J.K. Rowling Defends the House Elves Once Again
By Jenn Reid
House Elves are some of the most mistreated magical creatures and J.K. Rowling is ready to defend them all.
No one is messing with a House Elf on J.K. Rowling’s watch.
Back in February, Rowling came to defend the magical world’s most mistreated creatures from… the BBC?
It all started when quiz show QI incorrectly stated that Quidditch was invented in Edinborough, Scotland. Rowling naturally stepped in to correct them and point out Quidditch is an English sport — made in Machester, to be exact.
Untrue, I'm afraid! Quidditch was invented in Manchester. https://t.co/EKr1vThBjw
— J.K. Rowling (@jk_rowling) February 21, 2017
QI went to apologize and made things worse.
The elf responsible for the Quidditch fact has had her chocolate frogs confiscated & the QI database has been updated. Thanks @jk_rowling ⚡️
— Quite Interesting (@qikipedia) February 21, 2017
Taking away her chocolate frogs? How could you be so cruel?
I refuse to be party to such cruel and inhumane treatment. Give that elf back their chocolate or I'll send a massive box of socks. https://t.co/Jbzy4EJNpc
— J.K. Rowling (@jk_rowling) February 21, 2017
Rowling and the Elves
Of course Rowling would come to an innocent House Elf’s defence. She always seemed to have a soft spot for the creatures, from the heroic Dobby to the tragic Winky and the scores of brave unnamed House Elves of Hogwarts who helped during the Battle.
From Pottermore:
"McGonagall had replaced the house tables, but nobody was sitting according to house any more: all were jumbled together, teachers and pupils, ghosts and parents, centaurs and house-elves, and Firenze lay recovering in a corner, and Grawp peered in through a smashed window, and people were throwing food into his laughing mouth."
It seems despite Ron’s idea to get the House Elves out of Hogwarts so they wouldn’t get caught up in the battle, some of the elves stuck around to either fight or, more likely, help clean up and tend to the wounded.
Throughout the series, Rowling stressed the importance of treating the House Elves with respect. Hermoine founded SPEW ( Society for the Promotion of Elfish Welfare) and fought for Elf rights whenever she could. Harry showed Dobby kindness like his master Lucious mistreated him, and Dobby repaid Harry with unwavering loyatly and friendship.
And then Kreacher, the unpleasant House Elf of the Black family, betrayed Sirius Black after suffering abuse for years. Dumbledore even predicted the incident:
"I warned Sirius when we adopted twelve Grimmauld Place as our headquarters that Kreacher must be treated with kindness and respect. I also told him that Kreacher could be dangerous to us. I do not think that Sirius took me very seriously, or that he ever saw Kreacher as a being with feelings as acute as a human’s."
House Elves were enslaved and treated poorly all throughout the Harry Potter series, but our biggest heroes — Harry, Ron, Hermoine, Dumbledore, J.K. Rowling herself — all saw the importance of treating them fairly.
Next: J.K Rowling Will Always Be Our Queen, Especially on Twitter
So give that elf back her chocolate frogs, QI!