How about celebrating Christmas with the family… Hufflepuff

• You don't choose your family, and especially not at Christmas when it is fashionable to devote a few days to dad, mom and the others.

• But Pop Culture offers emotional refuges for those who can't or won't spend Christmas with their families.

  Relatives of imaginary adoption, and nevertheless very comforting.

• All week, journalists from the

  20 Minutes

  Media Service tell their dream Christmas in their dream Pop Culture family.

  Today, Pauline dreams of spending the holidays at Hogwarts, not far from the kitchens

I grew up in the early 2000s, following the rhythm of Harry Potter films and books.

Every year, between the pages or in the big cinemas, I dreamed of getting my letter for Hogwarts, of walking the dark corridors in my most beautiful black cape or even of spending hours locked in the library with old dusty books.

The Harry Potter universe, even more than 20 years after its theatrical release, continues to fascinate me.

The timeless saga is definitely the one we watch at Christmas, wrapped up in a blanket with a bowl of hot chocolate.

Beyond the adventures of Harry, Hermione and Ron, there is something comforting to find characters with whom we grew up, and who are learning to become adults.

So, for me, a dream Christmas would be spent in this old castle, under grand gothic archways and flying candles.

Large tables filled with food, a fir tree flashing in the distance, ghosts crossing the walls and lots of laughter: it looks like an ideal program, before returning to bed and diving into a good book.

Except that if you know the universe of the little wizard with glasses, you also know that the holiday season is not the quietest for our heroes, who generally spend more time fighting the forces of evil. than to open enchanted gifts.

So, the battles, very little for me, I always very little appreciated being part of the heroes and the martyrs.

Even if it means celebrating Christmas at Hogwarts, you might as well celebrate it with the Hufflepuffs.

The Hufflepuffs, great forgotten of the saga

If you've ever ventured to take an online test to determine which house you belong to in the Harry Potter universe, chances are you'll be a little disappointed if you're cast as the Hufflepuffs.

The yellow and black house has a badger as its mascot (seriously?) and the Moine Gras as its ghost: we've known sexier.

Hufflepuffs have always been considered the good pasta, the kinda kinda boring, sometimes kinda ridiculous.

Level characters, apart from Cédric Diggory and his pathetic death at the end of the Goblet of Fire, it is difficult to find who to identify with.

More recently, in the

, we find Norbert Dragonneau, of course;

or if like me you defend Hufflepuff tooth and nail, the character of Nymphadora Tonks, Auror and member of the Order of the Phoenix.

That doesn't stop the little grin you'll find on the faces of people who think they're Ravenclaw or Gryffindor.

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To be Hufflepuff is nevertheless to belong to the

house of Hogwarts: no black magicians, not an ounce of wickedness, and more generally, a lack of interest in strong sensations.

Because yes, being part of the house of the badger means being loyal, patient, kind, sincere, modest, hard at work, having a sense of justice and a love of nature.

In short, the Hufflepuffs are a bit like Hogwarts

, with more magic and less dreadlocks.

A tolerant, inclusive house, where you don't shoot yourself in the leg to move forward.

A bit of serenity in this world, especially with experts in botany, capable of setting the mood for the best evenings.

Plaid and candle atmosphere on Christmas Eve

Spending Christmas at Hogwarts, in my case, would mean taking advantage of all the advantages of the castle, without its disadvantages: a large table of friends and girlfriends, a gigantic buffet with dishes from all continents, a cozy and comforting atmosphere with lots of candles… Less problems.

Because hey, on the Gryffindor and Slytherin side, every Christmas rhymes with fights, secrets, conspiracies, black magic, enemies to bewitch.

A little lazy.

While on the Hufflepuff side, only comfort and the real magic of Christmas, plaid atmosphere and candles.

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Once the meal is over, for a bit of calm, head to the Hufflepuff common room, which is located in the basement of the castle, not far from the kitchens (practical for a late-night snack).

In the copper sofas, near the fireplace, surrounded by multitudes of plants, a little herbal tea accompanied by a good book will mark the end of a good New Year's Eve.

The importance of the chosen family

Choosing to spend Christmas at Hogwarts also means not spending Christmas with the family, with those with whom the blood bond is sometimes not so strong.

For a whole generation, dreaming of entering the school of wizards also means finding a neutral place, one's own, outside the sometimes chaotic family ties that life has in store.

It is to constitute a new, chosen family: this notion is particularly true for people from the LGBTQ + community, of which I am a part, who have been able to recreate networks of emotional and material support in their friendships and loves.

And for whom the holiday season can be complex, bring back bad memories or be synonymous with suffering and loneliness.

In her collection

, author Dorothy Allison writes: "My family of friends kept me alive while my loves left me, what I had undertaken failed and so many other stories went unnoticed. didn't succeed either.

This family partly remade the world for me.”

So even though many who grew up with Harry Potter rightly reject author JK Rowling for her transphobic outings, queer fans have reclaimed this universe.

Fans who have found there, at some point in their lives, a comfort, an attachment sometimes stronger than their family of origin.

And who also dream of a quiet Christmas, by the fireside.

Television

Bloopers, cartoons or a Harry Potter marathon… What's your TV program for the holidays?

Culture

More than twenty years after its release, Harry Potter serves as a timeless saga

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• harry potter

• Christmas

• Christmas Eve

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