Hermione's Hats

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No: HPFGUIDX 88998

Bobby:

> David in message 88892 identifies the essential problem with the 
> hats: House Elves are not freed merely by contact with their 
> masters' clothes (or else why didn't Dobby free himself when he was 
> at the Malfoys?) or by intent (since Lucius did not intend to free 
> Dobby when he inadvertently threw him a sock).  So how can 
> Hermione's hats work?
> 
> Second, why hasn't Hermione noticed the problem?  Why hasn't she 
> thought this thing to death the way she does everything else?  Is 
> JKR using this for something in Book 6?



That's not quite true is it, because the house elves were "insulted" 
and they refused to clean the Gryffindor tower for "fear" of finding 
one of the hats and being freed. Which is why Dobby during one scene 
is wearing them all, because Harry finds out that Dobby has been 
servicing Gryffindor solo.

Dobby tells Harry that the houseelves don't care for Ms. Hermione for 
trying to "trick" them into freedom (or a loss of honor).  I also 
seem to remember that hats were packaged as "gifts" (or with a note 
or something) to indicate for whom they were intended orginally. 

It would also stand to reason that being servants they handled 
clothes all the time doing daily chores.  So it must be the "gifting" 
of clothes regardless of intent, and this gifting must be done by 
their master or mistress (which I would assume would be DD), but 
Hermione being a muggle born would assume muggle servant protacol and 
think in terms of servants being at the behest of whom they are 
currently serving (i.e. that those house-elves cleaning Gryffindor 
would be under the authority of the students whom they were serving).

Like in the case of Sirus' house-elf Kreacher, who would say "I am 
bound to serve the House of Black", and that Sirus (even though he 
didn't approve of him) was his master.  The others residing in the 
house could give Kreacher orders, that he was obliged to follow, but 
this didn't make them Kreacher's master.

watercolorz