Once more - with questions. part 2.

[Barry Arrowsmith]

--- In the_old_crowd at yahoogroups.com, "snow15145" <kking0731 at ...> wrote:
>
> snip >
> 
> So far, Dobby is better represented as an enemy than a friend, that 
> is, until the end of the book where he saves Harry from his owner. 
> 
> snip >
> Dobby seems to be a very serviceable elf; he only appears when he is 
> needed. Dobby blinks in and out of service as required.  
> 
> But here's a thought, why can Dobby enter the home of Harry Potter 
> when not even Voldemort can touch him there? Since when can a house-
> elf just pop into anyone's house let alone the one whose house is 
> protected even beyond his mother's love? 
> 
> I can go along with the `powers of the house elf' can disapperate 
> when Hogwarts strictly prohibits it, but an elf that is to service 
> only his masters desires that can appear anywhere he wishes despite 
> his masters orders is a tad-bit bizarre. 
> 

Pertinent observations.
Is Dobby a sort of grab-bag plot device, there to provide justification/
explication for bits it would be awkward to assign to other characters,
or does he have (or has had, or will have) a key role in his own right in
the plot arc? And if so, how and why?

The former would be understandable, but the latter would have a much
bigger bang factor.

For example - there's a post up from Pippin suggesting that Petunia is
a Phoenix member - mmm, possible but unlikely IMO. But what if Dobby
had been co-opted as a little helper for the organisation?  Who on the
Voldy side would suspect the lowly House-Elf of a DE as a spy for DD?
And DD does have spies.

It could explain why DD isn't too bothered about Dobbles making
free with the Hogwarts air-space; visiting Harry when possible with
timely (if incompetently communicated) warnings; how he came to 
appreciate Harry's importance - and, possibly very significant if the 
theory has legs - the reason why Dobby has ended up at Hogwarts 
under DD's protection. 

SFAIK it's never explained why, at the end of CoS, Lucius turns up
to see DD *with Dobby*. Why was Dobby there? Can't say, but there
he was and *in the presence of his master* was busy giving signals to
Harry connecting the diary to Malfoy. Does anyone else think that this
is strange behaviour from a House-Elf?

DD has it all sussed of course. He knows or has surmised that Lurkio
was behind the whole thing. Time for the traditional end-of-vol 
explication from DD, omniscience on the hoof.
Except. How did DD find out? 
Good question.
Logical deduction might help somewhat, but a spy would be better.
 
Dobby's actions at the end of CoS are more or less redundant - unless
as a clue to the reader that there's been something very interesting 
going on.
Why should Harry be the only person that Dobbles visited at Hogwarts?
Lets face it, he'd make an ideal agent-in-place; right in the centre of
the enemy camp, able to overhear anything discussed, and totally
ignored. 

Have we been under-estimating the little freak?


> 
> I'm torn between commenting on the totally late reply or the 
> congratulations to the acknowledgements to Barry Arrowsmith for his 
> insight to The End of Harry Potter (U.S. edition, March 2007). 
> Congrats Kneasy! ... Name in lights!
>

Um.
Thank you.
It was a surprise to me, too.
Or will be; SFAIK the 2nd ed. hasn't been released here in the UK yet.
Langford is a friend of a friend, so I traded on that in contacting him
and noting that there were lots more ideas and theories available
from the Potterhead fanatics on the boards and did he want 
suggestions? And by the way, here's one: Ravenclaw's wand.
To-ing and fro-ing of emails, but unfortunately he couldn't. 
Gollancz wanted the same page count and there was no space to 
expand, though he did like the idea I'd thrown in and would squeeze 
it in as a footnote.

I hope he's included my caveat that the idea that it was the wand in
Olivanders window came from someone else; hate it to be thought 
that I'd claim another fan's brainwaves as my own.

Kneasy