"Slytherin did not do it. He left the school because the other founders did not share his views. James is completely correct," Lexi muttered.

Kurumi looked at Simon, one of her Gryffindor Princes, and smiled. He did make a valid point - and was actually almost the exact same words that Mr. Ikenna had said during the opening feast. "But, wouldn't you agree that the time Salazar Slytherin and the other founders were creating this school was a time to judge and not a time to take risks?" Kurumi had never been much of a risk taker. "Now, we all say that a risk not taken is a missed opportunity, but for that time...a risk not taken meant that the school was for sure safe."

"Not completely," Charley said teasingly as she hugged Belle. "Most people don't know a lot of that. Almost my entire family is Slytherin, so I've been drilled with things like this since I could talk."

?

Hahahahaha.

Jim laughed.

Because that had SO not been what he had been talking about at all. And it was irrelevant. And really, if the other founders hadn't disagreed, probably he never would have left a basilisk behind as a last resort. OR who knew? Maybe the basilisk came about in some other way. There was no real proof. Not really.

Not of that anyway.

"Right. And tried a new approach to solve the problem?" Jim looked up at the headmaster and then... back at Lexi.

Was she ok?

Jaina breathed a sigh of relief and relaxed in her chair. She began thinking of the next few questions the professor threw at them. She liked thinking, but this was getting to be a tad tough without knowing a lot of the wizarding history.

nodding that she did have a point " But even back then a farmer could tell you you have to bring in new stock or a different breed if you didnt want your flock to fail and for the second part of what you said I doubt the pure bloods are as pure as they claim to be "

"It wasn't solely Slytherin. Yes, he left the basilisk in the Chamber of Secrets. However, per his beliefs about admission, he tried first to reason with the other founders, using the statute that it would be unsafe, which was true. His main reason, however, for not wanting muggleborn students to attend was because he believed they were lesser wizards and were not deserving of comprehensive education. He didn't just pluck up and leave, either. The other founders, mostly Gryffindor and Ravenclaw, essentially ganged up on him, practically forcing him out, without even suggesting a method that they could use to make attendance safer for muggleborn students. None of the founders is only a good person or only a bad person. They were human, as all of us are. They made mistakes, missed crucial points, and hurt people. A lot of Slytherin's infamy is just that-infamy, legacy, reputation- not necessarily the truth," Charley half blurted out, unable to keep silent when she had so much to say.

Charley grabbed a large book out of her bag (undetectable extension charm, anyone?) and set it over by Jaina. "Hogwarts: A History. Pure gold," she whispered, shooting Jaina a confident, friendly smile.

Sierra eyed a few of her classmates. Simply eyed them. For what reason, she really didn't know, but it likely had a lot to do with the fact that she'd somehow gotten herself distracted over a million and one other things and managed to get herself good and lost in the discussion.

She perked up, though, when she heard mention of her house's founder. Salazar Slytherin--the man who'd practically named her father and brother! Or, well, they were named after him, at least. She slowly raised her hand into the air. Better to try and say something than sit back here, do nothing, and chance ending up on the headmaster's bad side. "Well, I think it all goes back to the fact that when creating the school, the four founders really had no idea how things would turn out. Slytherin was just looking out for the well-being of the school and the magical children that would attend," she said.

She lowered her hand before continuing. "If it's really true that magical people, particularly magical children, were being exploited for their magic in that day and time, then I think Slytherin was right to try and prevent that from happening here at Hogwarts," she added. "He was just trying to make sure that people who might potentially harm magical people weren't allowed into the school."

Chloe felt a bit of anger as the boy laughed at her andand retorted, "Why are you laughing at mystatement".



"Oh, I see. You two don't have to share my belief that Salazar left the basalisk in the chamber of secrets before he left but I fimly believe it and wouldlike that you not laugh at mefor mybelief nomatter how unfounded you think it is. And I am curious. What new approach do you think Salazar tried after leaving Hogwarts. Thats where the basalisk fits to me because we don't know of anyone else of that time that had motive to do something like that but again it is ust my thoughts.".

"As a Pureblood I can tell you that at least my family is as pure as we claim to be. And maybe they could tell you that, but they didn't really understand human genetics did they? It wasn't until Darwinism that we really got any idea about evolution, which led to study on human genes. Also they didn't have to necessarily be inbreeding at that time, there were different families that one could marry into who were pureblooded, I doubt that at that time the inbreeding was really a problem. Besides, back then I wouldn't have wanted a pureblood to be with a muggle. Because at that point in time it really was too dangerous with the persecution. I mean families were dobbing relatives in for being magical so I think inbreeding back then would have been a better option then say death." Sakura replied.

