Any World (That I'm Welcome To)

A lot of these ideas have appeared in various discussions, and I decided to roll them all up in one place.

fialleril mentioned recently that Gryffindor House’s values seem like the odd man out at Hogwarts. Hard work, wit, and ambition and cunning are all potentially useful academic qualities, but how are daring, nerve, and chivalry going to help you on your exams? Are they really the House of Jocks?

But we considered them in light of when Hogwarts was founded, and in fact, all four Houses might work quite well as segments of the medieval society in which they were founded.( Read more... )

Helga Hufflepuff is the latest Wizard of the Month, and the first Hogwarts Founder on the list. Is this significant, JKR? Will there be a quiz? And will we get Rowena next month?

Apparently, Helga was a genius at food-related Charms, and many of her recipes are served at Hogwarts feasts to this day. (Does this mean she invented treacle tart?)

We know of one modern Hufflepuff who excels at Herbology (Sprout), and Hufflepuff is the "earth" house. Now, Herbology and food charms are not the same, but they do both peg Hufflepuff as the "domestic" house. The divide between the private/domestic sphere and the public/action-and-heroism sphere has been pretty big for six books now (Molly cooks, Arthur risks his life for the Order; Neville has neat plants, Harry competes in the Tournament; etc.), and I doubt that The Power Voldemort Knows Not is the power to tell when someone has been over-watering the mandrakes.

The Hufflepuffs have gotten a lot of unkind comments ("duffers" indeed) and been ignored by both characters and, often, the narrative, I think in large part because of their associations with the domestic/private sphere. But the Hat said they need to unite, and now Helga's the Wizard of the Month, so maybe they really will get to shine in Deathly Hallows. I just hope it's for being themselves, not for turning into Gryffindors who often have Attack Plants and pots of boiling water on hand.

There's another avenue of inquiry one could pursue about Hufflepuffs who cook and grow herbs, but it's about a week and a half too late for that.