'Harry Potter' fans reportedly forced energy project's relocation to avoid Dobby's grave

The CEO of the company behind the project said on a podcast that it received "hundreds of calls" about not disrupting the house elf's resting place. Published Aug. 13, 2026 A claim that "Harry Potter" fans forced the diversion of an energy project between the United Kingdom and Ireland so that it would not interfere with the fictional grave of Dobby, the house elf who helped the titular character throughout the series of movies and books, appears to be true based on available evidence. The claim is based on comments made on a podcast by Simon Ludlam, founder and CEO of Etchea Energy, the company behind the project. Ludlam said the company received "hundreds of calls" from people concerned about the planned project because it would go "straight through Dobby's grave." We have no reason to doubt the authenticity of Ludlam's claims. However, without primary evidence such as emails showing complaints or audio recordings of phone calls, we've left this claim unrated. Snopes contacted Ludlam and Etchea Energy for comment on his remarks and proof of the outreach from "Harry Potter" fans. We will update this article if we receive a response. In August 2026, a claim circulated online that "Harry Potter" fans forced the diversion of an energy project between the United Kingdom and Ireland so that it would not interfere with the fictional grave of Dobby, the house elf who helped the titular character throughout the series of movies and books. For example, one Facebook user wrote (archived), in part, "Harry Potter fans successfully forced the relocation of a $530 million power cable project because the planned site interfered with the burial site of Dobby, a fictional elf." The story also spread on X, where one user said, "The power cable linking the UK & Ireland now passes near Bronze Age human burial remains instead of the fictional character's grave site following complaints from fans." In short, the claim appears to be true based on available evidence. It is based on comments made on a podcast by Simon Ludlam, founder and CEO of Etchea Energy, the company behind the project. Ludlam said the company fielded calls from people objecting to the project because it would "go straight through Dobby's grave." We have no reason to doubt the authenticity of Ludlam's claims. However, without primary evidence such as emails showing such complaints or audio recordings of phone calls, we've left this claim unrated. Snopes contacted Ludlam and Etchea Energy for comment on his remarks and proof of the outreach from "Harry Potter" fans. We will update this article if we receive responses. The Etchea Energy CEO appeared on the Aug. 5, 2026, episode of a podcast called "The Energy Revolution," a show that explores "the most important questions that will make or break the clean energy transition." Ludlam was discussing Greenlink, his company's "electricity interconnector project [that began in 2022] that links the electricity grids in Ireland and Great Britain." Etchea describes the goal of the project as delivering "increased energy security, regional investment and value for money to consumers, and will enable the further integration of low carbon renewable energy sources." When asked about challenges that faced the project, Ludlam described learning about Dobby the House Elf, a major character in the series of "Harry Potter" books and films. The excerpt regarding Dobby and Greenlink begins around 18 minutes into the episode. The podcast's host, Sulaiman Ilyas-Jarrett, also posted a clip from the episode on LinkedIn (archived), in which Ludlam made the remarks. Both the audio and the video are authentic, meaning they show no signs of being altered through digital manipulation or being created by an artificial intelligence tool. The CEO relayed a conversation he had with a colleague after appearing in an on-camera interview detailing the scope and location of the project. He said the company received "hundreds of calls" from people concerned about the planned project. Ludlam explained: I said, "Well Tom, what are they on about?" And he said, "Well, look. Apparently, we're going to go straight through Dobby's grave." I said, "Dobby? Who's Dobby?" And they said, "Dobby... in 'Harry Potter.' You pointed out very clearly where his grave was and that the cable is going to go directly through it." And I said, "Well, he's a fictitious character in a fictitious book. The whole thing's fictitious, what are you talking about?" "No," he said. "It's very, very serious." And it was serious. It was serious. And so we got back with the planners and we discussed exactly how to reroute the cable so we wouldn't go anywhere near Dobby's grave. Actually we went quite close to some real Bronze Age remains but we avoided Dobby's grave. A lot of people were very happy about that. And the project's now going and Dobby's happy. The location in question is Freshwater West Beach in Pembrokeshire, a Welsh county, which was the filming location for Dobby's final resting place in "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1." Other news media outlets, such as the BBC, The Guardian, CNN and The Daily Mail, also reported on Ludlam's comments, which further spread the claim online. A search for reports about complaints from "Harry Potter" fans regarding the incident, prior to Ludlam's comments on "The Energy Revolution," came up empty. In 2022, The New York Times reported that a local conservation group, National Trust Wales, requested fans stop leaving socks on the beach — a reference to how Dobby's character is freed from servitude in the series — as it was considered "environmentally ruinous litter." Sources Gourlay, Andy. Harry Potter Fans Force Power Link Diversion to Avoid Dobby's Grave. 9 Aug. 2026, https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cy8mgpl27dpo. Accessed 12 Aug. 2026."Harry Potter | Filming Locations."Horton, Helena. "Harry Potter Fans Force Relocation of £430M Undersea Cable to Avoid Dobby's 'Grave.'" The Guardian, The Guardian, 10 Aug. 2026, https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2026/aug/10/harry-potter-fans-force-relocation-of-430m-undersea-cable-to-avoid-dobbys-grave. Accessed 12 Aug. 2026.Reck, Charlotte. "$580 Million Undersea Power Cable Rerouted to Spare Dobby the House-Elf's Beachside 'Grave.'" CNN, 10 Aug. 2026, https://www.cnn.com/2026/08/10/travel/harry-potter-dobby-grave-cable-diversion-intl-scli. Accessed 12 Aug. 2026.Rossiter, Joe. "Furious Harry Potter Fans Force Developers to Divert Their £430Million Energy Project to Protect Filming Spot of Dobby the Elf's Grave on Welsh Beach." Mail Online, Daily Mail, 8 Aug. 2026, https://www.dailymail.com/news/article-16038637/Harry-Potter-fans-energy-project-elf-grave-beach.html. Accessed 12 Aug. 2026."Services | Etchea Energy." Media and News, 2026, https://www.etchea-energy.com/our-team. Accessed 12 Aug. 2026."Spotify – Web Player." Spotify, 2026, https://open.spotify.com/episode/6p6drHCtPHfoXkRcOk6WuK. Accessed 12 Aug. 2026.Victor, Daniel. "Dobby's Grave Can Stay on a Beach in Wales, but Please Stop Giving Him Socks." The New York Times, 2 Nov. 2022, https://www.nytimes.com/2022/11/02/world/europe/dobby-grave-beach-wales.html?smid=tw-nytimes&smtyp=cur. Accessed 12 Aug. 2026. By Joey Esposito Joey Esposito has written for a variety of entertainment publications. He's into music, video games ... and birds. Article Tags