--- title: People Are Trying to Free Dobby With Socks at WB Studio Tour description: On behalf of the Society for the Promotion of Elfish Welfare canonical: https://time.com/4056853/people-are-trying-to-free-harry-potters-dobby-in-london/ author: Tanya Basu article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2015-09-30T22:27:37.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-04-13T07:25:27.550Z og:title: Tourists Are Trying to Free Dobby With Socks og:description: Hermione would have been proud og:url: https://time.com/4056853/people-are-trying-to-free-harry-potters-dobby-in-london/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltde093bcdab65f2d0/6988d9b9bc6cfc69913e2a3c/time-logo.jpg?branch=production og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: TIME og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Tourists Are Trying to Free Dobby With Socks twitter:description: Hermione would have been proud twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltde093bcdab65f2d0/6988d9b9bc6cfc69913e2a3c/time-logo.jpg?branch=production --- # People Are Trying to Free Harry Potter's Dobby in London ## Video: Nerds Unite To Fix House-Themed 'Harry Potter' Book Cover [Watch (HLS stream): Nerds Unite To Fix House-Themed 'Harry Potter' Book Cover](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/K9g8cg2R.m3u8) (1:06)  _Published 2015-09-17. A book cover that had the wrong symbol for the Ravenclaw house made_  by [Tanya Basu](https://time.com/author/tanya-basu/)  ## Tanya Basu Sep 30, 2015 10:27 PM UTC  by [Tanya Basu](https://time.com/author/tanya-basu/)  ## Tanya Basu Sep 30, 2015 10:27 PM UTC It’s as if Hermione Granger’s beloved [Society for the Promotion of Elfish Welfare](http://harrypotter.wikia.com/wiki/Society%5Ffor%5Fthe%5FPromotion%5Fof%5FElfish%5FWelfare) has sprung up some heartened rebels. Photographs have appeared on the Internet (and [retweeted by _Harry Potter_ author J.K. Rowling](https://twitter.com/jk%5Frowling)) of people leaving socks by an encased Dobby at the Warner Bros. Studio Tour of Harry Potter at Leavesden in London. > [](https://twitter.com/HogwartsLogic/status/648202470842195968) If you’re not a Potterhead, it might not make sense, so here’s some history: Houselves, who are practically enslaved in the _Harry Potter_ world, can attain freedom if given a piece of clothing. Hermione busily knits socks and leaves them in nooks and crannies through Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, where she stays, hoping that elves like Dobby—who served Harry and was eventually freed—would pick them up and free themselves. Dobby, of course, was a real hero in the Potter series, falling to his death by the blade of Bellatrix Lestrange while saving Harry, Ron and Hermione. 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