This scroll details the rise of the Four, the evil group of wizards and witches who first founded this very school. It follows their lives from the beginnings to their current states. So read on and learn the secrets of the four greatest wizards to live.

Let us begin with Mordred Wrathmire. Born to a pureblooded wizard family, Mordred was the eldest of three boys. His father was none other than Mortainius Wrathmire, the infamous acolyte of Vanhal, the first ever necromancer. As an acolyte, Mortainius learned much of that blackest of the dark arts, and was very nearly as adept as his master when the dire Great Summoning of 1266 occurred. Vanhal raised all of the dead across Europe and rode forth from his hidden mountain keep in the Reikwald of Germany to smite the Order of the Mages Templar, the precursor to the Ministry of Magic.

With his undead horde numbering in the hundreds of thousands, he cut a bloody swathe through the empire of men, before finally assaulting the gates of Avalorn, the mystical city of the Templars. The bitter battle that ensued was to go down in history, with Vanhal's forces being whittled down slowly, only to replenish themselves after a great victory. All the while, Mortainius acted as Vanhal's lieutenant, leading entire regiments of the dead in his master's name. As Vanhal grew more and more insane from the fury of battle and the titanic effort of coordinating the vast legions, Mortainius seized his opportunity and began to slowly usurp control of the most powerful regiments, bending them to his will, yet still following Vanhal's commands.

Finally, the battle turned. The mighty White Wizard Uther Lightbringer challenged Vanhal in what was to be Vanhal's last battle. The pure and almost holy magic of Uther overpowered Vanhal and his daemonic retainers, and Vanhal was dealt a shattering blow to the skull by Uther's hammer. Thus ended the reign of Vanhal the Cursed, and with his demise ended his army. Mortainius realized that to continue his control of the forces would give away his powers, and draw him into an inevitable battle with Uther, so he hurled what remaining forces were left at the defenders and fled.

He fled north, till he came to the coastal city of Rivenspeak. There he hid out from the church's holy purges and the raids of the Templars. For twelve years he posed a lowly court magician for the King of Rivenspeak, thus ensuring his safety within the court. It was here that he met Morghana, daughter of the King, and a powerful enchantress. The royal line of Rivenspeak was always made up of wizards, although time and laziness had robbed them of most of their abilities, leaving them only slightly skilled in some areas of magic. Morghana had obviously been some throwback to the more powerful blood of the family's ancestors.

Morghana and Mortainius fell deeply in love, and together they fled the city, to live out life quietly in the moldering castle of Mortainius' former master. From their passions were born three sons, Mordred being the eldest, followed by Arkhan, and finally Mannfred. Mordred was always his father's favorite, and he received a rudimentary schooling in the Dark Arts from his father. Mordred grew up like any other boy from a wizard family, and was eventually sent to Hogwarts. Here he was forced to live a constant lie, faking his father's identity, and his own in order to fit in. He was placed in Slytherin, and here he flourished. It was here that he met his fellow Slytherins Pansy Evilan and Wormtail Hemlock, who would later become members of the Four along with him.

In his fourth year, Mordred grew restless and impatient with the lessons he was receiving, being gifted with a fine and powerful mind. He took to experimenting with his Dark Powers on school grounds, trying to apply the teachings of pure magic to the powers of Dark magic. During one such session, he was discovered by a Gryffindor, and fearing the boy would tell, he killed him. He merged the boy with a nearby wall, trapping the young man's living flesh within the very stone itself. The echoes and screams of pain sent Mordred into swoons of ecstasy, but also alerted the staff. Within moments, Mordred's foul deed had been discovered, and the teachers were preparing to have Mordred sent to Azkaban.

Luckily, one of the Slytherin teachers had been a lesser summoner under Vanhal, and recognised the son of his former superior. He set Mordred free, creating a diversion so as to allow Mordred's escape. Thus began Mordred's long pilgrimage of learning. At barely sixteen, he was forced to wander the wilds, seeking out the mightiest of Dark wizards, each time being forced to undergo grueling tests of magical and physical prowess to prove his worthiness. In payment, he was treated as little better than a slave on most occasions, forced to do pathetic and insulting tasks in exchange for a spell. Sometimes the wizards had more disturbing reasons for accepting a young man into their domains, and Mordred was forced to endure such things as having his very life essence tapped, or being subjected to the sadistic and sexual torments of evil men in their pursuits of vain pleasure. All of this he endured for the love of power and learning, obeying every order and instruction to ensure his master's satisfaction.

So it was that Mordred received a very diverse and advanced education, although the experiences and ordeals he was forced to endure left him deeply psychologically scarred. He finally returned home after being satisfied that he had drained the knowledge from each of his mentors. Upon arriving at his parents' home, he found that his brothers were steadily eating away the family's fortune and selling off the heirlooms that were by right of first born his. His family was at first delighted by his return (at least his parents were - his brothers felt rather differently) and Mordred suggested a grand family feast in the outer wing. This was greeted with great enthusiasm by his father, who rarely ever ventured forth from the castle at all, and had very little reason to celebrate at all these days. Pretending that he had just graduated from Hogwarts, Mordred strung together a long tale about his time at the Academy, but saying that he would save the best bits for the feast.

