In defense of JKR's view of Hufflepuff and (to a lesser degree) Ravenclaw

[hfakhro at nyc.rr.com]

No: HPFGUIDX 21591

I have to defend JKR's stance on Hufflepuff for a moment here. I 
think the whole "Hufflepuff are duffers" thing is thrown out there to 
show us that this is what people generally believe about hard 
workers, that they are too stupid to be anywhere better. I think that 
JKR is gently unraveling that stereotype for us, by showing us that 
there is much more to them than that. Bear with me while I think of 
examples. The only Hufflepuffs we know to a certain degree are 
Professor Sprout, Ernie MacMillan, Justin Finch-Fletchley, and Cedric 
Diggory.

The first time Hufflepuff is mentioned is when Draco Malfoy scoffs at 
it, and Hagrid tells Harry better Hufflepuff than Slytherin; so we 
get the impression that Hufflepuff is only better by virtue of it 
being relatively slightly better than Slytherin. Everyone else seems 
to value Gryffindor or Ravenclaw, unless they want to be in 
Slytherin, and in that case, it seems to be Slytherin or Ravenclaw. 
Never Hufflepuff.

Professor Sprout: the only time we really see her in action is in CoS 
when she's bandaging up the Whomping Willow and looking "disgruntled" 
by Lockhart's attempts to prove that he knows more about it than she 
does. This can be compared to Hagrid's reaction when Lockhart's 
trying to tell him something about kelpies, Hagrid tells him that 
Harry is more famous than him without even trying, and that he never 
read any of Lockhart's books. Second reaction is Snape's when 
Lockhart offers to brew the mandrake potion: "`Excuse me,' said Snape 
icily, `but I believe I am the Potions master at this school.'" 
Professor Sprout is calmer than these two and knows that Lockhart 
doesn't know his stuff, but does not feel the need to tell him that. 
She ignores him and calmly goes about her business "Greenhouse Three 
today, chaps!" Whatever way you admire the most (Hagrid's or Snape's 
or Sprout's) is down to personal preference. However her way of 
dealing with it is just as effective, if different and not as 
sexy/glamourous/slimy/what-have-you (Snape) or speaking their mind 
(Hagrid). I think JKR *is* showing that.

The description of her is as follows, "Professor Sprout was a squat 
little witch who wore a patched hat over her flyaway hair, there was 
usually a large amount of earth on her clothes, and her fingernails 
would have made Aunt Petunia faint. Gilderoy Lockhart, however, was 
immaculate in sweeping robes of turquoise, his golden hair shining 
under a perfectly positioned turquoise hat with gold trimming." She 
is later on described as usually being "cheerful." This passage, and 
the section when she deals with mandrakes tells us that she is 
extraordinarily good and passionate about her subject 
(Snape's "stopper death, brew glory" speech aside, this is a more 
subtle way of showing that she is as skilled in her subject as Snape, 
McGonagall, and Flitwick are in theirs.) The obvious contrast to 
Lockhart in physical appearance also shows that she is not afraid of 
getting on her hands and knees and working in the dirt etc, whereas 
Lockhart is more interested in the superficialities of his 
appearance. The second thing this passage tells us is that she is 
more sensible than Molly Weasley and Hermione, in not falling for the 
charms of Lockhart (and they are two of the most sensible characters 
in the books!)

The other thing that Sprout does is she gives twenty points to 
Gryffindor (in two ten-point installments) because Hermione answers 
her questions correctly. No house prejudice here; she gives the 
points to the house of the student who has clearly done her homework. 
Snape would probably ignore Hermione and wait for a Slytherin to 
answer the question, and McGonagall tends to be a bit harder on 
Gryffindor than the other heads of houses are with their own houses. 
Sprout is a very fair professor. Don't forget also in GoF, fake Moody 
tells Neville that Professor Sprout mentioned that Neville was good 
in Herbology (even if he did tell Neville that on the pretext of 
giving him the Mediterranean plants book, I think that Sprout 
probably did mention that at some point, which is very nice of her.)

