Discussion topic: Why does the Internet hate on Hufflepuff House?

So this post has been a long time in coming, so please forgive the following rant:

Just yesterday, MuggleNet made posts on social media about Cedric Diggory in remembrance of his passing June 24, 1995. Harry Potter fans know the alternate Hogwarts Tri-Wizard contender was murdered by Peter Pettigrew when he and Harry were teleported to the Little Hangleton graveyard via portkey.

Now you would THINK the fandom would commiserate over the passing of this bold, heroic character – (and in truth there was a bit of that) – but several fans on our social feeds also felt the need to make derogatory jokes about not only Cedric, but his Hogwarts House: Hufflepuff.

Look… I get it. These are fictional characters, fictional labels, and the fandom’s age-old lambasting of Hufflepuff House is a tradition of most every Potter fan -we picked that up from reading about Harry, Ron and Hermione’s attitude towards the house throughout the book series.

These days, however, several years after the books have come out, you still can’t mention being in Hufflepuff without expecting some kind of pitying laugh from your friends. In fact in many ways the prejudice has gotten even worse.

The viral phenomenon of Starkid and A Very Potter Musical years ago certainly didn’t help the house’s rep. Quotes from parodied Cedric (“Hufflepuffs are exceptionally great finders!”) and parodied Dumbledore (“What the HELL is a Hufflepuff?”) associate the house with a dull, stupid, overall negative connotation and have become ubiquitous with any mention of the house online.

Further, we all remember when Pottermore was finally realized and Harry Potter fans got to be sorted “for real.” There were outcries from kids and adults all over the globe lamenting their placement in the believed weakest of all houses and talk about making multiple Pottermore accounts because the Sorting Hat just couldn’t have been more wrong that first time. Because come on, how can choosing between moon or stars/heads or tails really tell you what house you’re supposed to be in anyway, right?

One fact that many Potter fans forget about it that J.K. Rowling herself has said that Hufflepuff is her favorite house! Check out this interview from last year below where she gives her full reasoning, while alluding to the fact that it was Hufflepuff House – by and large – that was most loyal to the school (other than Gryffindor) during the Battle of Hogwarts.

Now – nothing against Gryffindors, but our Queen’s got a point! While Gryffindors by nature stayed during the battle to fight off pure evil, they did so because it was just the brave thing to do, while Hufflepuff House stayed to fight because it was their duty. Even if you could argue some or most of these Hufflepuff students were scared – or even that they were unskilled on the battlefield – that’s more reason to celebrate that house and its loyalty, because those students fought truly knowing (and feeling) the coming danger. Colin Creevey (often remembered as Harry’s annoying paparazzi in his second year) was one of these characters and notably gave his life for the cause.

Maybe I’m coming off as a little too harsh here, but as someone who has been an active part of this fandom for many years, I’m ashamed that we fans have not collectively risen above this particular divide. I mean, if we can all take the cue from Draco and Snape and agree that Slytherins aren’t all bad, why can’t we lighten up a little on the Hufflepuffs?

Just two cents from your average Hufflepuff editorialist. What do you think?