Audrey got to her feet. "Do you want another drink?" she asked collecting the empty beer bottles and her wine glass up.

"Yes, yes please," Arthur said.

Audrey heading for the kitchen. Returning with the beer before beginning to set the table. Arthur stood immediately hovering by the table.

Audrey smiled gently. "Take a seat Percy won't be long. Your ability to apparate means the food will still be hot. Could you put a warming charm on the plates for me?" she asked holding them out to Arthur.

Arthur readily agreed, pulling his wand from his sleeve and casting the spell silently.

Audrey smiled her thanks, laying them at the place settings. "Thank you for the money, it is very generous of you."

Arthur shook his head. "I want what is best for my children. I might have regretted it on occasion when they were younger and asking for things we couldn't give them, but I think it's better this way."

"My parents have given us a sum as well," Audrey said. "My sister used hers to go through university. They want us to use it for the house or the wedding. We've been very lucky to have such generous parents."

"Might I ask why you aren't marrying first?"

Audrey took her seat at the table waving Arthur into one. "For me? I love Percy I do, and I honestly think he's the one, but we've got to be sure, you know? We're still young, I don't want to be married at twenty-three and divorced at thirty. And, possibly this isn't really fair on Percy but, I've spent a bit of time with the Grangers and Hermione and Harry. I talk to Helen and John quite a bit on the mirror. They are helping me understand this world of magic I've been thrust into. It's not as if I can ask my parents for help you see." Audrey paused searching Arthur for understanding. "The law that made them leave, the one demanding Hermione marry. It's wrong. Not just unfair, or badly worded, but wrong. How can I marry Percy knowing that Hermione can't freely marry? How could I do that when Hermione can't? I'm not political, I don't protest or march or anything like that, but I know that it's wrong. As a muggle, my not marrying will have no effect whatsoever on this law, but if refusing to marry until they can, is the only way I can support them then so be it."

"It's under suspension now. It's no longer affecting any of the other muggle-born witches." Arthur pointed out.

"Yes, its suspended," Audrey agreed. "And they know that, but like John said, suspended isn't repealed. Suspended means that a political shift could bring it back and the muggleborn witches would be stuck again. Once it's repealed, they would have to pass it again, and that might meet more opposition." Audrey sighed. "I don't know. At the moment it just seems grossly unfair. I don't think Hermione and Harry would mind if we got married, but I think I would."

Percy reappeared with a small crack, a plastic carrier bag in one hand the smell of the hot food flooding the room. He eyed Arthur suspiciously at the sombre mood of the room. Audrey perked up and smiled brightly. "That smells good."

"Everything alright?"

"Yes, Arthur asked why we weren't marrying straight away, and I told him about Harry and Hermione."

"Ah," Percy said understandingly, he placed the bag down on the table and pulling the containers from within. Audrey started taking the lids off as Percy put them down.

"The suspension is to be reviewed in the autumn session," Percy told Arthur. "Since it is likely the law will be repealed once it undergoes that review I don't believe that it matters overly much to our plans. I have no objections to starting our home life before we marry." He shrugged as he sent the bag back floating back to the kitchen with all the lids of the containers. Taking a seat, he offered a serving spoon to Arthur and one to Audrey.

Arthur accepted the spoon and served himself some of the nearest containers. Rather than dwell on the topic of politics, he turned it back to the more immediate subject of houses. "What is the process for buying a house? Is it very different to ours?"

"Well," Audrey said between bites. "We'll work out the budget then see if there's anything we can afford we like, then do the viewings. Once we've found somewhere, make an offer and hope the sellers accept it."

"Not very different to ours then. We do viewings but also inspections of the magical foundations of the house. Will you be putting a hearthstone into the house you buy?"

"What is a hearthstone?" Audrey asked.

"It's a stone, literally, about the size of this plate that is covered in runes. Runes are magical symbols that have a variety of uses in a home. They are usually used for such as protection or to make the house welcoming to those that live there. Some can reduce illness in the house, so if you or Percy got a cold, you might get over it quicker if you stayed within the home as the magic of the Hearthstone will help you along."

