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Potter was a bitter twisted old man, and while he enjoyed fucking with people, what he really cared about more than anything else was power, be it money or control. He probably saw a tremendous amount of opportunity in men going off to war, lots of widows to drive out of homes etc. Also consider that no matter how cruel Potter was, he would still want to ruthlessly protect his own interests by making sure the war was won.

The real question for me is that if Potter was responsible for keeping George behind, was it as an act of malice, or of an unspoken knowledge that Bedford Falls probably needed someone like George around to keep things running right.