The rules are clear.
An elf only receives freedom if YOUR MASTER gives you an item of his clothing... however the clothing was not Lucius's, but Harry's. Lucius never intended to give anything to his elf.
So why Dobby get his freedom??? It does not make any sense
And Lucius did. He gave him a sock. That it was Harry's sock is irrelevant. No where in the rules does it say a wizard must give an elf an item of their clothing to free them. The rule is the wizard must give an elf A item of clothing to free them
shareCorrect. It was "Master has given Dobby a sock!", and he didn't care whose.
Quite frankly, another House Elf might not have counted it as granting freedom, he or she would have thought of the sock as just more damn laundry to do. But Dobby wanted to be free much more than most elves, so he'd stretched a point if he had to.