Dobby (An-House Elf)

Dobby (28 June – March 1998) was a male house-elf who served the Malfoy family. His masters were Dark wizards who treated him cruelly. In 1992, he disobeyed his masters and tried to warn Harry Potter of the plot to have the Chamber of Secrets reopened. He came to know this via the contact between his masters and Lord Voldemort.
At the end of that school year, after Harry had vanquished the memory of Tom Riddle and slayed the basilisk in the Chamber of Secrets, he tricked Lucius Malfoy into freeing Dobby. Harry accomplished this by placing T. M. Riddle's Diary inside his own sock. Lucius disgustedly ripped the sock off the book and threw the sock into the air, where Dobby caught it.
Dobby suffered a period of unemployment, during which he was often ostracised for having no "proper shame" in regards to being out of work. He was generally pleased to be free, although he did enjoy working as a hobby. Dobby was ecstatic to be out of the abusive hands of the Malfoys, but equally pleased to join the Hogwarts staff. At Hogwarts he could come and go as he liked, did not have many tasks, and those he did have were fairly simple. Dobby requested some compensations for his work and eventually he and Dumbledore came to an agreement.
==Biography==
===Serving the Malfoy family ===
Dobby was the resident house-elf of Malfoy Manor, serving Lucius Malfoy, his wife Narcissa, and their only son Draco. They treated Dobby with unkindness and cruelty, often reminding him to perform extra punishments on himself when he did something disagreeable to them. The Malfoys were harsh and abused Dobby often.
Dobby was threatened many times during his time serving the Malfoy family and told Harry Potter that he was accustomed to death threats, because he received them 'five times a day' from the Malfoys. Though he always did as he was told, he knew that their behaviour was wrong and he longed to be free of them. He is the first house-elf seen to "break free" of his masters' wills, warning Harry of the Chamber of Secrets (Kreacher did this too, however he technically did not disobey any orders, therefore it does not count), and alongside Kreacher, is the only house elf seen who truly dislikes their original master.
During the 1985–1986 school year, Dobby befriended Jacob's sibling.
====Re-opening of the Chamber of Secrets====
Dobby knew of the plan to reopen the Chamber of Secrets during Harry Potter's second year at Hogwarts. Presumably, this was because the Malfoys saw Dobby as an insignificant slave, and because they knew that house-elves were not able to break the commands of their masters, never believing he would try to interfere. Dobby spent the summer of 1992 spying on Harry. On the day of his twelfth birthday Harry thought he saw eyes peeking from with the hedges.Dobby went to the Dursley house to warn Harry not to go back to school, revealing that he had been intercepting his mail. The withholding of Harry's letters from his friends was done in an attempt to convince him that his friends had abandoned him. Harry adamantly refused to comply, stating that Hogwarts was his home. Dobby then performed a Hover Charm on Aunt Petunia's pudding and dumped the pudding on top of Mrs Mason's head. This use of magic was detected by the Ministry of Magic through the Trace.250px|thumb|Dobby trying to persuade Harry not to go back to Hogwarts|alt=|leftMafalda Hopkirk of the Improper Use of Magic Office sent Harry a warning letter for the apparent transgression by an under-age wizard, informing the Dursleys that Harry was not allowed to use magic outside of school. Harry was then locked in his room. However Ron, Fred, and George Weasley came in their dad's enchanted flying car to free him from the Dursleys.
Unfazed, Dobby covertly watched Harry Potter and magically sealed the barrier to Platform Nine and Three-Quarters, preventing Harry and Ron from reaching the Hogwarts Express. This too failed, as the two used the flying car again to catch up the Hogwarts Express; this however almost caused Harry's and Ron's expulsion from Hogwarts, due to their damaging the Whomping Willow after arriving late at the school. Dobby was so shocked to hear that they managed to return to Hogwarts that he accidentally allowed the Malfoys' dinner to burn, for which he was punished.Lastly, Dobby tried his most risky and dangerous plan by making a Bludger attack Harry during a Quidditch match, hoping to send him back to Privet Drive injured, but alive. This plan could not have been too well thought-out, because under normal circumstances Madam Pomfrey, the school nurse, would have been able to mend Harry's injuries instantly. However, an unfortunate blunder by Professor Gilderoy Lockhart resulted in Harry losing all the bones in his right arm. Madam Pomfrey was able to regrow the bones by using Skele-Gro but it took an entire night.
While Harry was in the Hospital Wing recovering, Dobby appeared and admitted his acts, enraging Harry to the point that he threatened to strangle him. Dobby implored Harry to leave, accidentally admitting that the Chamber of Secrets had been opened before. Harry demanded to know who had opened it last time, but Dobby refused to reveal any more information and disapparated when he heard someone coming.
