Harry Potter: 5 Things Only Book Readers Will Know About Dobby The House-Elf

J.K. Rowling’s Harry Potter series is full of colourful, complex and wonderfully terrifying characters, with the author creating some of the most iconic heroes and villains in the entire fantasy genre. When it comes to the most iconic, beloved and memorable characters that the Wizarding World has to offer, Dobby the house-elf is a character that cannot be ignored! Dobby plays a major role in both the Harry Potter books and movies, particularly The Chamber Of Secrets, but it’s fair to say that many of Dobby’s best moments didn’t make it into the movies.

Dobby the house-elf is quite easily one of the most iconic and beloved characters that the Harry Potter series has to offer, despite the fact that his role in the film franchise was considerably smaller than his role in the books. Dobby was an important character in a number of Harry Potter books, but the house-elf only appears in three of the film adaptations. More than perhaps any other character in the series, there is a great deal of information that fans of the movies won’t know about Dobby the house-elf. For our latest post on The Blog That Must Not Be Named, we’re ranking five details that only fans of the books will know about Dobby!

5 – He Followed Draco Malfoy For Harry

Dobby the house-elf doesn’t appear at all in the Harry Potter And The Half-Blood Prince movie, but the character has a key role in the book. Believing that Draco Malfoy has become a Death Eater, Harry is desperate to find out what he has been planning all year. Harry asks Dobby and Kreacher, who also works in the Hogwarts kitchens at the time, to follow Draco and report back any unusual activity. The elves return to Harry and reveal that Malfoy has been going in and out of the Room of Requirement. Dobby, who would do anything to please Harry, didn’t sleep until he found out what Draco was doing.

4 – He Gets A Job At Hogwarts

After being set-free by Harry at the end of Harry Potter And The Chamber Of Secrets, Dobby begins looking for paid work, but it proves to be more difficult than he originally expected. We learn in Harry Potter And The Goblet Of Fire that Dobby managed to land a job in the Hogwarts kitchens, with Albus Dumbledore offering the house-elf ten Galleons a week and weekends off. Dobby, however, believed this to be far too much and accepted the position for one Galleon a week and one day off a month.

3 – He Struggled After Being Set Free

Dobby the house-elf is freed from the Malfoy family at the end of Harry Potter Of The Chamber Of Secrets, but that doesn’t mean all of his struggles are over. We learn in the Harry Potter And The Goblet Of Fire novel that Dobby struggled to find work after being set free, as he wanted to be paid. House-elves are basically slaves in the Wizarding World, so most witches and wizards would laugh at the prospect of paying a house-elf. Eventually, Dobby was hired by Albus Dumbledore to work in the Hogwarts kitchens for a Galleon a week and one day off a month.

2 – He Gave Harry Gillyweed

In the film version of Harry Potter And The Goblet Of Fire, Neville Longbottom gives Harry stolen Gillyweed to help him breathe underwater during the second task of the Triwizard Tournament. In the book, however, Dobby the house-elf is the one that gives Harry the Gillyweed after overhearing a conversation between Professor McGonagall and Professor Moody in the staffroom. Of course, it is later revealed that Moody aka. Barty Crouch Jr. wanted Dobby to overhear the conversation, knowing that the house-elf would do anything to help Harry Potter.

1 – He Told Harry About The Room Of Requirement

In the film adaptation of Harry Potter And The Order Of The Phoenix, Neville Longbottom stumbles upon the Room of Requirement while looking for somewhere for Dumbledore’s Army to meet. In the book, however, Dobby is the one that tells Harry about a room called the Come and Go Room, otherwise known as the Room of Requirement. The house-elf reveals to Harry that he discovered the Room of Requirement when Winky had drank too much Butterbeer. The room filled with Butterbeer antidotes and an elf-sized bed for Winky to sleep off her intoxication.

Did you know any/all of these facts about Dobby the house-elf? Let us know in the comments section below this post! You can also find The Blog That Must Not Be Named on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter! If you enjoy this post stay tuned for more, as we will be examining all of our favourite Wizarding World characters in the weeks to come!

The Blog That Must Not Be Named is a Harry Potter and Fantastic Beasts fan blog, covering all corners of the Wizarding World! Launched in 2019, The Blog That Must Not Be Named offers the latest Wizarding World news, magical features and more!