Nessa looked expectantly at Zahra as she was the first to answer. ”Yes, that’s right!” she beamed brightly as the girl gave her contribution. ”Godric Gryffindor was the founder of the Gryffindor house.” She was sure he was pretty awesome too and knew all about the sword. She also gave her a knowing look. ”Maybe.. maybe..” This girl was certainly accustomed to her teaching methods.

And a second name, great! ”That’s correct!” she exclaimed happily. ”Helga Hufflepuff was the founder of the Hufflepuff House.” Wasn’t it just the cutest that they were naming the ones of the house that they were in? That was expected though, she supposed. ”Mhmm, it’s said that she was quite the chef as well.”

Nod, nod. Yes, Dot was correct so far and Nessa smiled encouragingly at her. ”Right! Four founders and four houses.. named after them.” Hmm, that was an interesting inquiry, but Nessa shook her head a bit while she continued to smile. ”Hogwarts wasn’t a person, no.. more like a vision..” She’d leave it at that for now to see if anyone could expand on that thought. If not, she’d explain.

Nessa grinned at Norah as she seemed so enthusiastic. And who wouldn’t be? Hufflepuff was awesome! (Well, they all were, but Hufflepuff YAY) ”Isn’t that a wonderful outlook on life?” Yes, she really could admire Ms. Hufflepuff for the way she treated other people. ”And you’re right.. she wanted to include everyone.” That was just so kind and sweet.

Nessa nodded… and nodded.. and nodded some more as Gregoire spilled out his answer. Merlin, the boy knew a lot about the school’s founders. ”Ok, good.. those are the names of the four founders,” she said with a big smile. They had already named two of them, but that summed up the rest. ”And the four houses that we still have today are named after them… each with distinct traits, some of which the founders valued more than others.” Good outline of the basics, but.. ”Like a chemical element..?”Yeah, no.. Nessa didn’t know anything about Chemistry anyway.

”It is such a rare gift to be able to speak to snakes like that,” Nessa nodded at the prefect enthusiastically. She thought it was pretty neat.. just like Cassie’s gift for sensing animals, though that was a different sort of thing. What were they talking about again? Oh right.. ”Yes, a parseltongue.. and the Slytherin house animal is a snake in that honor.” Good answer!

”Ooooh, that would be quite the plot twist, wouldn’t it?" she exclaimed with excitement as Dante put forth a theory. An incorrect one, but a rather inventive and interesting one. ”That fifth one would be well over a thousand years old if that were the case though.. so as exciting as that could be, it’s also unlikely.”

Nessa nodded a bit as she thought over the answer. ”In a general sense, yes..” she said, giving the girl an encouraging smile. ”But it wasn’t always so cut and dried.”

Nessa listened to Hady’s answer next and nodded thoughtfully. Sounded like something out of a novel, really, though she knew it to be true. ”Yes, that’s right.. sort of dreadful thing to do if you really think about it.” Really, holding a monster until a person released it to wipe out people he didn’t think were worthy. But colorful.

”Well, his opinion on who was the best,” Nessa said with a tight smile. Really unkind if you asked her, but Agatha was not incorrect. ”But yes, he was rather selective..”

Nessa nodded enthusiastically at each of the names that Lux said. Someone had already mentioned them, but it was alright as the girl expanded on her information a bit. ”To an extent, yes.. Really, Gryffindor thought all magical children should be taught, but once the houses were decided, those certain traits he valued were incorporated into his house.” It might have gone on without any division if they could agree otherwise. ”Yes, she most certainly did.. though she valued certain traits about others as well.” Did she know what they were?

Nessa leaned against her podium, nodding slowly as Angel wove an imaginative tale. ”That’s.. rather interesting, dear?” Or creative or something. ”Where did you get your information? Maybe after class..” They really didn’t have time for that now.

”Split but united.. interesting way to look at things,” Nessa beamed brightly at Chance. They certainly were both in that way.. but was it a good thing or a bad thing? She supposed there were pros and cons for it really.

”Oh, she did!” Nessa suddenly exclaimed. ”Aren’t they the best?” She really hoped that all the students appreciated the hard work the elves did and were also kind to them.

”Mhmm, in a matter of speaking,” she said with an enthusiastic nod. ”Sometimes even the best of friends fight.. and Gryffindor and Slytherin had a pretty bad one. They just couldn’t resolve their differences and it created a terrible rift between them. Slytherin eventually just.” There were traditionally rivalries among the houses but not typically as great as they once were.

