Stop the Outrageous Abuse of Our Fellow Magical Creatures...

Stop the Outrageous Abuse of

Our Fellow Magical Creatures

and Campaign for a

Change in Their Legal Status

by Hermione Granger

President and Founder of the Society for the Promotion of Elvish Welfare

8^th September, 1994

House-elf enslavement has been a revolting part of magical society for over four hundred years. This abominable practice, founded as it is in conceit, prejudice, and injustice, must end. It is a moral imperative that house-elves be given both better treatment, and more rights and privileges in society - they are sentient beings, capable of using magic, and deserve far better than a filthy corner of the nearest mansion pantry.

Some of our society's most prominent citizens - Ministry officials, senior businessmen, leaders of the top families - use and often abuse house-elves, in broad daylight, and no one so much as blinks. These creatures are not given even the basic consideration that many other magical non- and part-human creatures, such as centaurs and goblins, are given; they have no voice in the Department for the Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures, they are not paid for their work, they are not free to move about as they please - they are exploited and treated far worse than your average house cat. Indeed, familiars such as cats and phoenixes are given thirty-seven pages of protective legislation in the Ministry code; house-elves are given just three lines. It is not technically illegal to kill a house-elf, though if you kill someone else's, their owner may sue you for monetary compensation.

House-elf marriages and families are not legally recognized - their only protection comes from the fact that they are bound to the same house and family for life; only the presentation of clothing will separate a family within a single home. House-elf children are forced to begin manual labor at the tender age of just three months, when they first begin to demonstrate their Apparition-type abilities. It is rare that a house-elf will ever learn to read, let alone write; all their learning is done with on-the-job training and is controlled primarily through the often vicious punishments their human masters inflict for failure.

Human children as young as two years of age are already indoctrinated into the habit of mistreating house-elves in their homes; they are encouraged to punish elves who do not please them, even in other people's homes. This shocking attitude betrays a lack of moral conviction, and a disregard for the humanity of these kind, obedient, and sentient creatures. They deserve better - and so do we. It is harmful to the slave-owner to hold slaves; the house-elves are not the only ones suffering. Children do not deserve to be raised to be monsters.

The problem is institutionalized in our society, and so we must start there. Our short-term aims are to secure house-elves fair wages and working conditions. Our long-term aims include changing current regulations about non-wand use, and getting an elf into the Department for the Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures, as they are shockingly underrepresented. Join us today as we fight for the rights of those who cannot fight for themselves.

H.G.