Ramblings of a Hufflepuff

I never asked to be in Hufflepuff, you know. People rarely do. After all, only those whose families have been in Hufflepuff for centuries know the benefits of being one. We're the "Huffleduffers." The dunderheads. We are of course, unswervingly loyal, if a bit dense, quick to jump to conclusions. We are hardworking and "unafraid of toil," above all. We produce gallant Quidditch captains and silly gossips, prefects too full of themselves, and the most useless rejects one has ever seen. We are the House everyone thinks kindly of, but dislikes. Gryffindors think we're "better than Slytherin," while Slytherins think we're "better than Gryffindor." Ravenclaws would rather die than be caught talking to us.

So when the Sorting Hat was placed on my head, I asked (rather patiently) if I could please be put into a House that would suit my character. I didn't ask to be put into any specific House. At the time, I thought it would have been impolite. The hat chose that to mean that I didn't have any guts to make my own decision, and decided to plop me down in good old Hufflepuff. I must say, I'm rather proud of myself. I didn't cry once or even look disappointed, and tried to make friends immediately.

I didn't realize my good fortune until I was taken to the Common Room. It's a School joke that each House has its own secret society. Ravenclaws snicker about the Cult of the Raven's Claw (rather unimaginative for Ravenclaws, if I do say so myself), Slytherins whisper in low tones about the Verts-et-Argents (although the enthusiasm for that has somewhat died down, and ratings for Death Eaters have gone up), and Gryffindors speak in awe of becoming one of Harry Potter's friends. Ok, so I'm exaggerating about the Gryffindor bit, but that's okay. All they want to do is die heroically as Aurors and earn an Order of the Merlin sometime in their life. And maybe become Gryffindor's heir and inherit special powers in the process. Not asking for much, are they?

Well, we of the Hufflepuffs actually have a secret society. The late Cedric Diggory was the Head of it, but he ended up dying (heroically). It doesn't matter. Back to the secret society.

Despite my misgivings that first night, well ... that night changed my life irrevocably. As First Years, we entered the common room with trepidation. Immediately all of the lights went out. Lumos. Thousands of tiny lights began glowing around the room. Now let me tell you, the Hufflepuff Common Room is in no way as cozy as the Gryffindors' or as foreboding as the Slytherins', or as stuffed with books as the Ravenclaws'. It looks rather intimidating on first sight, because it is quite maze-like, and extends to an underground level (one used just as much as the upper-ground level) in a series of intricate tunnels much like a badger's den. A new or secret passageway through a new part of the school was built each year, a construction project that only the students were privy to (and Professor Sprout, of course). Only once in the history of Hufflepuff had there ever been any serious casualties in the course of building a tunnel. That was fifty years ago, when Tom Riddle roamed the school. The girl who was leading the newest tunneling was caught by Tom Riddle, sneaking around the entrance to the Slytherin Common Room (she needed to find a suitable exit). Within weeks, she was dead.

You may know her as Moaning Myrtle. Oh, as a ghost she's rather whiny and wishy-washy. She's dead. It's her prerogative. When she alive, she was strong and full of spirit. She still is, if you can get her to stop crying long enough to hold a decent conversation. Only if you're Hufflepuff, of course.

This is the way of Hufflepuff. We acknowledge that we need help, even from other houses. But everyone has their secrets, no matter how badly hidden they are. We Hufflepuffs just happen to be very good Secret-Keepers.

We were inducted into the secret society of the Hufflepuffs as First Years, of course, which has no name and needs no name. Some call it the Society, but they're the ones who do most of the manual labor and courier work, and need something to refer to otherwise their tasks are nearly impossible to accomplish.

There are the customary tunnels underneath the Gryffindor, Ravenclaw, and Slytherin Common Rooms. Out of respect, our tunnels do not actually lead into the common rooms, just beneath them and to their entrances. During the day, we suffer through sneering comments as various Houses disdain or patronize us. At night, we creep through the school, discovering their secrets.

Of course, subtlety and subterfuge are not our forte. That, as some people would be only too joyful to point out, is a Slytherin trait, never mind that such traits are not what sort us into our respective Houses. We are Sorted into the Houses that would be best for us, and that is the plain and simple truth. Not the Houses we necessarily want to be in, though most of the time the Houses we want to be in are the Houses that we would flourish in.

But I am rambling. Or rather, I am digressing. The purpose of this bit of rambling is not to cry, "Woe is me" but to enlighten you as to what Hufflepuff really is. I have already told you what we are not. It is time for you to learn what we are.

We are the backbone of the wizarding community. Without us, the entire wizarding world would collapse. There is no job we shy away from, no task we allow to be put off for later.

