(no subject)

[persephone_kore]

What on earth was she thinking?

Okay, the continued insistence on freeing the house-elves (no matter what they think of it) -- that I can see. Hermione can indeed be very, um, focused. I agree with Alan in hoping that Dobby will realize she really needs a lecture on house-elf psychology. No matter HOW good her motives, insulting them can't help.

But... her method... makes... absolutely no sense!

She isn't their employer, for one thing. Doesn't it have to be the employer who gives out the clothes? Wouldn't it be completely pointless otherwise for Harry to have given Lucius the diary-inna-sock?

The only way I can make any sense of this whatsoever is for students to count as employers on a sort of technicality. But then... can they not pick up laundry? Does that explain how Snape's underwear got to the point of visibly needing it? Or does the intent matter, and something that's been left out for them is different from something just lying around? But in THAT case, it wasn't Lucius's intent to give Dobby Harry's sock!

Hermione has apparently been infected by the wizarding world's lack of logic. I can't even tell whether she's correct in thinking it would work or the elves are avoiding the place solely out of being offended.





I feel vindicated. Sure sounds like the robes are a covering garment to me.

Comments

[narcissam.livejournal.com]

Yeah, it made no sense. Methinks she's been reading too many of Kloves's scripts...

NM

[deralte.livejournal.com]

Ah, another flint... I wonder if Rowling actually reads through her books before they publish them some days.

[persephone-kore.livejournal.com]

Well... I was thinking of it more as a demonstration that Hermione really doesn't know what she's doing with the elves.

I hope the ability to knit will come in handy sometime though. Seems a shame to waste it.

Re:

[deralte.livejournal.com]

But why do the house elves care if they're left around anyway? How would they know what her purpose was? Unless she told them, and if she did, why didn't she check up on them later?

[persephone-kore.livejournal.com]

Eavesdropping? ;) I'd think they tend to know what's going on more than some people might think. I may be getting this completely out of thin air, of course.

I guess I just figured, you know, a whole bunch of weird knitted items lying around the Gryffindor common room all of a sudden, they'd put that together with the weird witch who wants (from their perspective) to get them all fired.... Um. Possibly I am not making sense.

This reminds me, however, that I did very much like Harry's having the presence of mind to forbid Dobby to hurt himself.

Re:

[deralte.livejournal.com]

I'd say they potentially knew, but it still seemed a bit dogy. Not to mention she certainly didn't think what would happened if all the house elves were freed from Hogwarts...

Yes, that was good of Harry:)

[persephone-kore.livejournal.com]

*cough* Yeah, I think Alan and I are still sticking to the notion that the origin of the contracts (later abused) was that -- especially if you have as many as at Hogwarts -- even if the elves originally volunteered (like brownies, or elves-and-the-shoemaker), once they've been worked into a routine you'd have serious organizational issues if they all happened to want to quit at once. So you'd want them to at least agree to give warning or something..... I'm blithering again. Sorry.

Perhaps someone will point out to her that she was angry at Mr. Crouch for firing -- freeing -- Winky against her will, once.

[ashfae.livejournal.com]

Hmmm...I wonder if it could be argued that Hermione is an employer...the house elves are employed by Hogwarts, and she's a student...not the same as a staff member, but if a house elf displeased/failed a student, does the student have the power to dismiss them? Interesting.

[persephone-kore.livejournal.com]

Sounds like a recipe for chaos to me, but that doesn't necessarily stop wizards and as I think I noted, that's the only way her behavior seems to make any sense....

Well, that or as a demonstration of cluelessness about house-elf psychology and how the contracts work. :P

[telensar.livejournal.com]

I was hoping that Hermione’s knitting for house-elves would backfire: what if everybody got up one day and there were no house-elves left at Hogwarts? Meals don’t appear, messes aren’t cleaned up, laundry isn’'t done, fires aren’t lit. People find out Hermione's to blame. Etc.

[persephone-kore.livejournal.com]

Interesting scenario. I don't think that's in line with the established group-characterization of the Hogwarts elves though.