Chapter Twenty-One: The House-Elf Liberation Front
In chapter twenty-one of Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire Hagrid gets pulled into Rita Skeeter’s clutches, Neville gets turned into a canary, but who cares about all that because DOBBY IS BACK!
(Please be advised that this is a reread and I will be discussing book and movie spoilers.)
Harry sends Sirius a very detailed letter about the dragon, gets thrown a kickass Gryffindor party (please seriously someone invite me to one!) and then opens his egg which makes such horrible noises it can only be compared to Percy singing in the shower.
The twins turn Neville into a canary with a sweet, because one of my top five subplots, the development of Weasley’s Wizard Wheezes, is back, baby!
I love Hagrid deeply, but it’s been months and he’s still torturing his classes with his Blast-Ended Skrewts instead of teaching them about more creatures and come on, Hagrid! You’d be so good of a Professor if you pulled it together a little. Most of the class is hiding inside Hagrid’s hut while the rest get dragged around and burnt, and of course Rita Skeeter pops up like an annoying magenta mole out of the ground to attempt to win over Hagrid by talking about his Skrewts. Harry’s there like
but of course Hagrid doesn’t notice and UGH RITA YOU SUCK. At least Harry gets in a good moment where he fiercely tells Rita Care of Magical Creatures is one of his favorite classes, giving Hagrid some warm fuzzies.
Hermione’s back after another divination class in which Ron and Harry troll Trelawney and she’s there to tell them about DOBBY!
If there’s one thing I can’t forgive Goblet of Fire the movie for (I’m lying there’s a solid six things I can’t forgive the movie for) it’s taking out my sweet prince DOBBY!
So Dobby freaks out like Colin Creevey and Ginny Weasley at a Harry and the Potters concert when he sees our boy HPotz and he’s also developed a sartorial look that I’m one hundred percent on board for of a tea cozy, no shirt but horseshoe tie, soccer shorts, and mismatched socks. If there’s one strong feeling I have about fashion, it’s complete agreement with people dressing as crazy as they want in order to bring themselves joy. It’s why I’ve had all sorts of shades of rainbow hair before! Yes, I might look silly to some people but fuck it, one airport worker calls me a unicorn and FUCK YES SIR I AM, THANK YOU FOR NOTICING!
So everyone go on and be your bad selves with your fashion! /random rant
Dobby fills Harry in on what’s been going on with him for the past two years, and apparently no one wants a house elf that wants paying one galleon a week because they are crazy. You’re telling me Mrs. Weasley couldn’t use that help?! For four galleons a month?! Dobby runs into poor, sad Winky and they find employment with Dumbledore, who offers Dobby way more money and time off, but he turns it down, confusing Hermione (sigh, listen girl! Listen to what they say!) and Winky insists on working for free while all of the other house elves back away from Dobby like he’s a disease. Winky has one of the saddest side character stories in Harry Potter in my opinion, and it’s interesting here how if Crouch Senior hadn’t sacked her, he most likely wouldn’t have been suffering under the control of Wormtail and Voldemort, who is known to underestimate house elves.
Winky contributes to the Bagman is a red herring plot some more by saying Bagman is a bad wizard, and Ron offers Dobby his maroon sweater that Mrs. Weasley will inevitably knit him for Christmas, because if there’s one thing our trio recognizes, it’s how Dobby is a precious little jewel that must be loved and cherished and look I just have a lot of feelings about Dobby, ok?
Ron gets off a good one-liner to end our chapter, and I am nothing if not appreciate of Ron being amusing:
“Yeah, well, Percy wouldn’t want to work for anyone with a sense of humor, would he?” said Ron, now starting on a chocolate eclair. “Percy wouldn’t recognize a joke if it danced naked in front of him wearing Dobby’s tea cozy.”
-JK Rowling,Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire
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Who else wants to attend a Gryffindor party with me?
How come no wizard family is willing to pay Dobby one Galleon a week to take him on?
Do you think Winky could’ve protected Crouch from Wormtail and LV at all?
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