Helga Hufflepuff

> "*I'll teach the lot and treat them just the same.*"
> ― Hufflepuff's view, unlike that of the other founders[source]
>
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**Helga Hufflepuff** (fl. c. 993) was a Welsh witch and was one of the four founders of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. While the other founders chose to have special students, she accepted them all without preference, but the students of her house are described as loyal and hard-working. Helga's portrait remained at Hogwarts by at least the 1980s.

## Biography

### Early life

> "*From valley broad....*"
> ― The Sorting Hat on Hufflepuff's birthplace[source]
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Helga Hufflepuff was born in the 10th Century and came from the broad valleys of Wales. She was either born or married into the Hufflepuff family. Helga's greatest friend was Rowena Ravenclaw from the Scottish glens.

### Hogwarts founder

United by the common goal of creating the world's best magic school, Helga Hufflepuff, and her good friends Rowena Ravenclaw, Godric Gryffindor, and Salazar Slytherin built Hogwarts Castle together and established Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry sometime around 993. She brought people from different backgrounds together to help in the building of the school.

While the other founders took students based on either ambition, bravery, or intelligence, Helga took the loyal, hard-working, patient and tolerant and treated them all equally. She had a gift for Food-related charms, and her recipes are still used as the basis for many Hogwarts feasts. She also arranged for the house-elf contingent to work in the kitchens, giving them somewhere safe to work, where they would not be mistreated or abused.

After a time in which the school enjoyed great prosperity, Helga's fellow founder Salazar Slytherin proposed a controversial action in which Muggle-born students should not be admitted to Hogwarts based on their heritage. Hufflepuff and the rest of the founders refused this, however, and the problem escalated to such degrees that Salazar ultimately left the school permanently.

### Post-mortem

One relic of Hufflepuff's, a small golden cup, had been passed down to her distant descendant Hepzibah Smith. Smith said the cup was supposed to have some magical powers, many of which she hadn't tested. The Cup was stolen from Smith by Tom Riddle, who corrupted Hufflepuff's legacy by changing it into a Horcrux. However, the Cup was destroyed by Hermione Granger with a basilisk fang during the Battle of Hogwarts in 1998.

## Physical appearance

Helga was a round, plump woman with brown hair and blue eyes. She often sported a wide smile. Helga usually wore a brown or yellow dress.

## Personality and traits

Helga favoured loyalty, honesty, fair play, and hard work, but was known to accept all students regardless of whether or not they possessed these traits. Members of her House usually display at least one of these traits in varying degrees. Given that all of her portraits show her with a wide smile, it can be inferred that Helga was a very jolly woman. Her affinity for food-related charms and plump shape might also indicate that she had a large appetite.

Helga was renowned for her compassionate nature and charming ways. She took in the house-elves to work in Hogwarts Kitchen, where they could work in peace and safety. This was considered to be the best option at the time for house-elves. While the other founders were careful in selection of students, Hufflepuff took in the rest.

She was also a woman of tolerance, willing to accept Muggle-born students and disagreed with Slytherin's pure-blood exclusiveness, as well as bringing together people of varying backgrounds to construct the school and ensuring a decent working environment for house-elves, who were generally treated with indifference if not outright cruelty by most wizards.

## See also

* Godric Gryffindor
* Rowena Ravenclaw
* Salazar Slytherin
* Hogwarts founders
* Helga Hufflepuff's Cup
* Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry

## Etymology

* The name **Helga** is from Helge, from Old Norse *heilagr*, meaning "holy" or "blessed". Their symbol is the badger, a large mammal related to the weasels with distinctive white stripes on its head. In Celtic mythology, a badger was a guide. The badger also can symbolise a tendency to be hard-working, strong, and tenacious. Hufflepuffs are known for loyalty and hard work.
* Helga was a name which was common in northern Europe; in countries such as Norway. It was soon adopted by many soviet countries and others which bordered with the north, including; Russia, Latvia, Denmark and Belgium. As those in northern Europe pronounced the 'e' in Helga as more of a cross between 'e' and 'o', and, like the french, didn't pronounce the 'h', the soviet countries adopted the name as 'Olga'. Some countries, including Germany, kept the name as 'Helga'.
* **Hufflepuff** could mean "huff and puff" or blustery. "Huff" also means to breathe; "puff" is a medieval term for pastry.