This is a continuation of my study of the Sorting Hat Chats’ House sorting system, which fleshes out and better explains the motivations behind each of the four Hogwarts Houses of Harry Potter fame: Ravenclaw, Slytherin, Hufflepuff, and Gryffindor. I’ve decided to primarily use Star Wars characters as my examples, because most people can “see” the physical embodiment of the Houses through these best-known characters.

Healthy Hufflepuffs believe that championing equality and staying loyal to people is more important than sticking to a grander or more abstract ideal. It is a sameness of belief that never wavers, in that they believe it’s important to value everyone equally and champion their right to their beliefs. They are the people most likely to give people multiple chances to redeem themselves, who need to understand why they make the decisions they do, and have an ability to remain friends even with those whom they disagree. The Hufflepuff will put aside personal beliefs or creeds to intervene for humanity’s sake, since a person (any person) who needs them is more important than an impersonal ‘right-ness’ of belief.

The new Star Wars trilogy revolves around an epic battle of wills between a Ravenclaw Primary – Ben Solo – and a Hufflepuff Primary – Rey Skywalker. It contrasts his idealism and rigid adherence to a belief system he has chosen for himself (and his continual fight against his emotions, which cause him to want to go against his chosen ideology, and his refusal to do so — the essence of a Ravenclaw) with Rey’s simple Hufflepuff beliefs: that everyone deserves equality, fairness, and a champion. Hufflepuffs want family, and community, and that is what Rey has patiently waited for on Jaccu all these years—for her family to return for her. She, instead, finds a family in her friends—whom she chooses indiscriminately.

First BB-8 comes into her life. She fights for the robot’s rights as aggressively as she would for a human being. Then she meets Finn, and is aghast at his Slytherin desire to ‘save himself’ (and her), to prioritize some people over others, because it clashes with her Hufflepuff loyalty to humanity. Once aware of the struggle agains the Dark Side, she finds a cause that is not her own, and adopts it – doing the right thing for everyone everywhere, by fighting the Dark Side. She adopts Han Solo as a father figure, then Chewy as a friend, then tries to persuade Luke (a stubborn Ravenclaw) off the island by reminding him that the world needs him. She finds a friend and mentor in Princess Leia. Above all, once she believes Kylo Ren could choose another ideology, she chases him down, determined to make him adopt a new one, to show him back to the Light Side. She kills him, and heals him, and in the process, shows him the Light.

It’s beautiful. In that moment, the Ravenclaw realizes the system, the ideals he has chosen—are wrong. He changes. Turns his life around. Revises his system for a new one. Discards the old, and throws himself wholeheartedly into the new—rather like Edmund Pevensie, having found belief in Aslan. From that moment on, Ben Solo never looks back. The Hufflepuff has shown him a better way to live. Not because Rey is inherently more good than he is, but because as a healthy Hufflepuff, she has no true enemies. She can look into the face of a former adversary and offer him her hand. She fights as hard for him as against him. She battles him every step of the way with a Hufflepuff’s faith in the goodness of everyone, everywhere, and that everyone deserves second chances, even Kylo Ren. She never once falls for or takes any interest in his system, because as a Hufflepuff, she finds it amoral and flawed. And in sticking to her born sense of fairness, and with her shining goodness, she draws him back to the Light.

The other Hufflepuff in the franchise is Obi-Wan Kenobi. Though he adopts the Jedi Order as his creed, it’s out of a desire to serve and protect humanity. He defends the secret of Anakin and Padme’s marriage when he learns the truth, betraying his Jedi principles for the sake of “living, breathing human beings.” His love for Qui-Gon causes him to take on Anakin as his apprentice, even though the boy is “too old” according to the Jedi Order. He creates a family out of Anakin, Padme, and the droids, and feels Anakin’s betrayal even more deeply, because “you were like a brother to me.” He harshly dehumanizes Anakin (what happens when a Hufflepuff goes ‘dark’) and leaves him to burn to a slow death on an island of fire, after he finds out Anakin has gone to the Dark Side. This trauma causes Obi-Wan to “burn” – to pull away from his Hufflepuff need of family and community and abandon both, living alone until Luke stumbles across him and calls him once more to arms in Princess Leia’s behalf.

Since I also mentioned Narnia in my other post, I should reference also that Peter Pevensie is a Hufflepuff. His entire focus revolves around protecting his family and showing fairness to others, with an indiscriminate desire to do what is right and in the best interest for all Narnians. He embodies the highest attributes of the King of Narnia, because of his selflessness, goodness, and faith in everyone. He is unwilling to give up on Edmund even when hope seems lost. He ignores Susan’s logic and lack of faith in telling him he isn’t a hero and protects them. He leads the Narnian armies into a war with an uncertain outcome. All for equality and freedom for all.

Bible-character-wise, I think the best example of a Hufflepuff is Jesus. He called people to him of all backgrounds, from tax collectors to hotheads. He did not discriminate whom he healed, desiring only their faith. He came for the poor, the ignored, and the hated, as the Poor Man’s God. He broke cultural and racial barriers by reaching out to Gentiles, Romans, and Samaritans despite being a Jew. He taught his disciples forgiveness, compassion, loyalty, and to do right even by their enemies. And like the very highest ideal of a Hufflepuff, he was willing to forgive his enemies even on the cross.

Hufflepuffs are the fairest, least-discriminating House, and the one most represented among the good-hearted, selfless heroes on-screen and off who make it their mission to help and champion for equality, and build a strong community along the way, from Black Widow to Clark Kent.

Are you a Hufflepuff?