Hermione's Hats

[amanitamuscaria1]

No: HPFGUIDX 89034

--- In HPforGrownups at yahoogroups.com, "watercolor_stain" 
<watercolor_stain at y...> wrote:
> 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?
>watercolourstain writes :
> 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. snip

AmanitaMuscaria now: No, the houseelves aren't frightened by the 
clothes, they are insulted, though. (UK OotP pg.341-2)

snip
> 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. 

AmanitaMuscaria here: Not gifts, Hermione was covering the hats with 
screwed-up bits of parchment and such, to entrap the elves. The gift 
was the patchwork quilt Hermione gave to Kreacher. (UK OotP pgs 230-
1, 444-5) 

> 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

AmanitaMuscaria here: The houseelves' loyalty does seem odd - we've 
got two houseelves who are rebels: Dobby, I am presuming, wasn't sent 
to try to keep Harry from going to Hogwarts in CoS; and Kreacher, who 
leaves Grimmauld Place to plot with Narcissa, admittedly an ex-Black 
who's more to his way of mind. Winky seems to not be able to shake 
the charm that binds her to the Crouches, even having been given 
clothes. So we're given the extremes of elfdom, and the median (elves 
at Hogwarts).
Cheers. AmanitaMuscaria