Winky

Winky was a female House-elf in the employment of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, who formerly served the Crouch family.

Serving the Crouch family
Winky was dedicated to her masters, Barty Crouch Sr., Mrs. Crouch and Barty Crouch Jr.. The junior Barty Crouch was a convicted Death Eater who had been smuggled out of Azkaban by his father, and replaced by his terminally ill mother, disguised using Polyjuice Potion, as her last, dying wish. It was Winky's duty to take care of Crouch Jr., who had been placed under the Imperius Curse by his father to prevent him from running away, which she did loyally and in secret, for years. Throughout her duties, Winky kept persuading Crouch Sr. to reward his son for good behaviour, even if it was only a by-product of the Curse.

Dismissal
As a reward for his son's good behaviour, Crouch Sr. reserved a seat at the 1994 Quidditch Cup between Ireland and Bulgaria for Winky and himself, and allowed his son to take his seat under the concealment of an Invisibility Cloak. Winky used her magic so that she and Crouch Jr. were magically bound to one another, so he could not escape. Following a riot instigated by Death Eaters at the camp grounds of the Quidditch Cup, Crouch Jr. was able to fight the Imperius curse and gain some control over himself. He was able to drag Winky away with him, towards the woods, and cast the Dark Mark (the sign of Lord Voldemort) into the sky during the attack. Winky and Crouch Jr. were then both stunned by Ministry officials. When searching the woods, they could only find Winky's stunned body with the wand Crouch Jr. had used to cast the curse, as Crouch Jr. was still under the Invisibility Cloak and out of sight.

The Ministry of Magic Officials then revived Winky and blamed her for casting the Dark Mark with the wand, despite Winky claiming she didn't know how to. Though he indignantly claimed that blaming Winky was implying that she learned how to do such a thing at his own home, Crouch Sr. freed Winky to avoid associating himself with the Dark Mark, and as it was apparent to him Winky's guardianship of his son was unreliable. Barty Crouch Sr's treatment of Winky led Hermione Granger to create the Society for the Promotion of Elfish Welfare (S.P.E.W.).

Depression
Winky fell into a state of depression after being fired by her master, and started drinking Butterbeer regularly, which contained very little alcohol, but was apparently potent for a house-elf. Dobby, a friend of Harry Potter and former servant of the Malfoy family, was able to get her a job at Hogwarts working in the kitchens, though she was still attached to her former masters and had no interest in doing any work. The other House-Elves were embarrassed by her self-pity, though Dobby attempted to take care of and looked out for her. Occasionally, Dobby would put Winky in a bed he had found inside the Room of Requirement when she was extremely drunk. Winky was later distressed to find out her former master Barty Crouch Sr. had been murdered, and she was completely devastated to learn that Barty Crouch Jr. had committed the murder himself.

Battle of Hogwarts
Winky slowly improved over the years but continued to drink heavily. She kept her job at Hogwarts, and even participated in the Battle of Hogwarts along with the other House-elves, led by Kreacher.

Later life
After the war, Winky would continue to work at Hogwarts and would eventually stop her Butterbeer addiction. However, it is unknown if she ever got over the losses suffered by the Crouch family.

Physical appearance
Being a female house-elf, Winky was considerably smaller than humans. She had bat-like ears, a tomato-sized nose and huge brown eyes. Her voice was even higher than Dobby's.

When Winky was still working for Barty Crouch Sr, she wore a tea-towel draped like a toga. After her dismissal, she wore a skirt and blouse with a matching blue hat. During her period of depression, however, her clothes were stained and burned.

Personality and traits
Like all house-elves, she used all verbs in the third person, singular and referred to herself in the third person. With permission from her masters, she used her elf magic, a form of powerful, wandless magic that differs from the powers of wizards and witches.

Despite being dismissed, Winky retained her loyalty towards her old masters, especially Barty Crouch Sr. She had traditional views about house-elves and considered being set free disgraceful. She also was very caring to Barty Crouch Jr, as his usual keeper, though Barty Jr thought she cared for him mostly out of pity and her sense of duty. When Winky discovered that Barty Jr killed Barty Sr, she was horrified and devastated.

Winky also suffered from acrophobia, a fear of heights. However, for her master, she was willing to overcome this fear, even though she did so with great difficulty and had to cover her eyes.

Behind the scenes

 * Winky is one of the characters that does not appear in the films, like Peeves for example.
 * Although Winky does not make an appearance in the film adaptation of Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, concept art for her has been made and released to the public.
 * Winky has decent magical ability, able to magically bind Barty Crouch Jr. to her and restrain him from escaping during the Riot at the Quidditch World Cup.
 * J.K. Rowling stated in an interview that unfortunately Winky would never fully recover from her addiction to Butterbeer.

Appearances

 * Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire
 * Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire (film)
 * Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix
 * Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince
 * Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows

Notes and references
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