"What sort of things do you have on your hearthstone?" Audrey asked fascinated.

"Ah well some things are family secrets, so I can't tell you, but we have one rune set that helps the garden grow. It also powers the wards that protect the house from being seen by our muggle neighbours as well, which was very necessary when the children wanted to fly." Arthur leaned over to Audrey conspiratorially. "We told them never to fly higher than the tree line when they played, but the wards on the house would have shielded them if they had flown at regulation quidditch height."

Percy sputtered at that. "They would?"

Arthur smiled serenely. "Oh yes," he waved a hand casually. "Not that we wanted you flying that high when you were younger. The accidents!" he shuddered.

"What else?"

"Well, there's things to ward against fire and flood. To help the structure support itself. Paint never peels, and the window cases won't rot or leak, that sort of thing."

"And we can put one of those in our house?"

Arthur glanced at Percy. "Well, it depends I suppose."

"On?" Audrey asked.

"The Burrow has a minor ley line running through the land. The ley is what powers the hearthstone in part as well as the magic of my family. I don't know if you will find a house on a ley line if you are looking for one in London. If you don't have a ley you can tap the magic from, it has to be infused with Percy's magic, and they can take a lot of magic to get up and running. Once they are in as long as Percy lives there, it will draw small amounts of his magic to keep it going."

"Oh," Audrey looked over at Percy hopefully. "Will we not have one then?"

"I had thought we might have a small one put in, but nothing as elaborate as some houses. Wards will need to be set around the property edges, I was going to ask Bill for his help." Percy admitted.

Arthur offered hesitantly. "If you like, I can help with your hearthstone."

"But you said it needed Percy's magic," Audrey pointed out.

"It does," Arthur explained. "Percy is my son; his magic came from mine and his mother's. I can help Percy do this because he's family. It wouldn't work with someone that wasn't closely related. I will speak to Bill and the twins if you have no objections? Between us, we can get a decent stone laid in. That is if you'd like us to help?"

"I would," Audrey declared. "And Percy would too. I think it's a very good idea to have something that can help protect our home."

Percy shook his head slightly and conceded gracefully. "Thank you. It is generous of you to offer."

Arthur shook his head slightly as his son's response. "I have to say this food is rather good. Do you eat it often?"

"Yes," Audrey said. "There are some good take outs close by. It's one of the reason we'd like to stay in the area. Perhaps next time you come for dinner, you might like to try an Indian? Curries are pieces of meat in a spicy sauce eaten with rice."

"That sounds intriguing," Arthur admitted. "I would be very interested in trying it."

Three days after Arthur had attended dinner Audrey and Percy sat down intent on working out their budget and how much they could afford to spend on a mortgage.

"If we can," Audrey said. "I'd like to leave the money my Mum and Dad gave us to one side for the wedding. I just think that if we can find somewhere that we like and don't need to use it, that means when we choose to get married when we want."

"That seems reasonable," Percy replied sitting down with a few sheets of blank parchment and the fountain pen Audrey had bought him. He rather liked the pen and found it much more pleasurable to write with. Audrey had a notebook open on her knee and a biro she was thoughtfully chewing the end of.

"I did some sums, my living expenses are seven hundred and twenty-five pounds a month including bills. The rent on the flat is five hundred a month, and the council tax is another eighty-five. Gas, electric, telephone bill, tv licence, food and a small clothing and entertaining budget make up the rest." Percy said writing the number down on the parchment.

Audrey sighed. "Mum helped me with mine, she came over to the shop last week and gave me the Spanish Inquisition. Needless to say, it was very thorough. I've got five hundred and fifty coming out of my pocket every month. There's a couple of saving I could make here and there but nothing spectacular. I've got nineteen and a half thousand squirrelled away in a savings account. I've been putting about thirty percent of my wage away every month. My low rent has helped boost that though."

Percy nodded as he jotted down the details. "I've done similar, I put nearly half of my wage after tax into savings. I know now why we didn't ever have a lot of money growing up but being brought up with very little money, I didn't want to live like that. I wanted the security of money in the bank and not worry about paying for new clothes."

