Ravenclaw family

Ravenclaw is the surname of a wizarding family that existed circa one thousand years ago in Britain. It is unknown if they were pure-blood, or if they had Muggle as well as magical heritage. It is also unknown if this family remains extant in either the male or female line, though the Ravenclaw name is well known, as it is the name of one of the houses of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.

Early History
The Ravenclaw family's oldest known member was Rowena Ravenclaw, a prominent witch in the wizarding world, who lived over one thousand years ago and was one of the four legendary founders of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, along with Godric Gryffindor, Helga Hufflepuff, and Salazar Slytherin. Rowena eventually had a daughter by an unknown man, who was named Helena Ravenclaw, and who attended Hogwarts herself when she got older, and captured the fancy of a Baron in Slytherin House.

When she became older, Helena became jealous of her mother's intellect, which was enhanced by a diadem she owned, that increased the intellegence of the wearer. Helena stole the diadem and ran away with it to Albania, and around the same time her mother began to die, according to legend of a broken heart, which may have been brought on by her daughter leaving her. Rowena ordered the Baron who loved her daughter to find Helena and bring her to her.

The Baron found Helena in a forest, though she refused to come back with him, and, in a fit of rage he killed her, and then took his own life when he was overcome with remorse at what he had done. They both returned as ghosts, and went back to Hogwarts Castle, although Rowena died before they ever returned.

Recent History
By the early twentieth century, the Ravenclaw family was not known to have any surviving members, although Helena's ghost, called the Grey Lady, still haunted the school. In the 1940s, a student at Hogwarts, Tom Riddle, who was incedentally related through his mother to the Gaunt family, descendants of the family of another famous Hogwarts founder, Salazar Slytherin, managed to charm the Lady to tell him where it was hidden in the forests of Albania, and when he became a Dark wizard, called "Lord Voldemort," he took the diadem from its place and turned it into one of his Horcruxes, causing the Grey Lady to regret what she had done forevermore.

Over fifty years later, Voldemort and his army of Death Eaters began the Second Wizarding War, which the Grey Lady helped be one by the good side by revealing to Harry Potter what she had done, and how Voldemort had turned the diadem into a Horcrux, which gave him the power to destroy it, and for Voldemort to be killed.

Ravenclaw Family Tree
Rowena Ravenclaw + Unknown male |          Helena Ravenclaw

Rowena Ravenclaw
Rowena Ravenclaw was a witch of Medieval Times and one of the four founders of Hogwarts. She was noted for her cleverness and creativity, and was described by Xenophilius Lovegood as "beautiful." The Sorting Hat introduced her as “fair Ravenclaw, from glen,” suggesting she was from Scotland.

Helena Ravenclaw
In life, Helena Ravenclaw was the daughter of Rowena Ravenclaw, and was killed by the man who later became the Bloody Baron, ghost of Slytherin House. After her death, she became the Grey Lady, the ghost for Ravenclaw House at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.

Appearances

 * Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone
 * Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone (film)
 * Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone (video game)
 * Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets
 * Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets (film)
 * Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets (video game)
 * Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban 
 * Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (film)
 * Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (video game)
 * Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire
 * Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire (film)
 * Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire (video game)
 * Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix
 * Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (film)
 * Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (video game)
 * Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince
 * Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince (film)
 * Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince (video game)
 * Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows
 * Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows (film)
 * Wizard of the Month