It makes a *vast* difference to be writing a fic that you *know* from the get-go is going to be read by a primarily adult audience and subjected to adult scrutiny -- as every fanfic ultimately is -- opposed to one that the author knows is going to be deliberately marketed to an audience which will purchase the book to give to their children and may never even glance at it themselves. With the publishers' marketing department trumpeting to the skies that the book is *for children* all the while. Rowling seems to have used the difference as an excuse for lazy scene-setting.
The point of the Potter's vault of gold was to underscore the classic Cinderlad of the opening of the story. The child with nothing, living on the grudging charity of his nasty relatives turns out to have a vault of gold to supply all of his worldly needs. It also eliminates any point in the later part of the series where something might need to be dealt with, but can't because there is no money. But the vault of gold is not a major element of the *story*. It's just another of her "use once and dispense with" bits of scene-dressing. Once we get the punch line, we scarcely ever hear of it again. Nor should we. The story isn't about Harry's fortune.
Tucked away in the official site are statements which strongly indicate that James supported himself, Lily, Remus, and even Sirius during the years that they were Order members, and that none of them had outside employment. They were "full time fighters" of the Order. Never mind that Rowling has never given us a plausible reason for why Albus should even have an Order to duplicate the efforts of the Ministry, except to stand in symetrical opposition to Tom's Death Eaters. And given that they were fighting a shadow enemy who was always the one in charge of choosing the ground, I don't see what was so "full time" about it, either.
But Arsinoe de Blasenville extrapolated what really was at least a plausible explanation for what happened to the Potter fortune -- assuming that it was ever as large as fanon makes it. Rather a lot of the readers/reviewers of the fic waxed wroth over it though.
But in canon Harry has never been stated as having any more money than would get him comfortably through school. And, after all, up until Tom used his blood to resurect himself, Albus undoubtedly supposed that that would be all the boy would ever need.
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timeasmymeasure
Re: The Potter fortune, plugging the plothole
Date: 2011-05-20 10:58 pm (UTC)The point of the Potter's vault of gold was to underscore the classic Cinderlad of the opening of the story. The child with nothing, living on the grudging charity of his nasty relatives turns out to have a vault of gold to supply all of his worldly needs. It also eliminates any point in the later part of the series where something might need to be dealt with, but can't because there is no money. But the vault of gold is not a major element of the *story*. It's just another of her "use once and dispense with" bits of scene-dressing. Once we get the punch line, we scarcely ever hear of it again. Nor should we. The story isn't about Harry's fortune.
Tucked away in the official site are statements which strongly indicate that James supported himself, Lily, Remus, and even Sirius during the years that they were Order members, and that none of them had outside employment. They were "full time fighters" of the Order. Never mind that Rowling has never given us a plausible reason for why Albus should even have an Order to duplicate the efforts of the Ministry, except to stand in symetrical opposition to Tom's Death Eaters. And given that they were fighting a shadow enemy who was always the one in charge of choosing the ground, I don't see what was so "full time" about it, either.
But Arsinoe de Blasenville extrapolated what really was at least a plausible explanation for what happened to the Potter fortune -- assuming that it was ever as large as fanon makes it. Rather a lot of the readers/reviewers of the fic waxed wroth over it though.
But in canon Harry has never been stated as having any more money than would get him comfortably through school. And, after all, up until Tom used his blood to resurect himself, Albus undoubtedly supposed that that would be all the boy would ever need.