Next Hufflepuff is Ernie MacMillan. Yes he and the other Hufflepuffs 
believe Harry is the Heir of Slytherin and he seems to be the 
ringleader of their conspiracy theory group. However even though he 
really believes that Harry is opening the Chamber, he is not afraid 
to tell him this to his face. He doesn't lie or cower or deny having 
said anything, he tells Harry all the `proof' that he has that 
indicates that Harry is the Heir. He is worried about his fellow 
house-mate Justin, and tells him to hide in the dormitory. He 
obviously was mistaken in following the crowd that point fingers at 
Harry, but when Hermione is attacked, Ernie apologizes: "Ernie took a 
deep breath and said, very formally, `I just want to say, Harry, that 
I'm sorry I ever suspected you. I know you'd never attack Hermione 
Granger, and I apologise for all the stuff I said. We're all in the 
same boat now, and, well-.' He held out a pudgy hand, and Harry shook 
it." How fair is that? He admits that he was mistaken, and he is not 
afraid to face up to that. For a twelve-year old boy, that is quite 
impressive.

Justin Finch-Fletchley: "Harry didn't know whether the best bit was 
Hermione running towards him, screaming, `You solved it! You solved 
it!' or Justin hurrying over from the Hufflepuff table to wring his 
hand and apologise endlessly for suspecting him
" Again, we see the 
nobility and fairness of Hufflepuff.

The other time that we see Hufflepuff portrayed `badly' is in GoF. 
Right after Harry's name came out of the Goblet of Fire there is an 
entire passage about the Hufflepuffs and how they are rude to him 
(particularly Ernie and Justin) in a Herbology lesson. To be fair, 
*everyone* thought Harry had put his name in the goblet, with the 
exception of Hagrid, Dumbledore and Hermione. The Weasleys believe he 
put his name in it, and so do the other champions and the other 
judges. Plus the Hufflepuffs had the glory that would have been 
theirs (by having a Hufflepuff the sole Hogwarts champion) taken away 
from them. It might not have been the most mature way to act, but it 
is perfectly understandable, and I think even Harry admits that to 
himself in GoF.

Finally Cedric Diggory. There is no doubt that he is one of the most 
decent and bravest characters in the books. When he beats Gryffindor 
in Quidditch he asks for a rematch because he hadn't seen Harry fall 
off his broom. I can't see anyone in Slytherin doing that. When he is 
about to win the Cup he insists that Harry take it, because Harry 
saved his life twice in the maze. "He stepped over the spider's 
tangled legs to join Harry, who stared at him. Cedric was serious. He 
was walking away from the sort of glory Hufflepuff house hadn't had 
in centuries. `Go on,' Cedric said. He looked as though this was 
costing him every ounce of resolution he had, but his face was set, 
his arms were folded, he seemed decided." I don't think I need to 
emphasize Cedric's qualities further. His actions speak for 
themselves.

The only Ravenclaw we really `know' is Cho. I think she's a character 
portrayed in a very good light. Even though she is Cedric's 
girlfriend (we don't know that she was his girlfriend at the time 
that Harry's name came out of the goblet, but she may very well have 
been) she does not wear the "Potter Stinks" badge like most other 
students do. When Harry asks her to the ball, she does not laugh at 
him. When he asks her for a word, her friends giggle, but she doesn't 
even wink back at them, she takes him seriously and she acts 
maturely. In the Quidditch match, I don't believe that she purposely 
pointed out the fake dementors to make him lose the match, I think 
she was worried that he would fall off his broom again (but that's 
entirely speculation.) Professor Flitwick is another Ravenclaw 
portrayed in a positive light.

As for the question about why Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw stand by while 
Gryffindor and Slytherin have it out in Quidditch, I don't think 
that's the case. It is only at the end of the year when the final 
match has proven to be between Gryffindor and Slytherin, do they seem 
resigned to their fate. And then they support Gryffindor probably 
because Slytherin has been cheating at Quidditch all year. I think it 
also emphasizes how good the Gryffindor and Slytherin Quidditch house 
teams are. I understand what you mean by `housism' and although it is 
glaringly obvious that JKR emphatically prefers Gryffindor above all, 
I think she subtly shows the good in all the houses. With the 
exception of Slytherin, and even there we see how cool and complex 
Snape is. I'm waiting to see more interesting students from Slytherin 
too. Still I think that house exposure is limited to Gryffindor and 
Slytherin because it is Harry's story and those are the houses that 
affect him the most. Also there are space constraints in the book, I 
don't know how much she can talk about other students without each 
book being a thousand pages long. That's why I like these small 
tidbits about Ernie and Cho and Cedric that show their Hufflepuff-
ness or Ravenclaw-ness in action.

If you read this far, thanks! 50 points to whatever house you 
associate yourself with!