First, if this has appeared elsewhere, I do apologize and would appreciate direction to the right spot. Second, this is in no way mean to spur a Dumbledore dead or alive debate. I simply propose what most of us suspect, that there WAS more going on on the tower than meets the eye.

Specifically, I believe both Kreacher and Dobby were there, fulfilling their duty of "tailing" Draco. This begs the question - can house elves become invisible? I think they must. Dobby was never detected when he cursed the rogue bludger or even when he visited the Dursleys (except for Harry, obviously). But what's more, how else could they "tail" Draco so thoroughly and effectively? Twenty four hours a day!

At any rate, I believe it is very probable that they were on that tower with Draco. Further, I believe that Dobby may be involved at a very high, secret level in Dumbledore's plans. He says he is glad to keep his secrets for him, after all. Well - what secrets exactly? Any theories?

And finally, is it possible that Dobby put the freezing charm on Harry and not Dumbledore? Could the house elves' presence on the tower affected the scene in any other way? There must be more than meets this eye. Any takers?

Yes, I think your right about that. House elves can probably become invisible at will seeing as Draco would have really noticed being tailed if they hadn't either hidden themselves effectively or become invisible. but I don't think Dobby was being invisible at the Dursleys because Harry could see him, so that can not be. But maybe he put some charm on him so that only Harry could see him or he simply hid perfectly so that nobody was able to detect that he was there.

Maybe Dobby knows of some plan between Dumbledore and Snape, probably answering the question why Snape killed Dumbledore ... Or maybe its merely the secret that Dumbledore likes to wear smelly green socks in bed?

No, I don't think that Dobby but the Freezing Charm on Harry seeing as house elves are not good at magic and shouldn't perform it and besides the Charm 'vanished' after DD died so it was likely that he put it on Harry. I can't see how the house elves should play any important role on the tower but maybe they heard a conversation between two DEs that will become important or something like that??

Fair points all around. I suppose by pointing out the Dursley incident, I wanted to merely show how good they are at being undetected, whether visible or not. And like you said, they would have to be in order for Draco not to detect them...

This begs another question about timing -- if Dobby and Kreacher were tailing Draco, and if Dobby is indeed reporting to Dumbeldore in some capacity, wouldn't it make sense for Dobby to have told DD that Draco "succeeded" in fixing the cabinet? I think DD may have known what was about to happen. But that is something of a diversion...

One thing though that I respectfully disagree with is the notion that house elves aren't good at magic. I think that is a misconception -- they just aren't allowed to use it to their full capabilities and are even denied a wand. But I think house elves are very powerful. Dobby cursed the bludger and shut the portal for the train. Further, when Lucius tries to attack Harry at the end of Chamber, Dobby blasts him into the air and sends him flailing down the stairs. I think wizards have kept them in servitude precisely because of the threat of their immense power.

Oh yes, and DD's green socks! Hilarious.

It is a good possibility.

As I recall, Dobby and Kreacher were never told to stop tailing Draco. They are probably still following Draco and Snape - which maybe how Harry finds them in Book 7.

I am going to keep that in mind.

Some other theories I have seen. Any of the houseghosts? It was noted that the Bloody Baron hangs out up there. Also, Professor Sinistra works and I am guessing her room and office is up there too.

Wonder if they saw anything? If not, what the heck are the other professors doing?

I did think about the invisibility part, or else how would they have followed him? As for still tailing Draco, I never thought about that, I always thought that they had been dismissed from the job since they never came back to report to Harry. But I'm sure that it was DD who put the freezing charm on Harry.

Actually I think Kreacher and Dobby were told to stop following Draco, once they reported to Harry that they had found Draco at the Room of Requirement.

I agree 100% (it would appear that our respective Inner Eyes are in accord ). Dobby alone has been able to perform very precise, advanced magic without a wand throughout the series. Given the general treatment of house elves by most people who own them, I think it's highly likely that forbidding them to use wands is to protect the wizarding community from their power, rather than their ineptitude.

Back to the topic, I can buy that Dobby and Kreacher may have been witnesses to the events on the lightning struck tower, but I'm less convinced that Dobby put the freezing charm on Harry. Dumbledore, I think, had more of a rationale for doing this.

I think House Elves are fascinating, and it's very intriguing to imagine the ways in which they might assist Harry & co. in book 7.

I'm sure that Dumbledore put the freezing charm on Harry as he did get disarmed. But, I think that on all other accounts you could be very well right. There seems to be way more to the House Elves than we know, their magic is so intresting.

well if they were, they saw the same things we did right? sooo i dont see how exactly it would be that big of a deal if they were, unless they had been around draco all night, and new something about snape we didnt.

I might be wrong here, but was Harry not frozen an instant before Malfoy entered the top of the tower? If so, Dobby and Kreacher should be behind hiom and Dd was the source of that spell.

However, could the elves get onto the tower? The passage upstairs was blocked magically. Could they bypass the blockade by apparating on top of the tower? If so, they might have been up there before Malfoy, but even if they were invisible, they still had bodies, so that a bang would have been audible when apparating. I do not rcalls omething lioke that in the text.

Therefore: They were not on the tower!

After Dobby and Kreacher reported to Harry, he only told them to Dobby to get some sleep, so he did not release them from following Malfoy. I think its quite possable that Dobby at least is still tailing Malfoy. Look who we are talking about, Dobby who would do anything to help Harry.
Im not sure if we would notice in the text with all that was going on, the pops of disaperating.
Dobby had managed to get into lots of places before, so why not the tower?
I think we may see Dobby show up at Privit Drive or The Burrow to tell Harry where Mr. Draco is.

