Hufflepuff



//You might belong in Hufflepuff, Where they are just and loyal, Those patient Hufflepuffs are true, And unafraid of toil//" —[|The Sorting Hat][|[src]]

Hufflepuff corresponds roughly to the element of [|earth].
 * Hufflepuff** is one of the four [|Houses] of [|Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry]. Its founder was the Medieval [|witch] [|Helga Hufflepuff]. The Head of Hufflepuff is [|Pomona Sprout]. The [|Fat Friar] is the House's patron ghost. Hufflepuff is the most inclusive among the four houses, valuing hard work, patience, friendship and fair play rather than a particular aptitude in its members. Its emblematic animal is the [|badger], and yellow and black are its colours.

Students belonging to this house are known to be hard-working, friendly, loyal, and non-judgemental. It may be that due to their values, Hufflepuffs are not as competitive as the other houses, or are more modest about their accomplishments. [|Gryffindor] and [|Slytherin] share an enormous rivalry, and thus are extremely competitive with one another, whereas [|Ravenclaw] is defined by the intelligence and academic accomplishments of its members. Hufflepuff appears to have the least rivalry with the other houses, except in [|Quidditch], although the [|Triwizard Tournament] did temporarily put a great deal of strain on the relationship between Gryffindor and Hufflepuff, due to unusual circumstances of the selection of both [|Harry Potter] and [|Cedric Diggory] as Champions. According to [|Minerva McGonagall], all four of the houses have produced exceptional witches and wizards in their time, but due to [|Helga Hufflepuff]'s policy of accepting any student and its usually poor performance in the [|House Cup], Hufflepuff is often thought of as the place where students are sorted when they don't have any of the qualities of the other three houses, which have more defined attributes. Perhaps as a consequence of the broad principles of acceptance upon which it is founded, Hufflepuff has been stereotyped as the house of the unexceptional (or, more unkindly, as "a lot o' duffers"). This also corresponds with the [|Sorting Hat]'s song where it states:

"//Dear Hufflepuff, she took the rest and taught them all she knew.//"

However, this does not mean that there are no talented students in Hufflepuff, or that there aren't students in other houses who perform poorly. [|Neville Longbottom] was sorted into Gryffindor and is unremarkable in all subjects except, ironically, [|Herbology], which is Professor Sprout's class. Additionally, Vincent Crabbe and Gregory Goyle appeared to have been particularly poor performers in all subjects, and did not possess the cunning and ambition prized by Slytherin. So, though the House is said to have forgone glory for centuries, it is not without its share of exceptional individuals. For example, Hufflepuff [|Cedric Diggory] brought his house rare glory as its [|Quidditch] captain and later as Hogwarts' Champion in the [|Triwizard Tournament] in [|1994].[|[1]] Also, [|Nymphadora Tonks] was an exceptionally talented [|Auror] who was sorted into Hufflepuff. Hufflepuff firmly demonstrated its loyalty during the [|Battle of Hogwarts] in [|1998], when they were second only to [|Harry Potter]'s own house of [|Gryffindor] in the number of students willing to stay and fight against [|Voldemort] and [|his forces] in the defence of their school.

 Q: How many Hufflepuffs does it take to light up a wand? A: One, but he has to be devilishly handsome or no one will notice!





Hufflepuff-1 Slytherin-0

Helga Hufflepuff's Cup** was a magical item created by one of the founders of [|Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry], [|Helga Hufflepuff]. It was a small golden cup with two finely-wrought handles with a badger engraved on the side. The badger is the symbol of Hufflepuff [|House]. The cup also has the dubious distinction of being the only object known to have been [|stolen] from a vault at [|Gringotts Wizarding Bank].
 * [[image:Helga_Hufflepuff.gif align="left"]]




 * Biography**

Helga Hufflepuff was one of the four Founders of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.[|[1]] She was a friend of [|Rowena Ravenclaw]. Hufflepuff helped to build the school, and admitted students into her House that were unafraid of hard work. While the other Founders took students based on either ambition, bravery, or intelligence, Helga Hufflepuff took the rest, treating them all equally and teaching them all she knew.[|[2]] She brought people from different backgrounds together to help in the building of the school, and was known for her charming ways.[|[3]] Helga Hufflepuff had a gift for food-related [|Charms], and her recipes are still used as the basis for many Hogwarts feasts.[|[4]] Helga Hufflepuff also arranged for the [|House-elf] contingent to work in the kitchens, giving them somewhere safe to work where they would not be mistreated or abused.[|[5]] 

Legacy
Helga Hufflepuff lent her name to one of the four Houses of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, [|Hufflepuff]. She does not appear to have applied particularly strict standards of selection to her house, which sets her apart from the other Founders by making her an egalitarian. One relic of Hufflepuff's, a [|small golden cup], had been passed down to her distant descendant [|Hepzibah Smith]. Smith said the cup was supposed to have some magical powers, many of which she had not tested. The Cup was stolen from Smith by [|Tom Marvolo Riddle], who changed it into a [|Horcrux]. The Cup was destroyed by [|Hermione Granger] with a [|Basilisk] fang during the [|Battle of Hogwarts] in [|1998].[|[6]] The symbol of Hufflepuff house is the badger, and the colors are yellow and black.

Personality and traits Hufflepuff favoured loyalty, honesty, fair play, and hard work. Members of her [|Hogwarts House] usually display at least one of these traits in varying degrees. [|Cedric Diggory], the deceased [|Triwizard Tournament] Champion, was one of the students who appeared to embody all four.[|[7]] 

Etymology
The name **Helga** is of Scandinavian origin, meaning "holy". **Hufflepuff** could mean "huff and puff", or blustery. "Huff" also means to breathe; "Puff" is a Medieval term for pastry. Combined, it could mean to exude sacred sweetness.

Nymphadora Tonks
**Nymphadora Lupin (née Tonks)** (c. [|1973] - May 2 [|1998]) was a [|half-blood] witch and [|Metamorphmagus] who was a member of the second [|Order of the Phoenix]. The daughter of muggle-born wizard [|Ted] and pure-blood witch [|Andromeda Tonks] (née [|Black]), she disliked her given name and thus preferred to be called "Tonks" or sometimes "Dora". She attended [|Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry] from [|1984] to [|1991], and was sorted into [|Hufflepuff] House. After leaving Hogwarts, Tonks joined the [|Ministry of Magic] and trained to become an [|Auror] under [|Alastor Moody], qualifying in [|1994]. In [|1995], she joined the reconstituted Order of the Phoenix, working undercover in the Ministry and helping to guard the [|Department of Mysteries]. In June of [|1996], she fought in the [|Battle of the Department of Mysteries], and at some point fell in love with [|Remus Lupin]. Remus, feeling he was too poor, old and dangerous for her, rejected her feelings, although he felt the same way. In the wake of the return of [|Lord Voldemort], Tonks was assigned to [|Hogsmeade] as part of the Auror task force sent to guard Hogwarts. Tonks later fought in the [|Battle of the Astronomy Tower], and, after seeing the love [|Fleur Delacour] held for [|Bill Weasley] despite his injuries, publicly declared her love for Remus. The two were [|married] in the summer of [|1997], and Tonks fell pregnant shortly after. She gave birth to a son, [|Teddy], shortly after Easter in [|1998]. In May of that same year, Tonks fought in the [|Battle of Hogwarts], and was killed by her aunt, [|Bellatrix Lestrange].