house elves

[antoshachekhonte]

No: HPFGUIDX 102530

--- In HPforGrownups at yahoogroups.com, "jenny_ravenclaw" <meboriqua at a...> wrote:
> I agree that it is most definitely the WW community that needs to change, not 
> the Elves, and that the way the Elves are treated is as big an issue as their 
> enslavement is.  It starts with the enslavement, though, doesn't it?
> 
> Other than Dumbledore, we haven't seen anyone treating their Elves as 
> anything higher than dirt.  If I was an Elf at Hogwarts, I wouldn't want to take 
> one of Hermione's hats either; that would mean I'd be on my own and might 
> get picked up by someone like the Malfoys or be turned away again and 
> again the way Dobby was before he found his way to Hogwarts.  They've got 
> the best deal in the WW, it seems, at Hogwarts.
> 
> The initial problem with the enslavement is that is breeds the poor treatment 
> of those enslaved.  Whether magical or not, the ones who own have a good 
> deal of power over the ones owned.  Even Sirius, who would love nothing mor 
> than to set Kreacher free, isn't exactly tolerant of Kreacher.  I'm not saying 
> Kreacher is a cuddly and loveable little Elf, but isn't it the responsibility of 
> Sirius to have a better relationship with Kreacher?  He's far better than the 
> other Blacks, it seems, but his authority over Kreacher is always there.
> 
> I can't help but be on Hermione's side in this issue.  I want to see all the Elves 
> set free to serve whoever they'd like.  Their loyalties to their masters seem to 
> stem from their isolation and lack of knowledge about better situations. 
> 
> In the end I find it cruel that they are magically bound to their masters and 
> that so many masters, it seems, take such advantage of that bondage.
> 
> --jenny from ravenclaw, who wears her S.P.E.W. badge with pride

I agree that the status of house elves in the books makes me more than a little queasy. I 
think the thing we need to consider is what their nature actually *is*. 

Are they simply magical creatures whose reason for being is to serve a particular house or 
family? If so, they are not truly enslaved, though they are clearly much abused by 
wizarding folk, who take their service very much for granted.

On the other hand, are they powerful magical creatures whose desire for praise, etc, has 
allowed them to be drawn into a devil's bargain with the wizarding community? This would 
be enslavement, and pretty reprehensible.

It seems to me that the destruction of that ridiculous fountain in OotP signaled a change in 
the attitudes of some, at least, of the wizarding community. Here's what Dumbledore has 
to say in Chapter 37, The Lost Prophecy: 'Sirius did not hate Kreacher,' said Dumbledore. 
`He regarded him as a servant unworthy of  much interest or notice. Indifference and 
neglect often do much more damage than outright  dislike ... the fountain we destroyed 
tonight told a lie. We wizards have mistreated and  abused our fellows for too long, and 
we are now reaping our reward.' 

Perhaps, led by Dumbledore and Arthur Weasley, who seemingly alone in the wizarding 
world consider non-wizards/witches to be equals, the WW will go through a 
transformation of its view both of what constitutes civil rights and what constitutes 
freedom.