However, the other founders didn't agree with Slytherin, particularly Godric Gryffindor. Slytherin disliked taking students from Muggle families, seeing them as untrustworthy and unworthy of being taught magic, and tried to persuade the other founders to only take students from pure-blood families. The statue of Salazar Slytherin and the hiding-place of Slytherin's Basilisk in the Chamber of SecretsĪfter founding Hogwarts and co-existing for years, a rift began to grow between Slytherin and the other founders. But he has fallen prey to the ridiculous notion that Muggle-borns are somehow as capable as pure-bloods.' - An excerpt from Salazar Slytherin's note, in his own hand I had dared hope that Godric's thoughts aligned with my own that he understood why the calibre of students needed to be exceptional. I cannot persuade even one of them to listen to reason.

' I fear we shall never come to an accord. Īs time advanced, however, the Chamber turned into legend, as recounted by Professor Cuthbert Binns to his students one-thousand years later. It was opened again in 1992, by Ginny Weasley under the influence of Tom Riddle's Diary, which contained a fragment of his soul. In 1943, Tom Riddle, the Heir of Slytherin, opened the Chamber and used the Basilisk to attack Muggle-borns, resulting in the death of Myrtle Warren. The Chamber contained a Basilisk which could only be controlled by his own descendant, the ' Heir of Slytherin', to be used to purge the school of all Muggle-borns. įinally, and most famously, Salazar Slytherin was responsible for the construction of the Chamber of Secrets beneath the Dungeons of Hogwarts Castle.

The secret of the Scriptorium passed through his descendants, the House of Gaunt, for generations, until it was eventually opened by Ominis Gaunt, along with Sebastian Sallow and their mutual friend, in the 1890–1891 school year. There, he kept his Spellbook, a tome that recorded his life and gave further insight into the Dark Arts. He constructed a secret Scriptorium, which could only be accessed by those who spoke Parseltongue and had the willingness to cast the Cruciatus Curse on somebody else to enter. He also taught the Unforgivable Curses, such as the Imperius Curse, which were not illegal at the time. He sent one student on a task to study a Dark relic in the nearby Feldcroft Catacomb, which had the power to summon Inferi, which Slytherin recorded in his Spellbook. Īs a professor, he was in favour of teaching the Dark Arts. His house within Hogwarts was symbolised by a serpent, with house colours of green and silver. He also selected his students according to their cunning, ambition, and blood purity. The qualities which Slytherin prized in his ' handpicked students' included resourcefulness, determination, and a certain disregard for the rules, along with the ability to speak Parseltongue.

He appeared to have carefully selected the members of his own House. Hogwarts founder ĭuring his adulthood, in 993, Salazar Slytherin founded Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, with Godric Gryffindor, Helga Hufflepuff and Rowena Ravenclaw. He taught it the unique ability to 'sleep' when commanded in parseltongue. Īt some point, Slytherin created his own wand, made of Snakewood with a core of Basilisk horn. During his youth, he was best friends with Godric Gryffindor. He and his family had the rare magical gift of speaking Parseltongue. Salazar Slytherin was raised into a pure-blood family in either England or Ireland, where he was either born or raised in a fen-land area.

Chamber of secrets cast