Skip to main content

harry potter - How do house elves breed?


Winky states in Goblet of Fire that that her mother and grandmother served the Crouchs before her. In Grimmauld Place, the heads of the house elves on the wall all share the same nose as Kreacher, suggesting they are all his ancestors. And yet, we never see two house elves (a mother and father) serving a family, nor do we ever hear of any type of mating between elves.


There are also instances of very old house elves (Kreacher and Hokey) who do not seem to have any children to continue serving the family's new generation. How are new elves born? Do they reproduce asexually without another elf?



Answer



The only information I could find on House Elf breeding came from the Wombat Grade 2 Test which was originally published on J K Rowlings' website website now resides on the HP-Lexicon.


In the Wombat Grade 2 Test we come across this question:




  1. Which of the following statements on house-elves is FALSE?



a. House-elves have an average life-expectancy of 200 years


b. A house-elf's allegiance is foremost to its house (rather than to the inhabitants of the house)


c. House-elves cannot be ordered to kill themselves


d. House-elf magic is sufficiently powerful to override wizards' enchantments


e. House-elves breed infrequently and then only with their masters' permission



So from this we have to deduce which one is FALSE.


A is hard to tell but we do see many generations of House-Elves lining the wall of 12 grimmauld place the time line seems to be 150-250 years for these elves so a life expectancy of 200 years seems ill fitting but possible it could depend on external factors.


B is also tricky depending on how you determine it personally I think that their loyalty is primarily to the House-master that however could be due to their overiding loyalty to the House.


C we don't know if this is true they can and have been ordered to punish themselves in canon, so this is entirely possible although I think the reason we don't see any evidence of this in canon is due to the fact that wizarding families with house-elves generally want to keep their elves. We see one family disown their elf of their own accord (Barty Crouch Sr and Winky) this destroys Winky.



D well D is definitely true, we see it everywhere in canon. Hogwarts Anti-Apparation charms and also in Malfoy Manor Dungeon.


E With all the other information on House Elves in canon this fact seems to line up, they don't do anything without permission and you can imagine those pureblood families breeding with another pureblood familys' house elf for posterity.


The concensus on HP-Lexicon Commentary (When they did the test) is either A or B which I would also lend my (however limited) credibility to.


So it would seem that House Elves breed infrequently and with their masters permission, think of Purebreed dogs. Breed them once a generation for your next house elf, perhaps the babies stay with the mother or perhaps the baby just goes with the new master family and is raised by their current house elf.


Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

harry potter - Did Dolores Umbridge Have Any Association with Voldemort (or Death Eaters) before His Return?

I noticed that Dolores Umbridge was born during the first Wizarding War, so it's very likely she wasn't a Death Eater then (but she is pretty evil -- who knows?). After that Voldemort was not around in a way that could affect many people, and most wouldn't know he was planning to rise again. During that time, and up through Voldemort's return (in Goblet of Fire ), did Umbridge have any connection with the Death Eaters or with Voldemort? Was she doing what she did on her own, or was it because of an association with Voldemort or his allies? Answer Dolores Umbridge was definitely not a good person. However, as Sirius points out, "the world isn't split into good people and Death Eaters". Remember that he also says that he doesn't believe Umbridge to be a Death Eater, but that she's evil enough (or something like that). I think there are two strong reasons to believe that: Umbridge was proud to do everything according to the law, except when she trie...
Post a Comment
Read more

What is the etymology of Doctor Who?

I recently decided to watch Doctor Who, and started viewing the 2005 version. I have the first two episodes from the first season, and I can't help but wonder what is the etymology of the name "Doctor Who"? And why does the protagonist call himself "the Doctor" (or is it "the doctor")? Answer In the very first episode of Doctor Who (way back in 1963), the Doctor has a granddaughter going by the name "Susan Foreman", and the junkyard where the TARDIS is has the sign "I.M. Foreman". Barbara, who becomes one of the Doctor's companions, calls him "Doctor Foreman" (probably assuming that is his name given his relationship to Susan), and Ian (another early companion) does the same in the second episode, to which the Doctor says: Eh? Doctor who? What's he talking about? "Foreman" is most likely selected as a convenient surname for Susan to use because it happened to be on display near where the TARDIS landed....
Post a Comment
Read more

story identification - Animation: floating island, flying pests

At least 20 years ago I watched a short animated film which stuck in my mind. The whole thing was wordless, possibly European, and I'm pretty sure I didn't imagine it... It featured a flying island which was inhabited by some creatures who (in my memory) reminded me of the Moomins. The island was frequently bothered by large winged animals who swooped around, although I don't think they did any actual damage. At the end one of the moomin creatures suddenly gets a weird feeling, feels forced to climb to the top of the island and then plunges down a shaft right through the centre - only to emerge at the bottom as one of the flyers. Answer Skywhales from 1983. The story begins with a man warning the tribe of approaching skywhales. The drummers then warn everybody of the hunt as everyone get prepared to set "sail". Except one man is found in his home sleeping as the noise wake him up. He then gets ready and is about to take his weapon as he hesitates then decides ...
Post a Comment
Read more