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Entering the common room through the same corridor as the kitchens the kitchens, you will find a pile of large barrels stacked in the shadowy stone recess to your right. The second barrel from the bottom, middle of the second row, will open when tapped to the enunciation of 'Helga Hufflepuff'. (
*Note: non-Hufflepuffs who tap the wrong barrel, or the incorrect number of times, will result in one of the lids bursting off and dousing the trespasser in vinegar)
Following a sloping, earthy passage inside the barrel, which will then travel upwards slightly, a cozy, round, low-ceilinged room comes into view. Welcome! Your common room is like your sanctuary. During your seven years here, your house will be like your family. The room is decorated in the cheerful house colors of yellow and black, enhanced by the use of highly polished honey-colored wood for the tables and then round doors which lead to the boys' and girls' dormitories.
Directly over the wooden mantelpiece, which is covered with carvings of decorative dancing badgers, is a portrait of Helga Hufflepuff, your house founder and one of the four Hogwarts founders, toasting her students with a tiny, two-handled golden cup. There are small, round windows level with the ground at the foot of the castle, showing a pleasant view of grass and flowers, occasionally people. As a result of the low windows, the room has a year-round sunny feel to it.
{Note: the information above has been derived from that located on Pottermore and should be credited to that accordingly}