Fees for Harry

[Catlady (Rita Prince Winston)]

No: HPFGUIDX 179350


lLizzyben wrote in
<http://groups.yahoo.com/group/HPforGrownups/message/179342>:

<< When DD goes to chastise the Dursleys in HBP, he never mentions
giving the Dursleys any monetary payments, or complains that the
Dursleys misused the money they were given. >>

That one is a pretty good point.

<< "How often had they complained how much Harry cost them to keep?">>
<< Petunia complains about the expense of keeping Harry, but never 
mentions getting any financial support. >>

Well, she wouldn't, would she? Even if the entire Dursley family was
living on Harry's hypothetical generous allowance, she would complain
about the expense of keeping him. It's her personality.

<< Well, yeah, maybe he e-transferred Gringotts gold directly to the 
Dursleys' bank account >>

We know Gringotts converts between Muggle money and wizarding money.
They wouldn't need to do electronic funds transfer to hand the Muggle
cash to someone to deposit either straight to Vernon and Petunia's
Muggle account, or into a Muggle account that DD had set up to make
the EFT. Or DD might have funded his Muggle account with one lump
withdrawal of cash and instructions for paying it out, perhaps during
the 24 hours between Hagrid taking Harry from Godric's Hollow and DD
putting Harry on the doorstep. Or he might have used the lump sum to
buy Harry a Muggle annuity. 

DD reads Muggle newspapers; the newspapers contain Muggle bank and
insurance ads, and personal finance columns; he's clever despite being
evil; he could figure it out. 

DD's mother was Muggle-born. Had she entirely cast off her Muggle
family, or did her sons grow up knowing their Muggle grandparents and
cousins? If she had cast off her Muggle family, had she cast off the
rest of the Muggle world with it? Maybe she was a big-time investor in
the Muggle stock market, and her sons learned finance as well as lies
and secrecy at her knee.

<< But when Harry first discovers his Gringotts bank vault, he
realizes that the Dursleys had no idea that he had inherited money:
"All Harry's -- it was incredible. The Dursleys couldn't have known 
about this or they'd have had it from him faster than blinking. (snip)
 And all the  time there had been a small fortune belonging to him,
buried deep under London." >> << Vernon Dursley first realizes that
Harry might have money in HBP, & his attitude changes at that time. >>

Thinking that James and Lily had somehow had enough sense to buy life
insurance to buy an annuity for their kid if 'something happened' to
them is not the same as thinking that Harry has access to a large bank
account for when he comes of age. I'm sure Vernon thinks in terms of
insurance and annuities. If it were the US, if he weren't *sure* both
James and Lily were layabouts, he'd think that they hadn't had enough
sense to buy life insurance, but got it as an employee benefit.