Harry Potter and the Students of the School of the Sphinx

Harry Potter and the Students of the School of the Sphinx

By Angelina Johnson

Chapter 7

The Legend of Mary Slytherin

    The next day seemed to go very slowly. At breakfast, Professor Dumbledore told them that the students from the School of the Sphinx would be arriving sometime during the morning classes. There was still an uneasy buzz around-everyone was afraid that if one school of magic was able to be destroyed, then so were the rest. Everyone else had voiced the same fear that Hermione had had last night-what if Hogwarts was attacked? Harry and Ron posed different questions, though.

    "Do you reckon they speak English?" Ron asked.

    "Dunno. I s'pose they must, if Dumbledore invited them here. He wouldn't ask people to come here if no one was even going to be able to understand them," Harry said.

    "But why would he want to attack the School of the Sphinx? What's there that he wants?" Ginny asked.

    "I haven't a clue. Where do you think they're going to sleep?" Ron asked.

    "Ron, there are more important things to worry about than where they're going to sleep! I think Ginny's on to something! Why would Vol-Voldemort want to attack this school?" Hermione asked.

    "Where they sleep is important. And don't say the name," Ron said.

    "Maybe they'll stay out on the grounds in something, like the students from Beauxbatons and Durmstrangs did," Harry said.

    "I doubt it-Dumbledore made it sound like they're going to be part of our lives, and the students from Beauxbatons and Durmstrangs kept to themselves. I don't think that the students from the School of the Sphinx will do that. They're going to be here too long," Hermione said.

    "The people during the Triwizard Tournament were here practically all year," Ron pointed out.

    "Yes, but......" Hermione said.

    "It doesn't matter. We'll find out in a little while regardless," Harry said.

    "Yeah. We better go ahead and go to History of Magic," Ron said. They bid farewell to Ginny and they headed off towards the History of Magic corridor.

    Ron and Harry were prepared to fall into the regular stupor of History of Magic class, but Hermione raised her hand to start things off.

    "Yes, Miss Grant?" Professor Binns, the ghost who taught History of Magic, said when he entered the classroom through the blackboard.

    "Well, Professor Binns, I was wondering if you could tell me about the School of the Sphinx," Hermione said.

    "The School of the Sphinx? Well, I suppose that would not interrupt my lesson plan too much," Professor Binns said.

        "Now, where to begin? The School of the Sphinx is located somewhere in Egypt. The exact location is not known, but there are rumors that the school is actually inside either the Great Pyramid at Giza, or inside of the Sphinx itself. Muggles think that these buildings are actually just things that were built by their ancestors, but really these were assembled by wizards and witches during the time of the Egyptian pharaohs. However, that does not relate to the school itself. The School of the Sphinx was created shortly after the founding of Hogwarts, and it was actually founded by Salazar Slytherin's sister. History says that originally Mary Slytherin was the one who had the idea for Hogwarts, and that originally Godric Gryffindor, Rowena Ravenclaw, and Helga Hufflepuff were her friends. However, as Mary was many years younger, and her brother was their age, he was the one who took the concept to his powerful schoolmates, and he was the one who founded Hogwarts with the other three. Mary Slytherin stayed active in Hogwarts during it's first few years, but she was part of the reason that Slytherin and Gryffindor began to rift. While they argued over the pureblood nonsense, Slytherin allowed Gryffindor and the others to recruit half-bloods and Muggle-borns, as long as none of them were in his house. However, there was one thing that Salazar Slytherin would not stand for, and it was his sister turning soft. Mary Slytherin was Salazar's half sister, and in her veins ran veela blood. Salazar Slytherin despised her, and he believed that she was demon spawn. He did, however, watch out for her, and he saw things that he could not allow," Professor Binns said.

    "What does that have to do with the School of the Sphinx, though?" Ron asked. Hermione shot an angry glare at him.

    "You can read about Mary Slytherin later," Ron hissed. Hermione shook her head, but she turned her attention back to Professor Binns.

    "Ah, yes, the school. When Salazar Slytherin left Hogwarts, he forced Mary to leave with him. Mary was very angry. Salazar had taken away her ideas and her friends, and so much more. So she ran away from home and turned up in Egypt, where she founded a school of magic that she hoped would rival Hogwarts. However, while her school did set an excellent standard, it did not compare to Hogwarts," Professor Binns said.

    "But why did Mary Slytherin want to compete with her friends?" Seamus Finnigan questioned.

    "Couldn't she have just gone back to Hogwarts?" Lavender Brown asked.

