Plotting

[kerravonsen]

So, Harry Potter folks out there...

1) I think it would be difficult-but-possible for Hermione to interview/talk to every House Elf in England. But would she be able to do so to every House Elf in the Wizarding World?

2) Has anyone done a linguistic analysis of House Elf grammar?

Comments

[fred_mouse]

1) I would be very surprised. But I'm struggling to think about which canon references there are to non-British wizards other than the other two schools, so it might depend on what assumptions you make about the size of the wizarding population, the types/numbers of families who have House Elves, the number per family, etc.

2) I haven't seen one. But I would be very interested in knowing about it if you find one!

[reynardo.livejournal.com]

How much time has she got? And it's going to depend on the cultures - I can't see the parents of Durmstrang students allowing a filthy Mudblood Muggle interview their precious house-elves.

[kerravonsen]

I don't think there's a particular deadline.

Basically, the idea behind the idea - and it's just an idea at this point - is that, a long time ago, House Elves were cursed to be bound to slavery, until someone should come along who was truly thankful for their service.

Hermione's going to inadvertently break this curse by talking to every House Elf in the world and thanking them for their assistance/time/help. She doesn't know about the curse - they aren't allowed to speak of it - she's just doing a ginormous research project into House Elf culture, or something like that.

Now that I think about it, it isn't much of a story, really. Not enough for a story on its own, anyway. But I still like the idea.

[jaxomsride.livejournal.com]

Possibly not using Human style magic. On the other hand House Elves have their own magic. If she could get a House Elf to cooperate, perhaps a synergy of human/ Elf magic might be used to talk to all.

Of course Hermione just thinks she is doing a survey, part of SPEW perhaps? The consequences of course...

PS

[jaxomsride.livejournal.com]

There does seem to be some discussion and a fair bit of dissension as to House Elf grammar and the way they speak. Personally I always tend to think of Gollum from LOTR, especially with his habit of referring to himself in the third person.