Salazar Slytherin

**Salazar Slytherin** (b. 960) was a Irish Pure-Blood Wizard who was one of the Four Founders of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry and founder of Slytherin House. An immensely powerful Wizard, Salazar was a master of the Dark Arts who went down in history as a Muggle and Muggle-Born hater, setting the standards for future Slytherins. In reality, although he held contempt for Muggles in his youth, Salazar had no problem with Muggle-Born's and his prejudice against none Wizards soften in his old age.

In Wizarding history, it was Salazar who left Hogwarts in anger after the other founders refused to ban Muggle-Born's from attending Hogwarts but what really happened was much more different.

## **Biography**

**Early Life (960 - 988)**

Salazar Slytherin was born in Ireland in 960, either in December or July of that year to Wizard Aongus Slytherin and his wife, Aoife. He was born in a small Magical settlement that would evolve over time into the village of Salazar's Sanctuary. Salazar had a happy childhood and when he was six, he discovered he had the rare trait of being able to speak to snakes, with Salazar adopting a pet Python named Gorgon.

Tragedy struck the Slytherin family when Aongus and Aoife were killed by Viking raiders. Devastated, Salazar, now a teenager used Magic it fight off and kill most of the Vikings. Hailed as a hero by his fellow villagers, Salazar crafted his wand from a local Snakewood tree with a Unicorn Hair core. Salazar left his Irish village and travelled to England, visiting the various Magical settlements in the country. Salazar discovered a cave on the South Coast of England that contained a baby Basilisk. Salazar managed to tame the beast and named her, Aoife after his mother.

Eventually, Salazar came across the Muggle/Wizarding village of Holowvile and met Wizard Knight, Sir Godric Gryffindor and his sister, Gytha. Salazar and Godric became quick friends, although he found Godric very impulsive and brash, whilst he fell in love with Gytha and the two married, having two sons; Edmund and Tostig.

As a wedding present, Salazar made his new wife a locket engraved with his family crest.

Godric introduced Salazar to Scottish Witch, Rowena Ravenclaw and Welsh Witch, Helga Hufflepuff. Together, the four dreamed of a school were young Witches and Wizards could go and learn Magic. Salazar convinced them to make their dream a reality, so they built a castle near Rowena's childhood home of Hogwarts. When the castle was finished, they opened their doors to child Wizards and so Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry was found.

The school had four Houses (Gryffindor, Ravenclaw, Hufflepuff and Slytherin) whilst the four founders taught a different subject, each. Salazar taught Potions and was the head of Slytherin House, hand picking his students until Godric created the Sorting Hat. It was only by pure coincidence that all Slytherin's house members were from Wizard families and there were no Muggle-Born's. Over time, Salazar became increasingly frustrated by Godric's almost prejudice views against Dark Magic and so created the Chamber of Secrets so that he could teach some hand picked students to learn the ways of the Dark Arts. Seeing an opportunity, Salazar brought Aoife the Basilisk to Hogwarts, giving the Chamber to his beloved pet as a home.

Tragedy struck Salazar again when he and Gytha were taking a walk near a village. The villagers overcame Salazar, knocking him out and burnt Gytha as a Witch. Angered in his grief, Salazar murdered the entire village, leaving the bodies hung up as a warning to Muggles that Wizards were better then them.

The other three founders were furious with his actions, although Helga was sympathetic towards Salazar, and asked him to leave. As he was leaving, Salazar witnessed his oldest son, Edmund duelling Godric's son, Godwin that ended in Godwin's death. Salazar apologised to the grieving Godric before hastily leaving Hogwarts with his two sons. Still angered, Salazar and Edmund fought with Salazar eventually disowning his son as a result. A few years later, Salazar was told his son, who had become the Dark lord Serpentine, had been killed by Godric Gryffindor whilst his other son, Tostig had committed suicide after accidentally killing Helena Ravenclaw. Tostig, who was often misidentified as his friend, Baron Edwinson, became a ghost known as 'The Bloody Baron', becoming the Slytherin House ghost.

After the Hogwarts fiasco, Salazar returned to his village in Ireland, where he changed his name to Gorgon and married an Irish peasant named Rosin. Salazar and Rosin had one child together; a daughter called Gytha after Salazar's late love. Salazar out lived his second wife and lived the rest of his life in his home village. When Salazar was old and grey, he was confronted by an equally old Godric and the two old friends shared a drink before Godric killed him.

The Slytherin bloodline carried on as Edmund had fathered a daughter with a peasant girl. This daughter's descendants would be the noble Wizarding House of Gaunt, which eventually died out in the male line but continued in the Riddle Family; whose most famous member was Minister for Magic, Tom Riddle. Salazar's daughter, Gytha's descendent, Siofra Gorgon married a Frenchman named Charles de Prince, who is widely believed by the House of Prince to be their ancestor, although most Wizarding Historians disclaim this.

Many other noble Pure-Blood Families claim they are a descendent of Slytherin, such as the House of Black, Malfoy and Lestrange but these claims could not be proven.