The Fifth House: Galegold

The new clock filled with amethysts, featuring a purple and gold flag depicting the Occamy and the Niffler in a yin-yang pattern. And at the top, one could read: Galegold!

(I challenge you to design and display the new Galegold House flag)

The Great Hall shook once more, and to everyone's surprise, it expanded enough to add a fifth table, emerging from somewhere between the Gryffindor and Hufflepuff tables, exactly like the other four and at the same distance as the rest.

The tranquil night sky of the ceiling was now sprinkled with purple and gold fireworks assuming the shapes of creatures from the new house, dancing throughout the place.

And while all this was happening, Soisen took off his hat and left it on the stool, walking calmly toward the new table under the gaze of everyone. In the few steps he took to reach it, his tie and robe had changed to represent the badge and colors of Galegold House. As he faced the astonished looks of all present while seated at the table, he asked:

"Now, is it time for us to eat?" He was very curious to see if the food prepared by the house-elves was comparable to that of his mother.

Even Dumbledore, who was as stunned as the rest, regained his senses upon hearing the question.

"In fact, a sumptuous meal would do us all good. Let's begin!" he exclaimed, forgetting even to utter the usual nonsensical words of each year.

The food appeared on the tables, and with the tempting smell of hot food, everyone unanimously decided they could be amazed later.

"Now is the time to fill our stomachs!"

Soisen enjoyed roast beef with mashed potatoes and cranberry sauce, accompanied by a cucumber, tomato, and carrot salad. The buckwheat and honey bread greatly helped to clean up the sauce remains. But he didn't touch the pumpkin juice; that stuff was repulsive, and he never liked anything made with pumpkin.

In fact, no one in the family liked it, and they had quite a broad and varied diet.

"They don't even buy them for decoration on Halloween!"

"Change my pumpkin juice for apple juice, please," he gently tapped the table and requested. The change happened almost instantly, and he was able to enjoy a wonderful meal.

After dinner, the prefects led the excited newcomers to their common rooms, and Soisen rose to do the same, but he was intercepted by the gentle and manipulative headmaster, Albus Dumbledore, and his entourage.

"Mr. Galegold, I must say you have left us with a lasting surprise at our first encounter," he commented with a kindly old man's laugh. "Would you mind if we accompany you? We are curious about some details."

"Of course, Headmaster," Soisen smiled politely and departed from the Great Hall followed by Dumbledore, McGonagall, Snape, Pomona, and Flitwick.

"Tell us, Mr. Galegold, how is it that the school now has five houses?" McGonagall asked the question that had been boiling in the minds of the professors and the headmaster.

There were so many things to do now because of that. Discovering a new part of the school's history, organizing the class schedule, finding a house tutor, etc.

"Because my biological mother is one of the five founders of the school: Cyrah Galegold," explained Soisen. "The world only knows four founders because my mother was in search of something more important to her, and for whatever reason, it seems the other founders found it unnecessary to reveal her merit. Something I intend to correct with my time."

"How is that possible? If the founder was your biological mother, then your age should be..." Pomona questioned.

"Ancient magic, very ancient. To be precise, that magic was ancient even before Hogwarts opened its doors for the first time," Soisen explained as they began to climb the stairs. "You can understand that I was... asleep until someone woke me up and brought me to the current world. However, due to an incident, I was sent to live with my current family. But during my slumber, I inherited the necessary knowledge of who I am along with everything else."

The only pity was the family's special spells that would only be revealed once he reached adulthood.

"And what about the change around us?" Flitwick asked, trying to match everyone's pace. "I feel like Hogwarts has changed, but it's still the same."

"Hogwarts was never complete, Professor. The magic within its walls would only be complete when the five founders established their houses, a condition unfulfilled until today. Especially considering that the castle will be under my ownership when I come of age."

"Impossible!" Severus intervened at that moment. "The castle was given by Salazar Slytherin. Even if there were a title of ownership, it should be for his descendants."

