If we go strictly by canon, then the only elves that we’re ever made privy to in the Harry Potter universe are house-elves—beings bound to magical servitude, owned by wizarding families, and expected to obey without question. But in one of my previous videos—The History of House-Elves—I introduced the idea that house-elves are likely not a natural, original species at all, but rather the end result of something that happened to elves long ago.

I think that there was a time when elves were not bound to masters… A time when they existed independently, outside of wizarding households. And while the books never confirm this outright, the broader context of the Wizarding World makes the idea surprisingly reasonable.

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