Her mother had always told her that all the Houses were equal; each had their traits and flaws. None were more important than any other. She had always known that her mother would be proud of her no matter which House she was Sorted into; the Sorting only showed her natural inclination, after all, the rest was up to her.
When she had been Sorted into Hufflepuff, she had been thrilled. It had been the House her father had been in, the house that her mother had spent so much time sneaking into, yet welcomed her like she was one of their own. Hufflepuff was the only house with a firm base that would allow her to nurture her bravery, intelligence, and ambition equally, unlike the other Houses which favoured only one. Hannah knew this; it was what she had believed ever since she had heard of Hogwarts.
But she had never realised how difficult it really was to continue believing it. There were few people who saw the Hufflepuffs as her mother had, and fewer still who truly treated every house equally.
Hannah didn't think it was particularly difficult, but that was probably the Hufflepuff in her speaking.
Hufflepuffs were looked down upon, and many of the people from other houses saw them as semi-useless. The Gryffindors saw them as helpless; the Slytherins saw them as weak targets; the Ravenclaws saw them as unintelligent. They forgot that with hard work they could be strong, or smart, or powerful; Hufflepuffs could be as sly as a Slytherin, brave as a Gryffindor, or intelligent as a Ravenclaw, but no one seemed to remember that. No one seemed to care either as they remained stuck in their preconceived expectations.
Sometimes Hannah wondered how it was so easy for people to put others in categories based off their own assumptions. Hannah had never been able to do that. Everybody was just 'somebody' until she got to know them. Hannah thought that was only fair to the person she met. She didn't want to think of someone as rude just because another person had caught them at a bad time, or see someone as a coward because they were powerless to their greatest fear. She certainly wouldn't like someone to judge her because they had believed rumours of something she had done once, years ago.
Hannah doubted the same would be extended to her, though. Seven years of disliking another person simply because of how they were 'supposed to be' was long enough for it to become natural. The effort it would take to reverse that mentality was more than most were willing to spend, but she refused to accept that fate. If she had to work at it on her own, then that was fine with her; she was a Hufflepuff, after all.
She was loyal and hardworking. Those two things were all she needed to be great.
Hannah would be great, if only to show them that Hufflepuff could be strong, and powerful, and intelligent, if they wanted to be.
Written for
The Restricted Section: Trio era with no mention of Harry, Ron, or Hermione
Quidditch Pitch: Hannah Abbot