Audrey reached out for his hand. "Was it that bad?"

Percy shook his head. "No, it wasn't, hand me down clothes and books didn't bother me it was the way my parents were treated because they were 'poor' and yet, they were sat on an enormous amount of money."

"Percy, how much did your dad give you?"

"Two thousand galleons."

Audrey choked. "That's ten grand. Holy mother of…. There's seven of you!"

"I know," Percy agreed. "It was a bit of shock for me too. It's genuinely amazing that he did it. That he held to the idea when they had so many children. Halving it would have still have given us each a lump sum and eased the burden on them while they brought us all up."

Audrey took a moment to marshal her thoughts after the bombshell of Percy's dad saving seventy thousand pounds to give to his children. "Right well, how much in savings do you have?" Audrey asked.

"In pounds?"

"Please, unless its an easy number the conversion is difficult."

"Sixty-four thousand."

Audrey felt her mouth drop open. "Pardon?"

"Sixty-four thousand," Percy repeated obligingly.

Audrey gaped at him her brain fumbling for purchase. She had always been proud of her savings. Her current pay of seventeen and a half thousand year before tax meant most of her friends earnt more than she did. She had thought her savings were impressive even if they were subsidised by her inflated wage and low rent. "How much do you earn?" Audrey asked flabbergasted.

"Currently just over thirty-eight thousand a year after tax. Pay rises at the Ministry are stringently enforced so there will be another in April."

"I didn't know," Audrey said faintly. "I mean I guessed you were paid well what with your working for the Minister but dear lord, that's a fortune!"

Percy shrugged. "It's paid in galleons. Eight thousand galleons seemed less."

Audrey smiled faintly. Eight thousand did sound less until it was multiplied by five. She shook off her surprise and picked up the details they had received from her Dad. "Is there anything in this pile that has caught your eye?"

"Perhaps," Percy admitted. "But I think we need to make an appointment and find out how much we can afford before we get to set.

Audrey concurred. "I'll ring the bank and make an appointment. You bank with a different bank, don't you? Do you think you should ring them? Can your wizarding bank offer a better deal?"

"I think we should stay muggle. It will make things easier in the long run."

"You mean they might not deal fairly with me?"

"Perhaps, perhaps not. But if we keep the mortgage in a muggle bank it isn't a problem."

Audrey shrugged largely unbothered, she wasn't magical after all, perhaps it was illogical to expect them to deal with her. She shuffled through the packet of estate agent details. "I liked the look of this one."

Percy accepted the house details and held his hand out for the pile. He selected the details of the house that had caught his eye and handed it to Audrey who started to smile then laugh. "Oh no, they couldn't be more different!"

Percy laughed as well. "I thought that. It seems compromises will be in order, but this is the first look at some details. Rick may yet find something that suits us both."

"Let's hope so."

Two weeks later the appointments at the bank had been attended, and they had a better understanding of the position financially. Lizzy had dragged them to see both the houses they had liked out of the initial pile while Rick set to work on finding something within budget. Neither houses had really been right for them, and they were happy to wait until something better came along. So when Rick called on Friday night and asked them to meet him the next morning, the agreed happily.

Saturday morning found them in Barnes on Madrid Street. The street was quiet, filled with tall semi-detached and terraced houses. Rick and Lizzy were waiting for them on the corner of the road as agreed.

Rick clapped his hands together after the hellos. "OK, what do you think so far?"

"It's nice," Audrey said glancing up and down the street. "Quiet, but I thought this area was the top end of our budget? These are not small houses. They must be well over two hundred thousand."

"They are," Rick agreed. "Except this one," he said taking three steps forward and pointing.

The house was sad. The windows were original wooden frames with peeling paint and dingy net curtains sagging behind dirty glass. The garden was overgrown, and the tiled path moss-covered.

"I know what it looks like," Rick said. "And I promise you inside isn't a picture, but you can see what it could be. These houses are big, you'll be able to raise a family here as long as you aren't afraid of a bit of hard work."

