A lot of people like to think of Hufflepuff house as the house for all of the left over students who don’t fit into any of the other houses at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. But that’s only because Helga Hufflepuff believed that any student, no matter their skill or natural disposition, deserved an education. The ideals that Hufflepuffs actually aspire to are fairness, loyalty, hard work, and most of all kindness.
Most of the students who were chosen for Hufflepuff were either chosen for their innate kindness or had the privilege of learning how to be kind to others from their fellow Hufflepuffs. However, there were of course plenty of students who didn’t always embody the Helga Hufflepuff ideals too. Hufflepuff house was home to some of the kindest students in Hogwarts history, but there were plenty of students in Hufflepuff who were downright mean. These are the 5 kindest Hufflepuffs, along with the 5 meanest.
Meanest: Hannah Abbott
Hannah Abbott eventually married Neville Longbottom, so clearly she can’t be all bad. But when the Tri-Wizard Tournament was in full swing, Hannah was one of a few Hufflepuffs who went out of her way to bully and insult Harry for stealing the glory away from Hufflepuff house and Cedric Diggory.
It’s not a huge surprise that some students reacted negatively to Harry’s inclusion in the tournament, but after the first trial it should have been readily evident that Harry didn’t really want to be involved in it and he was actually in significant danger because of it, so it would have been nice if the students in his year like Hannah had cut him a break.
Kindest: Susan Bones
When it comes to embodying the kindness that is meant to be inherent in most students from house Hufflepuff, Susan Bones really always did a stellar job. Susan stayed under the radar for the majority of her education at Hogwarts, but she distinguished herself from many other Hufflepuffs in a few ways.
When it looked like that the entire house was furious at Harry Potter over the Tri-Wizard tournament, Susan seemed to be one of the few who didn’t bully Harry. Susan was also a member of Dumbledore’s Army, and she came to Harry’s defense against Draco Malfoy when he attacked Harry on the Hogwarts train.
Meanest: Pomona Sprout
As the head of Hufflepuff house, anyone would expect that Professor Pomona Sprout would be a very kind and caring woman. And we’re not saying that she’s the worst of the worst, but for a teacher she seems to be pretty blissfully unconcerned with the basic health and safety of he students.
When the herbology students were working with mandrakes, the potential danger of the magical plants was obvious, as their screams could knock any of the children out cold. But when Neville Longbottom actually did faint as a result of their screams, she just told the other students to leave him there and she continued with the lesson.
Kindest: The Fat Friar
Most children who came face to face with an actual ghost would be terrified, but the house ghost of Hufflepuff is so jolly and friendly that even kids seem to be charmed by this dead man. When he was alive, the Fat Friar devoted his life to religion and charity, spending most of his time soliciting donations from the rich to give to the poor as well as curing humans of their illnesses.
That is, unfortunately, what wound up doing him in. The fellow clergy were suspicious of how he managed to cure illness with nothing more than a stick, but even his execution for heresy seemingly couldn’t deflate his naturally kind demeanor.
Meanest: Ernie MacMillan
Ernie is another one of the Hufflepuff students who began bullying Harry when the Tri-Wizard Tournament began, and we have to say, bullying other students for being involved in a school activity just because he’s competing against someone in your house (who is obviously the better competitor anyway) is very un-Hufflepuff behavior.
What makes it worse is that while Cedric undoubtedly appreciated support from his fellow Hufflepuffs, he directly asked them to lay off of Harry and they kept doing it anyway. Clearly all that really mattered to them was dragging Harry no matter what, because in their minds he was taking away some imaginary glory that Hufflepuff was entitled to.
Kindest: Cedric Diggory
Cedric Diggory was one of the very few superstars to come out of Hufflepuff house, but he didn’t let his exceptional abilities and talents go to his head. At least not as much as he could have.
He was competitive, but he was still very kind, and when he realized that Harry Potter was completely out of his depth when it came to competing in the Tri-Wizard Tournament he didn’t hesitate to offer his own competitor some helpful words to ensure that he could at least survive the trials. It’s a tragic irony that it was ultimately Cedric who didn’t survive.
Meanest: Zacharias Smith
Any kid who willingly joined Dumbledore’s Army deserves some credit for being braver than most, but Zacharias Smith very quickly wore out his welcome with Harry Potter and the entire Army. Despite the fact that he joined the D.A., it seemed like Zacharias never had a kind word to say about the organization or the people in it, and he seemed to be constantly mistrustful of the guidance that the other students offered.
His enthusiasm for the fight against dark wizards was apparently short lived because when the Battle of Hogwarts rolled around, Harry allegedly spotted Zacharias pushing younger children out of the way to escape the castle quickly.
Kindest: Newt Scamander
Newt Scamander is a very shy and soft boy, but his kind demeanor and gentle disposition is so strong and apparent that every magical creature in the world seems to instinctively trust him with their very lives.
Newt seems to have some trouble relating to other people and seems to prefer the company of animals instead, but everyone that really gets to know him seems to be charmed by his sweetness. He can have his moments of sass for sure, but he usually only lashes out at others when he’s coming to the defense of one of the animals or people that he cares for.
Meanest: Nymphadora Tonks
To say that Nymphadora Tonks is mean is a bit of an exaggeration, but she definitely doesn’t have the soft and squishy disposition that most people would expect from your average Hufflepuff. Tonks prefers to be the one serving up attitude instead of taking it, and she is never one to back away from a fight. She’s assertive and downright aggressive sometimes, and she has always been rebellious and a bit of a wild child.
It takes a really tough personality to work as an auror and stay alive in the long term, and while Tonks’ personality may be best suited to Hufflepuff she was undoubtedly the girl who would pummel other students for making fun of fellow Hufflepuffs.
Kindest: Helga Hufflepuff
When it comes to Hufflepuffs that embody the kindness that is such a flagship personality trait of the house, no one can really top the founder of the house herself, Helga Hufflepuff.
The other three founders of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry had grand ideas of the kind of excellent students they wanted to curate and call their own, but Helga was the only one who believed that every student with magical abilities deserved an education, and she was willing to put her money where her mouth is. She wanted to create a house of students who were valued for how much they tried, and that means a lot.
