It's my favorite after my own

I think "hate" is strong. I think a lot of people find Hufflepuff boring, but that's not the same as "hate".

I agree with Pith

If you think about it, loyalty and helpfulness (which are the basic qualities of hufflepuff) are often overlooked for other things some people may find more valuable, like bravery and wisdom. Rowling herself said that we should all want to be as Hufflepuff-ish as possible.. The other houses have good qualities too, but Hufflepuff has the ones which everyone should possess if they want to be decent human beings

I don't think people exactly hate it, but the do make fun of it and (most) would rather not be in the house. I think it's because the Hufflepuff house didn't get as much attention as the rest, and when it did receive it, it was from Cedric Diggory, who Harry and his friends found him to be a pretty boy, so the little we know of Hufflepuff house was from a character that was thought of negatively in Goblet of Fire (most of it, and because he was with Cho and whatever). There's also the fact that there isn't really a defining quality in Hufflepuff. Sure, they're loyal, but that could be given to _anyone_, but it wouldn't automatically make people think the as a Hufflepuff. Like if you're intelligent, people will almost always put you in Ravenclaw. That's because the defining quality of a Ravenclaw would be their intelligence. So yeah, I think those are the reasons why Hufflepuff isn't really loved.

It's because of Hagrid ithe first book saying that Hufflepuff were a load of duffers, or something similar.

Cedric♥

As BoredWithLife says, the characteristics of Hufflepuff house are the ones which everyone should value and try their best to show. Hufflepuff does produce some good characters - Tonks, for example, was in Hufflepuff. It's just that none of the main 6 come from that house, while Luna is from Ravenclaw.

And wasn't it Draco who called Hufflepuff something like a load of duffers, not Hagrid? When Harry told Hagrid that Draco had said he'd leave if placed in Hufflepuff, Hagrid replied "better Hufflepuff than Slytherin".

I didn't know people did! But I don't find it boring, if that is the criticism.