From the moment I saw Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them with one of my best friends, who is a proud Potterhead as well, I knew J.K. Rowling had once again created something magical. And this film is magical. But the best part was that it left me feeling proud to be a Hufflepuff. For the sorting hat says: "You might belong in Hufflepuff where they are just and loyal. Those patient Hufflepuffs are true and unafraid to toil."
Now for my fellow friends who'd long ago been devastated by their sorting results, and for those in my life who I've sorted, I know Hufflepuff always brings about a sigh, yet, I've always felt pride for the compassion, the loyalty, and the hard work that lies within each Hufflepuff.
These qualities were proved without need of veritaserum in the new film by the phenomenal character of Newt Scamander. At times bright with intellect, it is Newt's compassion for his creatures that made him stand out against traditional tropes of the "hero," which Harry Potter so perfectly fits within Rowling's seven book series. Newt, however, is a hero, and while his heroism might not roar as loud as Gryffindors, his is one which echoes. Like I said, he's made me proud to be a Hufflepuff.
I recently told my best friend that 2017 will be the year I regain my balance. And while this could illicit a post in and of itself, I won't digress. I give this as an explanation for why I will be going offline next week, and finding my inner Hufflepuff. I need to fill the holes that have grown within my novel. The story is calling me on a quest I must complete. And I will do so not for the glory, but for "the greater good," as Eddie Redmayne explains.
And this greater good has to do with my own well-being, but also the hope that my novel will be filled with words that find others and bring them peace or deliver them questions which need answers or something as simple as a story to disappear within. After all, I don't think J.K. Rowling set out to change an entire world. She wanted to tell a story, and even after all this time, she is still giving us stories.
So I must work hard with the time I've given myself next week to finish my story.
The sorting hat also tell us that "for Hufflepuff, hard workers were most worthy of admission," and hard work has always been something which fills me with the joy of accomplishment, leading me to the things I most desire. The completion of this book I conceptualized two years ago is something I desire, and I know to do this I must take myself back to the writer I was when the story first found me. I must escape the real world and the internet and Twitter in order to work my way through these final chapters.
Since seeing Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them, I've heard the call of the Hufflepuff and I know I must answer with time alone, with hard work, and loyalty to this story within me. It is with compassion that I've crafted characters with flaws and desires of their own. Now I must deliver them to their ending in order to see a beginning to 2017 which yields progress and pride and maybe, even, some balance.
All best,
Kayla King