House Pride

I'm a Hufflepuff.
The last couple times I told people I was a Hufflepuff, the response I got was "aw!"   And that's not a "oh how cute!" aw, it was a "aw, that's so sad," aw.  Because there are very few people who actually want to be a Hufflepuff.  And Second City acknowledges that in its own way:

When the Harry Potter books first came out, I classified myself as a Gryffindor.  Hell, everyone was a Gryffindor in those days.  When I grew older, I started identifying myself as a Ravenclaw.  Because I was smart, and I liked to read, but I wasn't as brave as the Gryffindor I thought I was.  Since the books have stopped coming out and I've stopped waiting on my doorstep for them to arrive, I've come to the conclusion that I'm a Hufflepuff.  After taking countless Sorting Hat quizzes it was time I came to terms with my Hufflepuff-ness.  I've found that this quiz: http://www.personalitylab.org/tests/ccq_hogwarts.htm is a lot more reliable than those quizzes where all you have to do is answer "What's your favorite color?  Red?  Green?  Yellow?  Blue?" or "What would you do?  Save them?  Kick them in the face?  Study with them?  Or do nothing?".  Mostly because this quiz gives a percentage of each house that you are.  Usually I'm 90% or higher on Hufflepuff.  So there's really no denying it anymore.

Team Starkid's A Very Potter Musical took a fun take on Hufflepuff, so by the time I had watched the entire musical, I was feel a bit better about it.  Especially since the "good guy bad guy" thing characterizes Gryffindor and Slytherin really well.  Well, stereotypes, but it's true...so is it still a stereotype?  I've taken to answering people with "Hufflepuffs are particularly good finders!" whenever I get the pity "aw," so it's only a matter of time until I find someone who will answer me correctly.

Okay.  But let's think about this.

You might belong in Hufflepuff,Where they are just and loyal,Those patient Hufflepuffs are true,And unafraid of toil.- The Sorting Hat (book 1)

Now tell me what's so bad about being hard working and loyal and just?  In the last Sorting Hat song that we witness in Order of the Phoenix, we learn that Helga Hufflepuff basically took in all the strays and taught the lot of them.  So is Hufflepuff the misfit house?  And is that really a bad thing?  Hufflepuffs can be finders, they can be helpers, they can be completely off the wall crazy, and they still fit into their house category.  One Ravenclaw slacks off on a test and the whole category goes to shit.  Hufflepuff seems to me to be the non-category category.  The miscellany house where they have a tendency to be "nice."  As opposed to the other houses that aren't?  It's really not true.  There's a whole community of Hufflepuffs in the Harry Potter Alliance, and you can find their discussion about Hufflepuff awesomeness HERE.

My most recent theory about the Hogwarts houses goes a little like this.  Ravenclaws and Slytherins are fairly similar, leading me to believe that Hufflepuffs and Gryffindors are as well.  My theory is that Slytherins (excluding the "bad guy evilness" assumption) are just applied Ravenclaws.  While Ravenclaws are studious, they're more of theory people and Slytherins are more of action people who put their plans into motion.  Ravenclaws might do the research, but Slytherins are the ones who get it done.  Same with Gryffindors and Hufflepuffs.  I get the feeling that because they both have "good" assumptions (even though Hufflepuffs are more "goody two shoes" and Gryffindors are "good guys but rebels"), but that Gryffindors are the extroverts and Hufflepuffs are the introverts.  Yeah, it's a broad theory and it might take a little stretching to fit, but that's where I'm at right now.  Though I can totally live with not being an introverted Gryffindor...I'm fine with just being a happy Hufflepuff!

Ministry of Magic suggests that Hufflepuffs want to have a good time and stick around with their friends, and I can live with that.  (I only know about this song because a friend of mine sent it to me after getting really excited about my being Hufflepuff because that meant she could rally enough people to sing this song!  Because it's totally awesome.)  And that doesn't merit a pity "aw."

This song that I found posted on another friend's Facebook wall (because I'm a class A Facebook stalker) pretty much sums it up.

So what I'm trying to say is that there's no shame in being a Hufflepuff.  We're not the outcasts and we're not the misfits, and even if we are, that just makes us ten times cooler than we already were.  We're friendly, kind, brave, loyal, witty, everything that makes a good friend.  So if you're a Hufflepuff, raise your wands and show some pride!