The Lady Hufflepuff

The sun lit on the yellow morn
And sparkled on a flowing bourn
And two gay figures who had sworn
Their loyalty to Hogwarts school.
A better match was never seen
Than sly-eyed Slyth’rin, tall and lean,
And, with bright and happy mien,
The Lady Hufflepuff.

They dallied in the dappled wood,
Smiling wide as e’er they could.
But Salazar now stopped and stood,
And spoke as they glimpsed Hogwarts school:
“He may wish to wear a crown,
But he will never bow me down,�
Drawing now a worried frown
From Lady Hufflepuff.

Red and green: contrasting hues,
Doomed to clash as discord grew.
Helga gave it not its due
Even as the rupture grew
At the heart of Hogwarts school.
Helga’s beau shunned amity,
Bringing forth calamity,
Drawing now the enmity
Of Gryffindor the gruff.

As a king who, from his castle,
Looks upon a straying vassal,
So looked Godric at the gracile,
Smiling man with ways too facile.
Fearing now for Hogwarts school,
Helga tried to stop a duel,
But the fight had grown too cruel;
“Talking seems but anger-fuel,�
Sighed Lady Hufflepuff.

And at the duel’s appointed hour,
Grappling on the highest tower,
Green met red with blazing power;
Battle that must soon devour
Unity at Hogwarts school.
The snake left Godric nearly dead,
But Ravenclaw came forth instead.
Beneath her onslaught, Slyth’rin fled,
Sans Lady Hufflepuff.

Along the night-dark lakeshore eerie
Helga followed, grim and weary,
‘Til Lumos light shone, dim and dreary,
Lighting up her lover, leery,
Glancing back towards Hogwarts school.
Seized with joy, she made a dash;
Too late, she saw his sword-blade flash;
Too late to dodge a lethal gash,
The Lady Hufflepuff.

Though ripping pain made Helga quake,
She pushed away the throbbing ache
And conjured up a boat to take
Her final journey ‘cross the lake
To meet her friends at Hogwarts school.
Rowena found her on the shore.
“I’ll stay here always,� Helga swore.
And with that oath, she breathed no more,
The Lady Hufflepuff.

Bold Gryffindor joined Ravenclaw,
And shuddered at the sight he saw,
And, as the guilt began to gnaw,
Repented of his fatal flaw,
The pride that fractured Hogwarts school.
His paper-thin composure cracked,
And as he wept he made a pact:
“We’ll keep her memory intact,
The Lady Hufflepuff.

“Her loyalty now brings me shame.
His flight, her death – I bear the blame.�
Said Ravenclaw, “They’ll do the same,
And cross the lake as Helga came,
The pupils new to Hogwarts school,
And carry on her memory.
No songbird sang in sweeter key,
No sun shone warmer than did she,
The Lady Hufflepuff.�

They laid her where the violets grow,
Two founders, by their grief laid low,
And students filled with tearful woe
For their broken Hogwarts school.
“She’s kept her vow,� spoke Gryffindor
In husky tones: “She’ll leave no more.
She was the best among us four,
The Lady Hufflepuff.�

And when they speak of Founders four
And of the flight begat by war
Between the snake and Gryffindor,
They speak of Hufflepuff no more,
Those who speak of Hogwarts school.
But in a leafy yew-tree bower,
Overlooked by Hogwarts’ towers,
Sleeps she still beneath the flow’rs,
The Lady Hufflepuff.