Well, from reading, I am proud of my wand.

Elder is the rarest wood type - Draon Core is the Strongest, yet most unstable core type - And I believe that the Hard/Springy type of wand, etc. has to deal with how easy it is for your wand to bend to other people. It may also have to deal with how powerful it is: ie Springy means t is slightly difficult to bend but it is also weak wheras Hard is Extremely Difficult to bend but is a stronger type of wand. If all is true ad applied, I have a powerful wand.

Also - to clarify - By bend, I mean like How Harry took Draco's Wand. Draco's Wand was probably Slightly Springy and the Elder wand was probably super springy.

The secret bonus for winning the House Cup, as previously speculated, is access to the second book 24 hours ahead of the other Houses. Only Slytherin students that have joined before July 5 will get access, however. The chapters will be available to everyone the following day.

Also it looks like it was not their intention to wipe every student's individual house points, and they'll be restored soon.

I joined a Day late. :(

Davy, don't worry, they only get it 24 hours before us, lol.

Why does everyone hate Hufflepuff so much? Hufflepuff has some of the nicest, friendly, and most hardworking people (if you need an example of that, we have three Hufflepuffs in PNC). They have such a bad rep for absolutely no reason at all.

Frankly, I don't care that I'm a Slytherin; I'd rather Hufflepuff win the next House Cup instead. During the beta and over the last few months, Hufflepuff was severely behind in fourth place. Yet, when the competition for the second House Cup started, they banded together and worked their way up to second place. In my opinion, they really deserve to win. And they don't deserve all of the unnecessary hate that they get.

Marry, I love you so much. So. Much.

I, personally, am a Hufflepuff, and god knows the Common Room has been buzzing with encouragement for the past few days to work hard, live up to the name. I really don't understand the hate Hufflepuff gets either. I mean, even when I was little and thought that Slytherin was evil and only the best of the best go to Gryffindor (a thought process I have very much amended since then, especially considering there's a good chunk of PNC in Slytherin), I never hated Hufflepuff, and as time grew and I started reading up on the characteristics of the various houses, I realized that Hufflepuffs are honestly pretty awesome. Who else will stand beside you through thick and thin, rocks and hard places, there for you to cry on the worst day of your life and there to cheer you on and love you on the best? I've analyzed the various houses through situations so many times, and it always comes out that a Hufflepuff will always be there, no matter what, your loyal friend, a rock in the storm.

Hufflepuffs believe in equality. Hufflepuffs believe in hard work. Hufflepuffs believe in steadfast loyalty. Hufflepuffs believe in patience. Hufflepuffs believe in not backing down. Hufflepuffs won't rush to a fight like a Gryffindor, but when it comes, they won't leave your side. Hufflepuffs won't trick and weave their way into getting what they want, like a Slytherin could and would; they believe you should work for it. They're not as smart as a Ravenclaw, but really, who is? Now what's not to love about that?

Not to mention, we make excellent cakes, courtesy of the recipes of Helga herself.

@MTN's Post - Ijust never really liked Hufflepuff. They never really had a story purposs (SP? MS Word didnt help) other than being that 4th house. Griffindor were the good guys, Slytherin were the bad guys, and Ravenclaw was very helpful and eventful in the last book or two. Other than Diggory, there was no MAJOR plot character as there were in the other 3 houses. I was basing that on my opinion on the movies/books. Not the game.

Someone hold me back from the temptation to just copy and paste the Hufflepuff welcome message here.

Instead, I'll just copy this from the Harry Potter Wiki, Helga Hufflepuff article:

Now it may not necessarily say that we have the recipes, but keep in mind that it was Helga who kept the place fed, and that our Common Room is right next to the kitchen.

Now, as far as reference in the books goes, you're right, there's not a whole lot. But you bring up Cedric Diggory, don't you? Why do you think a Hufflepuff was chosen over all of the others? There was significance in that. A Hufflepuff embodies what a competitor for the Triwizard should be, someone who is worthy, not someone who will cheat and scheme to win, not someone who will barrel in without a brain cell to spare, not someone who will just sit there thinking it over and therefore delay their loss; no. A Hufflepuff was the most worthy choice, because they would play fair, play smart, and play strong. Cedric Diggory was the one who said "Hey, I'm sorry about all the Harry Potter hate," the one who told Harry how to open his egg, was the one who wouldn't leave Harry's side in that graveyard.

So when you think about it, Cedric Diggory was a HUGE character. He marked a new era, and Harry carried his death with him through the rest of the series. And can we please remember that Nymphadora Tonks was a Hufflepuff too? Susan Bones, who Neville goes on to marry, was a Hufflepuff.

