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Harry and Dumbledore are in Dumbledore's office after Harry has defeated the Basilisk in the Chamber of Secrets. Lucius Malfoy bursts in accompanied by Dobby. Is there an explanation as to why Dobby is with Lucius at this time? It seems strange that Dobby is with Lucius at this time, when on other occasions in the book Dobby isn't with him.

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The reason is that Dobby was polishing his shoes while Malfoy had to leave in a hurry
Dobby probably had no option but to apparate with him

“Good evening, Lucius,” said Dumbledore pleasantly. Mr. Malfoy almost knocked Harry over as he swept into the room. Dobby went scurrying in after him, crouching at the hem of his cloak, a look of abject terror on his face. The elf was carrying a stained rag with which he was attempting to finish cleaning Mr. Malfoys shoes. Apparently Mr. Malfoy had set out in a great hurry, for not only were his shoes half-polished, but his usually sleek hair was disheveled. Ignoring the elf bobbing apologetically around his ankles, he fixed his cold eyes upon Dumbledore.

Thanks to Mac Cooper for digging up the quotes

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  • I don't recall that. However I wouldn't have thought a man with Malfoys ego would have left home without shoes especially when he was enroute to confront Dumbledore.
    – Scanner
    Commented Jan 16, 2015 at 10:03
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    The elf was carrying a stained rag with which he was attempting to finish cleaning Mr. Malfoys shoes. Apparently Mr. Malfoy had set out in a great hurry, for not only were his shoes half-polished, but his usually sleek hair was disheveled. Ignoring the elf bobbing apologetically around his ankles, he fixed his cold eyes upon Dumbledore.
    – Mac Cooper
    Commented Jan 16, 2015 at 10:10
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    Heh, my pleasure :) excellent memory, by the way. I didn't recall this at all either . +1
    – Mac Cooper
    Commented Jan 16, 2015 at 10:15
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    Where is that quote from? It's not in my (Bloomsbury/UK) version of the book, where the paragraph ends after “look of abject terror on his face”. Is there an extended, editor’s cut version I'm unaware of?
    – Janus Bahs Jacquet
    Commented Apr 15, 2015 at 15:21
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    @JanusBahsJacquet Those three sentences were apparently created for the US edition.
    – The Dark Lord
    Commented Sep 22, 2017 at 16:30
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There was absolutely no reason for this. Just for the sake of the plot. Wizards don't usually walk around with their house elves. The only other time we see a house elf outside the family house is when Winky was at the Quidditch World Cup, and that was due to the fact that she was Barty Crouch, Jr's chaperone. I am not counting Kreature's disappearances from Grimmauld Place.

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    yeah it just doesn't seem to fit. Especially when the point of a house elf is surely to stay within the Wizarding family's home and perform their housekeeping duties. What made me wonder was because earlier in the book at Flourish and Blotts when the Malfoys are taunting Harry and the others, surely that would have been a good point to have Dobby accompanying them when presumably they were purchasing Dracos school supplies (As well as selling some "embarrassing items" to Borgin and Burkes), so that he could help them carry those items.
    – Scanner
    Commented Jan 16, 2015 at 9:57

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