Who do the Hogwarts house elves answer to?

[Steve]

No: HPFGUIDX 70704

--- In HPforGrownups at yahoogroups.com, "Richelle Votaw" <rvotaw at i...>
wrote:
> I'd always assumed that Dumbledore was in charge of the house elves
at Hogwarts.  ...  So it's only natural that when Umbridge took over
she would be in charge of them in place of Dumbledore.  Which explains
why Dobby was beating himself up over warning Harry about her coming.
 But then Harry orders Dobby to lie to her if she asks him if he's
talked to Harry, and orders Dobby to stop hurting himself.  And Dobby
thanks Harry.  Can any student order the house elves around?  

>
> ...edited...
> 
> Richelle


bboy_mn:

The house elves have no family to serve, and that makes their position
a Hogwarts a little confusing. Normally the head of the family house
would be their ultimate master, and the rest of the family members,
their secondary masters. This would seem to be confirmed by Sirius
discussion of house elves and his family. 

But at Howarts there is no family, only an institution. So that
institution would substitute for the family and the master of that
'family' would be the headmaster of the school, even after the person
in that role changes. The family members, the secondary masters, would
be the staff at the school. These are the primary people the elves
would obey with preference given to Dumbledore and McGonagall.

However, in the incident in question, Umbridge was not Headmistress.
This was the event that got rid of Dumbledore and allowed her to
become Headmistress. So, she can order the elves to do something, but
there are people who can overrule her.

As far as students, the house elves would probably obey any reasonable
request, but would only consider it a request. If a student ordered
them to do something the elf knew went against the school and the
policy of the Headmaster, the elf would certainly refuse. He answers
to a higher authority.

So how can Harry order Dobby to do things, things clearly against
Umbridge's wishes? 

Harry and Dobby have a very special relationship. Dobby holds Harry in
the highest regard and is unswervingly loyal to him. Plus, Dobby knows
that Harry and Dumbledore are friends and are working together, and it
doesn't take an elf rocket scientist to see that Umbridge is working
against Dumbledore and the school. So the loyalty to Umbridge, and the
degree to which Dobby would yield to her authority is limited. 

Dobby answers to a higher authority, and that authority is Harry and
Dumbledore whom he knows to be fair and honest people. Add to that,
the fact that Dobby is a free elf, he is not elf-honor bound to serve
Hogwarts or Dumbledore (or Umbridge); he is not enslaved, he is merely
hired staff.

Just a thought.

bboy_mn