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Salazar Slytherin, one of the four founders of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, was born in medieval eastern England, most likely the Norfolk region, and came “from fen” according to the Hogwarts Sorting Hat. A pure-blood wizard, Salazar Slytherin had many natural-born gifts. The Slytherin family was known for possessing the rare talent of speaking Parseltongue and it is said that all with this gift are related to the Slytherin line in some way. Slytherin was also known for his skill in Legilimency, as the most successful Basilisk breeder (to date), and was rumored to be accomplished in the Dark Arts.

In his heyday, Slytherin helped build Hogwarts with the other three founders, Godric Gryffindor, Helga Hufflepuff, and Rowena Ravenclaw. Slytherin carefully selected the students he accepted to his house. House Slytherin, represented by the snake, accepted pure-blood students who showed a propensity for cleverness, determination, resourcefulness, and a disregard for rules. Students who could speak Parseltongue were especially favored. Students of Slytherin house, according to the Sorting Hat, are cunning, ambitious, and pure-bloods. The house colors of Slytherin are green and silver.

Before he severed ties with the other founders, he and Godric Gryffindor were close friends. Unfortunately, while the other founders wished to accept all magical children into their school, Salazar was distrustful of Muggle-borns and wanted to exclude them from magical education at Hogwarts. The other founders denied his request and a rift grew between himself and them, especially with Gryffindor, who vehemently opposed limiting the student body. While the rift was growing, Salazar secretly built the Chamber of Secrets. Rumored to have originally been built as a Dark Arts classroom, the chamber became home to a Basilisk that Salazar hatched and raised himself. The Basilisk lived well over a thousand years, making it the oldest Basilisk on record, beating the average of 900 years. The Basilisk also is not recorded as dying of old age, so it is unknown how long it might have survived.

Eventually, the rift between Slytherin and the other founders came to a head, resulting in a small conflicts between the houses of Slytherin and Gryffindor. Slytherin chose to leave the school, including the Chamber of Secrets and his Basilisk, for the preservation of Hogwarts and his own ambitions. It is thought that he lived long after leaving Hogwarts and that he died sometime in the Middle Ages, but no record of his life after Hogwarts has been recovered.

Despite his differences with the other founders, Slytherin was one of the greatest wizards of his age and his likeness hangs on the walls of Hogwarts for all to see. One portrait hangs in the Headmaster’s office while the other portrait guards the secret entrance to the shortcut between the dungeon’s antechamber and Entrance Hall side room. The password is “mortal dread”, though Salazar is rarely in his frame, choosing to occupy a painting with the other four founders located in the Entrance Hall side room, still bickering with Gryffindor still to this day.