Do House-Elves Guard Houses?

[Milz]

No: HPFGUIDX 19899

--- In HPforGrownups at y..., "Caius Marcius" <coriolan at w...> wrote:
> In chapter 35 of GoF, during Barty Crouch's "Veritaserum" 
confession, 
> he states how, after Winky was discharged, he lived alone at home 
> with his father. 
> 
> "'Now it was just Father and I, alone in the house.  And then . . . 
> and then . . ." Crouch's head rolled on his neck, and an insane grin 
> spread across his face.  "My master came for me.  He arrived at our 
> house late one night in the arms of his servant Wormtail
."
> 
> Is there an implication here that by casting Winky aside, Crouch Sr. 
> forfeited protection which might have secured him against Voldemort? 
 
> We know that house-elves get pushed around a lot, but primarily by 
> their masters; we've also seen that they have a command of magic 
> which often seems more powerful than the magic of human wizards.  In 
> addition to their house-keeping chores, do house-elves also serve 
> a "watchdog" function? Logically, it would seem that a house-elf 
> would make guarding the house a high priority. Would Winky have been 
> able to successfully defend the Crouch household against Voldy's 
> intrusion had she still been around? 
> 
> That would make Crouch's dismissal of Winky an even more poignant 
> episode if it left him exposed to Voldemort's intrusion.


House elves have their own brand of magic, which seems to be very 
powerful if Dobby's magic can allow him to 'apparate' into Hogwarts. 
Perhaps, house-elfs are used as guards. However, in the case of the 
Crouches, I think Winky was allowed to use her magic to help 
sedate/restrain Crouch Jr whenever he was lucid enough to fight the 
Imperious Curse. 

Furthermore, I think the presence of another magical being in 
the household served as a deterrent. Let's say, Voldemort showed up at 
the Crouch residence when Winky was still employed. Winky might have 
opened the door and the time it took for Wormtail and Voldy to curse 
her might have been enough time to alert Crouch Sr. to protect himself 
. Likewise if Crouch Sr answered the door, Winky probably would have 
been alerted and could have spirited Crouch Jr. away as she did during 
the World Cup.

Actually, I don't even think Crouch Sr. wanted to fire Winky at the 
World Cup. I think he HAD to because there were too many witnesses and 
he couldn't cover it up. If he hadn't fired Winky and blamed her for 
the Dark Mark, there would have been an investigation. Granted, it 
might not have turned anything up, but that would be too risky for 
Crouch Sr.

Milz