No sympathy for Kreacher

[xcpublishing]

No: HPFGUIDX 124533


Jocelyn:

>Having watched an appropriate episode of NCIS last night *G* it 
>occurred to me that Kreacher might have something like Stockholm 
>Syndrome.  I believe this is a kind of 'brainwashing'  which occurs 
>where someone abused and imprisoned begins to identify with their 
>persecutor.  Patty Hearst was a high-profile example, but it seems 
to 
>be well-known in cases of long-term kidnap victims.  Perhaps someone 
>with more knowledge of the phenomenon could comment?

I don't have any knowledge of the phenomenon, but it sounds dead on 
to me.  The house elves actually seem to have this "brainwashing" 
ingrained into their culture.  Even at Hogwarts, where they are not 
abused, they are still horrified at the idea of being freed.  And 
Winky, though it seems she was treated more decently with Crouch than 
Dobby was with Malfoy, is absolutely hysterical by her freedom.  
Dobby actually seems to have a genetic disorder - why is he the ONLY 
house-elf that ever wanted his freedom?  I'm sure Paragon!Dumbledore 
would have freed them all long ago, except that the result would be 
sheer pandemonium.

>Kreacher never had the option Sirius did of just walking out.  And 
he 
>seemed much older than Dobby.  How long do house-elves live anyway?  
>How long had he lived as a slave to the revolting Blacks?  What 
horrors 
>had he seen over this time?  How long had his sanity lasted?  
(Possibly 
>until the heads of his mother and siblings decorated the walls...)  
I 
>don't really think Kreacher was sane by the time we met him, which 
is 
>why I do not blame him for Sirius' death.  Not guilty by reason of 
>unsound mind.

I don't blame Kreacher, either.  There were plenty of signs pointing 
to what Kreacher was, what he believed, and who he served.  It was 
the wizardly blindness to house-elves that let them all dismiss him 
as a threat.  Even Hermione, who usually can spot danger, was blind 
to the creature because she let her sympathy override her common 
sense.  Sirius was raised around Kreacher's madness and completely 
disregarded him.  The other wizards, even the Weasleys, Lupin, and 
the OoP members, didn't take Kreacher seriously.  Apparently, only 
Dumbledore thought Kreachur was a threat, but not a serious one or he 
would have had the order members keeping an eye on him, instead of 
just "mentioning" it to Sirius - a statement that he had to have 
known would go over like a lead balloon.

Nicky Joe