- "Wit beyond mesure is a man's greatest treasure"
- — Rowena Ravenclaw
Rowena Ravenclaw was one of the four founders of Hogwarts. Her House admitted only the most intelligent students, Ravenclaw herself was known for her cleverness and creativity.
Ravenclaw was said to be the one who suggested the ever-changing floor plan and moving staircases at Hogwarts. Ravenclaw was good friends with Helga Hufflepuff, until the debate about what students should be admitted at Hogwarts.
When Albus Dumbledore was telling Harry Potter about Lord Voldemort’s Horcruxes, he speculated that perhaps Voldemort had gotten hold of one of Ravenclaw’s relics and turned it into a Horcrux. This theory proved true and the relic was soon revealed to be her Lost Diadem. The diadem was stolen from Ravenclaw by her jealous daughter Helena, who hid it in Albania.
Helena would go on to become the Ravenclaw House ghost, the Grey Lady. She would eventually tell Tom Riddle (Voldemort) the location of the diadem, which he turned into a Horcrux and moved to Hogwarts in the Room of Requirement. She would later tell Harry the same story, and the diadem was eventually destroyed by a Fiendfyre curse cast by Vincent Crabbe.
A statue of Rowena Ravenclaw can be found in the Ravenclaw common room in Ravenclaw Tower, also Xenophilius Lovegood owns a stone bust of Rowena Ravenclaw, which he keeps at his house. Ravenclaw according to her statue was a beautiful but austere looking witch.
In Harry's fourth year, at the Sorting, the Sorting Hat describes her as: "Fair Ravenclaw from glen."
Her description from J.K. Rowling's site is as following: One of the four famous Founders of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, Rowena Ravenclaw was the most brilliant witch of her time, though legend has it that a broken heart - cause unknown - contributed to her early demise.
