On house-elves and such...

[Becca aka Cheyenne Rosemount]

No: HPFGUIDX 21063

--- In HPforGrownups at y..., "DM" <dangermouse42 at y...> wrote:
> --- In HPforGrownups at y..., "Tandy, Heidi" <heidi.h.tandy.c92 at a...> 
> wrote:
> <snip>
> > IMHO, loosh is an evil, child- and elf-abusing bigot...
> <snip>
> 
> Yeah.. about that house-elf thing.  Has it ever been mentioned that 
> Dobby might just be insane?  Don't get me wrong - I like the way 
> house-elves have been presented in the series and think they're 
very 
> interesting, but Dobby is completely bonkers, IMHO.  

**de-lurk**

Hmm ...
Dobby being bonkers doesn't seem to float right.  I mean, he might 
be, but he seems more saner than the other house-elves, who, it 
seems,  utterly *despise* freedom.  But, then again, Dobby is an 
insane house-elf ... by normal house-elf standards.  But most witches 
and wizards, as proved (IMHO) in Harry, Ron and Hermione's visit to 
the Hogwarts kitchen, think that the house-elf standards are 
bonkers.  I don't know about what other magical creatures, such as 
goblins, think about this topic, so I can't say that most magical 
creatures agree with you or that they agree with me.

Another thing is that it is unlikely for Lucius to not 
> notice his elf's strange behavior - if your house-elf disappeared 
for 
> a couple of hours then suddenly started bashing his head with the 
> oven door when he returned, I for one would wonder and certainly 
> wouldn't trust him with my sercrets.

Perhaps Lucius didn't notice Dobby's strange behavior because he was 
too busy to care ... or didn't care *what* his house-elf did as long 
as he was satisfied with its work.  That seems Malfoy-ish to me.

> Dobby also seems to have this fixated amount of hero worship for 
> Harry.  An important question is Why?  If he was living in the 
Malfoy 
> Manor, I'm sure he didn't hear any good things about Potter.  It 
can 
> be argued that if he heard Draco or Lucius complaining about Harry, 
> Dobby could have felt that maybe here was an ally for him.  Yet, he 
> seems actually shocked to discover that he was being freed, in 
part, 
> by Harry.  His motivations for attempting to stop Harry's return to 
> Hogwarts are purely for Harry's best interest, not Dobby's.  Why 
> would a house-elf go to such extremes for no reason what so ever?

I don't think that there is no reason.  Dobby is a good house-elf.  
Now, I don't mean a good house-elf, who serves his family well 24/7.  
He's of the worst kind in that catogory.  I mean good as in 
good/evil.  I believe he is *not* on Voldemort's side, nor do I think 
he will switch sides.  When he helps Harry, he isn't really doing it 
for Harry - he's doing it for the good side.  If Harry Potter doesn't 
survive to fight in the next Voldemort War (if there is another one) 
then the good side is doomed, IMHO.  Harry Potter is probably one of 
their last hopes.

 
> DangerMouse
> (who hopes that S.P.E.W. doesn't bomb her car now)
> dangermouse42 at y...


Just my ideas,
~Becca

**re-lurk**