The Virtues of Hufflepuff House and Cedric Diggory (Was: Snape and . . .cour

[Jen Reese]

No: HPFGUIDX 106450

HunterGreen:
> The sad thing is that Cedric was always looked upon as such 
> a "surprise" in a way to the Hufflepuff house (which as its said 
> over and over again in GoF, hardly ever gets any glory). The 
> general attitude in the books is that being a Hufflepuff is
> nothing to be proud of. And I wonder how much of that is JKR's 
> intention. 

PK:
<snipping> JKR probably does mean to indicate that a lot of people 
> look down on Hufflepuffs. I also would say that she means they are 
> *wrong*. The qualities she gives Hufflepuff in sorting are almost 
> unequivocally positive (in a general way: obviously anything taken 
> to extremes or pointed the wrong way can have a dark side). It's 
> Helga she gives the sort of inclusive admissions policy Dumbledore 
> favors -- and while I've seen people suggest Helga's emphasis on 
> loyalty is sinister, I really don't think that's how it's 
> presented. 

Jen: First my bias: Since I've been sorted into Hufflepuff and am a 
social worker in RL, I tend to be partial toward Helga and the 
Hufflepuffs--they seem like my kind of people :). And I totally 
agree with PK here, that not only was Helga inclusive like 
Dumbledore, but that most of the students we meet in Hufflepuff seem 
to be high achievers, and decent people as well. 

Cedric is the most obvious, we get to hear about his skills at 
Quidditch, good looks, intelligence, etc., but perhaps his greatest 
strength is one Harry doesn't realize until the end--he's willing to 
sacrifice personal glory to do the right thing. 

Ernie and Hannah are also depicted as serious about their studies, 
and Ernie is willing to stand up for Harry when very few people were 
openly doing so. Zacharias Smith is merely proof that every house 
has a few arrogant blokes! To some of the Hufflepuffs, Harry & Ron 
are probably self-absorbed, arrogant blokes too. 

> Del:
> > So yes, I think it is quite obvious that JKR intended for us to 
> > have little consideration for the Hufflepuffs. Now, why ever she 
> > would do that, I have no idea, but the proofs are there.

 
> PK:
> I think it's clear that she means for much of the wizarding world 
> to have little consideration for the Hufflepuffs, and that the 
> probable reason is that Hufflepuff virtues are simply not the 
> terribly flashy kind or the most fun. They're harder to appreciate 
> *in oneself* than the rest, especially for the immature; they may 
> tend to be more often the wind beneath wings than the eagle. 
> Utterly necessary, but invisible. 

Jen: Couldn't agree more, PK, with the general WW view of 
Hufflepuffs. But I do think JKR failed if she thinks the examples of 
Cedric, Ernie and Hannah come across as duffers. Maybe she intends 
the reader to look beyond Harry's POV here and see things as they 
are, rather than taking his opinion as fact (and his opinion does 
waver; in GOF he grew to admire Cedric and in OOTP he was glad to 
get Ernie's support).

Jen Reese