Nessa nodded in Noah’s direction as he raised his hand, calling on him. ”Oh, yes, she sure did! She really had a fondness for living creatures and was quite an advocate for fair treatment. I really hope everyone can be just as kind to them here.” They really were so sweet and accommodating, they deserved a good treatment.

People like her? Nessa looked at Aubrey curiously. ”Are you Muggleborn, dear?” That is what she gathered from that anyway, since Slytherin had an issue with that. ”Yes, he did think that, but you’re right, the others knew better.” She smiled broadly at the girl. Thankfully people didn’t have those archaic views and the other three stood their ground on that issue.

SIIIIIIIIIGGHHHHH. ”Oh, yes.. so tragic! So romantic!” Nessa loved stories like this, she was such a hopeless romantic. She let her mind wander for a minute, reveling in the tragedy of it all. She had totally read this story, well several times, but she never tired of hearing it. The professor was soon enough snapped out of her thoughts noticing another raised hand. Oh right.. class.

Nessa nodded happily at the first year. ”Typically, yes.. those are often traits associated with those houses.” It was a shame that they often got stereotyped as well though.

Nessa nodded as the Hufflepuff prefect offered her answer next. They did touch on the basilisk already – which was dreadful, by the way. But she beamed brightly and nodded enthusiastically at the girl’s question. ”Oh of course they did! They were the school’s original teachers!” They were the most skilled witches and wizards of their time so it did make sense for them to want to pass on their knowledge.

Nessa smiled and Zander and nodded her agreement to his answer. ”Yes, it’s true that while the houses seem to be associated with certain traits, people are all different and there are different personalities that fit in different places.” That’s why she hated the stereotypes that sometimes went along with them. People weren’t all exactly the same even within the houses. Oh and that too.. ”I love alliterations! Aren’t they fun to say?”

Nessa loved that story too! It sounded like something that could be done with Divination.. another subject that she really liked. ”That is typically the accepted story, yes.. Kind of interesting, isn’t it?” Nessa certainly thought so, she really loved dream interpretation.

Named after her..? Nessa looked curiously at the girl a moment, then furrowed her brow as she reached for her roster list. She was a new one to the school, she was fairly sure and her brown eyes quickly scanned the list for some sort of understanding in what the girl was saying. ”Ah,” she finally said, looking up with a smile. ”You must be Rowena.” Or she hoped. Though technically it was more likely to be the other way around.

”She once did, yes..” Nessa nodded, smiling brightly at the girl. ”Wouldn’t that be an amazing thing to have? I guess it’s no wonder that it was stolen..” And of course, later destroyed.. but it was pretty cool all the same.

Nessa nodded. ”Mhmm, it was a long time ago.. and thoughts and ideas certainly have evolved and developed since them.” She thought for the better at least.

”Oh! Oh yes, Gryffindor was born in West Country.. and the village there later was named in his honor.” She didn’t know what it had been called prior. And Hufflepuff from Wales, mhm! Perhaps someone else would come up with the other birthplaces.. but it wasn’t all that pertinent to the discussion either way.

Nessa smiled at this newcomer to her class as she gave her answer. ”yes, they did.. and the same one is used today!” She found that simply amazing. ”did you know that before they enchanted the hat, they sorted students themselves?” That was pretty interesting too and she wondered just how that would go without looking into their minds like the hat did.

”I thiiiiink there might be a few more ‘greats’ in there,” Nessa said, tapping her finger on her chin thoughtfully. ”But yes, he was a direct descendant..” Many, many years in between there though.

Calling on the next student to raise her hand, Nessa nodded happily. ”You’re right on both accounts! And that is likely why he had such difficulties with his friend Salazar.” That seemed like such a huge issue to disagree on – Muggles, Muggleborns, and the like.. no wonder it caused an irreparable rift.

Yeah, okay.. Nessa nodded at the slime-covered boy. What they said was all correct and she could appreciate that he didn’t want to repeat an answer.. though she was sure there was something he could add.. even his own thoughts or opinions.

Nessa nodded as the girl offered her answer. She was certain that they had heard this earlier from several of the students but it was all correct. ”Yes, those are good points about Slytherin..”

Gosh, Nessa just adored Toby.. he always gave such insightful and astute answers. ”It really was sad to have such division over issues like they did.. I wonder how things would have been different if there wasn’t such discord..” And as it happened at times, he hinted towards the next part of the discussion. But that would come in a few, after everyone had a chance to answer. Er.. what? ”Jeremy Gryffindor? Maybe that was a descendant of his..” Or ancestor? She wasn’t familiar with that name really.

