Hogwarts elves/ Was:Dobby and Winkie sitting in a tree...

[Michael Perry]

No: HPFGUIDX 160444

Eddie:
> I'm reminded now that Sirius thought he saw "Kreacher snogging one of
> my dad's old pants." (or something like that)  But that didn't free
> Kreacher.  So just touching the clothing isn't enough.  There must be
> some intent, I guess.  Lucius Malfoy threw the sock _AWAY_ and Dobby
> received it.
>

mperry600256:

Kreacher (what a name... if you sound it out) snagged a number of pieces of
clothing from his previously dead masters. I think this points out the "dog"
type arrangement... where a dog will pick up clothing from a human and lie
on them for a bed... but never think of simply going out the front door to
be free.

I am still confused by the elf "thing". Obviously the thrown sock was not
intentional, but it freed the elf. He'd received a piece of clothing
directly from an unintentional toss. I'm thinking this is simply a frame of
mind, or part of a magical contract. In direct contact with people, an elf
could always free themselves by simply placing themselves to help their
"master" undress... but they have a different concept of things. (Most elves
don't want to be free of an abusive relationship... as per Dobby's ironing
his own hands. It takes the intent of some wizard to give them this
freedom.)

H is very good with spells. Perhaps she found a way to free the elves...
implanting a spell into the clothing. Or perhaps it was just her intent to
do so. She had no luck because she forgot one simple thing... elves are more
magical (in some parts of the story) than their masters. It is basically an
insult to an elf to just hide "freedom" in a pile of debris. They could see
such magic from across the room.



Ceridwen wrote:

> And, perhaps it's the position of the person offering clothes that
> counts.  Can any member of a family offer clothes?  Or only
> the 'master' or his or her designee?  It's hard to imagine a system
> which would free an elf on a child's whim if the child is angry at
> the parents, for example.


mperry600256:

An excellent point. I'm not sure it was thought that far through. <g>