A journey "into the thickets of wildest guesswork."

[twitterpatedbabykoala]

No: HPFGUIDX 161625

> This may explain Dumbledore's comment at the end of OotP, that 
> he has watched Harry "more closely than he [Harry] can possibly 
> imagine."
> 
> Okay, I am steeling myself to be flamed.  

I like your theory!  It's great to see someone adventuring 'into the 
thickets of wildest guesswork', rather than bickering about literary 
style and various minutiae!  

That said, I'm not sure I can completely buy into it.  It's certainly 
possible...  Hermione's contempt for the institution of house elf 
service is hardly universal in the wizarding world, even among "good" 
wizards.  So I don't think that one could make the argument that nice 
wizards wouldn't have house elves.  And, the gold did have to come 
from somewhere, so I suppose it's possible that the Potters are 'old 
money.'  (Actually, now that I've said that, do I remember JKR saying 
at some point that they are?  That may negate what I am about to say 
next...)  

Putting on my British hat for a moment, though, the name "Potter" 
makes me wonder if James' family was actually middle class.  The 
class structure, after all, is more rigid in Britain, with less 
movement up and down.  A family with the name Potter (at least prior 
to the Information Age, and the books are set in the '90s, just prior 
to the real explosion... and of course, the WW wouldn't really be 
affected by technology, anyway) seems more likely to be middle class 
by history.  Of course, at any point along the line, some very smart 
Potter could have made a fortune... I've seen it suggested (probably 
here) that they may have pioneered some sort of really excellent 
cauldron design.  But, given JKR's conscious choice of Potter as 
Harry's surname, it seems somewhat unlikely that James' parents 
were 'old money' in the same sense that, for example, the Malfoys 
are.  And old money families seem to be the ones that have house 
elves.

I've also always wondered if James and Lily were actually rich, or if 
they just seem that way to Harry.  After all, most working adults 
have lots and lots of money in the eyes of children.  When you are 
11, $50 is a lot of money.  When you are 30 and married, it's 
probably only a very modest percentage of your monthly income.  (And, 
one would think that wizards would have more discretionary income 
than the rest of us, given their ability to transfigure things that 
they need.)  I don't think that there is enough evidence from adult 
wizards regarding the size of Harry's bank account to say whether it 
is actually huge, or if it is just a lot more money than the average 
child has.  Could go either way.

But anyway, yes, I like your theory!  And I will cheer for you if it 
turns out to be right :)

Becca