House-Elves and the Weasleys

[Susan Miller]

No: HPFGUIDX 47867

--- In HPforGrownups at y..., "ats_fhc3" <the.gremlin at v...> wrote:
> Okay, the canon for who has a house elf is as follows:
> 
> "Well whoever owns him [Dobby] will be an old wizarding family, and 
> they'll be rich," said Fred. <snip>

Well, back in the old "Peculiar Institution" days of our southern 
states, a similar situation existed - servants (slaves) were to serve 
a family until death at no pay. And yet, only the rich had slaves. 
This was due to two reasons - a slave was valuable property and the 
initial cost of purchase was far beyond the means of normal folk. 
Secondly, the upkeep of a slave cost money, too.

So, assuming that house elves don't multiply rapidly, and the number 
of available ones for acquisition remains low, prices for a new house-
elf could stay quite high, putting such an acquisition only within 
the means of the very rich or by inheritance. (I have a theory that 
the Malfoys are not as wealthy as they pretend to be, but as there is 
no canon support for that, it belongs on another list. Now, where was 
I? Oh, yes) 

> So why couldn't the Weasleys pick up an elf that had 
> been dismissed?
> 

Similarly, we don't know what is required for upkeep of an elf. OK, 
not much for clothes (have you priced tea-towels lately? <g>), but we 
do not know what else may be required in the way of ongoing expense. 
It could be like owning a horse in our world - as nice as it is to 
have one, not everyone wants to take on the responsibility.

~ Constance Vigilance ~