this post was submitted on 05 Aug 2023
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the house elves literally enslave themselves tho. the wizards aren't the ones casting the spell to enslave them, they just are.
And you can magically undo this enslavement by giving them some clothing. There is no ethical reason not to.
and the enchantment makes them sad when that happens. being servants makes them happy. that's how they work in this world.
Dobby?
the entire plot line about dobby is that he's extremely strange for a house elf. there is not a single other example of an elf like him in any of the books and every single other house elf admonish him for wanting to be free.
It's still slavery and slavery is bad in any context.
The author invested a lot of effort into creating a context where slavery could be justified. She even created a whole subplot for the express purpose of painting people who want to end slavery as misguided.
the slaves don't want to be free though. they near universally hate the idea of being freed and are terrified of being given clothes.