Hey everyone, welcome to another installment of Harry Potter Theory.
In today’s video, we’re going to be exploring the life of Hogwarts founder Godric Gryffindor.
Of the four founders of Hogwarts, there are none quite as beloved as Godric Gryffindor.
He was one of the most powerful duelists of his era, with both a wand and a sword.
And the students of his house have proven themselves time and time again, as champions
of the wizarding world, as they defeated the likes of Gellert Grindelwald, Lord Voldemort,
and many a’ dark wizard.
But despite his impressive legacy, many of his most famous feats and achievements have
all but been forgotten.
So today, we’re going to take a look at the life and legacy of Godric Gryffindor,
and discover what made the founder of House Gryffindor so influential.
Godric Gryffindor was likely born sometime before the year 960 C.E., in a village in
the West Country of England.
Unlike some of his other cofounder’s, like Salazar Slytherin, the exact location of Godric
Gryffindor’s birth is pretty easy to determine.
In commemoration of his long years of service to the wizarding community, that small village
in the West Country was renamed to Godric’s Hollow in his honor.
And it was actually home to many of the most famous Gryffindors of the 19th and 20th centuries.
The Dumbledore Family, perhaps as early as 1864, resided in Gordic’s Hollow… as well
as the Potter Family, who lived in a small family cottage, until Lord Voldemort’s fateful
attack.
During his life, Godric Gryffindor must have shared the same challenges as other witches
and wizards of the time.
Mainly, the persecution of the community by Muggles, who were increasingly fearful of
those who could wield magic.
Throughout his life, Godric Gryffindor surely faced the hatred of the non-wizarding community.
But interestingly…
when compared to one of his childhood friends, Salazar Slytherin, Godric never tried to retaliate.
In fact, amongst the four Hogwarts founders, Godric was the most vocal in his support of
the Muggle community and Muggle-born wizards.
That alone has led some to question Gryffindor’s own heritage.
Some would suggest that Gryffindor might have been a half-blood, although this is extremely
unlikely.
One of his closest friends was, as we’ve already mentioned, Salazar Slytherin… who
spent nearly his entire life working on behalf of pure-bloods.
As a young man, in the decades prior to the founding of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft
and Wizardry, Godric became quite an icon.
With his skills with both a sword and a wand, he was renowned as one of the greatest duelists
of the era.
And with his massive, broad shoulders, and red hair that was often described as a “lion’s
mane”... he was an intimidating presence in any arena.
Even though he could defeat almost any opponent in a magical duel, Gryffindor often opted
to use a simple sword, especially if he was facing off against a Muggle.
Godric took great care to preserve honor and respect, even in combat… the very traits
that would go on to partially define his house at Hogwarts.
Sometime before the year 990 C.E, the year Hogwarts was founded, Godric Gryffindor found
himself in correspondence with three of the greatest wizards and witches of his era.
One was his longtime friend, Salazar Slytherin.
The other two were Helga Hufflepuff, a witch from Wales who was highly talented in charms,
and Rowena Ravenclaw, a witch from Scotland who had an infamous falling out with her own
daughter.
The four were already famous for their abilities, and together, they hoped to combine their
skills in order to teach future generations of witches and wizards.
Each of these founding members of Hogwarts had their own vision for education, and with
that, were given leeway in how they instructed classes.
In their early discussions, it must have been apparent that Godric Gryffindor, just as his
reputation as one of the greatest sword duelists of the time seemed to indicate, hoped to find
the bravest and most determined students.
While some members, like Helga Hufflepuff, didn’t put such heavy burdens on freshly
enrolled students, as Gryffindor did.
And if there’s a flaw in the legendary hero of England, then that’s perhaps the largest
one.
In creating his house, Gryffindor hoped to establish a legacy that would last for centuries
to come…
One centered around the warrior’s ideals that he himself embodied when he withdrew
his ruby-inlaid sword in combat.
But when compared with our own modern concept of education, and the role that a teacher
should play in a student’s development, Godric’s could be said to be far outdated.
Some might even say that Godric wrongly conflated his own delight in dueling, and battles to
the death, as ‘brave’.
So when he served as the leader of his house, he might have taught his children to solve
problems by fighting their way out of the situation, instead of using other tactics…
like diplomacy, which actually might have saved more lives.
Whatever your take on Godric’s education philosophy may be, it’s hard to deny the
effect the wizard had.
