Helga Hufflepuff

As the singing gradually faded...

"Music!" Albus Dumbledore rose to his feet and delivered the closing remarks for the feast. "More magical than anything else we do here! Now it's time for bed. Everyone, return to your dormitories."

"First-years, follow me!" Hufflepuff Prefect Gabriel Truman raised his hand high, signaling for the first-year Hufflepuff students to gather around him.

From Gryffindor to Slytherin, one House after another, the students filed out...

Looking at the surging crowd and the lengths of the tables, Jon noticed that Gryffindor, Ravenclaw, and Slytherin had roughly the same number of students, while Hufflepuff had nearly more than twice as many as any of them.

They followed Gabriel through the noisy crowd, out of the Great Hall, and up the marble staircase.

"Congratulations! And a warm welcome to Hufflepuff House." As he walked, Gabriel introduced the House to the Hufflepuff first-years. "Our emblem is the badger, an animal that is often underestimated. It remains calm until attacked, but once angered, it can fight animals much larger than itself, including wolves."

"The Hufflepuff common room is on the first basement level, in the same corridor as the Kitchen." Gabriel led the way down a corridor, ignoring the people in the portraits as they pointed and whispered when the group passed.

Jon felt that they had entered the Dungeon beneath Hogwarts Castle.

"Up ahead is your Potions classroom. Go right from there, pass through a stone wall, and you'll reach the Slytherin common room... I swear I've never snuck into the Slytherin common room!" Gabriel said, winking.

"Perhaps you need to make way, Hufflepuff first-years!" A cold voice came from behind them.

"Good evening, Miss Farley!" Gabriel motioned for the Hufflepuff first-years to move aside, while he alone dropped to the rear of the group. "And... Slytherin first-years!"

Slytherin Prefect Gemma Farley was leading the Slytherin first-years, and the two groups had met head-on in the narrow passage.

"Let's each take one side," Gabriel suggested.

"I agree." Farley nodded.

One group moved left and the other right... The Slytherin group turned right, while the Hufflepuff group continued onward.

Astoria Greengrass was directly behind Farley. She and Jon nearly brushed shoulders, but neither of them looked up.

"Don't be afraid of Slytherin. A badger will never fear a snake!" Gabriel smiled. "Now, where was I?"

"Oh, right, the Kitchen is just ahead!" Gabriel led them through another corridor. "The entrance to the common room is hidden among a stack of barrels in the corner on the right side of the Kitchen corridor... Right here!"

"Just like this—tap the lids of the two middle barrels in the second row to the rhythm of 'Helga Hufflepuff,' and the lids will spin open on their own... We're the only House at Hogwarts with magic to repel intruders. If you tap the wrong lid or get the rhythm wrong, heh heh, illegal intruders will be drenched in vinegar."

As he spoke, Gabriel climbed into one of the barrels.

Jon and the other Hufflepuff first-years exchanged glances, then climbed in as well.

They moved slowly along the passage, through a round underground tunnel as wide as an oak barrel, before arriving in a circular, low-ceilinged room that carried the faint fragrance of earth. It was furnished with many cushioned sofas and chairs.

They had arrived at the Hufflepuff common room.

"If it were daytime, this place would be bright with sunlight, and through the round windows you could even see swaying grass and dandelions." Gabriel opened one of the room's arched doorways. "Now, I'll show you your dormitories!"

The other Hufflepuff first-years all followed Gabriel.

But Jon stopped beside the burning fireplace... Above it hung a portrait of a witch.

There was a line of small writing beneath the portrait:

"Helga Hufflepuff (964–1032), widely recognized as one of the greatest witches in British magical history.

She was born in 964 in the Welsh Valley.

In 993, she took part in the founding of Hogwarts and advocated that every child with magical potential should be allowed to study there.

She served as Hogwarts' second Headmistress from 998 to 1032.

Hufflepuff's greatest achievement was discovering the specific uses of more than two hundred herbs.

She also made outstanding contributions to food charms and the protection of House-elves."

The Helga Hufflepuff in the portrait looked only twenty or thirty years old. She was beautiful and gave off a gentle, kindly impression. She stood elegantly before the newly built Hogwarts Castle of that era, gazing into the distance.

Jon solemnly bent at the waist and gave the Founder of Hufflepuff House and Hogwarts in the portrait a deep bow.

Every year, Hogwarts welcomed so many new students. Gryffindor selected the brave and fearless, Slytherin selected those of pure blood and ambition, Ravenclaw selected the wise and clever...

Then what about Hufflepuff? Did it merely select students who were honest and hardworking?

No, it did not... It took in all those left behind, students who had not been chosen by any of the other Houses, whether or not they met Hufflepuff's admission standards!

Imagine a young wizard receiving his letter from Hogwarts and rowing here in delight... Only for the Sorting Hat to tell him that he was neither brave nor fearless, had neither bloodline nor ambition, was neither wise nor clever, and was neither honest nor hardworking. No House had chosen him. All that awaited him was a Memory Charm and a boat ride home.

How cruel would that be!

But Helga Hufflepuff stopped him and told him that he could come to her House. Even if there was not a single virtue to be found in him... as long as he was a wizard—even the most incompetent, most foolish wizard—that was enough. As long as he was a wizard, he was qualified to receive an education at Hogwarts.

Jon remembered the Hufflepuff students in the Great Hall, whose numbers were nearly twice those of the other Houses... If not for Helga, perhaps half of them would have been ruthlessly eliminated on the very first day of school...

After bowing, Jon raised his head... Then he discovered that Helga Hufflepuff in the portrait had winked at him.

He smiled at the portrait as well, then walked toward the arched doorway Gabriel had opened.