The idea was intended to increase Hufflepuff self-confidence and correct a misconception about Hufflepuffs in general. It started in Snape’s class, as many future problems do.
“Five points from Hufflepuff,” Snape sighed as he witnessed yet another sloppy attempt at a potion.
A week ago the Hufflepuff in question would be cowering. Today they still flinch back, but then they hesitate.
They take a breath and force out the words, “Thank you Professor,” at barely a murmur.
Snape doesn’t hear them, but the two other Hufflepuff at the table take notice and subtly show their support with a smile and light shoulder brush.
This happens a few more times. Professors taking points from Hufflepuff only to be thanked. Sometimes the Hufflepuff would even continue the behavior, like when they are caught talking in potions to help a classmate. The next development is more aggressive.
A Hufflepuff witnesses another student say the word “Mudblood” during a heated argument. They collect themselves and walk over to the scene.
“Hey, I’m pretty sure that’s a slur,” is said in place of pleasantries or an introduction.
“What,” the accused says as they turn to face the Hufflepuff.
“What you just called them. It’s a slur. Calling someone a Mudblood is implying that their lineage isn’t as pure as your own, and therefore they are inferior in some way. They are of course not inferior, so you are wrong, but also you are being cruel; however, you might not have known how your actions would be perceived, so I’m giving you the benefit of the doubt and providing you an opportunity to rectify your mistake.” The Hufflepuff might have laid it on a little thick, but this is also a bit of a novelty for them, so they get points for trying.
“Excuse me,” the accused says in a tone suggesting they are having a hard time comprehending the gall of this Hufflepuff and would like a moment to process what is happening.
“Awesome, thanks, you’re excused, just don’t let it happen again.” The Hufflepuff is a bit cocky and mocking, but the other guy was being a jerk and what else is one to do.
Unfortunately, where words fail, sometimes actions prevail, and the original instigator did not take kindly to being verbally toyed with, so they did what any rational wizard would do, they began to pull out their wand.
Now the Hufflepuff is at a bit of a disadvantage. They are not particularly talented with defensive or offensive magic, but maybe they don’t need to be. See, it’s kind of hard to hit someone with a curse if they are within arms reach, because they would be inside your guard, and it’s hard to cast spells accurately in that positioning, hence why most duels are distanced.
The Hufflepuff stepped toward their opponent and threw the first punch.
A teacher appeared shortly after and both students lost house points and got detention, but the Hufflepuff wouldn’t stop grinning.
This strange behavior continued for a few weeks. It seemed as though some of the Hufflepuffs had just gotten impulsive and reckless in their actions and it was costing their house quite a bit of points, but they didn’t seem to care. This apparent apathy lasted until the first Hufflepuff served detention with Umbridge.
The student picked up the provided quill and wrote two lines before connecting the inkless quill to the stinging in their hand.
“You paused,” Umbridge said, trying to use a mask of concern to conceal her glee and anticipation.
The Hufflepuff quickly evaluated their options; leave, or stay. Only one of those options would bring the wrath of their housemates upon them.
“Sorry Professor,” said the student, more out of habit than any earnest feelings, and they dashed out the door.
Professor Umbridge sat there, shocked at the audacity of a student leaving detention without being dismissed. She then got up and put three additional detentions on her calendar for that student.
As word of the abuse spread through Hufflepuff House, a noticeable change began occurring in the students. Umbridge noticed it first, probably because she was the only one really affected by it, the Hufflepuffs quit attending her class. There is power in unity. It would be unreasonable to expel an entire house, a fourth of the student body, just for skipping one of their classes. Umbridge assigned detention after detention, but she never saw another Hufflepuff in her office.
When the DA was discovered and Umbridge became Headmaster things once again escalated.
Hufflepuffs began showing up to Umbridge’s classroom again, but never at their assigned class time. Random Hufflepuffs would interrupt her classes with cupcakes, glitter, free hugs, or other innocent things. They would play dumb and act like they were trying to be nice. They played the Fool perfectly. House points were taken, detentions given, more house points taken when detentions were missed, but nothing could really be done. Intended kindness becoming disruptive was not a valid reason to expel a fourth of the school. Umbridge came to find out that irritatingly, there were hardly any valid reasons to expel a fourth of the school.
Within the first week of her new reign, Umbridge ran into an unprecedented problem. Hufflepuff had no more house points to take.
You see that’s the issue with a point based reward system. It only works if the students actually want points, if they actually believe they can win. The past four years had proven that only Gryfindor or Slythern would win, Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw just didn’t stick out. Hufflepuff saw this as an opportunity and had begun to exploit it for a good cause. As the other three houses fought for the House Cup, Hufflepuff was testing if it was possible to get negative points.