While other houses, like Slytherin, gave rise to some of the most terrible dark wizards
the world would ever see, Gryffindor brought about the likes of Albus Dumbledore, James
and Lily Potter, and Minerva McGonagall.
As the school grew, Gryffindor, Slytherin, Hufflepuff, and Ravenclaw discovered a handful
of challenges that they would need to overcome.
First of all, even though wizards and witches tended to be longer lived than their Muggle
counterparts, they would inevitably die.
The founders wondered how students would be sorted, in the years following their deaths.
During those discussions, it’s likely that the other founders simply wanted their heirs…
the teachers that would succeed them… to select students on their behalf.
But Gryffindor had a different idea.
He popped the brown leather hat off of his head, and together they imbued it with the
power to decide which House a student would belong to.
This, of course, is the Sorting Hat.
But Gryffindor laid another, secret enchantment on the hat… and it had to do with his sword.
Sometime just before, or sometime during, his time at Hogwarts, Godric Gryffindor had
commissioned the creation of a silver sword.
In later years, it would become known simply as the Sword of Gryffindor.
But during that time, the goblins, who had created the blade, might have known it as
Ragnuk’s sword.
After all, Ragnuk the First, one of the greatest silversmiths of the age, had spread a rumor
amongst the goblin community that the sword was actually his… and Gryffindor had stolen
it.
The goblins had been so angered by the news, that a group of easily manipulated, goblin
thugs tried to knock Godric unconscious, and rip the sword from him.
Gryffindor famously withdrew his wand in response, and cast a spell on the woefully outmatched
goblins, sending them back to Ragnuk with a threat of their own: If the goblin ever
tried to steal the sword again, Godric would drag its blade through the lot of them, and
leave them lifeless on their dust-covered foundry floor.
When Gryffindor joined the other three founders in enchanting the Sorting Hat, he added an
additional bit of magic… whenever a true gryffindor was in need of help, they could
reach their hand into the hat to withdraw Ragnuk’s sword.
Now, Godric was never highly regarded for his mastery of divination, but the enchantment
he put on the Sorting Hat seems to indicate otherwise.
Why else would children at Hogwarts need quick access to a weapon that was powerful enough
to slay a basilisk?
Again… the same critics of Godric’s legacy might simply suggest that he was a combat-obsessed
wizard of the Dark Ages, who couldn’t quite distinguish what was appropriate for his students.
But that hardly seems to be right.
After all, the time of Godric Gryffindor was filled with more than enough enemies to make
a young wizard fear for their life.
With witch-hunts looming on the horizon, and dark wizards from within the English magical
community sprouting here and there, Godric had every reason to worry for future students
at Hogwarts.
But as the years passed at Hogwarts, Gryffindor faced a new challenge, with his oldest friend.
Salazar Slytherin was becoming increasingly intolerant of Muggles and Half-Bloods.
He didn’t like the idea of Hogwarts admitting anyone other than Pure-Bloods.
If we look past the simple prejudice, and try to figure out why Slytherin held such
an extreme opinion, it’s likely due to his own painful experience with Muggles in his
youth.
Whatever torment he faced at the hands of the non-Magical community certainly didn’t
excuse his own extremism, but it does add an extra sense of tragedy.
In the end, Gryfindor, along with the other founding members of Hogwarts, decided that
enough was enough… and Slytherin left the school.
That, unfortunately, was the last great event in Godric’s life.
After Salazar’s departure, Gryffindor surely missed his old friend.
They had created so much together, and helped the wizarding community in innumerable ways.
If only Salazar could forget his obsession with pure-bloods, then who knows what new
heights the pair would have achieved.
In the years that followed, Godric likely passed the seasons in the same ways he always
did… teaching the next generations of witches and wizards from within the walls of Hogwarts,
watching the seasons change time and time again.
Eventually, Gryffindor died, passing sometime in the 11th century.
His legacy, and the ideals of courage and stalwartness, became the bedrock for much
of the wizarding community as we know it today.
Without his contribution to Hogwarts, it’s unlikely that the world could have survived
the rise of wizards like Gridewald and Voldemort.
But, perhaps more interestingly, the fates of the greatest Gryffindors, Harry Potter
and Albus Dumbledore, likely would have turned out far darker.
And that’s it for this video!
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Until next time
Remember
It does not do to dwell on dreams and forget to live