House Elfs?

[zihav]

No: HPFGUIDX 81976

Greetings:

I've been wondering, we know how to dismiss a house elf, but how does 
a wizarding family go about getting a house elf? We know that Ron 
states in CoS that it's an old wizarding family with lots of gold, 
but is that the only requirement? I think it would be pretty funny if 
Hermione ends up with a House Elf (Winky) and can't bring herself to 
dismiss her becasue she's now happy again. Ron and Harry would have 
tell her that she would treat Winky better than anyone else.

 zihav