Red Flags, Dobby and Apparition

[rcraigharman at hotmail.com]

No: HPFGUIDX 19204

--- In HPforGrownups at y..., devika261 at a... wrote:
> It seems to me that Dobby just Disapparated.  And he did it
> before, when he visited Harry in the hospital wing.  Now, I haven't
> read Hogwarts, A History, but I do know that you aren't supposed to
> be able to Apparate or Disapparate inside Hogwarts.  Is this a red
> flag?  Just how powerful are house elves, anyway?  I know someone
> in one of the books (I'm not sure which, at the moment) said that
> house elves have a powerful magic of their own, but that they're
> not allowed to use it without their master's permission.

This has come up before, and I believe the consensus fell along the
lines that (1) the house elves weren't invoking an "Apparate" or
"Disapparate" spell, but rather were doing something that is part
of their "nature" and that (2) this nature does include a different
sort of magic than what the wizards use.

I believe the "real world" analogy was drawn with different modes of
flight: birds, bats, insects, and pterodons use (or used) various
wings; mammals other than bats glide; various fish thrust themselves
from water; certain bacteria hitch a ride with airborne particles;
humans use helicopters, airplanes, gliders, balloons, rockets, and
other mechanical contrivances, which operate differently among
themselves.  Although they all fly, they all do it differently....

....Craig