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Revision as of 16:56, 27 October 2011

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"You might belong in Hufflepuff,
Where they are just and loyal,
Those patient Hufflepuffs are true,
And unafraid of toil
"
The Sorting Hat[src]

Hufflepuff is one of the four Houses of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Its founder was the medieval witch Helga Hufflepuff. The Head of Hufflepuff is Pomona Sprout. The Fat Friar is the House's patron ghost. Hufflepuff is the most inclusive among the four houses, valuing hard work, patience, loyalty, and fair play rather than a particular aptitude in its members. Its emblematic animal is the badger, and yellow and black are its colours.

Hufflepuff corresponds roughly to the element of earth.

Traits

Wallofportraits2

Hufflepuff's founder, Helga Hufflepuff.

Students belonging to this house are known to be hard-working, friendly, loyal, and rather impartial. It may be that due to their values, Hufflepuffs are not as competitive as the other houses, or are more modest about their accomplishments. Hufflepuff appears to have the least rivalry with the other houses, except in Quidditch, although the Triwizard Tournament did temporarily put a great deal of strain on the relationship between Gryffindor and Hufflepuff, due to unusual circumstances of the selection of both Harry Potter and Cedric Diggory as Champions.

According to Minerva McGonagall, all four of the houses have produced exceptional witches and wizards in their time, but due to Helga Hufflepuff's policy of accepting any student and its usually poor performance in the House Cup, Hufflepuff is often thought of as the place where students are sorted when they don't have any of the qualities of the other three houses, which have more defined attributes. Perhaps as a consequence of the broad principles of acceptance upon which it is founded, Hufflepuff has been stereotyped as the house of the unexceptional (or, more unkindly, as "a lot o' duffers"). This also corresponds with the Sorting Hat's song where it states:

"Dear Hufflepuff, she took the rest and taught them all she knew."
Badger

The badger, Hufflepuff's symbol.

However, this does not mean that there are no talented students in Hufflepuff, or that there aren't students in other houses who perform poorly. Neville Longbottom was sorted into Gryffindor and is unremarkable in all subjects except, ironically, Herbology, which is Professor Sprout's class. Additionally, Vincent Crabbe and Gregory Goyle appeared to have been particularly poor performers in all subjects despite being Slytherins.

So, though the House is said to have forgone glory for centuries, it is not without its share of exceptional individuals. For example, Hufflepuff student Cedric Diggory brought his house rare glory as its Quidditch captain and later as Hogwarts' Champion in the Triwizard Tournament in 1994.[1] Also, Nymphadora Tonks was an exceptionally talented Auror who was sorted into Hufflepuff.

Hufflepuff firmly demonstrated its loyalty during the Battle of Hogwarts in 1998, when they were second only to Harry Potter's own house of Gryffindor in the number of students willing to stay and fight against Voldemort and his forces in the defence of their school.

Common Room

The Hufflepuff Dormitories and Common room are accessed through a painting near the kitchens. It is a quite cosy and welcoming place; not at all like a dungeon. The entrance to the common room is concealed in a stack of large barrels in a nook on the right hand side of the kitchen corridor. If one taps the barrel two from the bottom, middle of the second row, in the rhythm of ‘Helga Hufflepuff’, the lid will swing open. Hufflepuff is the only house at Hogwarts that also has a repelling device for would-be intruders. If the wrong lid is tapped, or if the rhythm of the tapping is wrong, the illegal entrant is doused in vinegar. The room is filled with yellow hangings and fat armchairs, with little underground tunnels that lead up to the dormitories, which have round barrel-top like doors.[2][3].

