Comment on With These Hands

  1. TomHRichardson on Chapter 1 Fri 19 Sep 2025 10:10PM UTC

    THR in tux

    } Funnily enough, canon never said how tall an elf is (as far as I can remember.)

    I'm asking these questions because I don't know what you've imagined as you wrote the chapter.

    If you imagined Harley looking much like Winky, then why is Harley talking "normally"? If Harley isn't talking like a house-elf because Harley is something quite different from a house-elf, why don't you describe what Harley looks like, so readers don't default to "Harley is a house-elf"?

    If Harley is a not-house-elf elf, I expect that the first Hogwarts person who knows what house-elves look like, will exclaim loudly when (s)he sees Harley.

    Comment Actions

    1. Kgfinkel on Chapter 1 Fri 19 Sep 2025 10:16PM UTC

      The short answer is that Harley *is* a typical Harry Potter-world elf, but she speaks normally because in my view, elves talk like their masters/mistresses expect them to. Dobby, Winky, even Kreacher; their masters expected them to speak like uneducated slaves. With the Grangers, there was no preconceived notion about how an elf is supposed to speak so Harley just matched their patterns.

      Does that help?

      Comment Actions

      1. TomHRichardson on Chapter 1 Fri 19 Sep 2025 10:34PM UTC

        THR in tux

        } Does that help?

        Yes, definitely.

        I can easily imagine a scene with Harley, Hermione, and a magically-raised person (MRP)—

        MRP: Your house-elf talks funny.

        HERMIONE: Harley talks like a person. It's all the other house-elves here in Hogwarts who talk funny.

        HARLEY: Harley has no wish to sound like a two-year-old human baby, just so Harley does not make small-minded wizards feel uncomfortable in Harley's presence. Translation: The Grangers want me to use the pronoun I, and only their wishes matter to me.

        Last Edited Fri 19 Sep 2025 10:36PM UTC

        Comment Actions

        1. Kgfinkel on Chapter 1 Fri 19 Sep 2025 10:36PM UTC

          Exactly how I pictured it going. Glad we synced up.

          Comment Actions