[HPforGrownups] Re: House elves

[Kelly Grosskreutz]

No: HPFGUIDX 58076

> Kelly wrote:
>
> > Exactly.  To my mind, I see it as a magically binding commitment.  A
house
> > elf swears to serve a given household, in this case, the Malfoys, and
that
> > elf and all of his/her descendants must also serve that family.
Granted,
> > this leaves a lot left open.  When the house elf has children, do the
> > children also need to swear the commitment, or are they bound because
> their
> > parents swore the commitment?  Can any member of the family set a house
> elf
> > free, or does it have to be the Head of House?  We've seen Crouch Sr and
> > Lucius have the authority to set a house elf free, but could Draco fire
one
> > if he so chose?
> >
> Darrin here:

> God, I love this stuff!
>
> We know the dismissal isn't based on intent. Lucius certainly didn't want
to
> dismiss Dobby. Dobby also, if I  recall, says something about how his
"family"
> is very careful not to give him clothes. This could indicate that any one
of them
> could, but I don't know if it's conclusive.
>
> Let's just say that Draco would have some serious 'spaining to do if he
> accidentally did it.
>
Yeah, I don't see Draco ever doing it, either.  I just used him as an
example of being a member of a family that owns a house elf, but not the
Head of that household.

>
> As for the children, I don't know. But we know that house elves have to
come
> from somewhere.
>
You might want to rered Chapter 21 of GoF.  Interesting stuff there.  I'm
not going to sit here and quote it all, but just sum up what I've noticed.

After Dobby was "set free," he traveled around looking for work.  I'm not
sure if he went door to door, but he did talk to many different witches and
wizards.  Actually, I get the impression door to door is just what he did,
because he eventually came to Hogwarts, looking to potentially work for
Dumbledore.  Returning to commitments for a minute, Dobby says, "Winky
forgets she is not bound to Mr. Crouch anymore," which helps reinforce the
magically binding commitment, in my mind.  Winky says she has served the
Crouch family her entire life, as her mother and grandmother did before her,
implying that it is a generational thing, although shedding no light on
whether each individual needs to make a commitment, or just the first one
(like will Dobby's children be bound by Dobby's contract, or will they have
to swear it themselves, for an example).  Hope all of this helps.

Kelly Grosskreutz
http://www.idcnet.com/~ivanova