As you may notice, I have skipped Prisoner of Azkaban -- but only because I've mislaid the notes and will have to hunt them up. I'm splitting Goblet of Fire into two parts because a Hufflepuff is ONE OF THE MAIN CHARACTERS (!!!) in this story.
In Goblet of Fire, we see:
- Cedric Diggory, the 17 year old Captain and Seeker of the Hufflepuff Quidditch team (reportedly handsome, modest, kind, and fair)
- Ernie McMillan (4th year -- 1 year older than Harry) greeting the trio at the Quidditch World Cup
- Cedric's father, Amos (presumably a Hufflepuff) leading the charge against the makers of the Dark Mark -- shows courage, although he does get carried away in trying to uncover the truth
- We hear about "Sweet Hufflepuff, from valley broad" and "For Hufflepuff, hard workers are most worthy of admission" from The Sorting Hat
- 3rd and 4th students mentioned at Sorting Ceremony are Hufflepuffs -- Eleanor Branstone and Owen Cauldwell
- 2 more are sorted during the ceremony -- Laura Madley and Kevin Whitby (These four Hufflepuffs are more mentions than any other house gets during the Sorting Ceremony)
- One of the Hufflepuff students, a Mr. Summers, attempts an aging potion in order to compete in the Tri-Wizard Tournament -- fails
- Ron and Seamus verbally abuse Hufflepuff (and Cedric) throughout the book, although it's quite clear there's nothing in it except envy and grudge-holding
- Cedric Diggory, a HUFFLEPUFF, is named the Hogwarts Champion -- THE ONLY TRUE HOGWARTS CHAMPION CHOSEN BY THE GOBLET OF FIRE IS A HUFFLEPUFF. I find this fact to be a powerful refute to the notion that Hufflepuffs are useless, stupid duffers. Quite the contrary!
- Ernie and Justin quite perturbed at Harry for stealing their hero's glory (later cheer for Harry AND Cedric once they realize H in no way wanted to be a Champion)
- Cedric's wand contains a single hair of a particularly fine male unicorn -- the wand is pleasantly springy and made of ash.
- Cedric left out of Rita Skeeter's Daily Prophet article (no surprise there)
- Cedric and Harry have a mutual respect for each other (when Harry isn't being insanely jealous of Cedric for spending time with Cho Chang), even helping each other out with the tasks
Anything you were surprised by?
I've searched the web a few times and it looks like no one has listed all the sightings of Hufflepuff throughout the series, or written a scholarly article about Hufflepuff and the misperceptions people seem to have about the house. It feels a little strange (and thrilling) to be exploring new territory in the Potterverse. If you find a list of all the sightings, or any articles relating to Hufflepuff, leave a link below in the comments.
Thanks! See you Wednesday for another installment of Write Wednesday.
Keep reading!
I think is a pretty good article:
ReplyDeletehttp://www.mugglenet.com/editorials/housecharacteristics.shtml
It's about all four houses, not just Hufflepuff, but has some different outlooks on things.
Also, a nice little description of Hufflepuff here:
Different houses can be noted by the different ways they make decisions. I see hufflepuffs as people who think of others before they think of themselves, but that doesn't mean they can't be "mean" or hard in their decision making.
The welcome letter mentions trust worthy and loyal, friendly, decent and tenacious. Also hardly intimidating. This just means hufflepuffs base their decisions more in their feelings than in facts only (this is opposite of Ravenclaws, for example). Also it means that their decisions consider the people involved first.
Hufflepuffs aren't afraid to decide in a direction that will mean more work for them (maybe this is not the case with Slytherin). If it's the best for all people involved, hufflepuffs will pull up their sleaves and face it.
But hufflepuffs aren't fools. They are badgers and stay gladly in their little holes. We don't go looking for trouble (as maybe adventurous Gryffindors would). It's not in our nature to enjoy conflicts. We try to solve them in a carefully thought through way keeping in mind the well fare of the majority involved. Again, if the best solution means work, so be it. But our best solution will avoid conflict.
(http://www.cosforums.com/showthread.php?p=6002559)
This is great! Thank you! :)
ReplyDeleteOk, you've gotten me way too into this. I really like this quote (and the site it comes from! Lots of great hufflepuff stuff there):
ReplyDeletehttp://www.squidoo.com/how-to-be-a-hufflepuff
Hufflepuff isn't just a house for "duffers", as some say. Though Hufflepuffs are often overlooked, they're the backbone of society. Many of them lead respectable, productive lives, and in their own quiet way change the world.
While the Gryffindors are running around waving swords, and the Slytherins are plotting a coup d'état, and the Ravenclaws have their noses too deep in a book to care, someone's got to hold things together.
Quite a good article here:
http://www.mugglenet.com/editorials/theburrow/robbie08.shtml
And another interesting post:
http://blog.lettersandlight.org/post/10522340637
And lastly, a post on the badger, our house mascot:
http://www.colleenmarielynch.com/Hufflepuff/mascot.html
AWESOME. These are going to be great resources! :D
ReplyDelete