Subject: Re: The Future of SPEW

[stickbook41]

No: HPFGUIDX 126458


stickbook from before:
>Sounds good. However, what if Hermione manages to free the Elves en
>masse, only to have them do more damage than good?

Nicky Joe:
I think the elves will end up being freed, although how JKR plans to
pull off that little nugget is anyone's guess. Anyone have a guess?
Stickbook, what do you mean by "more damage than good"?

stickbook again:
Just that the elves being free wouldn't automatically necessitate
their joining the side of (for lack of a better term) the good guys. 
After all, Winky was not particularly pleased with freedom.  What if
turns out that the majority of the elves, now free to decide their own
loyalties in regards to VW2, ending up taking sides with Fudge, or
worse yet, Voldemort?

Dave Hardenbrook wrote:
>I think Jo has dropped numerous hints that House Elves are very, very
>powerful magically.

stickbook again:
Yes, and what if that power was used *against* our heroes?  To tell
the truth, I'd be a little disappointed if Hermione frees all the
elves JustInTheNickOfTime to have them all end up saving the day.  The
character would grow so much more upon the discovery that all the
effort she put into "doing the right thing" turned out to be the wrong
thing.

Whether or not house elves end up liberated, I predict that SPEW will
be a *dramatic* failure, and here's why.  JKR's gift for naming people
and things is always SO appropriate that it's a big part of what makes
the story feel it could be real.  SPEW sticks out like a sore thumb.

Even though it's used as a comedic device, the fact that our brilliant
Hermione couldn't think of a less unflattering acronym (along with the
elves' own distrust of freedom) makes me think that Jo is setting us
up to believe that SPEW is no big deal.  After all, how many of us
didn't give a second thought to Dumbledore's one-line "joke" in PoA
about Trelawney's making a grand total of 2 real predictions?  We're
on to you, Jo!

As a side note, all this is NOT to say that Hermione herself will ever
relent in her passion for the elf-liberation cause--she won't.

stickbook
who apologizes for responding so late and then ranting