Disclaimer: I don't own the Harry Potter universe, or anything from it. However, I do own my brain (at least, I did the last time I checked), and that means I own the products of it, which allows me to write things like this.
A/N: To all of you Hufflepuff fans, this is not my view of Hufflepuff house! I don't really think they're scum; I was just trying to write from the point of view of a Hufflepuff, and this came to me. I think Hufflepuffs have to be strong individuals, for all that they put up with. So please, no negative reviews about that particular aspect of this piece, though if you find anything else unreasonable or lacking, feel free to tell me in a review so that I can change or fix it.
Anonymous: The Thoughts of a Melancholy Hufflepuff
Hufflepuff. Even the name sounds funny. I know the house is named for its founder, Helga Hufflepuff—but still, what kind of name is that? I know that if my last name was Hufflepuff, I'd change it quicker than Roderick Plumpton caught the snitch in the 1921 match against the Caerphilly Catapults. Which means I'd do it in less than three and a half seconds. Even Helga isn't the nicest sounding of names; it's certainly not one I'd inflict on any of my children.
The name's not the worst part. That, I suppose, could be dealt with. After all, loads of people with weird names have still made a name for themselves in the wizarding world—granted, the name they make is generally different from the one they were born with, but they've got the capacity to do that! No, the terrible thing is that we're treated like scum. Worse than scum, really; at least scum is noticed, even if it is just cleaned up afterwards. No one wants to be with a Hufflepuff. We're too kind to befriend Slytherins (or just too afraid of snakes, though that's not a completely irrational fear), not smart enough to hang with Ravenclaws, and we don't have the daring required to have amazing adventures with the Gryffindors.
Sometimes, I find myself wishing that I'd been put in any other house. I don't think I'm that brave, but I could have gathered up my bravery if I had been Sorted into Gryffindor, and made myself feel worthy of such a placement. I might be only an average student, but if I'd been Sorted into Ravenclaw, I know I would have tried to match the thirst for learning characteristic of that House. And, though I don't think I could bring myself to be as nasty as some Slytherins are, at least people from other houses would notice me!
But what's the defining characteristic of Hufflepuffs? What's our claim to fame? We're the leftovers, the people not strong enough in any particular talent but okay at some of them. The wizards who have to be taught, else our talents go untapped, but who just don't fit into the system. The Sorting Hat put it best last year: "Good Hufflepuff, she took the rest…" Good Hufflepuff, indeed! Why's she so good? For taking in the charity students, like us?
I know that some Hufflepuffs have been able to shine, however briefly. There was Cedric Diggory, the Quidditch star. But what did people in other houses think of him? "Oh, he's as brave as a Gryffindor!" Whenever a Hufflepuff does something good, the achievement is immediately compared to the qualities of another house. Cedric was a rare Hufflepuff, but now he's gone, and somehow I don't think we'll be stumbling across another like him very soon. How many have we had in the past, and can we think our future any brighter?
Even after all of this, if all of this was not enough, we are doomed by our stereotyping to never say a word about it. People are Hufflepuffs because they won't speak up, won't think thoughts like these, except when they're in really bad moods, and then they just cheer up and forget. I will, too, and I'll go on and forget about ever thinking this.
But that doesn't mean that I didn't think it.