I remember reading the HP books for the first time at age 10 and wanting desperately, desperately to be in Gryffindor, the House for the brave, the courageous, those with daring and nerve etc etc. You get the drift. As an Aries (sun sign) I despised all forms of cowardice. I imagined myself as a caped crusader striding off to save the world.
My world was much smaller then than what it is today, and now that I look back on it, my take on things were very simplistic. I saw characters in books, movies, cartoons, and even real life people, in 2D, like cardboard cutouts. Not brave? Well, there's nothing good about you, you big crybaby. Can't take a joke? Wow, you must be the most negative person around here.
In the same way, I intensely disliked Slytherins (*Evil* people), thought Ravenclaws spent too much time studying (obnoxious know-it-alls) and thought Hufflepuffs a bunch of losers who didn't amount to much. But now, wiser and more mature than my 10 year old self (and much more nicer too), I can safely, assuredly and proudly say, I want to be in Hufflepuff. But it took me more than a decade to get to where I value being a good person over anything else. And while many people might value being a nice person themselves, not many want to be in Hufflepuff, the House of 'Nice People', because there is a misconception that "nice" equates to being lame, a doormat, a crony, or generally being spineless. Or that being "nice" must mean that is your only redeeming quality. Why is that? Why is it that while we all hope and pray our children grow up to have qualities like fairness, teamwork, loyalty, hard-work and kindness, we would rather have them choose or be chosen into, the more "cooler" houses?
I think the answer lies in how the Hufflepuff House and Hufflepuffs themselves, are characterized in the HP series. Save for Gryffindor, and to a certain extent Slytherin, there isn't much info on the other two Hogwarts Houses in the earliest books. The latter books gave us more intel on Slytherin and Ravenclaw through Snape and Luna, and to a lesser extent through Draco Malfoy and Cho Chang, but the Hufflepuff characters fell rather flat. Cedric Diggory was one of the only two remotely well-articulated Hufflepuff character out there, but through most of Book 4, Harry (through whose eyes we observe) is jealous of him, and many others malign him. And at the end, he dies. So its basically a dead end. Tonks is yet another fabulous character, but JK Rowling didn't specify which House she belonged to till after the books came out. It didn't help the Hufflepuff's 'Be good and kind and just' image/motto to kill Tonks off in the end. I mean, what kind of a moral is that? Be nice and you can die with your beloved while your friends live good long lives and your widowed Mother brings up your infant son? Now I know its not like that (or that simple), but to many people seeking information on the Hufflepuff House and its natives, an ending like that *IS* depressing.
As for the House, the name Hufflepuff is a lot less flamboyant than the other 3. In fact, if you were to ask me honestly, I'd say the name reminded me off some sort of Pokémon. And to those who don't know the true nature of the badger (more on that later), it looks like a warm and cuddly animal. Not exactly fear inducing or awe inspiring at first sight, is it? Unless you plan to snuggle someone to death. And the bright yellow can be a bit too cheerful. All in all, rather unassuming. Or so you (and I too, once) think.
So I've taken it on myself to try and shed some light on the Hufflepuff character. I plan to trace the history and character of the Hufflepuff House through its illustrious Founder (what was she like?), learn what the personalities of the very few Hufflepuff characters we know reveal about the House, and what clues its mascot, the badger, tells us about the true nature of Hufflepuffs. I'm visualizing a 3 part series of blog posts inside my head, and the one below is my first. Feel free to collude, comment and of course, criticize (constructively, of course!)
[PS: I hope you enjoy it. And I hope all those people out there who identify as Hufflepuffs feel proud of their House! :) ]