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

[M.Clifford]

No: HPFGUIDX 106503

--- In HPforGrownups at yahoogroups.com, "Jen Reese" <stevejjen at e...> 
wrote:
> 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..<snip>... 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....


Valky;
I agree with PK here are having given this some thought.
I have realised that my *greatest failings* are the reasons that 
would rule me out of being sorted to the Hufflepuff house. 

Hardworking and meek I am most certainly not, I rely heavily on my 
intellect and fortitude under pressure to help me succeed, and I 
frequently scold myself that if I had just worked that little harder 
in the first place and not been so arrogant in so many ways, I'd be 
doing so much better for it in the long run. 

I wouldn't be worthy of Hufflepuff, although I am quite loyal I 
could hardly call myself a Hufflepuff. The virtue of Hufflepuff is 
above me and this is the way I see each of the houses. As above each 
other, all of them, in their own way.

>
> 
> Jen:  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


Valky:
I agree with Jen that JKR probably intends for us to look beyond 
Harry and his POV to see thing as they are.
An example that comes to mind is Ravenclaw.

Ravenclaw has been like a distant relative especially in the first 
three books where left to Harrys POV, we hardly see her. We *never* 
see her ghost.  

Luna is our most prominent Ravenclaw yet, aside from Cho, and I see 
Luna as an example thats realigns our thinking of what Ravenclaw is.

Ravenclaw was before Luna, to me, a place where logic and rational 
process ruled where the power of the *left brain* was all important, 
leaving me to wonder why Hermione was never sorted there. 

Luna and even Cho and Marietta have rewritten Ravenclaw for me in 
OOtP. Luna is *wise* and THINKS *way too much*, Cho also thinks! 
thinks! thinks! this is apparent by her constant nostalgia about 
Cedric, and even Marietta when she turns on the DA is probably 
projecting thought herself which causes her to fear the 
consequences, there wasn't really any other reason for her to tell 
was there?

I suppose if I had looked beyond Harry's POV in the first three 
books I would have realised then that Ravenclaw must be a little 
different to Hermione, but I didn't. I based my opinion of Ravenclaw 
on what Harry *could* see and came up with the wrong conclusion.



Just an extra bit of rambling food for thought...
All candidates have virtues that would fit more than one house. By a 
process of elimination I ruled myself out of Hufflepuff just now. 

Following that; I am a mite ambitious, but hardly cunning. 
I couldn't con my way out of a wet paper bag. 
So saying I'd have Slytherin ruled out also, if only because I like 
my Karma just the way it is. 

Leaving me with Ravenclaw and Gryffindor, both extremely fitting.

I am the classic case of thought, thought it could with thought, and 
I am far tooo *stupidly* daring for my own good.
All I really do right is think hard and jump into the deep end of 
difficult situations.

So then which house? 

Following this logic I am left with the choice scenario. 
It would be my *choice* that dictates what I eventually become.
 
If I chose a life of pondering and learning I would be happy, I 
would be comfortable there and true to myself. 

But if I had to give up one of these two it could never be, for me, 
the crazy life. 
Of course meaning that I like running headfirst into the throes just 
to take on the challenge, because it was there. 
If I chose a life of that, I guess I'd miss the quiet scholarly pace 
but it would be satisfactorily compensated, for me, by adventure.

In the end it came down to a choice for me, and I wonder how common 
that really is.