"How much is a bit?" Audrey asked. "It looks like it's going to fall down."

"It's not," Rick said a little impatiently. "I wouldn't show you anything that was that bad. It needs new windows. Certainly the gas and electric will need to be sorted, and it's going to want a new kitchen and bathroom. Obviously, it will need decorating completely, but you could make it yours. There's a garden that while overgrown currently is a good size."

"And how much will this hard work cost us?" Audrey asked warily.

"Let's look around it first," Rick said. "Then if you really hate it, it doesn't matter."

Audrey looked at the house misgiving writ large across her face. "What do you think?" she asked turning to Percy.

"Hard work isn't a problem," Percy replied looking at the house. Audrey turned to her Dad and indicated to him to lead the way.

"The estate agent is already here; the owners have already left," Rick told them as he half lifted half swung the gate open for them.

Audrey muttered under her breath and followed the group up the path. The front door was peeling the stained-glass porthole obscured by dirt.

Inside, the long dark hall led to the rear of the house with two doors leading off it. The estate agent who had been waiting for them inside the hall greeted them brightly and started rattling off the particulars about the house. "There's a front room and separate dining room. Of course, you could knock through and make it one lovely large room. This leads to the kitchen, at the back, there's some potential to expand that into the garden." The voice faded away as she led Rick and Lizzy into the kitchen. Audrey gingerly stepped into the front room. The walls were brown, and the carpet under her feet was dark and sticky. She tried not to think about that too much.

"Percy," she whispered to the man at her side. "What are we doing here?"

"Looking at a house," Percy replied.

"Percy, look at it, it's awful, someone probably died in here!"

Percy shook his head at her. "Rick wouldn't have brought us if he didn't think it was a good idea. Didn't you say something about hidden gems?"

Audrey snorted rudely. "There are hidden gems, then places like this Percy. It will cost a fortune to fix and take god only knows how much time."

"Presumably its cheap," Percy pointed out.

"It should be free," Audrey muttered darkly.

Percy snorted in amusement. "It's not likely to be, but magic is."

Audrey had been examining a suspect stain on the wall over where the sofa was unsure it if it was damp or something more sinister. At Percy's words, her head whipped around. "What?" she hissed quietly.

"Magic," Percy said again his eyes dancing with mirth. "Audrey I'm a wizard. This," he held his hand out expressively. "This is a swish and a flick."

"Really?"

Percy smiled wider. "I don't know the right spells to sand the floor or sort the plumbing, and there aren't any spells for wiring the electrics, but at least some of the things that you are worrying about are not issues. I can learn the spells. You'd be surprised what a good cleaning spell will do."

"Do they have fumigation spells?" Audrey asked.

"It's not that bad," Percy laughed. "Under the dirt, I think it has charm."

Audrey choked. "Charm?"

"Yes," Percy said decidedly. "I think it does. Come on, let's go and find out how bad it is. Stop looking at the dirt and start thinking of how nicely your bureau would go in that alcove." Pointing as he turned them towards the door.

Audrey glowered unconvincingly. "I'm not going to be swayed by having space for a bureau Percy."

"Well, you can't blame a chap for trying. I'm sure you've done estate sales worse haven't you?"

"No," Audrey said. "I have to say that this has stolen the top spot for 'most awful house'."

They stuck their heads around the dining room door which was gloomy and dark due to overgrown bushes and dirtier net curtains. The room was a good size, and the previous owner's table clearly sat eight with ease though currently buried under a mountain of unidentifiable detritus.

The kitchen was worse. The cupboards were hanging off the wall, and the sink and cooker were missing completely leaving cables and pipes hanging forlornly out of the wall.

"Yes," the estate agent said seeing their looks of horror. "Unfortunately, the local kids broke in. The bathroom is in a similar state I'll warn you now, but that wasn't kids. They didn't really get very far into the house, it was the kitchen that took the brunt of the damage before the police turned up."

Audrey exchanged a horrified look with her mum who was clearly on the same page as her daughter as they followed the estate agent back down the hall and up the stairs.

