house elves and laundry

[eloiseherisson at aol.com]

No: HPFGUIDX 88142

Rachael wrote:
> House Elves can only be freed by getting clothes
> from their master
> (s), so what about laundry?   
    

> > Carol:
> > IIRC, Hermione finds large robes in the laundry for Harry and Ron 
> when
> > they trasform themselves into Crabbe and Goyle in SS/PS, which
> > probably means that the House Elves do the laundry at Hogwarts. 

Eloise:

In addition, there is a suggestion( though no more than that) that they are 
allowed to take laundry to be processed.

Crouch/Moody explains how he summoned Dobby to the staff room to collect 
robes for cleaning. Now this isn't fool-proof evidence as we know that Dobby is 
already free, however we do not know that Crouch/Moody knew that (at least 
before he appeared in clothes), only that he was fond of Harry.

Possibly they are allowed to touch clothes that have not been directly handed 
(or thrown!) at them. Possibly intent has a part in it. Lucius didn't 
*intend* to free Dobby, but neither was he handing him the sock with the intent that 
it be washed. He was flinging it away from him, giving it away.

daw (because Diana was taken):

>      Makes me wonder why Hermione was so surprised to learn in GoF 
> that there were house elves at Hogwarts. Who did she think did the 
> laundry? Were there just none around at the time she stole the robes? 
> Is it possible that she saw one and just didn't realize what it was, 
> not having met Dobby (although one would think she would figure it 
> out soon enough)? Where is the laundry anyway, and how did Hermione 
> find it?

Eloise:

I am really rather shocked that Hermione *hadn't* twigged the existence of 
house elves at Hogwarts, or there position in wizarding society properly before, 
given her encyclopaedic knowledge of the wizarding world.

But in her defence,

a) they are probably largely ignored in the wizarding literature available to 
her, so that she would have actively to research them, rather than just 
coming across them in the course of her general reading.

b) We are told (conveniently) that it is the mark of the good house elf that 
they are *not* seen (so I wouldn't expect her to see one in the laundry).

c) Ron misleads us in CoS by telling us that they are associated with the 
homes of old, wealthy families (no implication that they are associated with 
institutions, no matter how prestigious).

d) How did *we* think that all these things were done? Food appears by magic 
at the feasts. I guess that I always assumed there was more magic involved and 
less labour.
In addition, there was no reason to assume that there weren't paid school 
*servants* in the kitchens and laundry, rather than enlaved house elves.

As for the whereabouts of the laundry, I have no more idea than you, but I 
wouldn't be surprised if its location were well known to students, enabling them 
to collect clean robes and clothes as required. Students evidently aren't 
able to summon house elves at will  (or else Hermione would have beeen aware of 
them), so they may well *need* to be able to take filthy Quidditch robes or 
collect emergency clean ones from the laundry. 

Given spells like scourgify and reparo, though, one wonders why a laundry is 
needed at all.

~Eloise


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