilisk, making it suitable as a tool for destroying Voldemort's Horcruxes. Albus Dumbledore used it to destroy Marvolo Gaunt's Ring, Ron Weasley used it to eliminate Salazar Slytherin's Locket, Neville Longbottom used it to kill Nagini, the final Horcrux, and Hope Mikaelson used it to slay Voldemort once and for all, merging her magic within the sword.

## Physical Appearance

Godric Gryffindor's portrait depicted him as a tall, muscular man with a lion-like mane of wavy red hair and a beard to match. He had green eyes, peach-coloured skin and was often shown with his famous sword, with which he had great skill in wielding.

He had also been shown as wearing segmented red sword gauntlets adorned with gold fittings that were often depicted as being rather worn and burned-looking. He was also shown as wearing magnificent red robes with gold highlights and rather intricate designs on the sleeves. He was also frequently depicted with a rather powerful and stern gaze.

## Personality

Godric Gryffindor valued courage, determination, chivalry, and strength of heart, and was described as one of the four most brilliant witches and wizards of his time. He was also the most tolerant and accepting of Muggle-borns out of the Founders, a point which brought about the end of his friendship with Salazar Slytherin. He was very forward thinking due to his creating the Sorting Hat to preserve the selection of the students after his time. This showcases his cleverness and creativity.

He also had a versatile mindset as he chose to wield a sword as well as a wand, making him a rather dynamic man who deferred to the duelling style of his opponent, Muggle and wizard alike. Going along with this, it shows that he was respectful and fair, choosing to wield a sword instead of magic against Muggle combatants out of a sense of fair play as magic would be a most decidedly unbalanced weapon in a duel against a simple sword. In addition to showing his sense of fairness, his deference to the duelling style of opponent also shows a need to challenge himself, proving his worth and courage, which became one of the signature traits of his House at Hogwarts.

His threat to unsheathe and use his famous blade against Ragnuk the First and his followers shows that despite his noble heart and good intentions, that Godric was very much capable of taking the lives of sapient beings such as goblins. This would not have been an uncommon trait for a man of his era or personality due to the constant violence that pervaded medieval Europe and the acceptability of duelling to the death among both wizard and Muggles alike.