Dobby " a Free Elf "

"Dobby, sir. Just Dobby. Dobby the house-elf,"
--Dobby

Dobby is a house-elf, who, unlike most other house-elves, wanted to be freed. He has three fingers and one opposable thumb. Dobby was the abused and tormented slave of the Malfoys before the events of Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets. Against his masters' wishes, he had a respect and admiration for Harry Potter. In his first appearance in the series in Chamber of Secrets, Dobby knew of Lucius Malfoy's plans to re-open the Chamber of Secrets using Tom Riddle's school diary for months before it happened.

As an attempt to discourage Harry from returning to Hogwarts, Dobby began to intercept the letters that Harry's friends sent him. Dobby then appeared at Privet Drive to warn Harry and tell him of the danger of returning to Hogwarts, and attempted to persuade him to stay away so he would be safe from harm. For warning Harry, he had to punish himself most severely. When Dobby's attempts failed to persuade Harry, he smashed a pudding in the Dursley's kitchen. Being caught in the kitchen with the wreckage, and receiving a warning letter for illegal use of magic, Harry was locked up by the Dursleys, who insisted that he would not return to Hogwarts, but Ron, Fred and George Weasley were able to rescue Harry in their father's flying Ford Anglia. Dobby later tried to keep Harry away from Hogwarts by magically sealing off the hidden entrance to Platform 9¾, but Harry and Ron foiled that plot by piloting the flying car back to their school, a feat that nearly got them expelled. During a later Quidditch match of Gryffindor vs. Slytherin, Dobby also enchanted a Bludger to chase after only Harry; it managed to break his arm. Gilderoy Lockhart's attempt to heal it resulted instead in the disintegration of all the bones in his arm. When Harry – having just returned from the Chamber of Secrets – discovered that Dobby's master was Lucius Malfoy, Harry tricked Malfoy into setting Dobby free – a feat that secured him the house-elf's undying loyalty. Harry then asked Dobby one favour: never to try to save his life again.

Dobby reappears in Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire. He thereafter demanded to be paid for his services and he found it difficult to find any employment at all. Nevertheless, he later obtained a post at Hogwarts, and is the only paid house-elf on the staff. Albus Dumbledore also said that, far from having to treat him with reverence and fear, as most house-elves did their masters, Dobby was free to call him a "barmy old codger" if he liked. He declined this as well, having developed great love for the headmaster. In this book, Dobby gives Harry the gillyweed he needs to survive the Second Triwizard Task. Dobby was also the only house-elf who cleaned Gryffindor Tower since Hermione Granger began trying to set the house-elves free, to further her S.P.E.W, because the house-elves found the clothes insulting. In Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, when Dobby woke Harry from a disturbing dream, he asked Harry if he needed help; he showed Harry the hidden Room of Requirement, which Harry used for his Dumbledore's Army meetings. When Professor Umbridge found out about the meetings later, Dobby enters the room to warn the group to leave.

In Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince Harry entrusts Dobby to help watch Kreacher when he ordered him to work in the Hogwarts kitchens with the other house-elves. When Harry needed somebody to follow Draco Malfoy, he was helped by Kreacher and Dobby. Because of Kreacher's hatred of Harry and his friends, he and Dobby do not get along at all. When Harry summons Kreacher to help him tail Malfoy, Kreacher appears in the middle of a fight with Dobby (apparently over something rude that Kreacher said about Harry). While Kreacher mentions that he will follow Malfoy only because he must, Dobby agrees to do so because he wants to help Harry. When they report back, Kreacher tells Harry only mundane things, such as Malfoy's class schedule, while Dobby cuts to the chase and tells Harry about Malfoy's visits to the Room of Requirement.

Dobby makes his last appearance in Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows when Aberforth Dumbledore sends Dobby to rescue Harry, Ron, and Hermione from Lucius' basement (despite the promise Dobby had made never to try to save Harry's life again). Dobby helps Harry and Ron escape their prison and gets Luna Lovegood, Dean Thomas, and Mr Ollivander out of Malfoy Manor, then helps Harry and Ron free Hermione and Griphook from torture at the hands of Bellatrix Lestrange. While he succeeds in his task, Bellatrix throws a knife at Harry, but the knife hits Dobby instead, who dies before he can be healed (this makes Dobby one of very few characters killed in the books whose death is not the direct result of a spell). Dobby's last words were "Harry Potter". Harry physically digs the grave without using magic and Dobby's body is buried in Bill and Fleur's garden at Shell Cottage, adorned with various pieces of the mourners' clothing symbolizing Dobby's freedom from elfish servitude even in death. Using Draco's captured wand, Harry writes upon the stone, "Here Lies Dobby, A Free Elf".