"I never said all Slytherins were bad people ust because their founder was. Yes you can say he was forced out of Hogwarts but I do bieve bith Godric Gryffindor and Helena Ravenclaw had every right to react as they did toward Salazar for his beliefs cause they were rather skewed in my opinion. Yes people make mistakes but Salazars did something way worse then any of the founders mistakes in my opinion and that is completely his own fault when he could have ust let it go. I believe that Salazar did leave a basalisk in the Chamber of Secrets before he we left and or was forced out and therefore I believe that Salazar Slytherin does have a life of infamy within Hogwarts. You can believe as you wish".

"You're correct, of course. He was overruled by his cohorts and chose to depart the school some time later, although he was here long enough to be considered a founder and to have an entire house named after him. Although we can't be sure, he was probably here for several years until the issue finally came to a head," Tate nodded at Wilkes.

"No, lad. Genetics work the same, no matter what your magical status. Slytherin's beliefs on marriage with Muggles hasn't been broadly published, so I can't say what his beliefs would do the magical blood lines, but I would suggest that intermarrying with non-magical peoples has been a boon for our kind," Tate wasn't an expert on genetics at all, although even common sense told him that a limited pool of people, in time, would be bad for their community.

"The fact is... the intermarrying of Muggle and magical bloodlines through the centuries is the only reason any of us are here in this room. There's really no such thing as a pureblood in the technical sense anymore, although any family has it's own rules regarding at what point back on the tree they can start crossing Muggles off," Tate shrugged. It was simple fact that with the habit of pureblood families to have few children and the constant interbreeding, that if they had not married outside of the Magical community, the lot of them would have been sterile centuries ago.

"There is no chatting in this class aside from with the topic at hand. You will lose points if I have to speak to you again," Tate barked at the girls before returning to the subject.

"As we've said, the Statute was not in place until 700 years after the school was founded," Tate gave the girl a perplexed look. She was either wildly misinformed or just making things up.

"Most of your information is heavily shaded in rumor and legend, and I would suggested you spend more time reading legitimate history books. Slytherin's interest was in protecting his charges by keeping the school free of outside influences, and he left after a disagreement with Gryffindor, whom he always considered a close friend."

"I suggest you reign in that temper, child, before you lose your house points," Tate raised his eyebrow at the irate Gryffindor. Why was she flying off the handle?

"We're not discussing the rumors regarding the basilisk today, or the reasons that anyone would have created the Chamber of Secrets, so theories and guesses are not necessary. I do think that the question regarding where Salazar went after Hogwarts is a pertinent one. Where would our Founder, disappointed at the failure to implement his plan, head after leaving Hogwarts? I'll allow speculation and theories to abound at this point."



OOC: Yup, that time again. I'm leaving this open for ideas and class related discourse (NO FIGHTING!), but I'll be back tomorrow night at 6:30 EST.

"The Gryffies right. She never said all Sltherins were bad or would turn out bad. But we all have to admit that us Slytherins do have a reputation for turning bad. Not that other houses don't, but Slytherins carry around a stigma that some of us will turn out bad. And the name Salazar Slytherin carries with it a conotation of evil throughout the entire wizarding communities."

Helena just stood quietly since her single and last answer, barely understanding what were they talking about. Dark wizards, okay. But everyone seemed to know so much! And Salazar Slytherin? Where did he go after he left Hogwarts? Now that was a good question. She still didn't say anything.

Jaina was hearing all the talk of purebloods and muggleborns. It was starting to scare her. She'd never heard anything like that. And then there is this girl saying that inbreeding isn't a problem any more. So there were MORE purebloods that were out there that were like this too?!?! Bits of her hair started to change black and straighten the more scared she got. She started shaking her head. Not black, NOT black, she started thinking, please anything BUT black. She didn't like the black.

"Um, professor, not ALL purebloods feel that way, do they? I mean it's safe to say that some purebloods like muggleborns and what not?" PLEASE oh wise professor get off of this topic!

"I never said that it was a bad thing. Just in my family we haven't ever married muggles. Half-bloods and Muggle borns may be in my family tree, but not actually someone who has never had magic. My main point sir is that at that point in time I don't believe that anyone was really thinking about whether 'diluting' our blood by marrying muggles was a good idea or not. Genetics in that sense wasn't important, back then being a pureblood was, but the whole limiting the gene pool and the problems that could cause wasn't considered. And even if it was I think the fear of persecution would have stopped most people from even considering if it was a good idea or not." Sakura finished with a shrug. Who was she to really argue about the genetics of current Pureblooded people.

"As for where Salazar may have went after Hogwarts... He could have gone to another school, maybe a smaller one than Hogwarts where people agreed that only Pureblood's could be allowed to study magic."

"I have nothing against muggle borns," Sakura said to the girl who looked like she was going to have a panic attack. I was just talking about the perspective they had in the past. Not my perspective now. I mean I'm proud to be a Pureblood but I don't think it's bad if you aren't. It really doesn't matter much anymore." she finished, giving the girl a small smile.