The two main bedrooms were both large. The master bedroom at the front of the house took up the entire width and the large windows overlooking the overgrown front garden. Dutifully Audrey stuck her head around the bathroom door and wished she hadn't. The fittings were gone as was the flooring. The room was a bare shell with pipes protruding where a sink, bath and toilet should have been.

"What happened?"

"A tap was left on, and the bath overflowed. The floor was ripped out as it was ruined."

Audrey gave the ruined space a final glance and headed to the final bedroom at the back of the house. The window was boarded from the inside with a piece of ply, and she was unsurprised. "The garden?" she asked wanting to get out of the house.

"Yes of course," the estate agent said leading them back downstairs and out through the kitchen. "It's rather overgrown as you see," she offered lamely. "There's a large shed, big enough to get a car in."

"Is there access for a car?" Audrey asked in surprise.

"Well no, but for scale, as we don't have a key for it so I can't show you inside."

"It's probably where the bodies are anyway," Audrey muttered to her mum who had come to stand by her as Rick and Percy had ventured up the garden to see this large shed.

"What do you think?" Lizzy asked Audrey quietly. Ignoring the furtive looks coming from the estate agent.

"I think someone died here," Audrey said. "And I really hope it doesn't have a cellar."

"Oh it does!" the estate agent piped up eagerly.

Audrey exchanged a horrified look with her mother and the pair burst out laughing.

The estate agent looked on unsure of what to say. "Do you want to see it?" she offered anxiously.

"No," Audrey said firmly. "Absolutely not, but I think Percy and Dad will. You can show them."

The agent hesitantly smiled her agreement. "It is such a shame, the house, letting it get this bad. It's got such potential, and you can see that the neighbours have already extended out the back to give themselves bigger kitchens."

Audrey nodded politely at the estate agent's words waiting for Percy to return. As they came out from the overgrown jungle, she called out. "It's got a cellar. Mum and I aren't going down there."

"It has?" Rick said excitedly.

The estate agent gestured back to the kitchen. "Shall we?"

As they passed, Lizzy said in a sotto voice. "If you find a chest freezer, don't open it."

Audrey giggled and stayed in the garden while Percy went to explore more of the house. The garden while overgrown was large and she walked the perimeter of the paved patio, occasionally looking at the jungle of green a few yards away.

"Do you like the area?" Lizzy asked gingerly leaning back on the house tilting her face to the sun.

"Yes, it's weirdly quiet," Audrey said after a moments consideration.

"That's not a bad thing."

"No. It's big isn't it?"

"Yes, there's one for sale down the road we're going to next. A bit of, if you don't want to do the work then here's one already done for you."

"I don't think Percy would mind doing the work," Audrey commented.

"He wouldn't?"

"No, but Mum I couldn't live here while we were doing it. I don't really want to go back inside to get out the front door, it's awful!"

"At least it doesn't smell of cats," Lizzy said.

"Oh god yes, that would actually make it worse."

"There you go a bright side. Oh, come on, they're back, and we can go see a nice house now."

Audrey looked through the window to see a dim figure gesturing at her and followed her mother back through the house.

As the estate agent led them up the street to the second house, Audrey tuned out the spiel about the area looking around her instead. The street was quiet, there were cars parked and the odd shout of a child playing in the back garden. There were odd trees planted up the pavement, and the front gardens were all green and vibrant.

The house was near identical to the one they had just left, but it was well presented, tidy, and clean. The rooms were large and full of light, and the kitchen extension had already been completed.

After the tour, the estate agent bade them goodbye, and they piled into Rick's car to travel to the Stone's for a debrief. The journey wasn't long but was oddly quiet. It wasn't until everyone was sat around the dining room table that Rick kicked the conversation off.

"So, what do you think?"

"Someone died in that house," Audrey said.

Rick rolled his eyes. "Did you like the second house?"

"Yes," Audrey said cautiously. "How much was it?"

"Three hundred and seventy thousand."

Audrey choked on her tea. "How much?" she wheezed.

"Three hundred and seventy thousand," Rick repeated blandly.

