What's he up to?

[arrowsmithbt]

No: HPFGUIDX 94970

--- In HPforGrownups at yahoogroups.com, "fiondavhar" <enigma_only at h...> wrote:
> 
> Dobby deliberatley skirts the issue. He doesn't say that Harry can't 
> free him because he is not a member of the family, as he would likely 
> have said if it were so. A house-elf is probably bound by their magic 
> to be unable to ask their family to be freed, so this would make 
> sense. Later on, when he speaks to Harry in the hospital wing, Dobby 
> says that he can only be freed if his masters (PLURAL!) provide him 
> with clothes.
> 
> Dobby would be able to come and warn Harry about the things that were 
> going to happen at Hogwarts if he had not been given a direct order 
> not to. In OotP Kreacher can tell Narcissa things, just not things 
> the he had been forbiddin from repeating. There are certain things 
> that Dobby won't tell Harry, because he HAS been forbiddin, but he 
> comes very close, which would explain why he had to beat himslef. 
> 
> Another reason that he might have to beat himself is because he is 
> doing things against the will of Harry, *one of the family* 
> (speculation, of course). After he sealed the barrier at platform 9 
> 3/4, Dobby said he had to iron his hands - but if he were acting on 
> Malfoys orders he would not have had to do that. He did, however, 
> know that he was acting against Harry's will...  
> 
> Another thing that could indicate that Harry is by blood a member of 
> the family Dobby served is that in the later books, when Dumbledore 
> is his master, Dobby acts more as though Harry is his master. He 
> steals from Snape, repeats Moody and McGonagalls conversation, and 
> comes freely to Harry in order to help him. Also, in OotP, when Dobby 
> defys a direct order by going to warn Harry that Umbridge has found 
> him out, Harry gives Dobby a direct order to get back to the kitchen 
> and to lie if asked if he warned them, and Dobby obeys without 
> question.
> 
> Of course, none of this necessarily means that Harry is of that 
> family, but neither does it say that he isn't.
> 

It do get interesting, don't it?

Schoolchildren and their doings interest me not at all, magic is not all
that magical and yet another Evil Overlord threatening to take over the
world is just a yawn.The adult characters are well-drawn and JKR has
presented a society just different enough to intrigue and where basic
premises are changed sufficiently to throw one off balance but not
so much that you're at the mercy of the author's whims, alibis and
cover-ups. 

The major draw for me in the HP series is plot ambiguity. Why did
so-and-so do that?  What does this mean? Can I believe what this
character says? Who and what is this person? Does it matter or not?
All that lovely analysis and theorising - for 5 books! Now that is magic.
Give me a set of puzzles, potential double-meanings, clues and red 
herrings and I'm a happy bunny. And it's not just one or two of the 
main cast either - it's most of the named individuals in the books.

Dobby is yet another example. We start with a general overview of 
the nature and condition of Elfdom in general and then the three that
have so far been plot sensitive. Questions all the way. Few answers.
We've more or less sorted out Kreachur to our own satisfaction, but
that doesn't guarantee that there won't be a surprise or two to come.
Winky seems well on the way to becoming the local wino so we can
forget  about her; or can we? And then there's Dobby.

IMO the CoS film did Dobby a dis-service; it made him cute - well, 
cutish. And he's not. He's got power and he can be spiteful. Above
all he has information; lots and lots of information. He knows that
he has information, but does he divulge it? Does he hell! I bet if you
could strap him in a chair with a few bright lights and a couple of
heavies, he could give away the entire plot! But we can't and he won't.

So we're back to speculation.
At the start of this thread I wrote that the family connection was my
theory last year; that I'd had further thoughts. True. But there is so much
evidence, conflicting, contradicting, ambiguous and none of it what you
could call solid, that there is an almost over-whelming temptation to 
try and cover all possibilities. Or at the very least to get the likeliest on
paper and brood over them hoping for inspiration to strike.

There is no reason that I can see why either of the main theories I put
forward should be right - or wrong. You pays your money and you takes
your choice. Yes there are all sorts of hints that Dobby is connected to
Harry in ways that Harry is not aware of. He does seem to be eager to
please Harry at every possible turn - but is this just gratitude for his
freedom? But Malfoy *must* be in there somewhere. He must know
Dobby's history and that is a crucial piece of information. Even if Dobby
was dumped on him by the Elf Re-location Office he must know where
he came from - and if Harry's family then Malfoy knows that too.

It was this thought that prompted the re-think. Even if Lucius did send
Dobby to Harry that still doesn't change the possibility that Dobby might
have other incentives - family connections - for being so friendly to Harry.

Back to the brain-bashing. After all, I might have missed something.

Kneasy