House-Elf

> Loyal magical creatures bound to their owners as servants for life.
>
> Description, Pottermore

A **house-elf** (sometimes also referred to as just **elf**) was a magical being which was immensely devoted and loyal to the one designated as their master.Template:Creature
House-elves served wizards and witches and were usually found under the employment of old wizarding families taking residence in elaborate establishments, like mansions, and must do everything that their masters commanded unless they were freed. A house-elf could only be freed when their master presented them with clothes.

House-elves had their own brand of wandless magic which, despite their small physical size and lack of wand, was very powerful.

## Magic

Main article: House-elf magic

> Fight, fight for my master, the defender of the house-elves! Fight for master Regulus! Fight!
>
> Kreacher leading the house-elves into battle, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows (film)

All house-elves had their own brand of powerful magic, which allowed them to perform tasks, such as Apparating, where wizards and witches couldn't. Their abilities remained even after they were freed from their masters. More than just a mere housekeeper, a house-elf was a ruthless protector of those to whom they gave their allegiance. In 1993, Dobby did not hesitate to protect Harry Potter, by using his magic on his former master Lucius Malfoy to blast him away after he attempted to physically assault Harry on the Grand Staircase.

Their magic was limited by the lack of a wand. However, unlike some other magical beings, the house-elf was actually quite happy not to own a wand, as they did not require one for their daily activities. Apart from routine domestic tasks, house-elves usually had to obtain permission from their master before they would use their own brand of magic for other things. Although a house-elf might rarely act without permission, they would have to punish themselves for these acts.

Harry Potter once remarked that house-elves were better at performing advanced magic than wizards, which was testament to the impressive strength of their magical power.

### Mistreatment

The house-elf Dobby was so mistreated and under-appreciated by the Malfoy family that he independently sought out to aid and protect Harry Potter, the nemesis of a Malfoy, in 1992.

### Loyalty

Template:Dialogue a-b-cHouse-elves were so intensely loyal to their masters that they would not allow themselves to be set free unless their master presented them with clothes and this loyalty, in and of itself, was something akin to a code of honour among their kind such that it was not uncommon for a house-elf to carry out their imperatives to the best of their ability, and at great personal risk, even if at the cusp of death. Unfortunately, this could also mean that they were left utterly helpless if ordered to be by their masters, even if the elf wished otherwise, as seen when Kreacher apparently wasn't able to prevent Regulus's sacrifice after the latter's explicit orders for Kreacher to let him die through inaction and not interfering.
To symbolise their enslavement, house-elves usually wore makeshift clothes made with found objects such as pillowcases and rags. These clothes could become quite filthy, and yet the elf would not clean their clothes to further express that they had no needs which were not specifically commanded to them by the master. House-elves would punish, torture, or even maim themselves if they thought it would please the master.

## House-elf occupations

### Hogwarts servants

Main article: Hogwarts house-elves

> At least a hundred little elves were standing around the kitchen, bowing and curtseying as Dobby led Harry past them.
>
> The Hogwarts house-elves within the kitchens in 1994, Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire

 File:House-elves in Hogwarts kitchens.png
A veritable legion of house-elves were enlisted by Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry to help out the entire school instead of serving one master. They worked in the kitchens, preparing feasts for the entire school. They also presumably moved trunks and baggage to and from rooms, cleaned dormitories, and presumably other areas of the castle as well.

## S.P.E.W.

Some people refused to join S.P.E.W., like Fred and George Weasley, because they believed that the elves liked being treated the way they did. Hermione even tried to trick house-elves into picking up little hats and socks she had knitted and left around the Gryffindor dormitory so as to grant them freedom. The house-elves did not appreciate this gesture; on the contrary, they took it as an insult and refused to clean the common room, with the exception of Dobby.

## Physical description

> The little creature on the bed had large, bat-like ears and bulging green eyes the size of tennis balls.
>
> Physical description of Dobby, Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets

House-elves were between two to three feet tall, with spindly arms and legs and oversized heads and eyes. They had pointed, bat-like ears and high, squeaky voices. Rather than conventional clothing, house-elves wore discarded items like pillowcases and tea-towels.

## Known house-elves

### Inspiration

Elves or similar creatures doing menial tasks around a home, and leaving when rewarded for their tasks with money or clothes, is a common motif in European folklore.

The most well-known example of this in the English-speaking world is the Template:W, a small fairy-like creature who helps around a home in exchange for daily food and drink (in the form of hot milk, honey and gruel) but will depart forever if it is paid in human money. In some of the legends, rather than departing, the Brownie would instead turn malicious and antagonise their owners, much like a Harry Potter ***Poltergeist***; such a "wicked Brownie" would be called a Template:W, though that name, of course, refers to an entirely different creature in *Harry Potter*.

Finally, one last possible source of inspiration for ***J. K. Rowling'***s house-elves is French folklore's "farfadet". Originating in the southern areas, one specific legend about farfadets is that they were "wrinkled, brown-skinned midgets who went around either naked or wearing dirty rags", a description that is almost identical to Rowling's elves. The Farfadets would help around a farming home, completing tasks not done in the day by the human servants. They would leave forever if the master of the house gave them new clothes to replace their shabby old ones; once again, the parallels are obvious, though in this case, the reasoning is that Farfadets are proud creatures who are offended by the implication that their clothes *needed* replacing.

To have the creatures specifically called 'elves' may be an allusion to the fairy tale of *The Elves and the Shoemaker*, where a group of elves worked for a shoemaker until his wife, in a fit of generosity, sewed them little clothes and gave them to the elves.

## Appearances

Template:Imagecat

* Template:COS Template:1st
* *Harry Potter and the Goblet Of Fire* (film)
* *Harry Potter and the Order Of The Phoenix* (film)
* *Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Part 1*
* *Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Part 2* Template:Mention

## Notes and references

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1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 1.6 1.7 Template:COS