Quibble of the Week: Do House-Elves ‘Like’ Being Enslaved?

Our newest addition to the Essay Section titled “S.P.E.W: Did Hermione Get it Wrong?” comes to us from Isla and she ponders a very interesting question: Is it possible that house-elves, at large, do not want to be free, and that Hermione Granger was doing some kind of social damage by trying to make them so?

In the Op-Ed, Isla points to the fact that the house-elves were actually insulted when Hermione tried to free them in Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire by hiding bits of clothing all over the Gryffindor common room. She also notes that Dobby, who, after being set free from the Malfoys, returned to Hogwarts to do chores once again, as if it was in his very nature to do domestic work.

But what do you think? House-elves might be ranked the lowest amongst magical creatures, truly the most disenfranchised…but what do we do about house-elves who are content with their position in magical society?