In the Harry Potter series, every Hogwarts student awaits that moment when the Sorting Hat assigns them a house with great anticipation. Their Hogwarts house is their main social circle: They share meals at house tables, go to classes, and live in dormitories with their housemates in their year. They also forge lasting bonds while relaxing in their common rooms.
Through their house assignment, Hogwarts students know they're in community with those who share similar traits and priorities. There’s Gryffindor, for the brave; Ravenclaw, for the clever; Slytherin, for the cunning; and Hufflepuff, for the loyal. While Hufflepuffs can be underestimated, their unique strengths and spirit are crucial to the wizarding world.
What are Hufflepuffs like?
Hufflepuff is a house of hard-working, friendly students. As the Sorting Hat intones in Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone, “You might belong in Hufflepuff, where they are just and loyal. Those patient Hufflepuffs are true and unafraid of toil.” Throughout the Harry Potter series, notable Hufflepuffs demonstrate these worthy character traits time and again. Here are a few moments where the spirit of the house was fully embodied.
Professor Pomona Sprout, head of Hufflepuff house, demonstrates patience
Professor Sprout is the Professor of Herbology throughout the Harry Potter series. A fair, patient, and hardworking teacher, she maintains greenhouses filled with magical plants.
These plants are especially important for treating students and their illnesses. In Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, students are getting petrified by an unknown monster. Professor Sprout's work with the Mandrakes, nurturing them until they’re mature enough to be stewed into the Mandrake Restorative Draught, becomes crucial after Harry confronts the monster.
From Chapter Six: Gilderoy Lockhart
Performed by Jim Dale
From Chapter Six: Gilderoy Lockhart
Performed by Stephen Fry
She takes her head of house position seriously and expects great work from her Herbology students, especially Hufflepuffs. She is also very encouraging of and patient with Neville Longbottom, a student who isn't treated as well by some other professors. Her commitment to her students means she goes above and beyond the call of duty, especially in the fight against Voldemort.
Cedric Diggory demonstrates fairness
One of our most beloved Hufflepuffs of the series, Cedric Diggory, exemplifies his house's reputation as fair players. A couple of years ahead of Harry at Hogwarts, he is the Seeker and Captain of Hufflepuff’s Quidditch team. When Harry falls from his broom during a game in Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, Cedric tries to call off the match after noticing his opponent is on the ground.
From Chapter Six: The Portkey
Performed by Jim Dale
From Chapter Six: The Portkey
Performed by Stephen Fry
Cedric is also chosen by the Goblet of Fire as a champion in the Triwizard Tournament in Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire. Though he is eager to win the tournament for the prize money and the promised “eternal glory,” he makes sure to help Harry when he can. He is all about fairness and sportsmanship.
Ernie Macmillan demonstrates loyalty
Ernie Macmillan is another student who shows off Hufflepuff values. He works hard in classes, competing for top grades with Hermione Granger. He is also extremely loyal to his fellow Hufflepuffs. Ernie is from a pureblood family but, unlike some others, he never uses this trait to bring others down. He is always impressed with Hermione’s prowess as a Muggle-born witch, and never displays an inch of interest in pureblood supremacy.
In Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, Ernie leaps to defend his housemate Justin Finch-Fletchley, showing a loyalty and protectiveness that would make any Hufflepuff proud. In Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, Ernie is named prefect of Hufflepuff House in his fifth year. He proudly tells anyone who will listen that he studies for eight to nine hours a day for the O.W.L. exams. Despite Ernie being a stringent rules-follower and hard worker, he joins Dumbledore’s Army to help with the resistance.
From Chapter Thirty-One: O.W.L.s
Performed by Jim Dale
From Chapter Thirty-One: O.W.L.s
Performed by Stephen Fry
Nymphadora Tonks demonstrates industriousness
Nymphadora Tonks, known as Tonks, is a notable Hufflepuff—usually sporting a shock of short, pink hair—who became an Auror, a position that we personally think is among the hardest jobs for a witch or wizard to land. More than hardworking, though, Tonks displays the kind of fierce dedication and quiet resolve that defines Hufflepuff strength. She may not seek the spotlight, but she always steps up when she's needed.
Tonks, who is a Metamorphmagus, meaning she can change her appearance at will, participates in many important missions with the Order of the Phoenix and joins the rescue party to escort Harry to the Order's headquarters. While it is dangerous for her to be in the Order as an Auror, she knows defeating Voldemort is a great cause that is worth the risk.
From Chapter Three: The Advance Guard
Performed by Jim Dale
From Chapter Three: The Advance Guard
Performed by Stephen Fry
What is the history of Hufflepuff?
