Wizarding World™ Explore this collection of original writing by J.K. Rowling to learn more about the differences between the wizarding and the Muggle worlds.

Close to the Hogwarts kitchens, the Hufflepuff common room was hidden behind a large pile of barrels. A cosy, low-ceilinged room decorated in yellow and black, the Hufflepuff common room was full of honey-coloured wood and thriving plants. In some ways the common room resembled a badger sett and the round doors leading to the dormitories and circular windows giving a ground level view of sunny meadowland helped reinforce this safe and cosy feeling.
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The Hufflepuff common room is entered from the same corridor as the Hogwarts kitchens. Proceeding past the large still life that forms the entrance to the latter, a pile of large barrels is to be found stacked in a shadowy stone recess on the right-hand side of the corridor.

The Hufflepuff common room is entered from the same corridor as the Hogwarts kitchens. Proceeding past the large still life that forms the entrance to the latter, a pile of large barrels is to be found stacked in a shadowy stone recess on the right-hand side of the corridor. The barrel two from the bottom, middle of the second row, will open if tapped in the rhythm of ‘Helga Hufflepuff’. As a security device to repel non-Hufflepuffs, tapping on the wrong barrel, or tapping the incorrect number of times, results in one of the other lids bursting off and drenching the interloper in vinegar.

A sloping, earthy passage inside the barrel travels upwards a little way until a cosy, round, low-ceilinged room is revealed, reminiscent of a badger’s sett. The room is decorated in the cheerful, bee-like colours of yellow and black, emphasised by the use of highly polished, honey-coloured wood for the tables and the round doors which lead to the boys’ and girls’ dormitories (furnished with comfortable wooden bedsteads, all covered in patchwork quilts).

A colourful profusion of plants and flowers seem to relish the atmosphere of the Hufflepuff common room: various cactii stand on wooden circular shelves (curved to fit the walls), many of them waving and dancing at passers-by, while copper-bottomed plant holders dangling amid the ceiling cause tendrils of ferns and ivies to brush your hair as you pass under them.

A portrait over the wooden mantelpiece (carved all over with decorative dancing badgers) shows Helga Hufflepuff, one of the four founders of Hogwarts School, toasting her students with a tiny, two-handled golden cup. Small, round windows just level with the ground at the foot of the castle show a pleasant view of rippling grass and dandelions, and, occasionally, passing feet. These low windows notwithstanding, the room feels perennially sunny.

The complexity or otherwise of the entrance to the common rooms might be said to give a very rough idea of the intellectual reputation of each house: Hufflepuff has an unchanging portal and requires rhythmic tapping; Slytherin and Gryffindor have doorways that challenge the would-be entrant about equally, the former having an almost imperceptible hidden entrance and a varying password, the latter having a capricious guardian and frequently changing passwords. In keeping with its reputation as the house of the most agile minds at Hogwarts, the door to the Ravenclaw common room presents a fresh intellectual or philosophical challenge every time a person knocks on it.

Nevertheless, it ought not to be concluded from the above that Hufflepuffs are dimwits or duffers, though they have been cruelly caricatured that way on occasion. Several outstanding brains have emerged from Hufflepuff house over the centuries; these fine minds simply happened to be allied to outstanding qualities of patience, a strong work ethic and constancy, all traditional hallmarks of Hufflepuff House.

The entrance to the common room was located "in a nook on the right hand side of the kitchen corridor", concealed behind a stack of barrels. In order to reveal the entrance, no password was required. Instead, one had to tap the barrel two from the bottom, middle of the second row, in the rhythm of "Helga Hufflepuff", which would make the lid swing open, exposing a passageway that would lead to the basement when crawled through.

However, if the wrong lid was tapped or the wrong rhythm was used, the intruder would be doused in vinegar and barred access.

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The kitchen was a gigantic, high-ceilinged room with five tables identical to the ones in the Great Hall above; they were also in the exact same position. There were large quantities of pots and pans heaped around the stone walls, presumably on counter-tops or stoves, and a large brick fireplace at the other end of the hall from the door.

Using their own skills in magic, the house-elves in the kitchens had created a village-like structure out of old barrels which was where they slept. It was implied they were bigger on the inside through a brand of the house-elves own magic, although no known wizard has ever looked inside one.

The only house common room that Harry doesn’t enter in the books - that’s not to say we don’t know anything about it…

To access the Hufflepuff Common Room, students must go via the Hogwarts kitchens, where they will find a ‘pile of large barrels.’ Of these, ‘The barrel two from the bottom, middle of the second row, will open if tapped in the rhythm of ‘Helga Hufflepuff’.’

Suitable for the incumbent Hufflepuff head of house during Harry’s time (Professor Pomona Sprout, Herbology teacher), it’s certainly the most green of the four house common rooms. According to J.K. Rowling, ‘various cactii stand on wooden circular shelves (curved to fit the walls), many of them waving and dancing at passers-by, while copper-bottomed plant holders dangling amid the ceiling cause tendrils of ferns and ivies to brush your hair as you pass under them.’

You can also get an idea of what this cosy common room looks like via Bloomsbury’s beautiful 20th anniversary house editions, which contain illustrations by Levi Pinfold. The Hufflepuff sketch showcases the porthole-type windows and the almost subterranean allure perfectly.

You can also get an idea of what this cosy common room looks like via Bloomsbury’s beautiful 20th anniversary house editions, which contain illustrations by Levi Pinfold. The Hufflepuff sketch showcases the porthole-type windows and the almost subterranean allure perfectly.

This, from J.K. Rowling herself, explains that although it didn’t crop up in the books themselves, the common room was still a fully imagined place for Hufflepuffs:

Publicado originalmente por J.K. Rowling, writing for Pottermore:

‘When I first planned the series, I expected Harry to visit all four house common rooms during his time at Hogwarts. There came a point when I realised that there was never going to be a valid reason to enter the Hufflepuff room. Nevertheless, it is quite as real to me as the other three, and I always knew exactly where those Hufflepuffs were going when they headed off towards the kitchens after lessons.

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