Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw Representation - Debate

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#RepresentationDebate

𝓉𝒶𝒷𝓁𝑒 𝑜𝒻 𝒸𝑜𝓃𝓉𝑒𝓃𝓉𝓈

> Introduction

> Ravenclaw Characters

> Ravenclaw's role

> Hufflepuff Characters

> Hufflepuff's role

> Stereotypes

> Outro

𝐼𝓃𝓉𝓇𝑜

In the Harry Potter Universe we meet Hogwarts, a school for Witches and Wizards. This school is divided by four houses, Gryffindor, Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw and Slytherin. All these houses should be seen as equals, they simply have different values. However the question is if Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff have enough representation.

The main Character of the book is in Gryffindor, so this House has the most representation, next comes Slytherin. They have the role of the 'bad' guys. Leaving Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw as the 'Side Houses'. They don't play a big role on the main plot but they take on the role of ive cast, just like the side characters.

𝑅𝒶𝓋𝑒𝓃𝒸𝓁𝒶𝓌 𝒸𝒽𝒶𝓇𝒶𝒸𝓉𝑒𝓇𝓈

'Where does of Wit and Learning will always find their kin'

Though all the books we have encountered 33 Ravenclaws Characters. Some were mentioned once, others a little more often. Some of the characters that had a more prominent role is Cho Chang and Luna Lovegood. There are others like Pa but they appeared only twice and never interacted for a longer period with the main characters.

Both of the characters are describes as smart, and with imagination. So they fit into the Ravenclaw characterisitcs. Here, however, there is a clear difference between both. One is more booksmart, clever. The other one goes more into thinking outside of the box and is full of imagination. I think, Ravenclaw scored some points in representation with his. But Cho Chang is a whole stereotype, which again brings up the question if she can then be seen as a representation. I will talk about this later.

Both had very minor roles in the books, even if they were friends with the main characters. Cho was only used as a love interest and then pushed to the side. Luna was their friend who gave small inside view into her mind. However, she never really made a huge impact. The role of the Ravenclaws is to help, give ideas. But since Hermione got that role, they don't play an important role. The characters in Ravenclaw are there only for character development and that is not representation.

𝑅𝒶𝓋𝑒𝓃𝒸𝓁𝒶𝓌'𝓈 𝓇𝑜𝓁𝑒

We talked about the Students in Ravenclaw, but how much impact did the House have? The first thing that came to my mind were the Jewels, the ones who became horcruxes. They also had important parts in worldbuilding as they created the magical stairs that students grew up to hate or love.

It had some parts to play, smaller than the 'main' Houses but it still was very small, even the historical heroes are forgotten. We did however get more background about their founder and her daughter. Which compared to other houses was a big thing.

𝐻𝓊𝒻𝒻𝓁𝑒𝓅𝓊𝒻𝒻 𝒸𝒽𝒶𝓇𝒶𝒸𝓉𝑒𝓇𝓈

Unlike the Ravenclaw, they have many less characters. 15 In total but a lot more important ones. Some being Newt Scamander, Cedric Diggory and Nymphadora Tonks. This ones played an active role in the story, Newt Scamander even being the main character. WE follow these Characters who are supposed to be nice and loyal, and it is a theme often found. Unlike the other houses who got different personalities. Hufflepuffs seem to always have the same lore to them.

Cedric Diggory, the first real death in the books. The boy who everyone loved, who was sweet and nice. He did have a big role, an impact. And even if he served as character development, he was more.

Newt Scamander, he is the main character about two movies. We follow his life and his love for the animals as he tries to save them all. A sweet and genuine soul, someone we love and adore.

Nymphadora, the funny and young one. She died in war, leaving a child behind. Once again, Heartbreak for the reader. She was sweet, lovely. People had to love her.

Hufflepuff has more characters, more representation. But it is very similar, a copy and paste with some small changes. They never seem to go beyond the 'nice' character. Representation is important, to show diverse people. This is not properly shown.

𝐻𝓊𝒻𝒻𝓁𝑒𝓅𝓊𝒻𝒻'𝓈 𝓇𝑜𝓁𝑒

Hufflepuff did not play any important role as a house, they had more of a ive role. We didn't learn a lot about their founder, their ideas, how things were build. Even the common rooms were not described as well. And even if it can be written off because it wasn't important tot he plot, having so many characters important to the plot. It doesn't sound impossible having a small introduction to it, especially since Cedric was a very active part for a whole book.

What impacted more was the cup who was also used as a horcrux, same as with Ravenclaw. It served for a small side plot but it did not make it important enough. And the whole side plot was resolved without any Hufflepuffs help, a great chance for representation. It was all given to Harry and his two friends.

They did have more actions that put them forward, a lot of students participated during the battle, falling behind Gryffindor. But I will not count it as representation since it wasn't active but ive. We did not get to see them fight, we only got it told.

𝒮𝓉𝑒𝓇𝑒𝑜𝓉𝓎𝓅𝑒𝓈

My biggest point of why, in my opinion, it is not representation is because most of it are stereotypes. Each house has its essence, they are going to have similarities. However, this doesn't mean they can't be different.

Hufflepuffs are kind and loyal. And we do recognize it in most charactzers. As in that no Hufflepuff became a death eater. However, even with Zacharias Smith, can we really pretend everyone in a house is going to be like that? People can be loyal to the wrong people, they can be kind and still be reckless. Even tough, however none of the characters portray that. In this sense, Hufflepuff fails by representing people.

Now in Ravenclaw, there are less characters but they are different. And I would count it as representation, if it wasn't for the fact that Cho Chang is a walking stereotype. There are main issues with her, and I will not go into them, but she stays a stereotype and many might say that she is only a Ravenclaw because she is asian. In that case it is not good representat5ion and it leaves us with Luna, one character.

𝒪𝓊𝓉𝓇𝑜

Out of seven books, there was enough opportunities to give them more representation. All the representation they got was ive without much Impact. Or they were victims of stereotypes and simply existing for the sake of the main characters. And so, Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff do not have enough representation