Congratulations! I’m Prefect Gabriel Truman, and I’m delighted to welcome te to HUFFLEPUFF HOUSE. Our emblem is the badger, an animal that is often underestimated, because it lives quietly until attacked, but which, when provoked, can fight off animali much larger than itself, including wolves. Our house colours are yellow and black, and our common room lies one floor below the ground, on the same corridor as the kitchens.

Now, there are a few things te should know about Hufflepuff house. First of all, let’s deal with a perennial myth about the place, which is that we’re the least...