You approach the stack of barrels in a nook off the right side of the Kitchen corridor and pull out your wand and tap the Barrel two from the bottom, middle of the second row. In the rhythm of ‘Helga Hufflepuff’, causing the lid to swing open. 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 cozy, round, low-ceiling room is revealed, reminiscent of a badger's set. The room is decorated in the cheerful, bee-like colours of yellow and black, emphasized 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). All girls are able to enter the boys' dorms, however, boys are not allowed in the girls'; a strong magic keeps them from being able to open the door.
A colourful profusion of plants and flowers seem to relish the atmosphere of the Hufflepuff common room: various cacti 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.
There is also a bulletin board which students may post announcements, report lost items, school notices, ads, and etc. upon.
Please be sure to keep the rhythm and barrel in mind unless you want a Vinegar shower!
"You might belong in Hufflepuff,
Where they are just and loyal,
Those patient Hufflepuffs are true,
And unafraid of toil"
-The Sorting Hat
Where they are just and loyal,
Those patient Hufflepuffs are true,
And unafraid of toil"
-The Sorting Hat
