[HPforGrownups] How wealthy is Harry Potter?

[Morag Traynor]

No: HPFGUIDX 16933

Neil wrote:


>Rena said:
>
>That's a very good point, Rena, and if he did have a vast fortune, he might
>have considered buying, or been advised to buy, himself a house and get 
>away
>from the Dursleys for good (or perhaps become a permanent tenant  at The
>Leaky Cauldron?).  It wouldn't make sense for someone so independently
>wealthy to be living in a poky bedroom at his Aunt and Uncle's house, would
>it?
>
>I think this ties in with the POV discussion we were having: i.e., to what
>extent does Harry realise the extent of his wealth and to what extent is
>this concept of "a small fortune" a third person perspective?  Is it
>possible that he is more wealthy than he realises?

Absolutely.  I am convinced that Harry is even wealthier than he realizes.  
The heaps of gold in Harry's vault is very much a child's conception of 
wealth.  By the end of GoF, Harry is an entrepreneur, investing in Fred and 
George's joke shop.  Though he doesn't do it for financial profit, I expect 
he'll get a good return!:)  Reasons for thinking he has considerable wealth 
are basically from outside the text.  JKR has stated that James Potter 
inherited enough money not to have to work for a living, and also inherited 
the "rare and valuable" (Ron, paraphrased) invisibility cloak that comes 
down to Harry.  Harry is already learning the price of fame - I think he is 
going to find that he is an important and powerful person in the wizarding 
world, and his wealth will be part of that.

As for why he doesn't buy a house:
1)  We know he is only really safe at the Dursleys, for reasons yet to be 
fully revealed (not to mention the reason that his enviable talents, 
courage, wealth, skill at Quidditch etc are balanced by his unenviable life 
with the Dursleys and his fundamental loneliness, despite his friends).
2) How many 14-year olds, however rich, live independently in their own 
houses?
3)  I think he will find, at some stage, that he already *has* a house, 
complete with house-elves.  The Potters' house in Godric's Hollow was, as we 
know, destroyed.  But they were only hiding out there - presumably they had 
some other residence.  It will be part of his finding the home he's never 
had.

>
>With regard to the school fees, I suppose we can assume they are not
>exorbitant, since the Weasleys have four or five of their children at the
>school at any one time and will have put all seven of them through the
>school by the time Ginny leaves.  I guess we could conclude that the
>Weasleys are so poor *because* they've had to put their children through
>Hogwarts; if not, where on earth do they find the money to do it?  How,
>indeed, do any of the parents of Hogwarts' students find the money, and 
>what
>happens to the children of those who can't afford it?

JKR has said in interview that she has never said there are *any* fees for 
Hogwarts.  The magical community is so small that they cannot afford to deny 
a magical education to any child who can benefit from it, not to mention the 
security angle.  Though Hogwarts is in some ways reminiscent of an English 
public school, it is clearly not a privilege confined to the well-off.  The 
Malfoys (snr and jnr) taunt the Weasleys with not being able to afford new 
books and equipment, but never mention the fees.
>
>When Harry handed over his Triwizard winnings to the twins at the end of
>GoF, he obviously wanted them to have the money and it did seem to be in 
>the
>spirit of generosity, but how much did he realise the value of this 
>gesture?
>Did the money represent, say, a year's schooling to him, or a molehill in
>his mountain of Galleons?
I don't think it was just, or even particularly, in a spirit of generosity.  
I think the money represented a *moral* problem to Harry, considering how he 
came by it.  After all, he said he's throw it down the drain if they 
wouldn't take it.  Giving the money to Fred and George rights the wrong 
Bagman did them, and encourages them in a path of which their mother 
disapproves, so, in a way, represents a criticism of the adult world and 
backs his own generation.  Also, in his own way, he sees it as part of the 
fight against Voldemort, as shown in his comment that they will need all the 
laughs they can get in the future, and therefore a fitting and practical 
memorial to Cedric Diggory.  It is his first real decision that makes a 
difference in the world.

I am fascinated by the political economy of the books, but this is a long 
enough posting already.  I particularly like Ron's reaction to a 50p piece 
"That's money? *Weird!*"  (From memory - what these books need is an *index* 
:) )
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