Dobby
From the Encyclopedia of Speculative Fiction - http://encyclopedia.wizards.pro
Dobby is a house-elf who once served the Malfoy family. In Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, he made several attempts to stop Harry Potter from returning to Hogwarts to try to keep him out of danger, nearly killing him in the process. Harry tricked his master Lucius Malfoy into giving Dobby a sock near the end of the book, thereby freeing Dobby. Dobby then went to work at Hogwarts, where he is the only elf who receives payment for his work. Among the house-elves, Dobby is considered an anomaly in the sense that he is the only elf who desires freedom and accepts payment willingly. His favorite clothes are socks, which he has several of.
| Spoiler warning: Plot or ending details follow. |
Dobby has assisted Harry several times during the series. In Goblet of Fire, he gave Harry gillyweed to enable him to breathe underwater and rescue Ron Weasley in the second task of the Triwizard Tournament. In Order of the Phoenix, he told Harry about the Room of Requirement for Harry's DA meetings. In Half-Blood Prince, he and Kreacher tailed Draco Malfoy on Harry's orders.
Dobby has also gotten Harry Potter into trouble several times, mostly in the second book of the series. When he visited Harry Potter at the Dursley house in Little Whinging, he made use of a Hover Charm to ensure that Harry would both be expelled from Hogwarts and locked up in his room by the Dursleys. This was to no avail, as Ron, Fred, and George Weasley rescued him in their father's flying Ford Anglia.
Dobby's next tactic was shutting the barrier at Platform 9 3/4 so that Harry could not get through to the Hogwarts Express; this failed again, because at the time, Ron Weasley was with Harry, and they made use of the Weasley's flying car to get to Hogwarts, a feat which nearly got them expelled. During a Quidditch match, Dobby jinxed a Bludger so that it would target Harry alone. It did hit him, resulting in a broken arm and eventually a deboned arm, thanks to the faulty magic of Gilderoy Lockhart. In the hospital wing, Dobby visited Harry again, and revealed that the Malfoys were his masters.
Towards the end of the book, Harry tricked Lucius Malfoy into giving Dobby a sock, thereby freeing Dobby from his miserable existence under the Malfoys. Grateful, Dobby asked Harry what he owed him in return, and Harry said that Dobby should never try to save him ever again.
Afterwards, Dobby sought employment, but because he demanded payment, he found it hard to find an employer until Dumbledore offered him a job at Hogwarts. He is the only house-elf there who is paid.