Henry Hufflepuff

Henry Hufflepuff is the son of Helga Hufflepuff and the loyal page of Sir Godric Gryffindor

Appearance
Henry is a rather short boy with a very thin frame. He has curly, reddish blond hair and very large, warm brown eyes. He has fine features with a sharp, elfish chin and a button nose. Henry's movements have a quick, darting quality and in his eagerness he can often be seen running to get to his destination. He tends to wear autumnal colors: gold, brown, orange, burgundy, etc. Usually his clothing is sturdy and functional because his duties as Godric's page demand that he be ready to go anywhere and brave all sorts of different terrain.

Personality
Henry is a bit of a mama's boy. Helga Hufflepuff is nothing if not an attentive and adoring mother, and Henry has been more than happy to soak up every bit of affection she has been willing to provide. Henry is not, however, unaware of this fact. His uncle Toby reminds him of it daily in his training as a knight. As a result of his rather sheltered childhood, Henry is a bit naïve and trusting. He wants to believe everyone is as kind and caring as his mother, which, unfortunately, is not always the case. Henry is always determined to see the best in people and to extend the benefit of the doubt, sometimes slightly beyond reason.

If Henry is a bit sheltered and spoiled, he is still an extremely sensitive and caring boy and makes every effort to be kind to everyone, even those who are initially rude or even unkind to him. Truth be told, Henry is a bit of a doormat, always preferring to make peace even if it involves some sacrifice of his own dignity.

Needless to say, this temperament is not entirely well suited to the profession of knighthood. Still, Henry feels a strong pressure to live up to his father's legacy. His mother has told him countless wonderful stories about his father's exploits as a knight and Henry tries his hardest to be the man he thinks his father would wish him to be. Somehow, though, he never quite feels he's succeeded.

History
Though Henry's early childhood was blissful and idyllic, attended by two wonderful and caring parents, his memories of his father are rather hazy and distant. He can recall, for instance, the sensation of his father tossing him up into the air and catching him and the smell the well-worn leather of his father's saddle from his earliest trips with his father, seated with his back against his father's stomach. He can remember his father's face from the time Heathcliff gave him his cat, Thompkins, when he was five years old, only a few months before his father disappeared for good.

After Heathcliff's disappearance, Henry's mother disappeared into a deep seclusion and Henry was sent to live with his father's parents, Lynnette and Vontell Hufflepuff. Though Henry does love his grandparents and they do care for him, their house had none of the warmth of his mother's house and he was relieved when his Mummy returned to fetch him, even after hearing they were moving to Scotland to construct and run a school for witches and wizards.

At the age of seven, Henry became page to Godric Gryffindor, a close friend of his uncle Toby Hufflepuff. He was extremely pleased and honored to serve under Godric. Not only is Godric kind and chivalrous, but he is also a supremely talented wizard. Neither Henry's slim frame nor gentle nature serve him particularly well as a page, but it is only through sheer determination that Henry has succeeded so far. He took up his training as a knight more because it was expected of him as heir to the Hufflepuff name than for any other reason. Truth be told, he's far more interested in magic than swordplay and finds healing magic particularly miraculous. As the heir to the Hufflepuff name and estate, however, the knighthood is a far more respectable and legitimate calling than healing, so Henry confines his interest to reading potions books by candle light and studying healing charms when he things no one is looking.