Why a Badger?

[AliMcJ]

No: HPFGUIDX 140198

> Alison <alimcj at y...> wrote:
> > Does anyone have any insight on why the Hufflepuff mascot 
> > is a Badger and what sort of symbology it might have?

Gatta: 
> The badger digs tenaciously in the earth; if we follow the 
> four-elements theory of the Hogwarts houses, Hufflepuff is 
> the earth house, and Hufflepuffs are known for their slow-
> and-steady qualities--not much imagination or esprit, but 
> they get the job done. They are also tenacious and fierce 
> in defense of their sett.


Thanks.  That gives me something to think about -- I'm going 
to chew on that for a while, the four elements, especially as 
Hufflepuff sounds like air.  However Prof. Sprout is the head, 
and that is definitely earth.  Appreciate the answer that can 
lead me to some other thoughts on this: it's been puzzling me 
since summer '04, when one of my dolls (Pinky Sepulveda) went 
off to Harry Potter camp and got sorted into Hufflepuff; she 
had wanted to pursue her study of herbology, so that was just 
fine with her, but she didn't like the plodding stereotype of 
the house and then started thinking about the Badger (true -- 
I did send a doll off to Harry Potter camp; good fun until the 
muggles had fits about all of them all over the place and some 
dementor problems.  They all had to return to their homes early).

I just ran across a Badger in one of the Chronicles of Narnia 
books and it started me wondering about the Badger in The Wind 
in the Willows.  Has anybody pursued these books as sources?

--Alison