Harry's Big Money Gift.....(Was: Clues from GoF)

Mon Mar 3 15:37:56 UTC 2003

No: HPFGUIDX 53066

--- In HPforGrownups at yahoogroups.com, "Erica <cymru1ca at y...>" 
<cymru1ca at y...> wrote:
<Snip> 
> Me:  
> 
> I don't think that Harry analysed want vs need when he 'forced' 
> the money onto the twins.  He's been trying to get rid of it, to 
> give it to anyone since he 'won' it (didn't he offer it to the 
> Diggory's too?).  

'Anyone' is not the case. In canon Harry only offers the money to 
Cedric Diggory's parents before he gives it to the twins.

I would point out that Cedric's parents are *morally* the people the 
money should have gone to. Had Fudge believed Harry's story, he 
would have known that Cedric was the real winner of the Triwizard 
Tournament and that his prize money should have gone to his parents, 
who would be his heirs in law. Even with Fudge *not* believing 
Harry's story, Cedric still touched the Triwizard cup at the same 
time as Harry; Harry should *never* have been given the full 
thousand. The prize should have been split.

I doubt the Diggory's would ever have wanted the money, but they 
should at least have been asked by Fudge if they would like it used 
for something in Cedric's memory. But Fudge doesn't want to remember 
Cedric. He wants the whole affair swept under the carpet.

Harry offers it to Cedric's parents with the words 'It should've 
been Cedric's, he got there first ...' [GoF, UK paperback,Ch. 37 
p.621]. 

So, in canon, the only people he's tried to give the money away to 
are the people who have a moral claim to it, *or* the people who 
he's just found out were cheated out of their savings. 

> Nobody wanted to take it, so he's stuck with it on the train 
> ride home where he comes to find out the twins' hard luck story 
> and foists the money onto them.  They are hesitant to take it 
> until Harry *insists*.  

Yup. I'd be hesitant if a fourteen year old offered me a thousand 
quid as a gift. One thousand galleons is probably more like, say, 
fifteen thousand quid? 20,000 dollars? Gred and Forge, for all their 
joking around and having little bets, show their basic honesty by 
*not* wanting to take Harry's money. 

Harry is also quite specific about what he wants the money to be 
used for: 'You take it and get inventing. It's for the joke-shop.' 
[GoF, UK paperback,Ch. 37 p.635]. He asks them to buy Ron new dress 
robes as a 'favour'.

Would Cedric have liked the way Harry used his prize money? 
Probably. He was a Hufflepuff who values hard work. He would have 
liked the fact that Harry gives the money specifically to help start 
the twins in their career. A career, incidentally, that Harry knows 
the Twins have been working hard on. He valued fair play; he would 
have liked the fact that Harry uses it to help two boys who have 
been *cheated* out of their savings.

> I don't think that Harry even entertained 
> the thought of giving it to Ron, not because he thought that Ron 
> would blow it all on himslef on sweets and 'toys' (I happen to 
> think that if Ron came into some money he'd be sharing it with his 
> whole family not keeping it for himself) but because he knows 
> that Ron *hates* to be beholding to him.  Everytime Harry tries to 
> give Ron a gift out of the ordinary (i.e. outside Christmas, 
> birthdays) it seems to irritate the bejeezus out of Ron.  Isn't 
> that what the 'Buy Ron a new dress robe but don't tell him they're 
> from me' is all about?  What would Ron do if he found out that his 
> new dress robes *were* from Harry?
> Erica

Which goes back to Jealous!Ron, which is where this whole thing 
started. Ron can't accept generous gifts from a close friend who can 
easily afford them. Further, Ron doesn't seem to value his family's 
ability to give non-monetary gifts. Mr Weasley has wangled two extra 
tickets for the QWC so Ron's *two* closest friends can come. Both of 
Ron's good friends also get invited to stay at The Burrow for two 
weeks.

So Harry had just received the gift of the QWC trip from the 
Weasley's. Why shouldn't he buy a 'thank you' present for Ron? But 
Ron can't see it that way. Ron only wants Harry to buy him the sort 
of things that Ron can afford. 

Ron is like the friend in a pub who won't let you buy him a drink 
because *he* can't afford to buy you one. This can really put a 
damper on a good evening [grin]. Especially when your friend can't 
seem to understand that you *know* he'd buy his round if he had the 
money. 

Pip