Known Hufflepuffs

Hufflepuff Period Attending Hogwarts Notes
The Fat Friar[4] unknown Now the house ghost.
Hengist of Woodcroft[5] Medieval era Founded the all-wizard village of Hogsmeade.
Bridget Wenlock[5] c. 1213 to 1220 Famous Arithmancer who discovered the magical properties of seven.
Artemisia Lufkin[5] c. 1765 to 1772 Minister for Magic from from 1798 to 1811
Grogan Stump[5] c. 1781 to 1788 Minister for Magic from from 1811 to 1819.
Newton "Newt" Scamander[5] c. 1908 to 1916 Famous magizoologist and Headmaster of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.
Dugald McPhail[5] unknown Minister for Magic in an unknown period.
Eglantine Puffett[2] Inventor of the Self-Soaping Dishcloth.
Hepzibah Smith Descendant of Helga Hufflepuff.
Pomona Sprout[4] 1942 - 1949 or 1952 - 1959[6] Later professor of Herbology and Head of Hufflepuff House.
Nymphadora Tonks[7] 1984 - 1991 Auror and a member of the Order of the Phoenix. Wed to Remus Lupin and mother of Teddy Lupin. She was killed in the Final Battle.
Gabriel Truman[5] 1980s and 1990s Prefect
Cedric Diggory 1989 - 1995 Prefect, Captain and Seeker for the Hufflepuff Quidditch team, Triwizard Champion; killed in his sixth year.
Anthony Rickett 1990s Beater for the Hufflepuff Quidditch team.
Cadwallader Chaser for the Hufflepuff Quidditch team.
Gregory Munslow Only seen in the Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince (video game)
Heidi Macavoy Chaser for the Hufflepuff Quidditch team.
Herbert Fleet Keeper for the Hufflepuff Quidditch team.
Malcolm Preece Chaser for the Hufflepuff Quidditch team.
Maxine O'Flaherty Beater for the Hufflepuff Quidditch team.
Stebbins
Summerby Seeker for the Hufflepuff Quidditch team.
Summers
Tamsin Applebee Chaser for the Hufflepuff Quidditch team.
Zacharias Smith Chaser and Captain of the Hufflepuff Quidditch team; member of Dumbledore's Army (abandoned).
Justin Finch-Fletchley 1991 - 1997 (?) Member of Dumbledore's Army. Due to Muggle-born status, most likely did not attend his final year, during which Lord Voldemort controlled Hogwarts and the Ministry of Magic.
Ernie Macmillan 1991 - 1998 Prefect and member of Dumbledore's Army.
Hannah Abbott Prefect and member of Dumbledore's Army.Married to Neville Longbottom.
Leanne Friend of Katie Bell and witnessed her being cursed. Fought in the Battle of Hogwarts. Survived the war.
Megan Jones
Susan Bones Member of Dumbledore's Army. Was the first to Splinch herself in Apparation lessons.
Wayne Hopkins
Heather 1992-1993 Duelling Club member.
Eleanor Branstone 1994 - 2001
Kevin Whitby
Laura Madley
Owen Cauldwell
Rose Zeller 1995 - 2002

Behind the scenes

  • Hufflepuff has produced the fewest Dark wizards of all the four Houses, if any.[2]
  • Giffard Abbott was most likely a Hufflepuff, given his attitude towards this House and sharing a surname with known Hufflepuff Hannah Abbott.
  • Amos Diggory may have been a Hufflepuff if he attended Hogwarts, as his son, Cedric was.[8]
  • The most members of Hufflepuff house appear to have either blonde or brown hair, while Susan Bones and Helga Hufflepuff had brownish-red hair. Furthermore, Pomona Sprout often wore brown clothes. Interestingly, this is reminiscent of the house attributions; brown is associated with the element of earth and is similar to black (one of the Hufflepuff colours). Likewise, blonde hair could represent yellow — another house colour.
  • The Hufflepuff Basement was the only common room that Harry Potter didn't enter during his years at Hogwarts.

See also

Notes and references

  1. Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire
  2. 2.0 2.1 2.2 transcribed Pottermore House information
  3. "A transcript of a web chat with J.K. Rowling" from The Leaky Cauldron
  4. 4.0 4.1 F.A.Q. question on J.K. Rowling's Official Site
  5. 5.0 5.1 5.2 5.3 5.4 5.5 5.6 Pottermore introduction for Hufflepuffs (transcription available here)
  6. Pottermore biography of Minerva McGonagall (transcription available here)
  7. F.A.Q. question at J.K. Rowling's Official Site
  8. In Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, Horace Slughorn remarked that House membership usually runs in families.
Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry
Hogwarts Houses
Gryffindor ClearBG
Hufflepuff ClearBG
RavenclawCrest
Slytherin ClearBG
Namesake Founders
Godric Gryffindor · Helga Hufflepuff · Rowena Ravenclaw · Salazar Slytherin
Heads of House
Minerva McGonagall · Pomona Sprout · Filius Flitwick · Horace Slughorn
House Ghosts
Nearly Headless Nick · Fat Friar · Grey Lady · Bloody Baron