Harry Potter fans have secured a multi-million dollar power line connecting Britain and Ireland from passing over the supposed grave of house-elf Dobby, the BBC reports.
The 430 million pounds Greenlink network will connect the UK’s electricity grid to Ireland via a 125-mile undersea cable, from County Wexford in Ireland to Pembrokeshire in the UK. The beach in Pembrokeshire is the location where the death of fictional character Dobby the house-elf was filmed in one of the Harry Potter films.
Simon Ludlam, the project manager for the power line, told Energy Revolution that the cable was originally planned to run directly under the memorial, but Potter fans called the company hundreds of times. He added that the cable had to be routed quite close to real Bronze Age burials to avoid Dobby’s grave.
Ladlam, who is the founder of Etchea Energy, told the BBC that the project had become a public relations nightmare after fans found out about the company’s plans. Ladlam said that after giving an interview in which he pointed out the location of the cable, he flew back to London.
A couple of weeks later, the interview was made public, and then the company suddenly received hundreds of calls.
A colleague told Ladlam about the calls and pointed out that, apparently, the cable would cross Dobby’s grave. “I said, ‘Dobby, who is Dobby? I don’t know Dobby?’” Ladlam recalled. He was surprised because it was a fictional character and the memorial was also a fictional memorial, but his colleague pointed out that it was really meant to be serious.
The fans’ objections were followed by discussions with the owners to figure out exactly how to reroute the cable so that it would not be near Dobby’s grave. Now everyone is happy, Dobby is happy, and the project is moving forward.
Bronze Age burials near the cable are mentioned in Pembrokeshire County Council’s planning documents. Archaeological excavations near the cable route have found a fragment of a Bronze Age pottery vessel, which is usually associated with burial sites.
The cable’s rerouting is not the first time that Dobby’s grave has been saved. In 2022, the British National Trust ruled that the memorial site could remain, but urged fans to avoid leaving souvenirs. Fans were asked not to leave socks on the imaginary grave, which is made up of pebbles with messages, as the beach ecosystem is very sensitive.
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