I think the whole ''The house elves love being enslaved and every attempt to free them is a complete joke!'' is kinda undercut by the fact that pretty much no one in the Harry Potterverse treats their house elves well. There are three main house elves: Dobby, Winky and Kreacher, all of who'm are stuck with abusive owners and clearly unhappy with their situation. Well...Winky mostly about being fired by her abusive owner, but she's fired because he's an abusive prick who treats her like garbage. Later in the story there's even a house elf presumably being sentenced for manslaughter because the ministry couldn't bother to actually investigate the house elf.
Also the ones who most often insists that house elves adore being enslaved are Hagrid and Ron, not two characters known as being very considerate and open minded on every subject. Hagrid's a very nice dude, but he's undeniably got bigoted sentiments and Ron's...well he's Ron.
...and both were lifelong wizards who grew up in the wizard culture which on the whole sees absolutely no issue with enslaving an entire species. There are plenty of cultures throughout history that have committed horrific acts as part of their cultural makeup and it's people think it's good because of not knowing any better, it doesn't mean those horrific acts are actually good.
It's like time traveling to before the Civil War and asking slave owners or even just people who lived in the South if slaves like being slaves. Chances are very high especially if you're talking to the slave owners that they will say that yes, slaves love being slaves. Most of them might even genuinely believe it, despite slaves constantly trying to escape because they've never known anything else and are so used to having slaves and depending on them that they'll twist any logic into knots if not outright ignore it to avoid admitting that something they've spent their life benefiting from is wrong, as people do.
1: Hermione has been well-established by this point as being highly intelligent, but also highly arrogant. She's often been convinced that she knows best, regardless of anything else to the contrary (e.g. Divination, which she's hopeless at, in part because it doesn't fit how she sees education).
A bad track record in the past doesn't change the fact that Hermione is completely right in this instance
2: Book 4 gets to have fun with the house elves because we have an example of Hermione being utterly, spectacuarly wrong. Regardless of any evidence presented to her, she's utterly convinced that she's in the right, and everyone else, including the house elves (who just want her to stop bothering them) are wrong.
All of those are fair points, except that the house elves themselves, which interact with the trio directly, clearly don't want to be helped. Hermione goes the whole hog (as Gordon puts it), and the house elves detest her for it.
The House Elves detest Hermione for trying to help them and don't want to be helped because they've been conditioned to think their situation is right. Even if the House Elves aren't being magically compelled to think being slaves is good and thus their opinions can't be considered valid and genuinely think that Hermione should stop because being slaves is good, that doesn't make them correct. Just because someone
thinks something is good doesn't make it actually good.
Hermione isn't "spectacularly wrong," the story treats her as though she's wrong, there's a massive gulf between the story deciding someone is wrong and that person actually being wrong. A story can decide that the "hero" committing murder of innocents, rape, genocide, or in Harry Potter's case slavery is right with any number of justifications, it doesn't make any of these things actually right.
Why are you so invested in claiming that it's present?
Probably the same reason why the vast majority of people can tell that water is wet without having to jump into a lake first, because it's blatantly obvious. The wizards use of House Elves very very incredibly obviously is slavery. Slavery is bad. The only way either of these two things could be more obvious is if Dobby had a flashing neon sign over his head saying "SLAVERY IS WRONG!!!" End of story.
Really, you can throw in Santa's Workshop as well if you feel like it. I mean, the joke that Santa's using slave labour to create presents is an old one, most people know not to take it seriously.
I mean, for instance, if we accept the argument that house elves are slaves, I'm going to assume that you're similarly opposed to any depiction of Santa and his elves?
For one, because Santa as a concept not to mention his elves is public domain. Thus it is fluid and has been changed and interpreted by thousands and thousands of different sources throughout history since the concept was originated, as opposed to Harry Potter which has only one author. For another, santa's elves are rarely ever treated as slaves in any media to the point that it's a plot point that freeing them is an issue unlike with with Potter trio and House Elves particularly Hermoine. Third, because Santa's elves are a background element in nearly all media and even when they are major figures we very very rarely have any indication of what their situation even is. The vast majority of stories with Santa's elves could have them all as paid workers for all we know.
On the other hand, House Elves are significant figures throughout the Harry Potter books, we're given a very close look at what they are, how they live day to day, what their values are, and the books do make dealing with them in one manner or another a significant plot point on multiple occasions. We see that the House Elves are enslaved because that's what the books show us. We see examples of House Elves that do things against their own will because they are magically enslaved. We see that House Elves are capable of not wanting to be enslaved because we have examples of individuals that want to get out of said enslavement. In fact, we're introduced to the whole concept of House Elves in the first place showing us that they are enslaved and that enslavement is bad in the form of Dobby.
The problem with the House Elves plot line is it then subsequently turns around and then contradicts everything shown up to that point by acting like the enslavement of House Elves is a good thing because it's in line with the wishes of the House Elves. An idea that quickly falls flat with any sort of scrutiny whatsoever.
The fantasy people tended to use to justify those things were religious texts and pseudo-science. I've never seen anyone, anywhere, hold up a work of fiction and use it as justification.
You do realize you just contradicted yourself right? You admitted that religious texts and pseudo-science are a fantasy and thus works of fiction, then in the next breath said that you've never seen anyone hold up a work of fiction and use it as justification.
Does she ?
The actions of Hermione are all about Hermione and her personal relationship with the house elves. Not about the owners or the ministerium or the laws or actually any institution that keeps the house elves in their situation at all. We don't even really get told how or why it exists, only some offhand remark about the elves having seeked santuary with the wizards long time ago. We learn nothing about what actually compels the elves to obey commands.
Instead it is all about how Hermione did not really understand house elves and didn't really listen to them. And how they get upset when she tried to trick them into freedom with hidden clothing articles.
It is quite a strech to paint that a story about institutional reform. It distinctly lacks prominence of institutions. They firmly remain background for personal drama.
With the clothes thing Hermonie was trying for something akin to the Underground Railroad. Help the people who are slaves
now rather than being concerned about changing slavery as an institution. An indirect result of the effort to free slaves was that several former slaves led the fight against slavery that ultimately led to the Civil War and the complete abolishment of slavery. Helping a people now led to helping to stop what was making them as a whole suffer in the first place.
Also, Hermonie was trying to form an organization that would ultimately bring down the institution that is the slavery of the House Elves. It only fails because the narrative reads it as shortsighted and stupid for her to so much as try when it was anything but. So yes, the SPEW plot can be considered a story about institutional reform.