I randomly started thinking of this one story I read about two years ago, but I couldn't find it in any searches. Some things I remember about it, and I do hope that all of these are from this story.

It starts with them all as teenagers or young adults.

Pretty sure they are divided into cliche 'clans'.

Kids in the clans undergo a trial/ritual that signifies stuff if they pass. They have to study magics such as healing and the like, and it's sort of an ascension from apprentice to journeyman, and the elders from all the clans oversee it to see who has the most potential. Hard to describe, might even be a coming of age thing, I don't remember. It's fairly unique, and has a weird name.

I remember all 4 founders are running through a forest, escaping from somewhere maybe. There was something to do with wands, and there was a reason why they didn't carry them. They discover a Goblin village that they attempt to barter with to get wands and other supplies. I think Godric gets his sword here, and I distinctly remembering either him or Salazar carrying a bunch of shrunken Galleons on him, like 'dust' that he enlarges. Odd, but memorable I suppose.

Somehow they get the idea to build a school. I think they discover a ghost or something in a cavern, memory is a bit vague. They build it using house elves own by the Slytherin Clan, which also happens to be the richest clan at the time. I think Salazar's dad is the leader maybe.

The sorting hat is made of a special cloth and is enchanted with Godric's murdered lover by accident I think. I think his lover was from another clan, which was not allowed, and she was already unwillingly promised to another I think. I think the guys name was Hengeist of Woodcroft.

Eventually Salazar leaves the group, or he is forcefully kicked out. I think he kept editing the floor plan without their knowledge, hiding the CoS and stuff like that.

So yeah, that's about it. I'm fairly sure this is all from the same story, but there was a point in time where I read nothing but founder's era fics so I might have a few of them mixed together.

 

No clue sorry, but have you read Tale of a Time Long Gone? it's really good.

 

I actually just found it. I thought I had read it on hpff, because that's where I read most of the founders fics, but I did about 10 minutes of searching on ffn and found it there (I think)

http://www.fanfiction.net/s/4610832/1/The_Journey_From_Oidhche_Shamhna

 

Is it good? Or at least, readable?

 

It's as good as I remember it so far. The writing is above average for ffn fare, with pretty much flawless grammar and spelling, although sentence composition could be better in a few spots.

I've only just finished the first chapter, and it is quite a touching tale. The worldbuilding is excellent, and I am a sucker for magical culture and traditions. It imbues a bit of Celtic polytheism or similar, while some might not like the scant 'religious' overtones, I think it fits perfectly into the founder's era world. The author plays to the emotions quite well. Rowena is one of my favorite HP characters, mostly due to my own writings, and although I disliked what the author did to her, it adds a certain sense of peril, harsh realism, and legitimacy to the tale.