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Whether it’s piling dozens of tiny knitted hats on his head at once, or painting Harry the world’s most hideous portrait, an appearance from Dobby always had us rolling in the aisles. Here’s a couple of our favourite (and endearingly unintentionally funny) Dobby moments.

1. When he ‘dobs’ himself in within the first 5 minutes of meeting Harry

We first meet Dobby at the beginning of Chamber of Secrets, when Harry finds the house-elf causing mayhem in his bedroom at 4 Privet Drive. Within about five minutes, Dobby goes from saying he can’t say anything to admitting he is responsible for intercepting Harry’s letters from his Hogwarts friends as an attempt to stop him returning to school. Nice going, Dobby – you’d have made a great spy.

‘See what it’s like here?’ he said. ‘See why I’ve got to go back to Hogwarts? It’s the only place I’ve got – well, I think I’ve got friends.’
‘Friends who don’t even write to Harry Potter?’ said Dobby slyly.
‘I expect they’ve just been – hang on,’ said Harry, frowning.
‘How do you know my friends haven’t been writing to me?’
Dobby shuffled his feet.
Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets

And this is all prior to the infamous 'pudding' incident - so all in all, a very unintentionally amusing day all-round for Dobby.

2. When he tried out saying something mean

Dobby whispered, ‘He said we is free to call him a – a barmy old codger if we likes, sir!’ Dobby gave a frightened sort of giggle.
Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire

Gasp! Dobby, such strong words!

3. When he embraces his... artistic side

After securing Dobby’s freedom from the shackles of his house-elf duties for the Malfoys, Dobby did tend to overcompensate in giving his thanks to Harry. Cue many years of weird Christmas and birthday presents. For Christmas in his fifth year, Dobby really surpassed himself – painting an actual portrait of Harry. It’s safe to say Fred and George weren’t particularly overwhelmed by Dobby’s artistic talents.

‘What’s that supposed to be, anyway?’ asked Fred, squinting at Dobby’s painting. ‘Looks like a gibbon with two black eyes.’
‘It’s Harry!’ said George, pointing at the back of the picture, ‘says so on the back!’
‘Good likeness,’ said Fred, grinning.
Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix

4. The tea-cosy – need we say more?

He was wearing a tea-cosy for a hat, on which he had pinned a number of bright badges; a tie patterned with horseshoes over a bare chest, a pair of what looked like children’s football shorts, and odd socks.
Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire

How have tea-cosy hats not become the next big fashion trend yet?

5. His unbridled love of socks

As Dumbledore says, ‘one can never have enough socks’ but if you’re mates with Dobby – you most likely have quite a lot of socks. Imagine Harry's joy when he received a knitted pair of mismatched socks designed by Dobby himself. Quite the pioneer in sock design.

But to be fair to the little guy – we can’t blame Dobby's golf-ball eyes lighting up whenever he catches sight of one – to him, it’s his own personal symbol of freedom.

‘Socks are Dobby’s favourite, favourite clothes, sir!’ he said, ripping off his odd ones and pulling on Uncle Vernon’s. ‘I has seven now, sir … but, sir ...’ he said, his eyes widening, having pulled both socks up to their highest extent, so that they reached to the bottom of his shorts, ‘they has made a mistake in the shop, Harry Potter, they is giving you two the same!’
Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire

6. When he wore all of the hats

Dobby the house-elf was standing beside the table on which Hermione had left half a dozen of her knitted hats. His large, pointed ears were now sticking out from beneath what looked like all the hats Hermione had ever knitted; he was wearing one on top of the other, so that his head seemed elongated by two or three feet, and on the very topmost bobble sat Hedwig, hooting serenely and obviously cured.
Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix

Picturing the image of Dobby wearing all of Hermione’s hats in one go is just... perfect. It kind of ruined Hermione’s whole S.P.E.W. initiative, but at least Dobby was happy. And Hedwig really was the cherry on top.

7. When he redecorated the Room of Requirement... with Harry’s face

Harry arrived early in the Room of Requirement for the last DA meeting before the holidays and was very glad he had, because when the torches burst into flame he saw that Dobby had taken it upon himself to decorate the place for Christmas. He could tell the elf had done it, because nobody else would have strung a hundred golden baubles from the ceiling, each showing a picture of Harry’s face and bearing the legend: HAVE A VERY HARRY CHRISTMAS!
Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix

Incredible punning skills and a masterclass in interior design. Oh Dobby, we wish we could have a friend like you.