house elves

[Steve]

No: HPFGUIDX 105218

--- In HPforGrownups at yahoogroups.com, "madmarymack" <madmarymack at h...>
wrote:
> "niekycrins" <n.crins at p...> wrote:
> > ... I think that the house elves will be playing  a big part in 
> > the last books, they may decide to form an information 
> > network for DD (maybe they already are), they will make a great 
> > ally in the battle against VM


> Mary:
> I also think that house elves will play a significant role in the 
> upcoming books.  On rereading CoS, I was perplexed at what appears
> to be Dobby's ability to disapparate within Hogwarts when he visits 
> Harry at the hospital.  ... Hermione has told us endlessly that you 
> can't apparate on Hogwarts grounds, so maybe what he's doing isn't 
> actually apparating.  ...edited...
> 
> ... if house elves can somehow get around the powerful protective 
> measures placed around Hogwarts, perhaps they will be able to 
> infiltrate other highly protected areas, i.e. the Death Eaters' 
> hideouts. I love your idea of them forming an information network.
> 
> I'm a first-time poster, too, which I'm sure will make for the 
> beginnings of a wonderful thread!
> 
> Mary

Asian_lovr2:

Here are a couple other tidbits to fuel your theories.

Remember at the Quidditch World Cup in the top box when Harry meets
Winky? Winky indicates that she knows Dobby, and she and Dobbly seems
to have had more than a distant, short, polite, formal conversation.
They seemed to know each other well enough for Winky to know what was
going on in Dobby's life, and to have expressed her opinions on the
subject. This indicates a more friendly and extended conversation
which inturn indicates a more friendly and extended relationship.

Remember that this is a Death Eater's house-elf (Malfoy's), and the
house-elf of the biggest ANTI-Death Eater (Crouch). That makes me
think that their association is flying under the radar of their owners. 

This indicates that elves do have a life and some type of social
interaction. I mean, baby elves must come from somewhere. If the elves
have some means of social interaction that flys unseen by their
owners, that equally implies a well developed network of communication.

Also, JKR has commented on Dobby Apparating in Hogwarts by indicating
that House-elves have magical abilities that wizards do not, and of
course, the opposite is true, wizard's have magic that is beyond the
capability of elves.

Now one small catch. When Fred, George, and Ron are explaining the
nature of house-elves to Harry, one of them mentions that house-elves
can only use their magic with their master's expressed permission
(paraphrased). That seems like a reasonable rule to suppress 'slaves'
and protect masters. It further more raises the question, has anyone
in authority ever gone to the Hogwarts house-elves and said, 'you have
our full and expressed permission to use any and all of your magical
power and ability to protect Hogwarts school, it's staff, and it's
students'?

[Although, we see from Dobby and Harry's example, that being protected
by a house-elf is not without it's own hazards.]

We see Sirius make the very mistake of taking Kreacher for granted, of
 assuming what Kreacher will and will not do. If no one has
specifically told the Hogwarts elves it's OK to use their power, will
they hesitate at some critical point because the don't know if they
have the authority to intervene on behalf of the school? 

[Consider this, when Harry/Ron/Hermione go to the kitchen and the
house-elves offer them tea, several house-elves physically carry a
heavy tray of tea and treats over to the table. Surely, house-elves
are capable of doing a simple hover charm, or 'locomotor' or 'mobilus'
charm. So why physically carry something that is so heavy it takes
several elves? Perhaps, no one has specifically told them it's OK to
use hover, levitation, or locomotion charms.]

Also, relative to Hogwarts, remember that Hogwarts has over 100
house-elves, more than any other dwelling in the UK. One hundred
fully-authorize house-elves is one awesome force of power.

So behind the scenes and in a head-to-head fight, I see the
house-elves as an EXTREMELY valuable asset in the coming war. However,
I temper that belief by wondering if there aren't some small details
regarding elves that the wizard world and the school have overlooked.

Just a thought.

Steve/asian_lovr2