The Potters' grave and non-domestic elves

[Steve]

No: HPFGUIDX 89157

--- In HPforGrownups at yahoogroups.com, "Peter Felix Schuster"
<pfsch at g...> wrote:
> Hi AmanitaMuscaria!
> 
> > AmanitaMuscaria again: Why do you assume Malfoy only had Dobby? All 
> > Malfoy actually says is, 'You've lost me my servant, boy'. He never 
> > says, you've lost me my only servant. I can't see the Malfoys 
> > relying on only one, rather dubious, houseelf? Do you believe Dobby 
> > could have just suddenly become rebellious? I would assume he's 
> > always been a bit of an oddity.


> 
> Peter: 
> I regret that I cannot give you the exact point of that quote 
> but in GoF or (more probably) OotP, Draco tells his mates that his 
> mother now had to do all the housework by herself. So I assumed there 
> aren't any more elves in the Malfoy Manson.
> 
> I wonder by the way what "job" Lucius has. Does he just live from his 
> fortune?
> 
> Bye Peter

bboy_mn:

I would very much like to see that quote, because I don't remember it
from any of the books. Of course, I don't have the greatest memory,
but none the less, I still have my doubts.

If Dobby was the only Malfoy Elf, why wouldn't Malfoys just go down to
the House-Elf Relocation Office (it's really, I didn't make it up) and
get a new house-elf?

Certainly, someone as rich and powerful as Lucius wouldn't have a
problem getting a new elf. Personally, although I can't back it up
with data from the book, I suspect they had more than one elf. 

What does Lucius do for a living? 

He takes money and uses it to make money. Basically, he is a
businessman, but not in the sense of running a shop, more in the sense
of someone who invests his money in assorted, and sometimes
questionable, business ventures. 

This is very typical of how wealthy people made money in 'the good old
days'. They would do things like finacially back a shipment of goods
in return for a percentage of the profits. Basically, they would do
anything to make a 'buck', or Galleon as the case may be, although, I
think they favored things that had a quick turn over. 

If you saw the movie Nicholas Nickleby, mean nasty Uncle Ralph
Nickleby essentially made his money by talking his friends into giving
him their money so he could invest it, one can only, and reasonably,
assume the money was invested in a variety of business ventures.

I think that's what Lucius Malfoy does, provides financial backing for
a variety of short term business venture from which he takes a
handsome share of the profits.

It take money to make money.

Just a thought.

bboy_mn