house elves and laundry (house elves and goblins)

[drjuliehoward]

No: HPFGUIDX 88202

<Snip>
Carol wrote:
 Hermione wouldn't know about House Elves before coming to Hogwarts
> before she's a Muggle-born and probably assumed (as we did if we
> thought about it) that the laundry was done by magic. (Actually, it
> probably is--just not by the Wizards themselves.) And the author of
> "Hogwarts, A History" is not so much "colluding in . . . 
oppression"
> as simply taking for granted a thousand-year-old tradition, much 
the
> way we Muggles take electricity for granted. In describing a 
friend's
> home, we wouldn't say, "The house had electric light and a washing
> machine." It would never occur to a reader that it didn't.
> 
>

Yes, that makes sense.  That led me to another series of questions 
and wondering if there is any canon evidence/answers:
1. How long has this system been in place if it is "taken for 
granted" by the WW?
2. If this is the system, why don't all wizarding families have 
house elves?  Why is this for the financially privileged or for 
institutions such as Hogwarts?
3. Prior to their enslavement, could they have been PAID assistants 
(which would, in some ways, answer Q2)?
4. If they were paid, what happened to their money?
5. Which brings me to this: House Elves and Goblins look a lot 
alike.  Could the goblins have something to do with their 
enslavement?  

I know this is bordering dangerously to being OT, but in my mind it 
would set up an interesting rivalry between these two groups in 
another wizarding war.  Many posts have speculated about goblins and 
house elves and where their loyalties may fall, but I have not read 
any posts addressing any possible connection between the two 
groups.  Any ideas?

Julie