CHAPTER DISCUSSION: Chapter 14, Percy and Padfoot

[meriaugust]

No: HPFGUIDX 93039

--- In HPforGrownups at yahoogroups.com, Penapart Elf 
<penapart_elf at y...> wrote:
> I'm posting the following from Aesha on her behalf.
> 
> :) Penapart Elf
 
> Questions for discussion:
> 
> 1. If house elves are freed against their will, where do 
> they go? Can they stay at Hogwarts if they desire? If so, 
> what does it matter if a house elf is inadvertently 
> freed?

Meri: I think what constitutes house elf freedom is just one of the 
things that JKR should clear up for us in future books. IMHO, house 
elf freedom has as much to do with the master's attitude as the 
elf's. For instance: In Dobby's case, he was freed inadvertantly, 
with Lucious Malfoy just randomly tossing Harry's dirty sock (and 
can ya blame him?) and Dobby accidentally catching it. The intent 
was not to free Dobby, but that was what the elf took the gift of 
clothes to mean. Winky, on the other hand, probably took laundry 
from the Crouches all the time, but was never set free because there 
was no intent on the master's side and no desire to be free on 
Winky's side. Hermione could probably leave the contents of a 
Harrods outlet on the Gryffindor common room floor, but the regular 
Hogwarts elves would probably not be freed by the actions of a 
student. 

> 2. Why does Mrs. Norris make some sort of contact with 
> those students she's suspicious of- making eye contact, 
> brushing up against them? Is it something to do with her 
> strange connection to Filch- does it set off a bat 
> signal, of sorts?

Meri: I know that there has been speculation about whether or not 
Mrs. Norris is a kneazle like Crookshanks, and also about the 
strange links that squibs have with their cats (like Mrs. Figg and 
Flich). I think that there is some unknown form of communication 
from cats to squibs, and that maybe squbs aren't all that unmagical 
after all. Perhaps their powers just manifest themselves 
differently. 

> 3. What happened in the forest to make the Thestral fly 
> out of it? Is this just something Harry didn't notice 
> before, because he couldn't see them- or was there 
> something more sinister happening?

Meri: As a plot device it probably only helped to increase Harry's 
paranoia, but perhaps the thestral was just hunting. 

snipping the rest of the questions

Meri - answering a few posts on her break