Sometime around the 10th century in the remote beauty of the Scottish Highlands, Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry was founded by Godric Gryffindor, Helga Hufflepuff, Rowena Ravenclaw, and Salazar Slytherin. Each founder was the head of their eponymous house and selected students for that house based on the traits they most valued and wished to nurture in students.
When the question of how to handle sorting in the future arose, a solution came in the form of the Sorting Hat—an enchanted pointed wizard’s hat, imbued with the founders’ knowledge and perception. From then on, the Sorting Hat would perceive and predict the capabilities and potential of students to sort them into one of the four houses. The hat is still in use when Harry takes his first steps into the Great Hall at Hogwarts.
From Chapter Seven: The Sorting Hat
Performed by Jim Dale
From Chapter Seven: The Sorting Hat
Performed by Stephen Fry
Helga Hufflepuff is one of Hogwarts’ four founders. Hufflepuff wanted to ensure that magical education was available to everyone, no matter their interest or even ability at the start. She was of the firm opinion that anyone could be taught. This is part of why Hufflepuffs are so associated with fair play.
Who is Hufflepuff’s house ghost?
There are a number of ghosts among the Hogwarts population, and like the other houses of Hogwarts, Hufflepuff has its own house ghost: the Fat Friar.
The Fat Friar is always kind to Hogwarts students. He’s one of the first ghosts Harry sees, warmly greeting the incoming first years with hopes to see them in Hufflepuff. He is unfailingly kind and patient, as evidenced when he insists that Peeves the Poltergeist be permitted to attend the start-of-term feast. Even though the other ghosts suspect Peeves will pull a ludicrous prank, the Friar believes in second chances.
From Chapter Seven: The Sorting Hat
Performed by Jim Dale
From Chapter Seven: The Sorting Hat
Performed by Stephen Fry
During his lifetime, the Fat Friar was an actual friar. He was also a wizard who failed to conceal his magical abilities. He chose to heal people of the pox and also pulled rabbits out of a cup during communion. These flagrant magical displays led to the other clergy executing him for witchcraft.
Our other favorite notable Hufflepuffs
Newt Scamander: Newt was a magizoologist who wrote Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them. His work on magical creatures informed much of what we know and discover about magical creatures throughout the series. He exemplified the Hufflepuff traits of working hard, patiently finding and cataloging every magical creature. Students at Hogwarts still use his book to inform their Care of Magical Creatures education.
From the Introduction
Performed by Eddie Redmayne
Justin Finch-Fletchley: Justin is another student in the same year as Harry, Ron, and Hermione. He’s initially friendly to Harry, but he's later intimidated by Harry during the Dueling Club meeting in Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets. Nevertheless, Justin loyally joins Dumbledore’s Army in his fifth year to learn defensive skills from Harry.
From Chapter Six: Gilderoy Lockhart
Performed by Jim Dale
From Chapter Six: Gilderoy Lockhart
Performed by Stephen Fry
Susan Bones: Another student in Harry’s year at Hogwarts, Susan comes from a prominent wizarding family and her aunt, Amelia, is Head of Department of Magical Law Enforcement. Susan later joins Dumbledore’s Army and is excited to learn how to produce a Patronus like Harry.
From Chapter Sixteen: In the Hog's Head
Performed by Jim Dale
From Chapter Sixteen: In the Hog's Head
Performed by Stephen Fry
Hannah Abbott: Another student in Harry’s year, Hannah is named a prefect in her fifth year. She’s close friends with fellow Hufflepuffs Ernie, Justin, and Susan. (And notably, in The Order of the Phoenix, she also “somehow managed to multiply her ferret into a flock of flamingos, causing the examination to be halted for 10 minutes while the birds were captured and carried out of the Hall.”) In her later life, Hannah becomes landlady at the Leaky Cauldron and is rumored to have retrained as a Healer. She also marries a central character in the series (no spoilers here!).
From Chapter Seven: The Sorting Hat
Performed by Jim Dale
From Chapter Seven: The Sorting Hat
Performed by Stephen Fry
What is the Hufflepuff common room like?
The foodies among us would love to settle down in the Hufflepuff common room, located right next to Hogwarts’s kitchens. Like the other common rooms, there is a secret way to enter that keeps out students from other houses. You have to tap out a specific rhythm on a pile of barrels that block the entrance to the common room.
Though located in the basement of Hogwarts, it is a cozy space adorned with greenery. A portrait of Helga Hufflepuff decorates the mantelpiece, with Helga toasting her students with her famous cup. For more on the Hufflepuff common room, which isn’t extensively explored in the main series, be sure to check out From the Wizarding Archive.
Experience Harry’s world in audio
Harry and his friends go on a myriad of adventures throughout the Harry Potter series, taking them on a journey from magical, whimsical beginnings to a battle for the wizarding world and mugglekind alike. Curious about where Harry’s adventures take him? You’ll have to listen in to find out.
