Stefan Archer said:
Hufflepuff I always think is so much more than just the elements of kindness and loyalty, mostly because loyalty in Hufflepuff isn't always necessarily a big part of it, they are loyal but they are more likely to be loyal to history and ideas, not necessarily to people. (Slytherins are far more loyal).
Hufflepuff (in my opinion) have a very different way of looking at the world, they are open minded to ideas and accepting of beliefs, they would definitely believe in fairness and would see equality for people being an important aspect after all it is the house that "accepts all the rest" so to them it would be about accepting people. It likely also makes them the most varied house in terms types of people who end up in it.
It's likely also a bit of a lie that everyone in Hufflepuff would be outgoing, if anything the outgoing people would end up in gryffindor, where as hufflepuffs are most like to think before they act, be more set in their ways and just accept everyone around them as long as it likely didn't affect them.
Perhaps also the way that you said how she approached education, where Ravenclaws would seek knowledge for the sake of knowledge her being set in her ways and not really expanding herself would not fit that, and fit much more of the Hufflepuff idea of working hard at what she can, not even necessarily in an academic sense but in a general life sense, where rather than expanding her knowledge she would stick to what she knows and work hard at that.
Perhaps those were the stronger elements that came through in the sorting app, which lead to her being placed in Hufflepuff.
((I have spent a lot of time studying the houses but the houses are entirely subjective and this is just my view of it))
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I mean, loyalty is one of the Hufflepuff traits mentioned in the hat songs in the books ("You might belong in Hufflepuff, Where they are just and loyal,") so I've always viewed it as fairly important. My interpretation tends to run closer to Hufflepuffs being people who while outgoing might not be the best word, like to find their people and stick to their people, and always do right by them.
And I'm not sure how you got that impression of how she would approach education? Ainsley doesn't want to expand herself socially, but she's here for the sole purpose of absorbing and experiencing as much magic as she can. She's a kid who's lived her whole childhood with her nose in fantasy books, so she's here to see how many of her daydreams can come true and to learn and try new things... my long term plan for her as an adult is to go into new spell development lol, she's definitely not set in her ways in terms of wanting to learn, she's just someone who's never been in social or structured situations and doesn't find them interesting. Her whole upbringing, being homeschooled and encouraged to develop her own interests, has been pretty focused around thinking outside the box and broadening horizons.