Society for the Promotion of Elfish Welfare

**Ron Weasley**: "*Never heard of it.*"
**Hermione Granger**: "*Well, of course you haven't. I've only just started it.*"
**Ron Weasley**: "*And how many members do you have?*"
**Hermione Granger**: "*Well, if you three join, four.*"
— The beginning of S.P.E.W.

The **Society for the Promotion of Elfish Welfare** (**S.P.E.W.**) was an organisation founded in 1994 by Hermione Granger in response to what she saw as gross injustice in the treatment of House-Elves at the 1994 Quidditch World Cup.

Having been deeply upset at the treatment and general prospects of house-elves, both in Hogwarts and the rest of the wizarding world, Hermione set up S.P.E.W. in order to champion their rights and question their standing in wizarding law and Elf Legislation.

Hermione originally wanted to call the organisations "*Stop the Outrageous Abuse of Our Fellow Magical Creatures and Campaign for a Change in Their Legal Status.*" Since it would not fit on a badge, it was given its current name, though the original name was retained as the heading of the group's manifesto.

## Founding

"*You know, House-Elves get a very raw deal! It's slavery, that's what it is! That Mr Crouch made her go up to the top of the stadium, and she was terrified, and he's got her bewitched so she can't even run when they start trampling tents! Why doesn't anyone do something about it?*"
— Hermione Granger after witnessing the bad treatment of Winky

After witnessing Barty Crouch's cruel treatment toward Winky, Hermione Granger thought it cruel that house-elves were neither paid nor given holidays for their work, so she campaigned tirelessly for a change in their working conditions. She managed to get several students, such as Neville Longbottom, to join (paying a fee of two Sickles), though they only did so to stop her from badgering them. These students included a reluctant Ron Weasley (who thought S.P.E.W. was a joke because its name reminded him of gagging) an indifferent Harry Potter, and a semi-interested Flick Black. However, their sickles were overall wasted, as she kept badgering them about the issues of the organisation.

She would go round the Gryffindor Gryffindor Tower shaking her S.P.E.W. badge box at people to make them join. A few seemed interested, but refused when they found they had to pay. Apparently a few other people looked "*mildly interested*" in the campaign, but there are no further reports of anyone else actually becoming a member. She also offered it to Hagrid, but he refused as well, saying that the elves liked to work. Fred and George Weasley also put in that the house elves were happy to work at Hogwarts.

The rest of the school thought of the organisation as a joke. And so, with little or no support from her unwilling deputies, Hermione battled on pretty much alone, employing tactics such as badge-making and petitioning, but with very little effect. Eventually, she started knitting hats and socks, which she left lying around Gryffindor Tower, hoping to free some unsuspecting elf who picked them up while cleaning the common room.

Becoming infatuated with Hermione's "obsession" with the Society, Ron Weasley started calling the group "spew" and, on occasion parodied the name by inventing S.P.U.G., "*Society for the Protection of Ugly Goblins*." Hermione angrily replied to this by pointing out that Goblins, unlike house-elves, were capable of defending themselves against wizards on their own.

## House-Elf Reaction

While she was busy knitting clothes to give them in order to set them free, the majority of House-Elves were accustomed to their work and seemed to enjoy it. They regarded Hermione's actions as insults to their race. Thus, they refused to clean the Gryffindor common room anymore, meaning that Dobby was the only one prepared to carry out this task.

Already being free himself, Dobby took all the clothes himself, wore most of them (making a tower of hats on top of his head), and passed some of the others on to Winky in the false hopes of cheering her up. Hermione was not informed of this development, as no one had the heard to tell her.

## Impact

**Ron Weasley**: "*Hang on a moment! We've forgotten someone! The house-elves, they'll all be down in the kitchen, won't they?*"
**Harry Potter**: "*You mean we ought to get them fighting?*"
**Ron Weasley**: "*No, I mean we should tell them to get out. We don't want any more Dobby's, do we? We Can't order them to die for us-*"
— Ron finally becoming a S.P.E.W. supporter

In spite of all this, there are indications that S.P.E.W. did eventually enjoy some moderate success, though it is likely that by then it was disbanded. Hogwarts' House-Elves participated in the Battle of Hogwarts in 1998, in an unusually bold move for their kind, although this may have been a manifestation of their extreme loyalty to their "masters." However, it is possible that their contribution to the battle changed some people's views, as even Ron Weasley, a previous vocal critic of S.P.E.W. demonstrated concern and sympathy for the plight for house-elves at the time, which prompted Hermione to kiss him.

Also, founder Hermione Granger went on to work for the Department for the Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures at the Ministry of Magic, where she continued to work for the rights of magical creatures. She may have re-founded S.P.E.W. as a semi-department and part of her Department.

Hermione's idea that house-elves should be treated decently led to Harry attempting to be kind to house-elf, Kreacher, which caused Kreacher to be pleasant in return and tell Harry the story of his master Regulus Black's visit to the Horcrux cave.

## Known Members

Hermione Granger (Founder/leader)Felicity Black (Vice President)Ron Weasley (Treasurer)Harry Potter (secretary)Dobby (House-elf representative)Neville Longbottom