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==House-elves' reaction==
 
==House-elves' reaction==
 
[[File:Dobby the house elf.jpg|thumb|right|[[Dobby]], the only known [[house-elf]] to support S.P.E.W.]]
 
[[File:Dobby the house elf.jpg|thumb|right|[[Dobby]], the only known [[house-elf]] to support S.P.E.W.]]
The only upshot of her campaign was that she alienated and infuriated the elves themselves. While she was busy knitting clothes to give them in order to set them free, the majority of [[house-elf|house-elves]] are accustomed to their work, and seem to enjoy it. They regarded [[Hermione Granger|Hermione]]'s actions as insults to their race. Thus, they refused to clean the Gryffindor common room any more, meaning that [[Dobby]] was the only one prepared to carry out this task. Already being free himself, he took all the clothes himself, wore most of them (making a tower of hats on top of his head), and passed some of the others on to [[Winky]] in the false hopes of cheering her up<ref name="GOF"/>. Hermione was not informed of this development, as Harry did not have the heart to tell her.
+
The only upshot of her campaign was that she alienated and infuriated the elves themselves. While she was busy knitting clothes to give them in order to set them free, the majority of [[house-elf|house-elves]] are accustomed to their work, and seem to enjoy it. They regarded [[Hermione Granger|Hermione]]'s actions as insults to their race. Thus, they refused to clean the Gryffindor common room any more, meaning that [[Dobby]] was the only one prepared to carry out this task. Already being free himself, he took all the clothes himself, wore most of them (making a tower of hats on top of his head), and passed some of the others on to [[Winky]] in the false hopes of cheering her up<ref name="GOF"/>. Hermione was not informed of this development, as no one had the heart to tell her.
   
 
==Impact==
 
==Impact==

Revision as of 01:13, 10 January 2012

Ron: "Never heard of it."
Hermione: "Well, of course you haven't. I've only just started it."
Ron: "And how many members do you have?"
Hermione: "Well, if you two join, three."
— Ron and Hermione[src]

The Society for the Promotion of Elfish Welfare, also known as S.P.E.W., was an organisation founded in 1994 by Hermione Granger in response to what she saw as gross injustice in the treatment of house-elves at the 1994 Quidditch World Cup[1]. Having been deeply upset at the treatment and general prospects of house-elves both in Hogwarts and the rest of the wizarding world, Hermione set up S.P.E.W. in order to champion their rights. Hermione originally wanted to call the organisation Stop the Outrageous Abuse of Our Fellow Magical Creatures and Campaign for a Change in Their Legal Status. Since it wouldn't fit on a badge, it was given its current name, though the original name was retained as the heading of the group's manifesto.

Founding

"You know, house-elves get a very raw deal! It's slavery, that's what it is! That Mr. Crouch made her go up to the top of the stadium, and she was terrified, and he's got her bewitched so she can't even run when they start trampling tents! Why doesn't anyone do something about it?"
— Hermione Granger after the 1994 Quidditch World Cup[src]
Hermione Granger reading The Daily Prophet

Hermione Granger, founder of S.P.E.W.

Hermione Granger thought it cruel that house-elves were neither paid nor given holidays for their work, so she campaigned tirelessly for a change in their working conditions. She managed to get several students such as Neville Longbottom to join (paying a fee of two Sickles), though they only did so to stop her from badgering them. These students included a reluctant Ron Weasley and an indifferent Harry Potter. However, their sickles were overall wasted, as she kept badgering them about the issues of the organisation.

She would go round the Gryffindor common room shaking her S.P.E.W. badge box at people to make them join. A few seemed interested but refused when they found they had to pay. Apparently a few other people looked "mildly interested" in the campaign, but there are no further reports of anyone else actually becoming a member. She also offered it to Hagrid, but he refused as well saying that the elves liked to work. Fred and George Weasley also put in that the house elves were happy to work at Hogwarts. The rest of the school thought of the organisation as a joke. And so, with little or no support from her unwilling deputies, Hermione battled on pretty much alone, employing tactics such as badge-making and petitioning, but with very little effect. Eventually, she started knitting hats and socks, which she left lying around Gryffindor Tower, hoping to free some unsuspecting elf who picked them up while cleaning the common room.

Becoming infuriated with Hermione's obsession with the Society, Ron Weasley started calling the group "spew" and, on occasion parodied the name by inventing S.P.U.G., "Society for the Protection of Ugly Goblins". Hermione sarcastically replied to this by pointing out that Goblins, unlike House Elves, were capable of defending themselves against Wizards on their own.[1]

House-elves' reaction

Dobby the house elf

Dobby, the only known house-elf to support S.P.E.W.

The only upshot of her campaign was that she alienated and infuriated the elves themselves. While she was busy knitting clothes to give them in order to set them free, the majority of house-elves are accustomed to their work, and seem to enjoy it. They regarded Hermione's actions as insults to their race. Thus, they refused to clean the Gryffindor common room any more, meaning that Dobby was the only one prepared to carry out this task. Already being free himself, he took all the clothes himself, wore most of them (making a tower of hats on top of his head), and passed some of the others on to Winky in the false hopes of cheering her up[1]. Hermione was not informed of this development, as no one had the heart to tell her.

