House elves; religion

[Scott]

No: HPFGUIDX 14790

Gwen wrote (along with all quotes herein):
"I agree with Suzanne, here, and I'd also like to go one step further
(quoting my own fanfic, the epitome of cheek). I had to deal with the
implications of house-elves in my story, and I decided that, not only 
do they feel it is their privilege to work for humans, they actually 
_derive their powers_ from doing so."

--So these beings, as according to FB they aren't beasts, are capable 
of human thoughts and emotions, and also have the ability to do 
strong magic (well I assume so since Dobby can keep Lucius Malfoy at 
bay) and do it without a wand, but cannot do that magic if it is not 
for the greater purpose of serving their master? That's interesting. 
Does this perhaps mean that the House Elves once did something to 
indebt themselves to wizards, thereby being bound to them and gaining 
their magic from service to the wizards (or something like that) but 
wizards, being humans, took advantage of this and trained the House 
Elves to be mindless slaves. Hmmm....

"It's my belief that Dobby is a visionary among house-elves. His 
presence at Hogwarts will create a slow realization among the others 
that there are more equitable arrangements to be made than willing 
slavery. However, consider the implications to Hogwarts' fees if 
suddenly more than 100 personnel are added to the payroll! ;^)"

--Oh there's no question that Dobby is a visionary among his kind. 
Why it's Dobby who's befriended Harry Potter and come from the Malfoy 
Manor is another question alltogether. I'm not suprised if the HE's 
DON'T like their positions, but have convinced themselves of it to 
the point that they no longer care. It is easier to live in ignorance 
than to stand up for what's right. Especially if your cohorts don't 
agree. Dobby may very well have more followers than he knows but they 
are afraid to stand up and say so.

"The lesson Hermione is learning here is that social reform takes 
time to get rolling, but that the actions of a few may begin a 
movement. However, it's not her place to force it to happen. She 
needs to reason with them, not mandate that they "should" feel one 
way or another. I think there is an intrinsic value to the house-elf 
to be employed, especially if his powers derive directly from that 
state of occupation. As long as the fear of losing their powers--and 
maybe their existence--is greater than their discomfort in servitude, 
the majority of house-elves will not change their position."

--Hermione's heart was in the right place, but she didn't go about it 
in the right way. Undirected passion can be worse as apathy. 
Obviously she can't 'tell' them what to believe, even though that was 
her plan of action in GoF. I think that as Hermione continually 
matures in future books she'll see that change can't be forced or 
rushed.  She's recognised the problem and as I think someone said, 
that is the first step to solving it.  And she has got Dobby on her 
side...

"I would think that the kitchens receive instructions about providing 
kosher meals for Jewish students, pork-free dishes for Muslims, 
vegetarian meals, etc. Rowling hasn't focused on this in the books 
because none of these special restrictions apply to our terrific 
trio."

--As a vegetarian myself I would imagine so, but Kosher meals would 
be a little more difficult. I'm not sure about keeping Kosher, 
because this has to do more with the way food is prepared, and well 
we've been to the kitchens and they don't seem to be laid out for 
Kosher cooking. I'm not sure about the typical college or uni but 
most camps I've gone to applied for can have commercially prepared 
Kosher meals available.  Maybe the magic somehow equals it out. If 
anyone is really interested in keeping Kosher at Hogwarts then you 
might want to search the archives. I had the idea that Hermione was 
Jewish and we discussed this... 

"Even the Dursleys, who are our quintessential example of Muggles 
gone too far, exhibit no evidence of a devoutly religious 
participation. I believe this is a side-effect of the secularization 
of society, not a conscious decision to be atheistic on
Rowling's part.  Hope that makes some sense."

--I think someone has mentioned this before, but if JKR WAS trying to 
send out an anti-christian message as some say then why didn't she 
make the Dursely's out to be particularly pious. No I think it was 
more a conscience decision to AVOID controversy that arises from 
favouring one religion over another....The story wouldn't really 
change if Harry et al were a certain religion. All it would do is 
offend some close minded people. I think she wisely made the best 
decision.

Scott