What the fuck is the mechanism behind house elves being freed if they're given a piece of clothing? Is it a charm or a legal regulation in the Wizarding world? Why have clothing be the thing that breaks the spell? What is this clothing centric slavery system all about? Do wizards have to do their own laundry because if they asked their slaves to do it they'd automatically be freed?

[–] AntifaSuperWombat@hexbear.net 31 points 19 hours ago

Alrighty... Did some digging into House-elf stuff and what I found is even more fucked up than I thought:

While there is Elf Legislation, including guidelines on house-elf welfare (and even an Office for House-Elf Relocation -.-), it seems that this whole slavery thing is self-imposed by an honor-code:

Quotes from the wiki article

House-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...

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.

Despite the seemingly horrid lifestyle that house-elves endured, house-elves seemed to actually enjoy being enslaved. With few exceptions (Dobby being one of them), house-elves would feel insulted if their master attempted to pay them, give them pensions, or reward their service with anything except kindness. In 1995, when Hermione Granger began hiding clothes in Gryffindor Tower in an attempt to free the house-elves of Hogwarts, the house-elves felt rather insulted, and everyone except Dobby refused to clean the Gryffindor common room in protest.

Winky was absolutely loyal to the Crouch family, and when she was dismissed for failure to keep Crouch Jnr under control, she suffered a mental breakdown, thinking that her release was the ultimate disgrace to her family.

They were likely treated extremely well by Professor Dumbledore. In 1994, they became angry with Hermione Granger as she made attempts to free them. Dobby and Winky, who came under Hogwarts's employ at the time, were considered disgraces to the rest of their colleagues due to Dobby being paid and receiving a vacation while Winky got drunk out of self-pity.

House-elves are freed when their master gives them a piece of clothing, this includes armour, but it seems that jewellery doesn't count, as Kreacher was not freed when Harry gave him Regulus Black's locket.

mystery-emote

And now for the REALLY fucked up thing:

[CW: most likely SA]

It may be possible for elves to breed with humans as one Ravenclaw student stated that the students in the house thought Filius Flitwick was part elf, but had never been rude enough to ask (in fact Flitwick was part goblin). Irma Dugard was also described as a half-elf.

What the absolute fuck is wrong with Rowling’s brain? lea-breakdown

[–] Mardoniush@hexbear.net 24 points 20 hours ago (1 children)

Its TERF-Queen's half-assed memory of a fairy geas. This though implies that House-elves are Sidhe, and are thus deeply scary.

Now what I want to know is why the person being dunked on here thinks Trump's pardons feel like the shutting down of the infinite-torture prison.

[–] huf@hexbear.net 18 points 19 hours ago (1 children)

i mean, i think they are deeply scary. dont they have way more magic than the humans wizards? they just dont use it to kill every last wizard, for some reason. probably cos they're more moral creatures than humans, i dunno

[–] Mardoniush@hexbear.net 18 points 19 hours ago

Once again asking all to embrace Marxism-Dobbyism and free the oppressed non-wizarding peoples of this earth from the tyrannical Mageocracy.

[–] TraschcanOfIdeology@hexbear.net 14 points 20 hours ago

Do wizards have to do their own laundry because if they asked their slaves to do it they'd automatically be freed?

Asking the real questions