"But that's way out of our budget!" Audrey exclaimed.

"I know," Rick answered.

"How much was the first house?" Percy asked catching on.

"They're asking eighty."

"Eighty thousand?" Audrey said shocked. "As in eight zero? Even when half way up the road it's over three times as much?"

Rick nodded. "The first house is a wreck, it's a complete re-wire for the electrics, the gas and water will need replumbing. The kitchen, bathroom, and every room in the house will need overhauling. It's going to need serious money spending on it, but you'll get it back. This is one of those houses that don't come along very often, love. It has potential, but you have to see past the surface."

Audrey looked over at Percy who was studiously not meeting anyone's eyes as he fixed his gaze out of the kitchen window. "Percy?"

He turned to her a half-apologetic look on his face.

"Oh no!" Audrey groaned. "You want it, don't you?"

Percy inclined his head slightly. "Yes, but not if you hate it. The second house that is what it could be, and I admit there were things I liked about that house. It wouldn't tie us to owing the bank for the next twenty years. The garden was big enough, and we could add on to it when we were ready."

Audrey looked around the table. "Am I the only one that didn't instantly fall in love with this house?"

"No," Lizzy said. "I didn't either, but if you want me to be honest, you don't have the money for what you want. So, you can either compromise and take something that isn't quite everything and hope you can sell it when you find something better or take a risk."

"With our life savings," Audrey pointed out.

Lizzy nodded. "Yes. There is that. But you'll turn a profit even if you do the bare minimum to it."

"Can I think about it?"

"Of course," Percy assured her. "I would like to arrange another viewing," Percy addressed Rick. "My father and brother Bill have expressed an interest in anything we find that is a potential."

Rick looked at Audrey briefly before turning to Percy. "I'll set another viewing up for you. I know they are asking eighty, but according to the estate agent, there has been next to no interest. They've had a couple of silly offers but nothing they would consider accepting. That being said I don't think you'll need to pay eighty for it. I reckon we can get it for close to sixty."

Audrey blinked. "So little?"

Rick shrugged. "I think so."

Audrey sighed torn. Percy had told her it wouldn't be as much work with magic and she knew that that was swaying her towards it more than if they were going to have to do it without. Yes, they would have to find an electrician, plumber, and gas fitter but the idea of just using magic to fix everything else made the house a lot more appealing.

"Second viewings then if someone doesn't snap it up," Audrey agreed finally after a few minutes.

"Really?" Lizzy asked.

"Yes," Audrey said her eyes moving to Percy and his delighted expression. She smiled herself at the sight, perhaps living in her flat while they did the work wouldn't be so bad. She'd get the opportunity to have real input into how the house looked as well, and she'd always had a thing for wooden floors.

This is the 'show your working' part of the chapter, if you have no interest in how the numbers came to be, please skip.

When I first decided that I was going to write this scenario of buying a house, I wanted to make sure I wasn't just pulling numbers from thin air. I wanted it to be as realistic as I could get it, so this is what I have done.

Things I have used as rules.

1 galleon equals 5 pounds Stirling. It is the most useless thing in the world, but I didn't come up with it so never mind.

That exchange rate is static. The value of the pound obviously fluctuates, but that exchange rate does not. In 1974 when five pounds was worth a lot more, that might or might not have been a fair exchange because we have no information about what a galleon is actually worth. No one ever quotes the price of a loaf of bread in canon, do they?
The wages assigned to Arthur, Percy, and Audrey are real-world wages. Also, I've decided that the wizarding world liked the PAYE system and used it. I'm not about to start writing in the drama that is completing a tax return for HMRC.

According to the Office of National Statistics, a sales assistant wage was around 14k pa. Audrey is slightly more skilled than a shop assistant and has more responsibility, so she got a bump in her pay. After all, you do not send a lackey to foreign counties to buy for your business.

Arthur and Percy are paid in accordance to the wages the UK Government pays. Thanks to the internet and the ONS again I downloaded a handy pdf detailing the pay structure of the UK Ministerial staff.

