Kreacher the Plot Device Elf

[Steve]

No: HPFGUIDX 161785

---  "sistermagpie" <belviso at ...> wrote:
>
> Steve:
> > Keep in mind that it is house-elves who have set the 
> > standard for service, loyalty, and fealty. Kreacher 
> > provides none of those things, he falls far short of
> > the common standards for house-elves, and in that
> > sense, he is both worthless and dangerous. 
> 
> Magpie:
> But so do Dobby and Winky who, like Kreacher, prefer 
> to choose whom they wish to serve. Dobby ran away from
> the Malfoys and actively worked against them. Winky 
> sits in the Hogwarts kitchens and drinks. Kreacher has
> been just as good an example of service, loyalty and 
> fealty to the family he considers his true owners.  
>

bboyminn:

Almost, but no cigar. There is no indication that Dobby 
is or was ever less than a hard working dutiful 
house-elf. At Hogwarts, Dobby even does work that the
other Elves have refused to do; specifically cleaning up
Griffindor Common Room when it is filled with hiden 
clothes. So, Dobby is certainly a hard worker. 

Dobby's actions 'against' the Malfoy's is similar to 
Kreacher betrayal of Sirius, but there is a difference.
Dobby acted to save someone and did so in a way the 
wasn't really detrimental to his master. Note that I 
said 'in a way' not detrimental. It certainly did 
attempt to foul Malfoy's plan, but did not attempt or 
intend to cause direct harm to the Malfoys.

Kreacher on the other hand would seem to have known 
quite well that /harm/ would come as a result of his
actions. Dobby operated within the limits of himself
as a house-elf. Kreacher on the other hand acted in
clear and malicious betrayal of his master. Again, the 
action of the two elves in this one instance are
similar, but I see Kreacher's betrayal as greater and
more vicious. 

As to Winky, as others have pointed out, she still 
considers herself Crouch's house-elf as all her prior
family had been. I further think she believes that 
her absents from the family contributed to Barty's 
death. So, she has both guilt and shame hanging over
her and heavily weighting her down. That is indeed
a heavy wieght to carry.

Though, I have no doubt that Winky has the capability
of being a fine house-elf if she could get herself into
a situation where she felt like she was part of the 
family again. Maybe when she and Dobby come to work for
Harry, she will be happy again.

Kreacher on the other hand, I believe, is too far 'round
the bend to ever be a fully functional house-elf. True
under better circumstances he may be able to find some
family who would take him in and tolerate him until he
finally died, but I think his level of service would be
marginal at best.

I think Kreacher would truly try to be a good elf, if 
for example he worked for Narcissa or Belatrix, but I
honestly don't think he is capable of succeeding. Like
I said, he is mentally and phyically too far around the
bend.

For the record, Dobby did not 'run away from the Malfoys'.
He simply left within the confines and context of his
service. As I have already admitted, in much the same way
that Kreacher did. But regardless of either leaving within
the technical confines of their servitude, Kreachers 
action, in my opinion, were whole more vicious.

> Magpie:
> ... If given to Narcissa, for instance, I see no reason
> that Kreacher couldn't become a productive house-elf. 
> 

bboyminn:

Just to re-emphasize this point, I think under the best 
of circumstances Kreacher service would be marginally 
acceptable at best. Though that is more a cause for pity 
than hate.

Just as Winky at the moment can't control her actions,
neither can Kreacher. Kreacher state of being is a 
warped result of time and circumstances, but again while
he is to be pitied, he is not to be forgiven.

> Magpie:
>
> ... To me it seems like Kreacher's fairly standard for
> a house-elf in that he is tremendously loyal but has 
> his own ideas about who he's loyal or not to, just as 
> all the other house elves we've seen. None of them are
> as subservient as they seem on the surface. ...
> 

bboyminn:

Oddly, on this point we agree. The elves when pushed are
a force to be reckoned with. That is part of the reason
why I introduced the idea that Elves can only use the
specific magic that their Masters have allowed them to 
use. In a sense, it is a way the Wizards keep Elves 
under control. They see what magically power and 
independant creatures Elves are capable of being, and 
they don't want to introduce any excuse for the power
and independance to be used against them. 

I proposed that Harry would discover this fact, and would
give the Hogwarts House-Elves free and unfettered rein of
their magical powers and the free will to independantly 
decide to use that magical power, and then the Hogwarts
Elves truly will be a force to be reckoned with.


> Magpie:
>
> Of course, this brings up the question of what happens 
> when they're too old to do anything. The Blacks seemed
> to honor the elves by beheading them and mounting them
> on the wall, but what happens at Hogwarts? Is there a 
> retirement wing? Do they get lighter and lighter tasks
> until they drop dead?
> 
> -m
>

bboyminn:

I've often wondered the same thing. Though I suspect, to 
some extent, that is one of the questions we aren't 
suppose to ask. I have often pictured Harry, through a
long complicated series of events, opening a rest home
for House-Elves, where the old elves spend their time
cataloging the magic, herbology, lore, history, and other
apects of house-elf existance.

Further, I have always wondered if Elves can read and
write. In the Old South it was actually against the law
to teach slaves to read and write. I sort of have the
same sense about Elves, and once again through a long
complicated series of events, I have picture Harry
opening a school to teach Elves to read and write, and
do basic arithmatic. Of course, this all occurs in the
future far beyond the scope of the existing series. 

Just a few thoughts.

Steve/bboyminn