The Sorting Hat will mutter things about loyalty and a hardworking ethic and then ramble on about something else, but as you may have guessed by now, the Sorting Hat is very biased. It was Gryffindor's hat, after all. It extols brave Gryffindor and clever Ravenclaw, which stands to reason. It was perched on Gryffindor's head for so long, it imbues Gryffindor's personality, and of course everyone knows that Gryffindor was a bit full of himself. And Ravenclaw was, after all, Gryffindor's sweetheart. He naturally thought well of her, and you could say that the Sorting Hat reflects his personality.

Everyone knows, however, that Gryffindor absolutely despised Slytherin. Not at first. They used to be the best of friends, as the memorable song of '95 will no doubt tell you. But then, Gryffindor began to grow jealous (yes, it was Gryffindor who grew jealous despite what the historians will tell you ... Slytherin would never fancy Lady Ravenclaw, not least because they were second cousins). And when Slytherin began making disparaging remarks about Gryffindor's students' recklessness, Godric grew incensed and encouraged them to even more "acts of bravery" rather than to "sneak around." Slytherin's pureblood students weren't doing as well as he would have liked either, and he began to feel the sting when people started praising the "valorous acts" of Gryffindor's protégées over his handpicked thoroughbreds. The petty sniping between the two grew.

It is no wonder that Slytherin began to focus all of his hatred and fear and resentment on the Muggle-born students. It is no wonder that the two lady Founders sided with Gryffindor. As for Slytherin leaving Hogwarts? It is a sad thing, one that should not have happened. But none listened to Hufflepuff dissuasion, despite the fact that she was a renowned soothsayer of the time. She knew what she was doing when she pled with them to let Slytherin stay, lest the school be divided. They did not heed her because they did not understand.

We Hufflepuffs understand.

But back to the point. That is why the Hat only mentions cunning Slytherin, sly Slytherin, both adjectives that suggest evil. It's biased, though it's not entire the Hat's fault.

As for Hufflepuffs. Gryffindor had no use of Mistress Hufflepuff. She did not shirk her work, always took responsibility for what she did, and was so virtuous that it irritated everyone around her. Hufflepuff was not particularly powerful, nor was she particularly clever, nor was she particularly dexterous with a wand. But she had the Gift. She could see the future. And she knew what was best to do. That is not to say that the Founders always listened to her. But she was, nonetheless, the de facto leader.

That is a tidbit of information that has been lost throughout the years, not least because of the Sorting Hat. The aforementioned song of '95 is particularly meaningful to us Hufflepuffs. Listen closely, and you shall understand why ...

Said Slytherin, "We'll teach just those

Whose ancestry is purest"

Said Ravenclaw, "We'll teach those whose

Intelligence is surest."

Said Gryffindor, "We'll teach all those

With brave deeds to their name."

Said Hufflepuff, "I'll teach the lot,

And treat them just the same."

...

For instance, Slytherin

Took only pure-blood wizards

Of great cunning, just like him,

And only those of sharpest mind

Were taught by Ravenclaw

While the bravest and the boldest

Went to daring Gryffindor.

Good Hufflepuff, she took the rest,

And taught them all she knew.

Did you hear that? The rest of the Founders were picky, but Hufflepuff was willing to teach all of the children and teach them all the same. She took the ones who would be neither bold nor arrogant nor clever, but would patiently do all the work the others shirked. Because someone has to the work. It cannot be left undone. Despite what you may think, true heroes are those who do what the rest of us would rather have someone else do.

From the very beginning, Hufflepuff was against the idea of Houses. Sure, our Heads of House grow very close to us, and we can all confide in them. We grow close to our Housemates and develop a close-knit sense of community.

But is worth have a divided Hogwarts? For many years now, the students of each House have competed with each other, schemed against each other, safe behind their House names. When they graduate into the real world, will they learn to cease seeing the world as Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw, Gryffindor, and Slytherin?

We Hufflepuffs understand that in the end, what House you belonged to will not matter. It is what is within you. Each person has within them a seed that can be developed to greatness or weakness, good or evil.

Why the other Houses not understand this? Gryffindors and Slytherins fight in the hallways because of an unending vendetta. They all snipe bitterly at each other and hold grudges because of ten or twenty House points. They no longer see people as separate beings, but as part of an entity named Gryffindor, Slytherin, Ravenclaw, or Hufflepuff.

What was it that ancient American president said? Something about a house divided not standing. Well, we are a school divided.

And if we're going to fight Voldemort, we can't waste our time fighting each other. This is what the Sorting Hat attempted to tell us, despite its bias. It tried its best.

Why are we not heeding?

Signed,

The Hufflepuff Community

This is one of the most famous excerpts of the "Rambling of the Hufflepuff," a compilation of five letters written by various Hufflepuff students and signed by the entire Hufflepuff community encouraging school unity. Presented in the spring of 1997, it eventually led to the victory against the Dark Lord Voldemort in 2000. Indeed, it is universally acknowledged that the late protégées of the late Helga Hufflepuff were the true leaders in the Second Voldemort War, despite the fact that every Hufflepuff alive was murdered in the Hufflepuff Massacre weeks before the actual falling of Voldemort.