Dobby in #2 the Chamber of Secrets

Kreacher in #5 the Order of the Phoenix

Dobby's girlfriend (I can't remember her name) in #4 the Goblet of Fire

I'm not sure if it's Dobby's girlfriend but I think you mean Winky, formerly owned by Barty Crouch. (I think that's who you mean...)

Yes, I had a senior moment, and I couldn't think of a better way to describe her.

I'm having a senior month here. I'm trying to catch up on Harry Potter. I can't remember if I read The Order of the Phoenix.
Obviously, the house elf isn't a clue. I know I read Goblet of Fire.
In the Order of the Phoenix is there a secret society and I think I remember some sort of apartment.

I guess I'll have to reread the Order.

I know this is blashphemy, but if you just need to recall, the movie (the one just out) is really well done. Or you can reread the book, and enjoy!

I'm going back myself. I read the first four books but only saw the first two movies. After that, my interest faded. I enjoyed HP, but was never a fervent fan. All the excitement about the final book caught my attention. Now I've read the final book and enjoyed it. My daughter and I are going to watch (in her case re-watch) movies 3 and 4, then go to the theater to see movie 5. If at that time I'm not full to the brim of HP, I guess I'll read the two books I missed.

If you look up Harry Potter on Wikipedia, they have a list of all the characters with all relevant factoids.

ginny, factoid is not a word we use in English-English so I looked it up and my dictionary says in was 'invented' by Norman Mailer and means "a piece of unreliable information believed to be true because of the way it is presented or represented in print"
So are you saying the information re HP in Wikipedia is inaccurate? And I do realise that Wilkipedia is not the best source of any information.
Just wondering.
I wouldn't mind a 'House Elf' if he/she does the dusting, ironing etc.

Vee, I fully share your views of Wikipedia but have found it is more accurate in some areas than others. A brief scan of the Harry Potter info seemed to be ok, tho I can't vouch for it as an authority.

And Norman Mailer may have invented "factoid" but its meaning has evolved here to refer to any small bit of information, sort of a "little fact". The "unreliable" part seems to have dropped off as I hear people using it. It's actually come to be used rather widely so I'm a little surprised that it hasn't leapt over the pond yet.

Google indicates that CNN is responsible for the change in meaning but that, because of the confusion, its use is frowned upon. However, this sort of creative evolution and adaptability is one of the glories of the English language, IMHO.

Vee, I thought if you put out a saucer of milk, the little elf would do your work?

Carolyn, with a kitchen full of saucers of soured milk.

If you do decide to see the movie and have an IMAX theatre near you, there are twenty five minutes of the film shot in 3D, including a really great scene as they fly above the Thames at night with the Houses of Parliament all lit up. Cool.

Carolyn, I thought those were brownies?

Ah, so that's why I never get any help.

It's an elf under a mushroom that I look like in the present style of big hats. I'm much too short to wear them.

Everytime I see the title to this thread, I think to myself "I really wish I had a house elf." Hermione would be pleased at the wonderful care I'd provide for it. Wishful thinking...

Interestingly enough, I was wondering if anyone here actually knows what JKR was REALLY getting at with the whole house elf thing? Funny thing is that, after reading the books, to me the whole house elf thing sounded a lot like live-in house servants, akin to the housemaids, butlers, and other help that English manors needed back in Victorian times.

I don't know if you've seen the movie "Gosford Park" but that movie now reminds me of the house elves, especially at Hogwarts. It's interesting how, well, servants were (un)seen as almost invisible back in those days -- kind of like the house elves.

I know for a fact that in some Third World countries, live-in house help are still used and, well, they're still seen as practically invisible. Dirty clothing just disappears and reappears clean and folded. Food appears prepared and dirty dishes disappear as if by magic. Oh, and some household help (just like in HP) have whole generations of servant families serving just one master family.

Ginny,

I'd have thought that a more accurate word to describe a 'little fact' might have been a 'FACTETTE', not a factoid. In factette, I think that's what I'm going to use from now on, thereby hoping to bring about another gloriosa langage-changeop. It all happens so quickly these days - one slip of the typewriter finger and thero you ge. We alltalk different.

Dido, as someone once said, I don't invent this stuff; I just report it. I like factette, factorina, factissima, factimum--but it's factoid that has crept into the language.

And Dynomutt, as I ponder the deeper meaning of the Harry Potter saga, I could not help but think of house elves as the many people who do humble jobs, often invisibly and underpaid, in our country and around the world. I don't know how much "deeper meaning" JKR had in mind in her books, but I don't think we have to confine ourselves to other historical eras to encounter the "house elf" situation. It is here in front of us today.

Realized I did read it and will continue with Halfblood Prince. Thanks.
I worked in a lab and if we couldn't positively identify a cell under the microscope we would call them i.e.
"plasmacytoid like"
I guess "oid" had its uses. And our house elf was the lab assistant.

Ginny,

You say 'I don't invent this stuff: I just report it'. But you don't. 'Just' - you don't 'just', that is. You must surely endorse it. Else, why do you describe it as 'this sort of creative evolution and adaptabiltiy is one of the glories of the English Language'? 'Glories'? To change meaning at the drop of a hat and therefore to obfuscate the issue? Is this a 'glory'? Is this what the 'English Language' has come to? That overnight, anyone can say anything and we all go along with it? Logically, this can only lead to Babel. Where anything goes and ultimately no-one understands anyone else. Remember the tower? Arbitrary language change, I am saying, is not necessarily a 'glory'! It can be a curse - especially if it happens too fast, as is so often the case these days.!

Dido