When the feast occurred, it was a small but lavish affair, with much food and ample wine. Mordred spun story after story his his family, who listened aptly, their attention aided greatly by the vast amounts of wine. As soon as all of Mordred's family were suitably inebriated, he (who hadn't managed to drink any of the wine) exited the single entrance to the dining hall and bolted it shut behind him. He then set fire to the hall, using a fierce magical flame which burnt more strongly than anything natural could produce. The screams of his family, like music to his ears, lasted long, and though their flesh was charred, they took long to die.

Mordred then busied himself with restoring the family treasures to their original pristine quality. Volumes were lovingly copied out by hand, while some of the wands and staffs were taken to professionals for restoration. Over the next few years, he studied and trained so as to better his powers, and here shall we leave his tale until a later time.

Wormtail Hemlock was the daughter of renowned poison master Montgomery Hemlock. By the age of two, she had poisoned two of her cousins, both her cats, her grandfather and the neighbor's son. All were dead within minutes of ingesting her "special cakes" which she would fondly prepare in the garden.

Growing up in an apothecary gave her an excellent education in the properties of chemicals and herbs, and her venoms were soon fetching higher prices than those of her father. So it was, that when she came of age, she was sent off to Hogwarts, where her magical schooling would begin. Earning herself a position in Slytherin, she quickly found that she was most adept at a number of other social skills as well - lying, cheating and stealing. One most infamous incident involved her being issued an F by her charms teacher. That night, she stole through the castle's ancient sewer system till she reached the professor's room. He was asleep, and so she stole over to his bed and pricked him with a specially prepared needle. The professor awoke with a start, then froze rigidly as the paralysis potion did it's work. With all his muscles frozen, save those controlling his rapidly moving eyes, he was completely at the mercy of young mistress Hemlock.

As part of her surprise, she had prepared a vial filled with long, barbed needles, each coated with venom, which inflicted pain rather than death. The first two of these needles she sunk into his eyeballs, causing them to burst and ooze forth a dripping, bloodied slime. She placed about a dozen of the needles into his body, then left back through the sewers. The next morning the professor was found, and the whole school was put on alert for the vicious murderer, who was never found. It took the professor precisely six weeks of pain filled agony to die, paralyzed all the way through.

It was at Hogwarts that Wormtail met her two future compatriots - Mordred Wrathmire, and Pansy Evilan, both of whom were in Slytherin as well. They became good friends in their first year, and continued to aid each other all the way through their years there. Wormtail was present when Mordred was expelled, and even aided him by flooding the main halls with drowse vapor, so as to allow him a safer escape. After Mordred's dark act, she and Pansy became instant suspects, having been his friends and confidants. Thus, Wormtail endured the next few years of schooling subjected to torment and persecution. She became addicted to her self made drugs, yet she still managed to pass the finals with sterling results.

Upon leaving Hogwarts, Wormtail joined the Assassin's guild, where her skills earned her infamy and fortune. Her tremendous skills with poisons and stealth meant that she soon rose through the ranks of the guild to earn the position of Death mistress, one of the select inner circle controlled by the Grand High Assassin himself. She killed many during her time in the guild, but her greatest task is recorded in the Tome of Murder, the dark book used by the Guild to record their greatest kills. This is the excerpt.

"Death Report 2783556DRT - The Saldran family - The entire family is to be killed, including Lord Saldran, his wife, four children and twelve servants. A sum of 20,000 gold crowns upon completion of task.
Task Completed by Death mistress Hemlock.
Report: The family was preparing for dinner. The servants were cooking the meals in the kitchen, and those that were in other parts of the house were dispatched first a blowpipe. Five servants left in dining quarters, and the Saldrans themselves. The plates were treated with acidio powder moments before the family entered the dining room. The first course was served, after which the servants left to return to the kitchens. Three dispatched in corridors. Meanwhile, family consumes slow acting poisons. Within ten minutes, their stomachs were eaten away by the poison. All Saldrans dead after twenty minutes. Last two servants (cooks) killed by repeater crossbow pistol. Flame accelerant spell cast on floors, and house ignited, burning evidence.
Entire job time - 1 hour, 48 minutes."

What the report does not mention is that the Saldrans lived on one floor of a large mansion, shared by eight other families, all on various floors. The fire created caused the deaths of over fifty people, and no one from the building escaped alive. Thus did Wormtail continue in her dire line of work for some years, although not all her tasks were carried out with such ruthlessness.

The next member of the four is the most mysterious. Pansy Evilan, the evil mystic sorceress, is an unknown amongst many Dark Magic communities. Nothing is known of her childhood, save that her parents died while she was very young, leaving her a vast fortune. During her time at Hogwarts, she was secretive and shy, keeping to herself. In fact one of the only people she ever spoke to openly was Mordred Wrathmire, and she was most distressed at his expulsion. In fact, most say that she had seemed depressed for days before the incident, so some guess that she may have known.

Pansy definitely had a great gift as far as divination was concerned. She could predict the future and was a powerful soul watcher. Yet, despite her obvious evil alignment, we have no reports of anything that she may have done. Only a few students say that they saw multiples of her, that she could be seen attending several classes at once while reading in the common room as well. If these are true then signs would indicate that Pansy is also a spirit walker, able to project her consciousness out of her body.

She remained at Hogwarts for the full duration of the years, not even seeming to mind the adversity received due to her friendship with Mordred. She passed every exam with full marks, as if she had known the questions before they were given......