Nessa eyes shifted from Ægis to Zahra as he pointed at her, then back to him again. Yes, she nodded, sword and hat.. that had been mentioned. Then she tilted her head a bit and gave him a knowing smile. ”True Gryffindor.. why do you think he put that into place? And what makes one a true Gryffindor?” She was interested in his thoughts on the matter actually.. was it as cut and dried as it sounded or was there something more to it?

”Exactly! All very good points.. It was thanks to these four people that real magical education was put into place.” Nessa smiled widely at Cutty. He always seemed to give well-thought out answers.. some of them more of an interesting nature than others.

”Oooh, that really is ironic, isn’t it? Like something out of a good novel.. an interesting little plot twist..” She loved stories like that.. and she agreed, it was like a link back to the original feud and now it had some sort of closure in a way.[/color]
Nessa nodded as she heard Penelope's answer. She thought it pretty cute that she would speak about her own house. "Yes, you're right, she did!"

Nessa quirked an eyebrow in the prefect's direction as she answered. "Oh.. was he?" She vaguely knew that name but not for certain that he'd be descended from her. It didn't matter a whole lot since they wouldn't be talking about him today anyway. "Well.. there is a fight or flight mechanism that we all possess.. doesn't always make one better than the other.." Sometimes it was easy to say that you could fight in the face of imminent death, but when it came down to it, it could be a really scary thing.

Nessa smiled at Eden and waited a few minutes for the girl to expand on her answer. When none seemed to be forthcoming, she simply nodded and said, "Mhm.. ok.." Moving on..

"Yes!" Nessa beamed at Dima as he answered. She still loved this story of dream interpretation. "Isn't that such a neat way to come up with a name? And it seemed like her dream was spot on." Could they ask for a better location? And the name was fun too.

Oh yes, and that was the other two. Someone had mentioned the first. "The glens of Scotland," she nodded. Probably another reason the location was here as she'd likely dream of a local place. And that was where Slytherin was theorized to have come from as well. "So we have one from the North, one from the South, one from the East and one from the West." Interesting how that worked out also, so that all regions were represented.

Nessa nodded at the girl, smiling brightly at her thoughtful answer. "He certainly did! I can't even imagine how difficult it had to have been to find such rare artifacts.. But they were very important to him." It was a shame that he used them for such horrible things though.

Originally Posted by blackboard

Four Founders of Hogwarts

• most skilled wizards of their day
• wanted to create a structured magical education for young witches and wizards
• founded Hogwarts in the Tenth Century

Godric Gryffindor

• from West Country
• sword, accessible to true Gryffindors
• created sorting Hat
• valued bravery
• representative animal = lion

Helga Hufflepuff

• from Wales
• known as non-discriminatory and fair
• skilled with cooking charms, contributed many of her recipes to Hogwarts
• advocate for House Elves, brought many to Hogwarts
• valued loyalty
• representative animal = badger

Rowena Ravenclaw

• from Scotland
• valued wisdom
• diadem, worn to enhance wisdom
• determined location and name of school based on a dream
• representative animal = eagle

Salazar Slytherin

• from East of England
• spoke Parseltongue
• kept a Basilisk in the Chamber of Secrets
• did not want to educate Muggleborns
• representative animal = snake

History of Magic
Notes

How do you feel things would be different - for the better or for the worse - if they had just agreed on things in the first place? Do you think that there would still be separate houses within the school? And do you think that having separate houses is more or less beneficial than not?"

Originally Posted by emjay

Once she felt that everyone had time to answer, Nessa waved her wand and transferred some of the most pertinent information on the board. "Great answers, everyone! These are some basic things we know about each of the Founders." She gave them all a few minutes to absorb and write things down if they needed to. "In the most basic sense, we know that these four people were the most skilled witches and wizards of their time, and they had a desire to create a structured magical education for young witches and wizards to learn what they felt was essential for a magical person. Though it was set up for any young person showing magical abilities before age 11 - and still is - there eventually was disagreeing among them that eventually drove them apart but not before leading them to split the school into houses."

"The four houses create a division of students while still being united within Hogwarts." It was an interesting system, she felt, with its own unique pros and cons. "Each house, as you likely know, reflects the traits that each of the founders valued most. While Hogwarts wouldn't turn away a student if they have magical ability, perhaps they would be more or less likely to be placed in a certain house." And that sometimes led to the stereotypes often associated with certain houses.

"So, let's start a discussion - The Founders set up their houses partially as an attempt to settle their differences. How do you feel things would be different - for the better or for the worse - if they had just agreed on things in the first place? Do you think that there would still be separate houses within the school? And do you think that having separate houses is more or less beneficial than not?" There were definite thoughts on either side and she'd like to hear what they thought before they moved on.

Originally Posted by emjay