dudley's hospital visit

[Ferrus]

Thank you Alice, that´s exactly what I meant, the Dursleys obviously aren´t swimming in money, but they are far from poor. Also, I think that Vernon would be willing to pay considerable amounts to avoid going to St Mungo´s

[pallas artemis]

I'm just saying that I've always been under the influence, which could be completely wrong , that the Dursleys were the type of people that live just barely within their means. I've always felt that they put up a pretense of being much better off than they really are. Maybe your right and they have extra money on hand. I haven't been nearly as confident of my on theory or opinion since I joined this forum. Everybody is so well informed.

[Alice I]

No one here wants to make you feel less than confident in your opinions.
Everyone here is pretty smart including you and we all speak our minds.
That is when real inspiration comes.

Sorry if any of the sometime vigorous discussions made you uncomfortable.
because we all still want to hear your opinions.

[Athena Appleton]

You know how, in Goblet of Fire, Harry watches as Vernon has an inner battle between his two greatest impulses of making Harry miserable and getting rid of Harry? I think something like this would happen when faced with the decision of what to do about Dudley's tail. He has the great hatred of all things magical, but underneath that, he has a great desire to appear 100% normal to everyone he meets. So I think that would be an arguement for Vernon at least considering St. Mungo's, if it was an option at all.

Anyway, about the money situation in the Dursley house...

The Dursleys complain constantly about the cost of raising Harry, but this has less to do with them being short on money and more to do with making Harry miserable and reminding him over and over again that they are "sacrificing" for his sake.

What do we know about the Dursleys?

In P/SS, we get a glimpse into what Dudley has come to expect for his birthdays, Christmasses, etc. A LOT!!! Not only does he get the most expensive toys and gadgets, he rarely even has a real need for them (he gets a tv in the kitchen just so he won't have to get up), and he doesn't take care of his things at all (there's a room full of broken toys that he's ruined, and the Dursleys dont' seem the least bit bothered by that... not exactly the behavior of a family struggling.)

In GoF, we learn that Vernon judges others on their possessions (the preoccupation with the Weasleys' car, dressing up in his best clothes to indimidate). That's generally not a quality someone who is struggling for money has.

Also, if you think about it, a three-bedroom house in a nice neighborhood in a nice suburb for a couple and their son (since they consider Harry to be a kind of subhuman, they would give him a closet even if there were eight bedrooms) is really nothing to squawk at. It's never said that it's a really small house, only that there are three bedrooms. There are some nice three-bedroom homes out there. We know from the descriptions, mainly in OotP, of their neighborhood that it's a very respectable area, with people who have neatly trimmed yards and nice houses, and people with neatly trimmed yards and nice houses generally are not of a low-class kind of people.