Malfoy Money---A Thought

[Eric Oppen]

No: HPFGUIDX 47347

This is something that just occured to me.

How do we _know_ that the Malfoys have gobs and gobs o'money?  It could be
that one reason that darling Drakie didn't go to Durmstrang is that Hogwarts
wouldn't charge fees for his tuition, while Durmstrang _would._

Owning Malfoy Manor doesn't mean much---many very old families had/have
ancestral estates that are "entailed," meaning they can't be sold out of the
family by wastrel descendants.  And even buying those brooms might not mean
that the Malfoys have a lot of money.  If one of the things they _do_ have
is part-ownership of the broom manufactory (broomery?) Malfoy Sr. might have
been able to swing the new brooms as part of his perqs, instead of paying
cash.

Draco's eagle-owl might be like Malfoy Manor---"in the family," but not
bought new.  And if they do have a house-elf or two, we know that
house-elves don't need to be paid, and they could be inherited, the way
Winky was.

Even if the Malfoys _are_ well-off, compared to the Weasleys, that doesn't
mean that they weren't a lot richer in the past.  The Malfoys we know might
well not be short of the readies, but _feel_ horribly pinched compared to
their ancestors.

This gives us a reason why they'd follow Voldemort---if Lord V. promised
Lucius a return to Those Thrilling Days Of Yesteryear, and to restore the
Malfoy fortune to what it was in those times, a Lucius Malfoy who had been
brooding about his family's (relative) fall from fortune might well listen.

Comments?  Acronyms?