Also, if we're basing all of these opinions purely off of the books and movies, the only Ravenclaw that was really a serious help was Luna Lovegood. Cho was.... annoying, to say the least, and no other Ravenclaws are coming to my mind... well, unless we count Marietta Edgecombe, who sold out Dumbledore's Army. Wouldn't catch a Hufflepuff doing that, would you?

So, how potent is my wand?

It's sycamore, unicorn hair for the core, 11 inches (though that's probably not important about the potency), and Reasonably Supple.

A big tide turner was Ravenclaw's very own ghost. (Cant remember her name) - She knew where one of the very last Horcruxes were, and she told them. If it wasnt for the Ravenclaw ghost, Voldermort may have won.
Jus' sayin'.

Yeah, she knew where the diadem was. I think Rowena Ravenclaw was her mother, too, wasn't she?

I'm sure I've mentioned this somewhere before, either in-game or in this thread, but stereotyping people isn't a good thing. ;) A lot (note that I said "a lot," not "all." I'm aware that there are nice Gryffindors) of Gryffindor students have proven to be rude and willing to cheat to win the House Cup, because they think, since Gryffindor won the House Cup multiple times in the books, they deserve to win every Pottermore House Cup. Slytherin, on the other hand -- even though we do have a few certain bad seeds that have been giving our House an awful reputation -- has a good amount of nice, encouraging, helpful people. Essentially, Gryffindor isn't exactly full of good, chivalrous people as the books have suggested; nor is Slytherin full of evil, conniving students.

Unfortunately if you scroll through the comments in Chapter 7, you'll occasionally see someone who is severely disappointed in being placed in Slytherin or Hufflepuff. They think they're going into an evil House full of rude, evil students; or that their House is full of losers. Ravenclaw and Gryffindor are the most desired Houses, and Slytherin and Hufflepuff are the least desired. And all of this is, unfortunately, due to stereotyping.

And yes, I am mostly basing this on "the game." But Pottermore is a canonical part of the Harry Potter universe, so just because we have "real" students doesn't mean that its credibility should be completely discarded. ;)

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In other news, the first four Chamber of Secrets chapters are now available to Slytherins. I was a bit bummed out when I saw that it was just four, but now that I've collected four new potion ingredients already (and I'm still in Chapter 1), I like it. It's fun to be exploring again. And I can't wait to start brewing new potions.

I'll add a list of the potion ingredients that can be found in both books, and where they can be found, to the original post when I'm done.

Obviously, a variety of characters from all of the houses had tremendous roles in the series. Sure, Rowena Ravenclaw helped Harry and his friends find one of the last Horcruxes, but this doesn't discredit the significance that Hufflepuff students had on the series. While the Hufflepuff house wasn't the star of the show for the entire series, Diggory brought forth a lot of significance to the story in his death and in how he treated Harry. And, according to the Battle of Hogwarts page, when Harry was threatened by the Slytherin house, the loyal Hufflepuffs were right there beside the chivalrous Gryffindors and witty Ravenclaws to fight for what's right. They did not have to be in every scene of every movie and book to have significance. If anything, this last scene has a deeper definition; it shows that the perceived underdogs can help make all of the difference.

Just because a house does not have the flashy appeal of bravery, intelligence or ambition does not mean that the house is any worse. The best type of friend you can have is a friend that is loyal, honest and dependable, after all. And really, speaking from firsthand experience, a Hufflepuff is the best friend that I could ever ask for. The simple things in life - loyalty to loved ones, honesty and a warm heart - go farther in peoples' hearts than bravery, intelligence or cunning could ever, because those are the traits that make humanity, well, human.

- A Slytherin

:/ Sheesh, I just didnt want to be in Hufflepuff, was it that big of a deal?

Did I forget to mention a very key trait of Hufflepuff is defensiveness? My bad.

Really the most important thing about all this is the stereotyping, because really, it's rampant in the Harry Potter fandom. Honestly, it's nothing really against you personally, but more the idea that you seem to support; that Hufflepuff is somehow less because you see nothing significant about them, when in fact (as can be shown from above from Kyle and Savvy's arguments), there's a lot of significance. The fact of the matter is, Hufflepuff has had a bad rep ever since the very first book, when Draco Malfoy (Draco Malfoy, the bad guy back then), said it would be horrible to be placed in Hufflepuff, and the idea just spread from there, no matter how much Hagrid refuted it, no matter the sacrifice of Cedric Diggory, no matter the happiness and joy Tonks brought. It's the stereotype that still stays, even after Draco Malfoy and Severus Snape are no longer the bad guys, after Slytherin is seen to have good characters, after seeing Marietta Edgecombe rat out the DA, after seeing Peter Pettigrew become a coward and turn on his friends. After all of this, Hufflepuffs are still looked upon as lower, when JK Rowling presented to us many instances that shows they shouldn't be.

Except it's only the first 4 chapters. Hrmph.

However... there is a way to comment on the 5th chapter if you're willing to try and find it... ;)