===A free elf ===
Near the end of Harry's second year, Lucius Malfoy came to the school with Dobby to see if it was true that Headmaster Albus Dumbledore had returned. Here, realising that Dobby belonged to the Malfoys, Harry stuffed Tom Riddle's Diary into one of his socks and handed it to Lucius Malfoy. Lucius ripped the sock off the diary, only for the sock to be caught by Dobby. This act freed Dobby from the Malfoys.
When Lucius tried to attack Harry in retaliation, Dobby blasted him backwards down a flight of stairs. Although house elves are treated as low-class slaves, they have very powerful magic, and even some beyond wizard ability. Harry's only request in return for granting Dobby freedom was for Dobby never to try to save his life again.
==Physical description==
Dobby was a house-elf, much shorter in stature than humans, standing only about 3 and a half feet (1.06 m). He had large, tennis-ball-like green eyes, a pencil-like nose and long, bat-like pointed ears and brown skin. Before he was given freedom, he wore a body-covering pillowcase. Later at Hogwarts, he wore a mismatched variety of jumpers, shorts, and socks.
Socks became his favourite clothing after he was freed by Harry's sock. He preferred colourful, mismatched socks. When Hermione Granger began hiding clothes she made around the Gryffindor Common Room in an attempt to free the Hogwarts house-elves, Dobby kept the clothes and began wearing them, as the other elves thereafter refused to clean Gryffindor Tower.
==Personality and traits==
Dobby was a brave, loyal house-elf, willing to put himself in dangerous situations when he knew it to be the right thing to do. He was also very loyal to the few friends he had. He considered himself to be a good house-elf, though other house-elves seemed to find his desires and proclamations of being a free house-elf to be shameful. Despite this, he was still a hard worker. When he went to work at Hogwarts he refused Dumbledore's original offer of ten Galleons a week and weekends off, opting instead for one Galleon a week and one day off per month. He explained to Harry, Ron, and Hermione that he liked freedom very much, but he liked work better. Although he enjoyed his freedom, he still showed some nature of a House Elf, showing some form of either disgust or fear in the sign of a little shudder at the sign of too much riches and leisure, such as those of a truly sustainable wage and work schedule, which Dumbledore originally offered. Dobby thought of Harry as his best friend, and Albus Dumbledore as his rightful and true master.Because of his loyalty to his friends, Dobby tried everything he could to save them if they were in danger, even if it hurt them, and once attempted to seriously injure Harry Potter, hoping that if he was hurt badly enough he would be sent home (this led to Harry asking Dobby to never try to save him again after setting him free). He did not make the rogue bludger chase Harry out of malicious intent, but because he was trying to save him from Lucius Malfoy's plot to open the Chamber of Secrets. When Harry found out, he was furious but Dobby explained why he had tampered with the bludger, and by the end of the year Harry had forgiven him.
Regardless, Dobby displayed a lack of foresight and common sense in his efforts to keep Harry from returning to Hogwarts in that by doing so he was putting Harry in danger in the long run by essentially ending Harry's education, which would have left him vulnerable to his enemies. Not only that, he was unintentionally insensitive to the wishes and feelings of Harry, who loved Hogwarts and his friends, and Dobby was essentially trying to cut Harry off from the things in his life that gave him real joy and purpose.One most noticeable trait was his capacity to self-harm whenever he believed he had done something wrong, usually using something to hit his head with and going as far as to iron his own hands. Dobby clearly had a strong conscience, and punished himself even when he had done "wrong" things that house elves should not do, even if they were for the right reasons.
Dobby's favourite gift to receive was socks, likely because he was freed from his enslavement to the Malfoys with a sock. He would get confused when he would get two of the same style as he preferred to have two brightly coloured or patterned mismatched socks, and would often give socks as gifts as well.
Dobby referred to himself in the third person and tended to get his verb conjugations mixed up. Examples of his strange speech pattern include "I has seven now sir" or "Dobby must punish himself most grievously for coming sir". Dobby also referred to Ron as Harry's "Wheezy."
He was extremely devoted to Harry after he freed him in 1993, helping him out on several occasions, ultimately at the cost of his own life. He also tried to help Winky after she was dismissed by Crouch, getting her a job at Hogwarts as well, and looking after her whenever she became drunk on butterbeer.
==Magical abilities and skills==
*Apparition: Because he was a house-elf, Dobby was able to apparate, even inside places that normally forbade Apparition such as Hogwarts and Malfoy Manor.
* Levitation: Dobby displayed the ability to levitate a cake when trying to stop Harry from returning to Hogwarts. The Ministry referred to this as the Hover Charm, mistakenly believing that Harry cast the charm.
*Magical tampering: Dobby also displayed a talent for magically tampering with objects. This was shown when he tampered with a bludger forcing it to chase Harry hoping that if it hurt him badly enough he'd be sent home. Naturally Dobby was not intending to kill Harry; in fact he was trying to save him from Lucius Malfoy's plan to open the Chamber of Secrets. Also, he tampered with the barrier that leads to Platform Nine and Three-Quarters, a very powerful magical barrier.
