The Dursleys' Motivation for Not Sending Harry to an Orphanage

[Steve]

No: HPFGUIDX 44027

--- In HPforGrownups at y..., "erisedstraeh2002" <erisedstraeh2002 at y...>
wrote:
> ... Since the Dursleys are not portrayed as the most generous 
> of sorts, why would they keep Harry after he was deposited on their 
> doorstep rather than drive him straight to the nearest orphanage?  
> ...EDITED...
> ~Phyllis

bboy_mn:
I have absolutely nothing to base this on, but I wondered if maybe
there wasn't an incentive in the infamous Dumbledore letter that
encouraged the Dursley's. 

Something along the line of £100,000 (pounds; US$140,000) if they kept
Harry until he became of age in the wizard world. 

They hate Harry, they hate his parents, they hate all wizards, but
they sure would love the money. (Think vacation home in Majorca.) So
they are putting as little into raising Harry as possilbe in order to
maximize their return.

It's really going to be interesting when we finally find out what that
letter from Dumbledore said.

Another unrelated possiblity is that it was simply a matter of saving
face. What would the neighbors think, if the Dursley's turned their
own flesh and blood over to an orphanage? How cold and callous would
that be in the eyes of friends and neighbors. Again, they are stuck
with a social duty, but they don't have to like it, and they don't
have to put any more than is absolutely necessary into the effort then
what is required to meet that minimum obligation.

Just a thought.
bboy_mn