I have treated all Department Heads as the equivalent as Cabinet Minister for the House of Lords. Percy is treated as a Parliamentary Undersecretary to the House of Commons until he gets his new role under the Minister of Magic at which point he gets bumped to the pay of a Parliamentary Undersecretary to the House of Lords. Their salaries then follow what the UK Government paid to its Ministers and Secretaries.

As I was following real world pay structures, I decided it appropriate to follow real-world tax as well.

Again, a quick google and the ONS gave me the answers.

This is where I left sense behind.

To work out if Arthur could, in fact, save the amount of money I was proposing I had to know how much he was taking home. So, a couple of hours later and I have a spreadsheet with a formula calculating the tax from 1970 year by year until this point in my story. I would like to point out that at one point in history there were eleven, yes, I said ELEVEN tax bands. Did I mention I left sense behind because clearly, I wasn't the only one!

Once my spiffing formula was up and running, I then was able to calculate how much money Arthur would be left with and deduct the required amount of savings and leaving me with an answer of how much the Weasleys would have to live on.

Due to the lack of real term value of a galleon I decided that throwing an average of 25% of your wage after tax into a savings account would be doable. It's not as if we didn't know they had no money….

I then did the same thing for Percy and Audrey from the date they were most likely to enter full-time employment since I already had my spiffing formula.

Then, of course, my husband who watched me do this and told me I was a bit nuts asked. 'What about compound interest on the savings account? Oh, and National Insurance contributions?'

Sigh.

Right compound interest… Arthur skimmed it. That is the answer, and I'm sticking to it. He took the interest back and threw it back into the household kitty. There you go, nice and neat, everyone is a winner.

Audrey and Percy? Well umm, they spent it? I don't know, I don't really care. It would have been quite a bit even at 3 or 4 %, but frankly, I had started not to give a damn….

National insurance contributions…. Well, there isn't a force on the planet strong enough to make me go back and calculate that so I'm throwing them a bone. The total tax they paid included national insurance contributions. It might mean they were taxed at a slightly lesser amount than the UK muggle population but yay for being a wizard. This obviously isn't true for Audrey but well, umm, tough?

Percy and Audrey's savings accounts.

They are both paid and taxed in line with the UK muggle population. I drew up both their monthly budget to make sure I wasn't again pulling stupid numbers, and because a single person living in a flat is easier to do than two adults and seven kids in the seventies and eighties.

Percy's living expenses averaged £8.7k pa. In today's money adjusted for inflation that's about £15k pa.

Audrey's are £6.9k pa, adjusted for inflation that's £11k pa.

That is based on earnings over the five years since they left Hogwarts/Higher education, salary each year, the tax paid, the savings made, then the cost of living on top of that, plus walking around money.

Percy's walking around money had to be slightly higher due to the concern that a galleon has no comparable value thus I didn't want him 'poor' just to make his savings work. I did the same calculations for Audrey ensuring that her monthly budget included practical amounts for clothing and entertaining, and giving her walking around money of £100pcm (£172pcm adjusted) Percy got more - £600pcm and converted into galleons that gave him 120 galleons pcm.

When you crunch the numbers, lacking an expensive habit, Percy averages tucking away 50% of his wage and Audrey saved 30%.

I tried to make these people poorer, I really did but I couldn't. The truth of the matter is that Percy and Audrey are Generation X, they are able to live comfortably and save decent amounts of money from their monthly wage a feat that in today's economy is significantly harder to do.

The house prices were researched thanks to Rightmove. co. uk sold house prices website, so are accurate to the time and location. Mortgage rates were 7%, and I used the ONS again to find out the average mortgage repayment rate and used that as a jumping off point.

To be honest the house I picked sold for £65k in June 1998. I guess the term 'fixer-upper' most certainly applies considering the other houses on the street were selling for well over £220k back then.

P.S. For those non-English taxpayers, National Insurance is the tax the UK government applies that goes to pay for the NHS and the benefits system. It is taken from your monthly pay at the same time as income tax is. In the last five years, it's been set at 12%, but I'd have to go back to the seventies and work forward as I did with the tax system, and frankly, no.