    "Wouldn't Gryffindor and the others have welcomed her?" Parvati Patil wondered.

    "I do not understand the minds of half-human creatures, and I have spent enough time on this subject," Professor Binns said.

    "But why would You-Know-Who want to attack the School of the Sphinx?" Neville asked.

    "I don't know, Mr. Langford. I would have to guess, and then that would not be a fact, or history, so if we could please return to my lesson plan," he said. The class grew silent once again.

    After class, everyone looked around the halls on their way up to the tower, looking for a sign of someone from the School of the Sphinx.

    "I don't believe it! I thought that they'd be here by now. Where's Hermione gone to?" Ron asked. Harry shrugged.

    "Probably looking up Mary Slytherin," Harry said.

    "I never realized that old loony had a sister," Ron said.

    "Neither do most people," Hermione said as she returned. She was holding a very large book under her arms. Harry saw the title was in fading letters- "The Fantastic Four-Slytherin, Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw and Gryffindor."

    "There's a whole chapter on Mary Slytherin. I've never read most of this, but I suppose it will tell us more about what Binns said. Aha! Listen to this. 'Mary Slytherin was the younger half-sister of Salazar Slytherin. She was half-veela, and her brother was ashamed to call her his sister because she was born to his father and a veela woman while his parents were married. Salazar Slytherin preferred not to have anything to do with his sister, or her three best friends, Helga Hufflepuff, Rowena Ravenclaw, and Godric Gryffindor. However, Salazar was forced to come into close contact with them at school, where he was in the same year as them. Mary was actually four years younger than the others. In her final year at school, Mary came up with an idea to found a school of magic with her three best friends. She confided her idea in her brother, who then took the idea to Gryffindor, Hufflepuff, and Ravenclaw. Without Mary, the four founded Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Mary Slytherin was angry with Salazar for stealing her idea, but she understood that her powers were not nearly as great as those of her brother and the other three, and she assumed that what had happened was for the best. However, once she graduated she joined the founders of Hogwarts and helped them in the early years of the school. However, arguments started to rise between Gryffindor and Salazar Slytherin over the purity of blood of students. However, the argument was quickly settled, and Slytherin allowed the others to let Muggle-borns and half-bloods in, as long as they were not put into his house. However, Salazar Slytherin left the school briefly to join his dying mother, and while he was gone his younger sister was in charge of choosing the new students that were placed into Slytherin House. Mary Slytherin allowed Muggle-borns into the house that Salazar Slytherin prided on their purity of blood. When Salazar Slytherin returned, he was furious at his sister's 'softness,' and he threatened her with an ancient prophecy. Godric Gryffindor in particular defended Mary's actions, and he said that Mary had done the right thing and been open-minded. Slytherin was furious, and he used the Unforgivable Curses on his sister, and he controlled her mind. Salazar Slytherin forced his own sister to attack Rowena Ravenclaw, and then he refused to take the blame for Mary's actions. Salazar would have succeeded in forcing Mary to kill Rowena had it not been for Godric Gryffindor's intervention. Gryffindor threatened Mary, and said that if she ever returned to Hogwarts, he would kill her. Salazar Slytherin left shortly after his sister. The reasons why are unknown," Hermione said, finishing the passage.

    "Kill Ravenclaw? Why?" Harry asked.

    "I'm not sure, but I am sure that this prophecy may explain a few things," Hermione said.

    "Did you find it?" Ron asked. She nodded.

    "The prophecy says, 'The one will come. She will be of veela and demon, and she will be the sibling of a monster. She will be the one pure thing in a family of unclean. However, the monster will corrupt her, and the pure one will be deflowered by the lion before the coming of age. He will take down all of her barriers, and she will be weak and vulnerable. Her brother, angry by her happiness, will seek to destroy her happiness and her reputation. The monster will force her to become what he is, and she will harm one of the others. The lion will force her to leave their midst, and she will go to form another school. She will teach all kinds of creatures, and because of her downfall, a monster will rise. She allows the serpent, the monster, to live on, and a new, greater monster will come.' Greater monster?" Hermione asked, shuddering.

    "Voldemort, I reckon. That prophecy makes it sound like she could have killed her brother," Harry said.

    "She should have killed her brother. Her brother was a monster, and she was the only one that had the power to stop him. But she didn't. And that's why Voldemort rose. That's why your parents had to die. That's why so many others died. That's why Sirius spent 12 years in Azkaban. That's why Melissa spent fourteen years alone. That's why so many other bad things have happened-because Mary Slytherin was good, and she couldn't do what so many others would have gladly done. She couldn't kill," Hermione said.

