Hufflepuff House Pride Day: The Difference Between Hard Work and Wisdom

March 20 is Hufflepuff House Pride Day, and as a proud member of the most underestimated House at Hogwarts, I have taken it upon myself to pay tribute to the beautiful black and yellow. Badgers, this one is for you!

Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw share more than their tendency to slip under the radar in comparison to the more vocal Houses of Gryffindor and Slytherin. For years, I thought I was a Ravenclaw. I did well in school, I loved to read, and I was good at logic, puzzles, and riddles. I was confused when I was constantly Sorted into Hufflepuff no matter what quiz I took and even when I attempted to hoodwink the Pottermore Sorting test. I began to wonder if Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw were too similar to successfully place my personality into one or the other. This was, of course, very wrong. I soon came to realize that my House absolutely has its own identity and values some very important things.

Hard work can often be mistaken for intelligence and wisdom. This mistake is easy to make, which is why I thought I was a Ravenclaw for so many years. Once I came to terms with being Sorted into Hufflepuff, I began to notice a difference between being hard-working and being naturally smart. I noticed that even though I was getting straight A’s in school, it wasn’t due to natural ability, but instead a certain conviction in my personality that was to thank for these results. By keeping my nose to the grindstone, setting goals for myself, and not stopping until I achieved them, I had accomplished something that looked like smartness. What I discovered I had was a hard-earned intelligence.

This realization made me see what an important value hard work is. Often laughed off as a House with no real attribution, Hufflepuff actually possesses arguably the most important attribution out of the four Hogwarts Houses. Being hard-working means that you are willing to strive for an overall bettering of yourself. When confronted with a task that is difficult and doesn’t come easily to you, a true Hufflepuff will plunge straight ahead anyway and chip away at the barrier until their hard work wins out. This means noticing flaws and being brave, wise, and ambitious enough to attempt to correct them. When you think about how many flaws humans have, this one strength can become extremely valuable in balancing out these flaws and making for a more than capable and competent individual. Hufflepuffs, it’s all right to be hard-working, loyal, and just. These are qualities that create a person who is always striving for to be the best form of themselves and isn’t held down by circumstance.