"Correction, it belonged to Salazar Slytherin's father," Soisen pointed out, showing no signs of annoyance at the interruption. "The Salazar family had debts to the Galegolds, so he transferred the castle's ownership to my family to pay them off. Although it's true that it was Salazar who suggested to my mother to use the castle for the school."

"Should we be concerned about the school closing, Mr. Galegold?" Dumbledore asked astutely.

Soisen was sure that if he gave an affirmative answer, perhaps Dumbledore would have to take measures to prevent it. And those measures might not be of the light path.

For the greater good, of course.

"No, a magical pact was made back then, a suggestion from Rowena Ravenclaw to avoid that possible scenario, and I have no intention of doing it either. We've arrived. Here it is, the Galegold common room," Soisen stopped in front of the statue of a Niffler with half-moon glasses holding a parchment and quill.

"I always wondered why this statue didn't move," Pomona said. "How does access to the common room work?" she asked with curiosity. "Passwords? Questions? A dance, perhaps?"

What kind of obsession do wizards have with dancing nowadays?

"No, it's much simpler than that," Soisen looked at the statue and said. "I declare, today I have established a new house at Hogwarts."

The statue came to life and pretended to carefully note Soisen's declaration, nodded satisfied, and opened its arms. From its stomach pocket, a tiny Occamy peeked out and grew to open its mouth, revealing the entrance to the common room.

"A member of Galegold House who wishes to enter the common room must declare a change, which can be in the form of gain or loss. They can declare they've lost points, gained knowledge, learned a cooking recipe, anything works as long as they don't return the same as they left. And each declaration is only valid once."

"And can those not belonging to the house enter?"

"Of course, but unlike the previous example, they must donate something valuable. It could be money, spell books, jokes, wool socks, dragon dung, etc. Anything appropriate with 'value' is welcome. However, it also has its limits. For example, it won't accept notes on a spell if it has already accepted them in the past, unless they are more detailed and useful."

"What is Galegold House's motto?" Dumbledore asked. "We have the house of courage, intelligence, loyalty, and cunning. What ideals are present here?"

"Change, innovation, wealth, and adaptation. Those selected for this house are the inventors, the curious, the merchants, the explorers, and those who can see beyond," he explained as he invited them to enter the common room. "In other words, people who are content with the status quo, who are too rigid, or who do not want anything to change and everything to remain stagnant, will never end up in this house."

The style of the common room was something none of the professors expected, as it had a strong steampunk mechanical atmosphere with deposits of fluorescent purple liquid and bubbling, pipes, futuristic designs of golden metal, and the ambiance of a market.

(In the center, there was a fountain with a silver egg.)

"What is this egg?"

"An Occamy egg, or an imitation to be more precise," Soisen explained. "Every year, the egg will crack when the house earns its first points, and the Occamy golem that will hatch from the egg will grow and shrink as the house's point count changes. The largest size reached will even be noted underneath to try and beat it in another year."

"Fascinating method to reflect the house's growth," Flitwick commented, marveling at the idea.

"The dormitories are individual, but they can be combined up to four of them in case you want to share the space with friends. By the way, each dormitory is limited to its residents. Just as boys cannot enter the girls' dormitory, girls cannot enter the boys' dormitory. In Galegold House, we believe in equality, whether in rights or restrictions," he emphasized. "Finally, we have the warehouse, potion labs, alchemy workshops, indoor pool, Niffler den, Quidditch pitch, library, kitchens, bathrooms, orchards, gym, practice room..."

"One moment, Mr. Galegold," Professor McGonagall interrupted. "Did you say Quidditch pitch?"

"Laboratories?" Snape asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Orchards?" Pomona asked with her eyes lit up.

"Library?" Flitwick asked intrigued.

"Indoor pool?" Dumbledore asked as he rubbed his beard with interest.

"Of course, after all, there's no reason not to apply various undetectable extension spells, right? Galegold House is the largest of all, as literally, there is no more complete and large common room than ours," Soisen proclaimed proudly.