Dobby is … free?
Last week, Facebook user Vivian Gomez of La Junta, CO posted home security footage of someone or something who looks uncannily similar to Dobby, the skittish, big-eared “house elf” of the Harry Potter series.
“So I woke up Sunday morning and saw this on my camera and am trying to figure out…what the heck?? First I saw the shadow walking from my front door then I saw this thing….has anyone else seen this on their cameras?? The other two cameras didn’t pick it up for some reason,” Gomez wrote in a viral video post that’s garnered some 9.5 million views so far.
In the video, the frame is locked on a dark-colored sedan in a driveway when suddenly a shadow appears at the lower left side of the screen — one with a long, lean body and a wide head with something that appears to be flopping, as if it were a large dog ear. Suddenly a gangling figure emerges, waddling away from the lens, and brings his hands up under his arms in a “chicken dance” gesture. The mysterious creature then throws his arms behind his back and duck walks towards the front of the car. The clip cuts off before the thing shows it’s face.
In a series of comments on the video, Gomez claims the footage is completely undoctored, and maintains she has no idea what she saw. Now, the viral post has social media asking themselves if they believe in magic.
“Dobby came to make sure you are safe!!” commented Maury Wills on Facebook.
“Looks like Dobi from Harry Potter! This has to be a gag video! Are people really falling for this?” added Crystal Cuckow.
Brandon Thompson, who appears to know Gomez, suggested the strange creature could be someone the O.P. knows — “Bobby” — implying a human child may have been up late, restless from playing “too much Fortnite.” Thompson also pointed out a shadow at the bottom right side of the screen that resembles a door opening and closing.
Apparently recognizing the figure’s bizarre gait, Jerry Chambers asked, “Is Bobby sleep walking? I can see his little chicken walk.”
Fearing a much more unsettling explanation, Angela Ayala speculated, “Kinda looks like flip-flops and sounds like them too. Tweaker with a bandana on their head??”
“Probably the girl who walks around throwing her arms out all the time. Aka Tweaker,” added Evelyn Hough.
In the Harry Potter universe, a house elf is considered free once he receives a gift from his master — in Dobby’s case, a sock — so one can only hope this house elf (or fidgety Fortnite addict?) had just received a pair of flip-flops before chicken dancing off into the darkness.