OOP - House Elves and Clothes

[maidne]

No: HPFGUIDX 65194

--- In HPforGrownups at yahoogroups.com, "Rachael" <bratty_jedi at h...> 
wrote:
> House Elves can only be freed by getting clothes from their master
> (s), so what about laundry?  I was under the impression that Elves 
> did the laundry at Hogwarts and that Dobby, since he was able to 
iron 
> his hands without anyone noticing anything funny, did the Malfoys' 
> laundry, ironing, etc.  If a wizard hands a stack of dirty clothes 
to 
> an Elf, does he have to precede that action with a statement 
of, "I'm 
> not freeing you, I'm giving you work."?  Obviously to free the elf, 
> nothing has to be said along with the clothes or Dobby would not be 
> free.  Any suggestions other than I need to stop obsessing over 
Harry 
> Potter so much that I wonder about trivial things like this?
> 
> Rachael
> Bratty

I wondered the same thing.  My feeling is that as long as they put 
the clothes in some kind of hamper or laundry basket, it is obvious 
that the clothes are to be washed and are not being given to the 
house elves.

I also wondered about Hermione trying to give hats and things to the 
elves at Hogwarts.  Surely the students couldn't free the elves, they 
belong to the school or to Dumbledore or something.  I loved it when 
Harry saw Dobby and he was wearing all the hats and socks, and said 
that none of the other elves would clean Gryffindor tower any more -- 
they were all offended by all the hidden clothes lying around the 
common room.  :D

Susan