The Four Greatest Witches and Wizards of the Age

The “four greatest witches and wizards of the age” is the title given to the four founders of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry: Godric Gryffindor, Helga Hufflepuff, Rowena Ravenclaw, and Salazar Slytherin. Living around the tenth century, they were the most brilliant and powerful magic-users of their time. Together, they established Hogwarts Castle with the shared vision of creating the world's finest school for magic. Their individual philosophies on student selection led to the creation of the four Hogwarts Houses. Ultimately, a profound ideological disagreement, primarily concerning the acceptance of Muggle-born students, shattered their alliance and led to the departure of Salazar Slytherin.

In the medieval era, a time of great persecution against those with magical abilities, the four founders united to create a safe haven where young witches and wizards could be educated. They built Hogwarts Castle in a remote part of Scotland, protecting it with numerous Charms and enchantments to keep it hidden from Muggles. For several years, the four founders worked in harmony, each taking on students who exhibited the qualities they most valued. Godric Gryffindor favoured the brave and bold; Helga Hufflepuff accepted the loyal and hard-working; Rowena Ravenclaw selected the intelligent and witty; and Salazar Slytherin preferred the ambitious and pure-blooded. This system of selection became the basis for the four Hogwarts Houses. A severe rift eventually formed between Salazar Slytherin and the other three founders. Slytherin argued that magical education should be restricted to students from all-magical families, believing Muggle-borns to be untrustworthy. When Gryffindor, Hufflepuff, and Ravenclaw refused to adopt this discriminatory policy, Slytherin left the school. Before his departure, he secretly constructed the Chamber of Secrets deep within the castle, housing a Basilisk intended to one day purge the school of students he deemed unworthy. To ensure that students would continue to be sorted into the appropriate houses long after their deaths, the founders enchanted Godric Gryffindor's hat, imbuing it with their collective intelligence. This artifact became known as the Sorting Hat and has sorted every new student at Hogwarts for centuries.

While detailed physical descriptions are scarce in the primary texts, information about their personalities and values is well-documented through the Sorting Hat's songs and historical accounts.

• Godric Gryffindor: Hailing from a “wild moor,” Gryffindor was known for his immense courage, chivalry, and skill in duelling. He valued bravery, daring, and nerve above all other qualities in his students. He was a staunch advocate for Muggle-born rights and his disagreement with Slytherin on this issue led to a serious falling-out between the two former friends.
• Helga Hufflepuff: Coming from a “broad valley,” Hufflepuff was a kind and caring witch who valued loyalty, patience, hard work, and fairness. She was famous for her proficiency with food-related Charms, and many of the recipes still used in the Hogwarts kitchens originated with her. Uniquely among the founders, she pledged to teach all students, accepting those who did not fit the criteria of the other three. It was she who arranged for house-elves to work in the kitchens, providing them a safe place free from abuse.
• Rowena Ravenclaw: From a “glen,” Ravenclaw was a Scottish witch celebrated for her incredible intelligence and creativity. A popular wizarding proverb, “Wit beyond measure is man's greatest treasure,” is attributed to her. She selected students who demonstrated sharp intellect, wisdom, and a thirst for learning. A statue in the Ravenclaw Tower depicts her as a woman of austere beauty. Her life was marked by the tragedy of her daughter, Helena Ravenclaw, stealing her enchanted Diadem.
• Salazar Slytherin: Hailing from a “fen,” Slytherin was an immensely powerful and cunning wizard. He was one of the first recorded Parselmouths—wizards able to speak to snakes—and a highly accomplished Legilimens. He sought students who were ambitious, shrewd, and resourceful. His most defining trait was his fanatical belief in pure-blood supremacy, which ultimately led him to abandon Hogwarts and leave behind the Chamber of Secrets as his dark legacy. A statue within the Chamber depicts him as an ancient, monkey-like figure with a long, thin beard.

The founders' collective magical power was unparalleled, allowing them to create Hogwarts Castle and imbue it with lasting, powerful magic. Their greatest joint creation was the Sorting Hat, a sentient artifact containing their combined consciousness to carry on their work. Their most significant and enduring legacy is Hogwarts itself and the House system, which continues to shape the identity of its students. However, the ideological conflict between Slytherin and the other founders also left a legacy of division, most notably the centuries-long rivalry between the Gryffindor and Slytherin houses.

Each of the four founders left behind a significant magical artifact.

• Sword of Gryffindor: A magnificent, goblin-made sword with a ruby-encrusted hilt. It has the magical property of presenting itself to any “true Gryffindor” in a moment of need. It can also absorb any substance that will make it stronger, such as Basilisk venom, which allowed it to be used as a tool to destroy Horcruxes.
• Hufflepuff's Cup: A small, two-handled golden cup engraved with a badger, Helga Hufflepuff's symbol. It was believed to possess various magical properties, though these are not specified. It was stolen by Tom Riddle from Hepzibah Smith and turned into a Horcrux.
• Ravenclaw's Diadem: A beautiful tiara said to grant the wearer enhanced wisdom. It was lost for centuries after being stolen by Rowena Ravenclaw's daughter, Helena. Tom Riddle later discovered its location, turning it into a Horcrux and hiding it in the Room of Requirement.
• Slytherin's Locket: A heavy gold locket bearing a serpentine 'S' mark, a family heirloom passed down through Salazar Slytherin's descendants, the Gaunt family. It was also made into a Horcrux by his heir, Lord Voldemort.

• J.K. Rowling has stated that of the four founders, only Salazar Slytherin's line is known to have continued, culminating in Tom Marvolo Riddle (Lord Voldemort). The line of Godric Gryffindor is unknown, while the line of Rowena Ravenclaw died out. It is possible that descendants of Helga Hufflepuff still exist.
• According to Pottermore, Gryffindor was from a village in the West Country of England that would later be named Godric's Hollow in his honour (Pottermore).
• The films and supplementary materials often depict portraits and statues of the founders, establishing a more concrete visual identity for them than is described in the novels. For example, the film version of the Chamber of Secrets shows Slytherin's statue as a massive, imposing human face carved from rock, differing from the “monkey-like” description in the book.