GenesisSaga posted... Truth be told, I even prefer Winky to Dobby! At least Winky has a veritable and identifiable reason for acting the way she does: she actually loved her master and being in bondage. You could almost compare her to a housewife. In her mind, she was divorced (released) because she failed in her duties to her beloved depite trying her best and then becomes a pessimistic raging alcoholic and masochist due to losing her beloved and her purpose in life in one fell swoop.
I don't think I would go that far.
Dobby is more interesting than Winky just for the fact that he actively wants to break the mould, and...in the end the apple doesn't fall that far from the tree.
Also, Winky is such an idiot. When Barty has taken the Veritaserum, she's all like "No master Barty! Stop revealing our secrets! Why are you still revealing our secrets??? Stop it!" Like...I think even a Muggle would conclude that Barty was under some kind of truth drug--just how stupid IS Winky? (Not to mention her shock that Barty killed his father--really, surely she must have known this kid was dangerous given that she was tasked with hiding him).
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Cats land on their feet. Toast lands peanut butter side down. A cat with toast strapped to its back will hover above the ground in a state of quantum indecision
Dobby doesn't exactly make the most informed decisions either. "If I jinx this Bludger to knock Harry off his broom several hundred feet in the air, surely he'll return to Privet Drive (in a body bag)!"
I just find Winky more interesting the more I think about her even though she conforms more tightly to the House Elf standard. She's just such a pitiful character who often goes overlooked.
Dobby otoh gets plenty of love for doing very few things to stand out outside of Book 2. There's that time he reveals the Room of Requirement, the time Harry sends him to tail someone (which Kreacher could've handled), and the scene just prior to his death, admittedly a good scene but it's just not enough for me.
I was hoping Hermione's SPEW efforts wouldn't go largely wasted for the most part, and that the Free Elf would lead some sort of glorious revolution alongside his brethren since he was so markedly different from the rest, but it never came. I think some House Elves assisted in the Battle of Hogwarts, but if I'm not mistaken that whole SPEW subplot went pretty much nowhere. The only Elf that underwent a noticeable change was Kreacher.
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My Slug Bunny and Me http://img.imgcake.com/nio/gennypngun.png
The SPEW subplot had its big conclusion with Kreacher, yeah. Kreacher also leads an army of house elves in the battle of Hogwarts (while wearing Regulus' locket).
Dobby doesn't exactly make the most informed decisions either. "If I jinx this Bludger to knock Harry off his broom several hundred feet in the air, surely he'll return to Privet Drive (in a body bag)!"
Eh, given the kind of things that fail to kill Harry, or even knock him out, like crash landing a flying car from the cloudline, this is actually a pretty reasonable plan. You'll notice too, that as soon as Dobby realizes it doesn't have the desired effect, he changes plans.
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Cats land on their feet. Toast lands peanut butter side down. A cat with toast strapped to its back will hover above the ground in a state of quantum indecision
This whole conversation just gives me the impression that, aside from the magnificently astute and cynical Kreacher, House Elves just aren't very bright. Or maybe they have one-tracked thought processes which obscures higher mental capacities. I don't know.
At least most of us can agree that Kreacher is awesome (totally the best).
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My Slug Bunny and Me http://img.imgcake.com/nio/gennypngun.png