Salazar Slytherin

Salazar Slytherin is described as "power hungry" by the Sorting Hat, and was known as "shrewd Slytherin from fen". The Fens of eastern England are marshlands around Norfolk, Lincolnshire, Cambridgeshire and adjoining counties, although it is not established that Slytherin actually came from that particular region. Slytherin is the only founder whose physical appearance was ever described in any detail; his statue in the Chamber of Secrets depicts a man "ancient and monkey-like, with a long thin beard that fell almost to the bottom of his sweeping robes."
Slytherin was a Parselmouth, a wizard with the rare ability to speak with snakes. Like Rowena Ravenclaw and Godric Gryffindor, Slytherin appears to have carefully selected members of his House. According to Albus Dumbledore, the qualities which Slytherin prized in his "handpicked students" included resourcefulness and determination. He also selected his students according to cunning, ambition, and blood purity.
Slytherin's background is first discussed by Professor Binns in Chamber of Secrets: he describes the foundation of the school and of the breach between Slytherin and the other founders, that the castle was founded far from Muggles because, at that time, common people feared magic and persecuted suspected wizards and witches. Slytherin wished after a time to be more selective in admissions to Hogwarts, but not restricted to only his own house; he used blood purity as a factor of selecting students since the school's inception. He wanted magical learning restricted to all-magical families, as he believed Muggle-born students to be untrustworthy and he disliked teaching such students.
According to ancient legend, Slytherin was responsible for the construction of the Chamber of Secrets, the home of a magically created basilisk. This snake was known to be susceptible to control by his Parselmouth descendants, and thus left it there to purge the school of all Muggle-borns. This occurred shortly before infighting among the four founders broke out and resulted in Slytherin's departure. The last known heir of Slytherin, Tom Riddle, discovered the Chamber and released the basilisk, resulting in the death of a student (Moaning Myrtle) and Rubeus Hagrid's wrongful expulsion from Hogwarts. Though the Hogwarts faculty denied the chamber's existence, it was rediscovered by Harry and Ron in their attempt to rescue Ginny Weasley.
Slytherin owned a locket that became an heirloom of his last known line of descendants, the Gaunts. The locket was sold to Caractacus Burke by Merope Gaunt, and then bought by Hepzibah Smith, who then had it stolen from her by Voldemort. Voldemort turned the locket into a Horcrux and hid it in a cave he had visited during his youth. The locket was later stolen by Regulus Black with the aid of his house-elf, Kreacher, but it was then taken by Mundungus Fletcher for a short time until the locket was confiscated by Dolores Umbridge. The locket was recovered by Harry and later destroyed by Ron with Gryffindor's sword.
Slytherin was the featured "Wizard of the Month" for June 2007 on J. K. Rowling's website. "One of the four celebrated Founders of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, Salazar Slytherin was one of the first recorded Parselmouths, an accomplished Legilimens, and a notorious champion of pureblood supremacy."[13]
The name Salazar is originally a Portuguese family name, of Basque origins. António de Oliveira Salazar was the dictator of Portugal (where Rowling lived for several years) from 1932 to 1968. Rowling stated that the name "Salazar Slytherin" was chosen after the Portuguese dictator's name.[citation needed]