*Magical blasts: By clicking his fingers, Dobby can release powerful blasts of magic at other creatures or wizards and witches. He performed this ability in 1993, when he magically blasted his former master Lucius Malfoy away from attacking Harry Potter, sending him flying down several flights of stairs.
*Disarming: Dobby displayed the ability to disarm wizards and witches of their wands with a snap of his fingers, much like the charm itself.
* Overall ability: Overall, Dobby had a very great amount of magical skill. Although house-elves are generally treated very poorly as slaves, they do have very powerful magic, perhaps even beyond that of witches and wizards. House-elves do not need possession of a wand to cast spells or perform magical actions, as most wizards and witches do. In addition, boundaries are put on the apparition of witches and wizards in certain areas, but this does not apply to house-elves, so in this sense, they have much greater power than that of wizards (as far as apparition goes). They also can do magic without wands, something only the most powerful witches and wizards can do. Dobby could disarm with a snap of his fingers, send strong blasts to stun and disable opponents, and very efficiently perform charms like those of witches and wizards such as levitation and also tamper with magical objects. Dobby even managed to save Garrick Ollivander, Griphook the Goblin, Luna Lovegood, Dean Thomas, Ron Weasley, Hermione Granger, and Harry Potter from a mansion full of some of the most powerful Death Eaters, even if it was at the cost of his own life—Dobby sacrificed himself in order to get Harry and his friends out of a situation in which they surely otherwise would have died. Without Dobby, Harry would not have lived, and Voldemort never would have been defeated. That being said, Dobby played a very significant role in the defeat of Voldemort, although sadly he was hardly ever recognised, probably partially due to the fact that he is a house-elf. Although quite small and humble, when put into perspective, Dobby was extremely powerful and was very heroic in his contributions to the wizarding world.
==Possessions==
*One of Harry Potter's socks: This sock once belonged to Harry Potter and was inadvertently given to Dobby by Lucius Malfoy (his master). Harry tricked Lucius by presenting him with Tom Riddle's diary, having shoved the diary inside his sock. When Lucius took the diary out of the sock, he threw the small and dirty piece of clothing away and Dobby caught it, rendering him free. Dobby kept this sock on until the day he died.
*An old pair of mustard yellow socks from Harry Potter during Christmas 1994.
*A pair of violet socks from Ron Weasley during Christmas 1994.
* A jumper from Ron Weasley during Christmas 1994.*Many scarves, socks, and hats made by Hermione Granger.
==Relationships==
===Harry Potter===
Dobby and Harry Potter had a very strong relationship. Dobby loved and respected him very much to the point where he considered Harry to be his best friend. When Harry first met Dobby, he was a bit confused by the elf's devotion to keeping him safe from harm. Harry was furious when he found out Dobby was intercepting all of his friends' letters to him, and demanded them back while refusing to promise him to stay out of Hogwarts. Throughout the year, when Dobby made attempts to drive Harry away from Hogwarts, causing some rather unpleasant results on the way, Harry made some threats that were never followed through.
Near the end of the 1992–1993 school year, Harry freed Dobby from the slavery of the Malfoy family. Lucius became angry and intended to attack Harry but Dobby protected him by using a defensive spell. Dobby may have realised that he underestimated Harry Potter, when Harry managed to stop Lucius's plot and survive the Chamber of Secrets.Dobby was appointed to work at the kitchen of Hogwarts Castle in the paid service of Headmaster Albus Dumbledore, though even as a free elf, his loyalty always laid foremost with Harry. When Harry visited the kitchens and therefore Dobby, Dobby hugged him so tightly that Harry felt as though his ribs might crack. Dobby also asked if it would be alright if he visited Harry from time-to-time, with Harry responding with an of course. Dobby visited Harry on Christmas day and presented him with a present, socks and when Harry tried them on Dobby's eyes misted with tears. In 1994, Dobby also provided Harry with gillyweed for the second task of the Triwizard Tournament.
===Malfoy family===
Dobby was the house-elf of the Malfoy family. Lucius, Narcissa, and Draco Malfoy treated Dobby cruelly and were very sadistic to him. He frequently had to punish himself and received death threats several times a day. Dobby feared them, but did everything they ordered him to. In 1993, Harry Potter freed Dobby by tricking Lucius into unknowingly giving Dobby a sock. Lucius became angry and attempted to attack Harry, but Dobby blasted him down a flight of stairs and forcefully told him to leave, with Dobby finally getting revenge on his former cruel master.
