[HPforGrownups] Who originally owned Dobby?

[Christine Maupin]

No: HPFGUIDX 174614

Me (jellocat)
>I searched for this and couldn't find any info - maybe someone here
 >has a theory.
 
>Why did Dobby originally care so much about Harry Potter? He was
>"owned" by the Malfoys - aren't house elves supposed to show loyalty
>only to their masters?
 
>I theorized, originally, that Dobby was owned by the Potters and was
>"taken" by the Malfoys after the Potters were killed, hence he
 >would've had an affinity for Harry. I thought JKR would bring this to
 >light in the 7th book but she didn't. 
 
 >So why did Dobby care about Harry at all, then? Isn't that off the
 >charts for a house elf to be?


You need search no further than Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, where we learn that the magic of house elves require them to serve their masters or risk punishment, usually at their own hands; house elves can only be freed if their masters give them clothes (which is why we see them wearing pillowcases or tea towels or whatever -- those items are not proper clothes).  We also meet Dobby, an unusual house elf who wants his freedom.  He tells Harry that house elves suffered greatly under Voldemort and that he still suffers.  (We learn at the end of COS that Dobby belongs to Lucius Malfoy, a devoted follower of Voldemort.)

At first, Dobby's devotion to Harry is based on the fact that Harry is The Boy Who Lived -- the boy who somehow rid the world of the threat Voldemort posed.  Once Dobby meets Harry, his devotion is based on how Harry treats him (with respect and kindness).  Later, Dobby's devotion to Harry is based on the fact that Harry tricks Lucius Malfoy into giving Dobby clothes (Harry's sock hidden Riddle's diary), thus freeing him.  By the end of COS there is no doubt that Dobby is loyal to Harry.

Dobby, unlike the other house elves we see in the books, wants his freedom.  Considering who his master is, who can blame him.  In my opinion, he is miserable serving the Malfoys both because they follow Voldemort and because they treat him cruelly.  Also in my opinion, if Dobby had served a family of "good" wizards who treated him kindly, he would have been happy without being free.  I see him as equating freedom (something which his kind considers bad) with escape from a "dark" world that he doesn't want to be part of (and thus makes a morally based decision).  Dobby is ostracized by his kind because of his freedom.  Yet, despite being free, Dobby still wants to work and serve, so we see him again in GOF as a free elf working at Hogwarts for pay.  (But, he dosn't want as much pay and time off as Dumbledore is willing to give him.)

Dobby also is very brave; he defied his master and punished himself for it throughout COS; he sought freedom which singled him out among his peers; and, of course, he died saving Harry in DH.

There is nothing in canon to remotely suggest that Dobby once served the Potters.  Is Dobby's action "off the charts" for house elves?  Yes, but the books do a thorough job of explaining house elves in general and Dobby in particular.  JKR didn't need to go into it any further that she did in DH.

Christy, who sometimes wonders if we're all reading the same books

       
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