A majestic albatross delivers your invitation. You’ve got your wand, experienced a ride on an enchanted zeppelin, made some quick friends, and now you’re all set for your dream adventure: your first day at Magnificent Marigold’s Magical Macademy.
Before diving into spell-learning, you must face the most nerve-wracking event of the year: the sorting ceremony. As soon as you put on the sorting hat, you hear a voice. “Ah, an interesting one. Each year, I choose one student for a special challenge, and this year, it’s you. The Magical Macademy had eight founders who set up our four houses, two by two. Only I know which witch founded which. There was also a mysterious fifth house, lost to time but filled with powerful secrets and artifacts. If you can tell me who founded each house, I’ll let you choose your house. If you can also name the secret fifth house, you’ll inherit everything it possesses.”
“The founders of each house wore different colored hats with unique symbols. No founder started more than one house. One of Funflame or Imaginez founded Gianteye, and the other Longmous. Miraculo or Rimbleby started either Longmous or Meramaid. Septimus didn’t found Vidopnir.”
Time to figure out the puzzle! The hardest part is knowing where to begin. Combining clues is your best shot since no single rule reveals everything. Checking clues 4 and 5 can make things clearer since they both mention Longmous. Miraculo and Rimbleby have moons on their hats, so whoever is in Longmous, moons are covered. Thus, Imaginez with moons cannot be in Longmous and must be in Gianteye, making Funflame the founder of Longmous. Miraculo’s red hat rules him out from Longmous, placing him in Meramaid and Rimbleby in Longmous.
Halfway there! Septimus — ruled out from Vidopnir by clue 6 and his yellow hat not matching Gianteye — must be in Meramaid. Deepmire and Hypnotum, both with stars on their hats, take spots in Gianteye and Vidopnir. Tremenda’s blue hat keeps Deepmire out of Vidopnir, so Deepmire goes to Gianteye and Hypnotum to Vidopnir.
With the founders sorted, it’s time to uncover the secret house. Look for patterns, especially the school’s obsession with the letter M, even its motto translates to “M is a magic letter.” Checking the founders’ names, each has one M in different positions, lining them up 1 through 8. The connection between founders and houses revolves around letters. Each founder and house have the same letter count, creating an alignment. The first letters don’t spell anything.
Focus on the M’s in their names and see the pattern: M, I, N, O, T, A, U, R. Shouting “MINOTAUR” in the dining hall opens a secret passage. The wonders of House Minotaur await you. But being its first and only resident means loneliness. Will you choose riches or friendship?