Each house in Harry Potter’s Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry has a defining characteristic: Gryffindors are courageous, Ravenclaws smart, Slytherins cunning and sly. This leaves the Hufflepuffs being simply…loyal and caring? Hufflepuffs receive a bad rep in J.K. Rowling’s books; they never place highly in the yearly “House Cup”, and their house has a reputation for not being selective about membership. Hufflepuffs live near the “homey” kitchen, definitely not as prestigious as Gryffindor’s tower or as eerie as Slytherin’s dungeon dormitories. Their dorm location, their yearly standing in the House Cup, and their openness thus lead us to believe that Hufflepuffs are ordinary.

But what of Cedric Diggory or the great Auror, Nymphadora Tonks? Simply because an individual’s defining trait is humility, openness or caring should not equate them to mediocrity. 

Our views on the imaginary Hogwarts hierarchy translate into how many of us assert ourselves in real life. We put our best traits forward, hoping that our courage, our grades, or our ability to work within the given system grants an opportunity to prove ourselves career-wise. Rarely do we turn down a chance to show how much we can do or how smart we are. In this capitalistic American society, me-first seems to work best, leaving the valuable Hufflepuff traits of loyalty and humilty far behind. 

I’m coming to realize that Hufflepuff traits should in fact be the most valued: an individual that sacrifices for his friends and treats all equally deserves universal respect. 

So go on, friends. Accuse me of being in Hufflepuff, and see if I don’t take it as a very lovely compliment.