[HPforGrownups] Re: House elves

[Amanda Geist]

No: HPFGUIDX 58094

> Andrea:
> >
> > Remember in COS when the Weasley boys are explaining house elves to
> Harry,
> > they say something about "they come with old manor houses" or something
> > like that. (Sorry, in the middle of a move and all my books are packed
> > up!)  This implies that they ARE in some way bound to the structure, or
at
> > least to the *owners* of the structure.  Perhaps if the Crouches had
> > moved, they'd had to have either left Winky behind for the new owners or
> > made special arrangements with them to take her with them.
> >
Darrin:
>
> I'm at work and away from the books, but I seem to remember the line being
> more along the lines of "found in" rather than "come with."
>
> But another point.  If the loyalty is not so much to the family, then why
couldn't
> Winky just give her loyalty to someone else?

AAAAAAAGGGGGHHHHH! It's happening again! I posted on this very point on the
16th, in this very thread! Nobody reads my posts! Everybody hates me!

*pant, pant* sorry. (gets grip)

Winky *should* have been able to give her loyalty to her new family. That
was my point, that she is far more atypical than Dobby, in that she cannot
and will not let go even when the binding spell is broken and presumably a
new one enacted.

As for why? I think she got far more involved on a personal level with Barty
Jr. than house-elves usually do, by nature of her role as his guardian. I
don't think elves usually do this; it's an order of magnitude away from
keeping the beds made or the fires lit, and I think it had a lasting effect
on her. She cannot dissociate herself from the Crouches, even when the
magical bond has been broken.

And Dobby himself calls it "the house-elf's enslavement" in CoS, the first
time we meet him in Harry's bedroom (sorry, Darrin, no chapter and verse, I
don't have my book with me). It seems a "magically binding contract," to
lift a description from GoF, which has certain strict parameters, including
how to break it. We don't know most of the rest of the parameters.

And, for all of you who missed my earlier post *sigh*, I think location is a
major factor in the binding. I believe elves are bound to the place first
and foremost, and the people who own the place secondarily (which makes
Winky even *more* atypical). That's probably why there's a House Elf
Relocation Office at all; suitable sites owned by wizarding families are
probably not thick on the ground.

And for the record, I assumed Dobby went through this Office to obtain his
new placement, but I have no canon whatsoever for that. But if JKR bothered
to mention the Office, it's bound to have some function. I also assume it is
Dumbledore to whom Dobby is now bound, since Dobby is now proud to keep
Dumbledore's secrets instead of Malfoy's, and it was Dumbledore that Dobby
was daring enough to repeat "barmy old codger" about, and Dumbledore with
whom Dobby talked salary and leave time, not to mention Dumbledore who is
the head of the "family" at the new location.

Anyway. Going to bed now. Darrin, you *should* make a list.

~Amandageist, who can't think of any cool band names at this hour