Devoted Harry Potter fans successfully lobbied developers to alter the route of a major cross-border energy pipeline after raising concerns that construction could damage an informal seaside memorial dedicated to the fictional character Dobby the House Elf.
According to the BBC, the Sh74.86 billion (£430 million) Greenlink interconnector project involves laying a 125-mile subsea cable between County Wexford in Ireland and Freshwater West in Pembrokeshire, Wales.
Freshwater West served as the filming location for Dobby's death in the Harry Potter series, prompting fans to create an unofficial shrine using inscribed rocks and pebbles.
Etchea Energy founder Simon Ludlam, who managed the project, said a televised news interview about the planned route triggered an immediate backlash from Harry Potter fans.
Hundreds of concerned viewers contacted his firm after realising that the original route passed directly through the memorial site.
"And we got hundreds of calls, I mean hundreds of calls. I said, 'Dobby, who's Dobby? I don't know Dobby?'" Ludlam said during a recent podcast appearance.
"I said, 'He's a fictitious character in a fictitious book, the whole thing is fictitious, what are you talking about?'"
Ludlam said engineers eventually adjusted the route to avoid the memorial.
"Actually, we went quite close to some real Bronze Age remains, but we avoided Dobby's grave," he added.
Following consultations with local planning authorities, engineers altered the cable alignment to maintain a safe distance from the popular shrine.
This is not the first time the public has intervened to protect the site. In 2022, the National Trust, the landowner, allowed the memorial to remain following a public consultation.
However, managers asked visitors to stop leaving socks and plastic items at the site to protect local wildlife and the coastal ecosystem.
Dobby, a beloved house-elf in the Harry Potter series, was voiced by Toby Jones. He is remembered for his fierce loyalty and bravery.
Originally bound to lifelong servitude under the Malfoy family, Dobby gained his freedom when Harry Potter tricked his master into giving him a sock.
He later sacrificed himself while helping Harry and his friends escape Malfoy Manor, where he was fatally wounded by Bellatrix Lestrange.
To honour Dobby, Harry dug his grave by hand without using magic at Shell Cottage in Wales. The grave is marked by a white stone bearing the inscription, "Here Lies Dobby, A Free Elf."
The seaside memorial has since become a popular pilgrimage site for Harry Potter fans.