Impact

Ron Weasley: "Hang on a moment! We've forgotten someone! The house-elves, they'll all be down in the kitchen, won't they?"
Harry Potter: "You mean we ought to get them fighting?"
Ron Weasley: "No, I mean we should tell them to get out. We don't want any more Dobbies, do we? We can’t order them to die for us–"
— during the Battle of Hogwarts[src]

In spite of all this, there are indications that S.P.E.W. did eventually enjoy some moderate success, though it is likely that by then it was disbanded. Hogwarts' house-elves participated in the Battle of Hogwarts in 1998 in an unusually bold move for their kind, although this may have been a manifestation of their extreme loyalty to their "masters". However, it is possible that their contribution to the battle changed some people's views, as even Ron Weasley, a previous vocal critic of S.P.E.W., demonstrated concern and sympathy for the plight for house-elves at the time which prompted Hermione to kiss him.[2]

Also, founder Hermione Granger went on to work for the Department for the Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures at the Ministry of Magic, where she continued to work for the rights of magical creatures[3].

Hermione's idea that house-elves should be treated decently led to Harry attempting to be nice to house-elf, Kreacher, which caused Kreacher to be nice and tell Harry the story of his master Regulus Black's visit to the horcrux cave.

Known members

Behind the scenes

Other languages

  • In Turkish, the foundation's name is ERİT ("Ev Cini Refahını İlerletme Topluluğu" which stands for 'The Society for Prosecution of House Elves' Ease). In Turkish, 'erit' means 'melt'.
  • In Hungarian, the foundation's name is MAJOM ('Manók Alkotmányos Jogaiért Országos Mozgalom' which stands for 'National Movement for the Constitutional Rights of Elves'). In Hungarian 'majom' means 'monkey'.
  • In French, the foundation's name is SALE ("Société d'Aide à la Libération des Elfes" wich stands for "The Society for Helping the Realease of the Elves"). In french, 'sale' means 'dirty'.
  • In Brazilian Portuguese, the foundation's name is F.A.L.E. ('Fundação de Apoio à Libertação dos Elfos' which stands for 'Foundation to support the release of the Elves'). The word 'fale' means 'say'.
  • In European Portuguese, the foundation's name is B.A.B.E ('Brigada de Apoio ao Bem-estar dos Elfos' which stands for "Brigade to Support the Welfare of Elves"). The word 'babe' means 'drool'.
  • In Spanish, the foundation's name is P.E.D.D.O (Plataforma Élfica de Defensa de los Derechos Obreros) PEDDO in spanish sonud pedo and it may mean "fart".
  • In Swedish, the foundation's name is FISA. Just like the Spanish name, 'fisa' means 'to fart'.
  • In Norwegian, the foundation's name is HIKK (Husnissenes Internasjonale Kampkoalisjon), which in english is the same as hiccup.
  • In German, the foundation's name is B.ELFE.R (Bund für Elfenrechte or Alliance for the Rights of Elves). The word Belfer doesn't exist in German, but it contains Elfe, the German word for elf.
  • In Dutch, the foundations's name is SHIT (Stichting Huiself voor Inburgering en Toleratie). The meaning should be clear.
  • In Finnish, the foundation's name is SYLKY. Sylky means 'a spit' or 'spit'.
  • In Icelandic, the foundation's name is SÁR. Sár means "wound".
  • In Greek, the foundation's name is ΜΥΞΑ. ΜΥΞΑ means "snot".
  • In Czech, the foundation's name is SPOŽÚS ("Společnost pro Podporu Občanské a Životní Úrovně Skřítků" - "Movement for Better Social and Life Rights of Elves"). Word Spožús don't have any meaning in this language, it just sounds funny.
  • In Slovak, the foundation's name is SOPLOŠ (Spoločnosť pre ochranu práv a legálne oslobodenie škriatkov) Soploš may mean "the one who produces snot".
  • In Croatian , the foundation`s name is ZBLJUV (Zajednica za boljitak ugnjetavanih vilenjaka- which is The Society for the Benefit of Oppressed Elves). 'Zbljuv' could be translated (as the shortened version of 'izbljuvak') as 'vomit'.
  • In Italian, the foundation name is CREPA (Comitato per la Riablitazione degli Elfi Poveri e Abbruttiti). 'Crepa' is the thir singular person of verb 'crepare', a gergal version of verb "morire" (die).
  • In Latvian, the foundation name is VEMT (Vergojošo elfu maznodrošinātās tiesības), which stands for Vomit in english.
  • In Lithuanian, the foundation name is EGGD (Elfų Gerovės Gynimo Draugija).
  • In Romanian, the foundation name is SPAS ("Societatea Pentru Apărarea Spiridușilor" - "Society For Protecting Elves").
  • In Slovenian, the foundation's name is B.R.U.H.V. (Bratovščina razsvetljevalcev ubogih hišnih vilincev). Bruh is the stem of the word "bruhati", which means "to vomit".
  • In Bulgarian, the foundation's name is S.M.R.A.D. ("Сдружение на магьосници за равноправие и авторитет на духчетата", which stands for "Association of wizards for equality and authority of house-elves"). The word 'smrad' means 'stink'.

See also

Appearances

Notes and references