Good question ,,,,"could he have set up a school that didnt make it or helped set up say Durmstrang it is really old and from what I saw last year very pickey on who they let in "

Now, that was a good question. Where did he go.

"He probably went back to do whatever he was doing before they created the school. Or perhaps made an underground school that no one knew about, even today, that was just for the select students he chose who would be sworn not to tell anyone." Mmhmm, because that would be totally cool. She'd want to know about that school.

"Unless of course, he just went into hiding. Which could contribute to the factor that no one really knows what he did. Just the fact that he hung low for the rest of days, either out of disappointment from his failure or to make sure muggles didn't really find out about him and his powers..." Which could have happened at any time. To anyone! "...could possibly keep him hidden. Maybe took up a new study to keep him amused."

"Maybe he became an avid advocate for pure-blood supremacy. Or maybe he started a basilisk breeding business. Or maybe he started a private Parselmouth school." Eino rambled suggested with his hand raised. That creepy fellow could have done all kinds of bizarre things after his plan failed. Regardless, Eino admired him for this Parselmouth ability and basilisk breeding skills. Eino should like to keep a basilisk as a pet but that would be very difficult. Still, all of these things were less than probable to have happened, considering there weren't any records of it, and since he was a famous wizard those would existed, unless he had done all of it in secrecy, which would make him even cooler, but also more evil.

Luin listened to most of the discussion, it was going somewhat fast and she had drifted from the topic for a bit as she thought of her mother. She was killed by dark wizards when Luin was young and since then Luin has always had a harsh view on anything like that. She had to make sure she had control over her emotions before she could start speaking more. As they got on to speaking about Salazar Slytherin she thought for awhile, considering what she had seen while reading Hogwarts, A History. She raised her hand, "It seems Slytherin himself had his very distinct views and so he went to some other place to make it more of a reality. I think someone else said something about Durmstrang and I personally have nothing against anyone there but he could have gone there and been involved in that school. Traditionally, they have been stricter about enrolling students than here." she paused as a thought came to her, "Of course, he might have just given up on the school system all together and focused on something else, like forming a group of witches and wizards with similar thinking to his."

The Slytherin lad angled his head. He's never really considered where his House founder went after he left the school. He didnt really care much about the man in any case. Discrimination was something Salander found absolutely revolting-- he didnt care what the reasons were for justifying them. He was just relieved the old wizard had good taste in color selection.

But since that question was up in the air "Slytherin probably tried to form another school-- or maybe even just a group of handpicked pureblood wizards to teach and spread his ideology. Or maybe he went back to his own family or started one if he didnt have one. After all, Voldemort's lineage was traced back to him."

*Matty thought about it. His uncle had a good bit of books on the founders but only a few on Slytherin. Some had said that he died in a battle with Gryffindor. Others said he went off living a quite life alone in the mountains somewhere. But most thing that he had not stopped teaching.*

"I think that he kept teaching, only not as large as a school. Maybe a few students that he found worthy."

Listening to the other's around Patroclus had to agree, "It would seem only logical, that he would continue to teach, perhaps it was just one wizard, or a few. But they would have been pureblood thats a given."

Then there was the question of where, "I think he would have gone over seas, perhaps to help founder the Durmstrang Institute, or just somewhere. They had been great friends after all, so being so close to Godric would have been hard, and obviously Godric would have been trying to keep tabs on him. It would be the logical thing to do, after all Salazar had just aired his feelings towards MuggleBorns, for whom Godric had always been a champion of."
Run and hide, it was the only explanation for why so little of the rest of his life was known.

"I don't think he helped form Durmstrang. Those founders are as popular as our four our."
*Matty said remembering a book he had read. For the life of him he couldn't remember their founders.*

Kurumi nodded as Salander spoke. This was a change. He wasn't being all witty, but was actually giving genuine and intelligent responses. Kurumi smiled. He did bring up a very valid points. "I wonder who he found worthy enough to bear his children," she said more thinking aloud than anything. She had read something in some wizarding tabloid from way back that had mentioned some rather ridiculous theory. "I read somewhere that he fancied Rowena Ravenclaw," Kurumi said blushing knowing that people were most likely going to laugh at her innocence. "Rowena Ravenclaw did died at a relatively young age and the legend is that it was because of a broken heart."


Then Kurumi turned her attention to Patroclus. Even more interesting points! "Do we know the names of the people who founded the Durmstrang Institute?" Kurumi asked tilting her head to the side. "It does seem likely considering the school's methods. The only accept those of pureblood and teaches the Dark Arts to its students. Not only that, but the school is unplottable is notorious for concealing its whereabouts so the other schools cannot steal their secrets. Seems like the school is pretty suspicious of others, doesn't it?" Kurumi was by no means implying that Hogwarts was better than Durmstrang, nor was she implying that Durmstrang was a breeding ground for Dark Wizards, but the pieces did seem to fit that perhaps Salazar Slytherin had a connection with the school.