We know that Harry spends 10 months a year in Hogwarts and only 2 months (or less, as the time spent in No. 4 seems to decrease with every book) at Number 4. We are told that Dumbledore himself made the blood wards and that they are apparently based on Lily's love-power protection from '81, and are recharged by Harry's proximity to his relatives. They can apparently recharge in a month or so and then last for about a year.
But what are the actual benefits of the wards for Harry?
Do the wards recharge Lily's protection? Is it the other way around?
Where does the power that recharges these wards comes from? Harry's blood relatives Petunia and Dudley are a) 100% muggles b) most certainly don't Love Harry.
So what do these wards DO actually? What is their purpose? What do they stop?
They don't stop magical creatures (Dobby, various owls), they don't stop magic users (Order, Sirius in his dog form), they most certainly don't stop those with bad intentions towards Harry (even if Petunia and Dudley are part of the wards, Vernon isn't related to Harry and he abuses him to a ridiculous extent), they don't stop anyone from sending him (potentially booby-trapped) letters/parcels. They don't hide the location from anyone (the Ministry sends him letters with the precise address)
If they protect from Death Eaters then why are Order guards even necessary?
If they protect from Voldemort then WHY does Harry returns after V's resurrection (and ability to touch him without burning to crisp)?
What is their range? Only the house? The whole property? It can't be any further than that because Dementors chased Harry and Dudley around the neighborhood.
Are these blood wards more than just a plot device?
Answer
Order of the Phoenix, Chapter 37 has this (as @user1129682 noted) discussion between Harry and Dumbledore.
‘She doesn’t love me,’ said Harry at once. ‘She doesn’t give a damn –’
‘But she took you,’ Dumbledore cut across him. ‘She may have taken you grudgingly, furiously, unwillingly, bitterly, yet still she took you, and in doing so, she sealed the charm I placed upon you. Your mother’s sacrifice made the bond of blood the strongest shield I could give you.’
‘I still don’t –’
‘While you can still call home the place where your mother’s blood dwells, there you cannot be touched or harmed by Voldemort. He shed her blood, but it lives on in you and her sister. Her blood became your refuge. You need return there only once a year, but as long as you can still call it home, whilst you are there he cannot hurt you. Your aunt knows this. I explained what I had done in the letter I left, with you, on her doorstep. She knows that allowing you houseroom may well have kept you alive for the past fifteen years.’
So, to answer your questions:
But what are the actual benefits of the wards for Harry?
See the next question.
So what do these wards DO actually? What is their purpose? What do they stop?
There seem to be 2 related ones:
Direct protection from Voldemort's attack:
whilst you are there [ Privet drive] he cannot hurt you.
Protection against assorted Dark wizards and possibly creatures. See Harry's note to Dursleys in Ch3 of Deathly Hallows:
‘I hope so,’ said Harry, ‘because once I’m seventeen, all of them – Death Eaters, Dementors, maybe even Inferi, which means dead bodies enchanted by a Dark wizard – will be able to find you and will certainly attack you. And if you remember the last time you tried to outrun wizards, I think you’ll agree you need help.’
Do the wards recharge Lily's protection? Is it the other way around?
The wards are not related to Lily's protection.
Lily's protection was what made Voldemort personally unable to touch Harry. See PS with Quirrell. THAT protection expired in the end of GoF when Voldemort used Harry's blood to get a new body for himself!
See the full discussion on the differences between the two here: " Why did Lily's enchantments work for Voldemort? "
Where does the power that recharges these wards comes from? Harry's blood relatives Petunia and Dudley are a) 100% muggles b) most certainly don't Love Harry.
The wards don't seem to need to be "charged", merely "activated" (or "sealed" using Dumbledore's wording). But aside from that one comment, there's not much other detail in canon, so you can interpret it otherwise.
They don't stop magical creatures (Dobby, various owls)
Correct. House elves use different magic from wizards. Matter of fact, I'm pretty sure a house-elf could have been ordered to off Harry and have a chance to succeed. They DO seem likely to stop Dark creatures based on above Harry's quote from DH7.
They don't stop magic users (Order, Sirius in his dog form),
Actually, Sirius/dog was never in the house, just around. The Order was designed to be allowed to be ignored by the charms/wards, presumably (no explicit canon support but they WERE able to enter the house, in HP1, HP2 (Weasles) and HP7, at least.
they most certainly don't stop those with bad intentions towards Harry (even if Petunia and Dudley are part of the wards, Vernon isn't related to Harry and he abuses him to a ridiculous extent)
Correct. The wards are there to protect from Death Eaters. Not to protect Harry from any harm at all.
they don't stop anyone from sending him (potentially booby-trapped) letters/parcels.
I have never seen any mention in canon of that being either true or false. The only mail Harry gets is from either the Ministry or friends/Order.
They don't hide the location from anyone (ministry sends him letters with precise address)
They do hide the exact location (but not the whereabouts - see Moody's quote in Ch4 of Hp7), but not the publicly available address. We know that owls can find people who are hiding, e.g. Sirius in his cave.
If they protect from Death Eaters then why are Order guards even necessary?
First, there were no "Order guards" as a rule aside from Squib Mrs. Figgs and once in a while, random patrol in the neighbourhood. Remember that it's the house that's protected, not random surroundings.
If they protect from Voldemort then WHY does Harry returns after V's resurrection (and ability to touch him without burning to crisp)?
Because that's the whole point of Dumbledore's charm. It's built around Lily's protective magic, but is separate from it, and therefore isn't broken by V's using Harry's blood.
What is their range? Only house. Whole property? It can't be any further than that because Dementors chased Harry and Dudley around the neighborhood.
Only the house. Moody says in Ch4 of Deathly Hallows:
‘[…] They might not be able to get at you or this house while your mother’s charm holds, but it’s about to break and they know the rough position of the place. […]’
So far the 'all powerful blood wards' seems like nothing more but a plot device.
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