Ravenclaw family

**Ravenclaw** was the surname of a wizarding family of unknown blood status that existed in circa the 10th - 11th centuries in Britain. The Ravenclaw name is well known, as Rowena Ravenclaw founded Ravenclaw house at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.

## History

### Early history

The Ravenclaw family's earliest-known member was Rowena Ravenclaw, a prominent witch in the wizarding world and one of the four legendary founders of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, along with Godric Gryffindor, Helga Hufflepuff, and Salazar Slytherin. Rowena eventually had a daughter named Helena by an unknown man. Helena attended Hogwarts, where she captured the fancy of a Baron in Slytherin house.
When she became older, Helena became jealous of her mother's intellect, which was enhanced by her famous diadem. Helena stole the diadem and ran away with it to Albania. Around the same time, her mother became fatally ill, possibly due to heartbreak caused by the departure of her daughter. Rowena sent the Baron, who loved her daughter, to find Helena and bring her to home.
In between the time she ran away and the time the Baron found her, Helena had married a pure-blood witch named Aurelia Nightingale and the couple had twin daughters, Nala Rowene and Celina Helen Ravenclaw.

The Baron found Helena in an Albanian forest, though she refused to come back with him; in a fit of rage, he killed her and then took his own life when he was overcome with remorse for what he had done. What he didn't know is that Helena's twin daughters witnessed the whole thing. They both returned to Hogwarts Castle as ghosts, where they became known as the Grey Lady, ghost of Ravenclaw house, and the Bloody Baron, ghost of Slytherin house. Rowena died before ever being reunited with her daughter.

### Recent history

By the early twentieth century, the Ravenclaw family was not known to have any surviving members, with the exceptions of the Pikeman family and the Prince-Slytherin family, and Helena's ghost still haunted Hogwarts as the Grey Lady. In the 1940s, a student named Adalbert Gaunt managed to convince the Grey Lady to tell him where she had hidden her mother's diadem in the forests of Albania. Years later, as Lord Voldemort, Riddle found the diadem, turned it into one of his Horcruxes, and hid it in the Room of Requirement at Hogwarts after being refused the position of Professor of Defence Against the Dark Arts by Albus Dumbledore.
During the Second Wizarding War, the Grey Lady revealed what she had done to Harry Potter, clearly distressed by her mistake; Harry assured her that she was not alone in being taken in by Riddle's charm, then went on to find and destroy the diadem.

## Members

### Rowena Ravenclaw

Rowena Ravenclaw was a witch of Medieval times and one of the four founders of Hogwarts. She was noted for her cleverness and creativity, and was described by Xenophilius Lovegood as "beautiful." The Sorting Hat introduced her as "fair Ravenclaw, from glen", suggesting she was from Scotland.

### Helena Ravenclaw

In life, Helena Ravenclaw was the daughter of Rowena Ravenclaw, the lover of Aurelia Nightingale, and the mother of Nala and Celina Ravenclaw. She was killed by the man who later became the Bloody Baron, ghost of Slytherin House. After her death, she became the Grey Lady, the ghost for Ravenclaw House at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.

### Nala Ravenclaw

Nala Ravenclaw was the eldest daughter of Helena Ravenclaw and Aurelia Nightingale and the elder twin sister of Celina. She was also the elder granddaughter of Rowena Ravenclaw. It is unknown what happened to Nala and her sister following the deaths of their parents, but it can be assumed that they eventually married and had children of their own.

### Celina Ravenclaw

Celina Ravenclaw was the younger daughter of Helena Ravenclaw and Aurelia Nightingale and the younger twin sister of Nala. She was also the younger granddaughter of Rowena Ravenclaw. It is unknown what happened to Celina and her sister following the deaths of their paretns, but it is likely that they married and had children of their own.