As the original poster said, im not saying this to spur a Dumbledore DoA fight .. but if Dumbledore IS alive [& im still not sure myself which i beleive he is or isnt] and the house elves are on it [since we are lead to beleive Dobby possibly knows some secrets], maybe they could have used their magic to slow Dumbledores falling [we saw DD do that to Harry in PoA] and slowly levitate him down or something.

*Please dont jump down my throat if you think hes dead-or not, thats not why i posted this, it just popped into my head about the house elves.*

Also, from what we have seen in the past.

Dobby is a doer and at times a reactor.

He has acted and intervened many times in the past without Harry's permission.

True he may feel guilty and iron his hands later on.

If Dobby was on the tower, who knows? He also seems to care for DD who has taken him in, given him a job, wages, and a day off.

So, if it just so happens that he saw DD in a tight spot...

Not impossible as of yet.

i wish dobby i sa part of the plan he did something to help dumbledor ethat would be great

Well, JKR was saying something about house-elves in her diary on her site. I'm keeping my fingers crossed for more Dobby and Kreacher, that's for sure.

I say Dobby knows a lot more than Harry gives him credit for - at this point, anyway.

JKR mentions she had a House Elf problem. Could be that House elves in general and Dobby specifically are important to the plot line. As for Dobby and Kreacher up on the tower. That could be. My understanding of the events. was that DD froze Harry in that instant Malfoy disarmed DD. At this point if Dobby was there he would have intervened on DD's part. We have seen in book 2 where Dobby sends Lucius flying. What could have delayed DD was freezing Kreacher and Dobby.
Freezing three people would have taken more time than one. Giving the edge to Draco.

Well i Personally think that Dobby or even just Kreacher is still following Draco.... Dobby doesn't always obey harry, because remember he is a free elf, and dobby said "I can obey Harry Potter if i want"

So, Dobby would have probably had an insight on DD's Plans and would have known what to do. Hence forth i believe that they are still following...


Rest in Peace Dumbldore

I actually think eventually Harry may use Kreacher to lure Malfoy (maybe not him so much), Snape or even Bellatrix into a trap. Using Kreacher would in some ways be a very clever way for Harry to get at some key characters, and at the same time get back at Kreacher for lying about Sirius being at the Ministry of Magic.

Some how i don't think so... He could just ask Kreacher or Dobby to tell him where they are. I agree with you Crazy_Bunette..

Yeah... Like i said... I Personally think they are still tailing them (Draco and Possibly Snape) *Firm Believer that Snape is Good*

merged by LL mod You_won't_know_who

I agree that they are most likely still following him...

i believe that they are still following draco. but as far as being invisible, i have to disagree. in CoS, Harry saw Dobby's eyes in the bushes. this makes me believe that they are in some way or form metamorphmagus'. instead of being invisible, they blend in with their surroundings. i think it mentions somewhere taht a good house elf is one that makes sure it can't be seen. so in a way, that makes me think that they don't become invisible, but blend in

I don't really know what I think. Because Kreacher is bound I think he may be still following him, Dobby to ... but I have my doubts.

I don't think they were on the tower or dobby wuold have helped and kreacher would have hindered.

Question, since houseelves can disapparate and apparate inside the Hogwarts grounds, can Harry side-apparate with them?

I searched for this question before asking...Isn't Dobby still following Drako?

no he's not. Dobby....dislikes Draco. He takes orders from Harry and any hogwart teacher. I'm not sure about prefects, though.

the last time harry talks to dobby and kreacher (when they tell him about RoR), all he does is give them permission to sleep sometimes. that's it. he doesn't order them to stop following draco. to me anyways, it was implied that they were gonna keep following him. i think that they were probably sleeping and not present at the tower. but that doesn't mean that they won't be able to find draco. but i don't see any proof that they have stopped following him at all, whether or not that they were on the tower. another thing is that they were possibly ordered to do nothing in this situation and it may also be possible that the reason DD hovered a little bit might be from dobby (remember the cake incident in CoS, it was some sort of hover charm)

I was reading HBP and something occured to me. Harry has never given them the order to stop following Draco, he only said to them that they should also rest.

Dobby wasn't mentioned as being at the funeral...so where was he? Surely if he were on Hogwarts grounds, he would have been at the funeral. I think he is still following Draco, and I believe Draco is probably in some kind of hiding with Snape. Dobby may be our first clue of which direction Harry should go to find them.

They could have accumulated a vast info and could also shed light on what they saw on the night Dumbeldore died.

Topic merged with this one as a duplicate Topic.

Thats a great theory! Harry never did speak to either of the house elves after Dumbledores death, and they were spying on Draco very well.

I dont know about the freezing part, and I am sure that if Harry was to find out that they did that he will blame them is for Dumbledores death, but maybe they can become invisible I mean we see Dobby "apperate" in CoS, what other magical abilities do house elves have?

Here's another thing that backs it up. At the end of HBP Harry is talking to Rufus Scaramengar (sorry about spelling) and he says that a DE was stunned after DD had died. However look back to that bit and Harry actually perfromed a full body bind on a DE not a stunning spell. Maybe Dobby stunned that DE after HArry had gone.