    "She didn't know all of these bad things would happen. Besides, it wasn't just because she wouldn't kill her loony brother, was it?" Ron asked.

        "No. She let herself fall in love with Gryffindor. She let Slytherin go bad. She......" But what Hermione was going to say was lost in a flurry of excitement as Parvati and Lavender ran into the Common Room.

    "They're here! They've arrived!" Lavender squealed.

    "Where are they?" someone asked.

    "Dumbledore's taking them to their quarters. I hear he's turned the room of requirement into a place for them to live," Seamus added as he appeared through the hole in the wall.

    "Let's go have a look," Ron said.

    "No, Ron, we'll see them at lunch," Hermione said firmly.

    "Fine. I'll wait, just as long as we don't talk about Mary Slytherin anymore," Ron said. Hermione agreed.

    "I still want to know what was in the school that Voldemort wanted," Hermione said.

    "Maybe nothing. Knowing Voldemort, he just destroyed the place for fun," Harry said. Ron frowned at him.

    Finally, they went down to the Great Hall for lunch. The Great Hall had been rearranged to accommodate the new arrivals. There was a sixth table alongside the four House tables, and the staff table seemed larger than usual. Harry looked at the new table. All of the students from the School of the Sphinx were already sitting at the table. There were still at least eighty of them. From Dumbledore's description, he had imagined a much smaller number.

    "Dumbledore made it sound like there were only a dozen or two, not eighty," Ron muttered. Harry agreed. Most of the students looked older. He didn't see any that looked younger than 13 or 14. Most of the students were boys. Harry wondered why that was. Maybe the parents of the girls had been less eager to allow their children to stay under a staff that allowed the school to be destroyed. Harry saw that none of the students looked very happy. He could understand this. After all, their school was gone, and so were many of their friends.

    "I only see a couple of teachers," Ron pointed out. Harry glanced at the staff table, and sure enough there were only two unfamiliar faces. One was an old man with white hair and gray eyes. He had a beard, but it was nowhere near as long as Dumbledore's. The second staff member was a small blond woman with dark brown eyes. She was seated next to Melissa. The woman kept smiling at her, but Melissa only turned away and frowned.

    "Melissa doesn't seem real happy. She must know that woman," Ron said.

    "She does. The people from the School of the Sphinx during my Defense Against the Dark Arts class, and that blond lady came into our class. She and Melissa went outside to talk, but Melissa didn't look too happy when she came back in," Ginny said. Harry hadn't even realized that she had joined them.

    "Yeah, well, we had to listen to Binns drone on about some kook during History of Magic," Ron said.

    "I thought it was interesting for once," Harry said.

    "Yeah, the story of Mary Slytherin was interesting, but Binns left out the good parts, like when she attacked dear old Rowena Ravenclaw under her brothers control. We had to hear that from Hermione," Ron said.

    "Yeah, I guess you're right," Harry said as Dumbledore rose. Harry thought to himself that Dumbledore seemed to have made more announcements in the last three days than he had made all of last year.

    "I know that all of you are hungry, but before I give you your food I would like to give a warm welcome to our guests from the School of the Sphinx. They will be joining in some of your classes, as many of their professors chose to stay behind, and they will also have their own Quidditch team in this year's tournament. Instead of thinking of them as a different school, I would like you to consider them another house. I would also like you to consider their teachers to be your teachers. Professor Kristin Langley will be joining Professor Binns in teaching some of your History of Magic classes," Dumbledore pointed to the blond woman, "and Professor Frederic will be assisting me in some of my duties as headmaster." The white-haired man smiled slightly.

    "You may eat now," Professor Dumbledore added. He snapped, and the plates filled with food.

    "Their own Quidditch team? Do you reckon they're any good?" Ron said.

    "Who knows. Another house? This is insanity," Harry said.

    "Oh, boys, you need to be more open-minded! I think it will be fun having all these visitors here. They come from a much different place-there's so much we can learn from them!" Hermione exclaimed excitedly.

    "I don't want to be open-minded," Ron muttered.

    "It doesn't look like Melissa wants to be either," Harry said. Professor Langley had been talking to his godmother, looking very cheery, but Melissa still did not look very happy. Professor Langley continued to talk, though, and Melissa looked more and more upset with everything she said. Finally, his godmother got up and stormed out of the Great Hall.

    "Wonder what all that was about," Ginny whispered to Harry.

    "I dunno. Let's go find out," Harry said, and he and Ginny rose from their seats. They exited the Great Hall without Ron and Hermione even paying the slightest bit of attention-they were in another argument.