===Ron Weasley===
===Hermione Granger===
Hermione Granger also met Dobby for the first time at the Hogwarts kitchens, where the latter worked. Hermione appeared to like Dobby, because he loved his freedom and because he wanted to make the other house-elves want freedom too. During her fifth year at Hogwarts, Hermione spent most of her time making clothes and hiding them in many places of the Gryffindor Common Tower. However, the house-elves stopped cleaning those places once they found the first of the clothes, as they didn't want to take them. Thus, Dobby cleaned Gryffindor Tower by himself, taking and wearing all of Hermione's knitted clothes.
===Albus Dumbledore===
Albus Dumbledore, the Headmaster of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, was considered by many people (including Dobby) as the greatest wizard of all time. Dobby always admired Dumbledore, because he was kind to everyone, even to the house-elves, and because he opposed Lord Voldemort and was against things such as forced labour, cruelty and making someone do something against their will, which Dobby had suffered from all his time working for the Malfoys. Dumbledore met Dobby in 1993, when he was still the servant of the Malfoy family. In 1994, Dobby asked Dumbledore for a job at the Hogwarts Kitchens and the headmaster gave him the job, offering a much higher salary than Dobby expected and gaining the house-elf's respect, but Dobby refused and requested a much lower wage and much less time off, as he still bore some nature of a house-elf, such as valuing work, finding the idea of so much money and free time, either repulsive or frightening.
He also permitted Dobby to call him as he wanted (such as "a barmy old codger"). Dobby was very fond of Dumbledore and knew he would never insult him, but he was awed by Dumbledore's gift of freedom of speech. Dumbledore died in 1997; it is unknown how Dobby reacted, or whether he attended his funeral, but he was likely very upset by his death and would remember him as the best and kindest "master", for lack of a better term (really more as a boss/supervisor than master, but House Elves referred to those as masters) he had and would ever have.
===Etymology===
According to the Oxford English Dictionary, a "dobby" is an old English word for a benevolent elf that would perform household tasks secretly in the night, like the elves in tales of the elves and the shoemaker. However, just as those elves disappeared when the shoemaker made them shoes, so the dobbies were said to disappear when offered clothing. Also called a Brownie. A dobby is also a small mechanical part in a loom that enables the weaver to create small geometric patterns.
==Behind the scenes==
*Dobby appears in and , being voiced by Toby Jones in both films.
*Dobby's favourite article of clothing appears to be socks. This may be because Dobby was freed when Harry tricked Lucius Malfoy into giving Dobby a sock.
*The magic Dobby used to fend off Lucius Malfoy to protect Harry resembles the Knockback Jinx.
*In , it appears that instead of a rock to mark Dobby's grave, there is a more conventionally-shaped tombstone.
*In , the player (as Jacob's sibling) can have meals with Dobby in the Great Hall any time they want, but this would be impossible in canon, since Dobby was not a Hogwarts employee during the 1980s.
*In , Dobby's eyes are bright green. However, in , Dobby's eyes appear to be darker blue-green.
*In , Dobby is still wearing his pillow case instead of the clothes he wears in the books but he is also wearing shoes.
*In Dobby speaks in first person, even though he and Kreacher had always spoken in the third person.
*In , during the Skirmish at Malfoy Manor, Dobby snaps his fingers and disarms Narcissa Malfoy.
*In the second book, Harry asks Dobby to promise to not save his life again, but 5 books later Dobby does because he is the last hope of getting out of Malfoy Manor. He loses his life by doing so because of Bellatrix Lestrange throwing a knife into his chest. According to Harry, Dobby also saved his life with the Gillyweed.
*The first and last thing Dobby ever said to Harry was, "Harry Potter." In the film they expanded this line, but still making "Harry Potter" the last words said.
*Dobby appears in five of the books but only appeared in two of the films.
*In Dobby appears with Kreacher when he is bringing Mundungus Fletcher to the trio, something he doesn't do in the book.
*In the , Dobby is wrinkled and is barefoot, and , he looks smooth and wears brown shoes on his feet (instead of the bunches of mismatched clothing he is described to wear in the novels).
*Series author J. K. Rowling owned a model of Dobby as he appears in the Harry Potter films. She gifted it to the Marcliffe at Pitfodels in October of 2013, along with a personalised letter, as a thank-you present for the service they had provided her during the several months she stayed in the hotel while her father was undergoing treatment at Aberdeen Royal Infirmary.
==Appearances==
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==Notes and references==
Category:1998 Entire Deaths
Category:Artists
Category:British Known Individuals
Category:Deaths By Stabbing
Category:An Blue-Eyed Individuals
Category:Foundables
Category:An Green-Eyed Individuals
Category:House-Elves
Category:Mister Lucius-Draco-Malfoy's Possessions
Category:Males
Category:Murder Known Victims
Category:The Entire Plot to Open at The Chamber-Of Secrets participants
Category:Number Second-Wizarding War casualties