Hey everyone,
Welcome to another installment of Harry Potter Theory. In today’s video we’re going to
be discussing one of the fastest objects in the Harry Potter universe. It’s not a dragon,
it’s not a snitch, and it’s not a cornish pixie- it’s the firebolt.
Now, we hear of a few different brooms name-dropped throughout the books and films- perhaps most
notably in one of the beginning sequences of the Philosophers Stone, when Hagrid first
takes Harry to Diagon Alley. When they walk past the broom shop, children are gawking
at a broom through the window. “"Wow! Look at it! The new Nimbus 2000! “ Harry overhears
as he walks by. And while the Nimbus 2000 was an impressive broom of its time, it wasn’t
long before it was overshadowed- later being eclipsed by the performance of the Nimbus
2001. However, as you can guess, with advancing technology it wasn’t long before even the
Nimbus 2001 was eclipsed in performance. Along comes the Firebolt.
Firebolts are exceptionally well made and lightning fast broomsticks said to be capable
of achieving speeds upwards of 150 miles per hour. Not only that, but they have a ton of
special features including the ‘unbreakable’ braking charm and goblin-made ironwork, which
both help with power and stability. The broom was produced by broom-maker Randolph Spudmore
in 1993, and when Harry first saw a firebolt in the window of quality quidditch supplies
before his third year, he wanted one desperately. Harry of course eventually receives one as
a gift from his godfather Sirius Black, but that doesn’t erase the fact that Harry was
unwilling to pay for one himself. Harry, in spite of his vault FULL of gold, still gawked
at the price- which begs the question: how expensive WERE these things? For the descendant
of Fleamont Potter to question the price, we must be talking some serious cash.
Harry ripped the parcel open and gasped as a magnificent, gleaming broomstick rolled
out onto his bedspread. Ron dropped his socks and jumped off his bed for a closer look.
“I don’t believe it,” he said hoarsely.
It was a Firebolt, identical to the dream broom Harry had gone to see every day in Diagon
Alley. Its handle glittered as he picked it up. He could feel it vibrating and let go;
it hung in midair, unsup-ported, at exactly the right height for him to mount it.
“Who sent it to you?” said Ron in a hushed voice.
“Look and see if there’s a card,” said Harry.
Ron ripped apart the Firebolt’s wrappings.
“Nothing! Blimey, who’d spend that much on you?”
Now, we know the answer to Ron’s question- it was Sirius Black. But what we don’t know
is how much ‘that much’ is, so let’s dive in.
The first thing that we need to consider is that Harry, when first looking at the glorious
broom, implies that buying one would nearly “empty his Gringotts vault”. However,
I’m willing to bet that Harry’s statement here was largely hyperbole, sort of like how
people say ‘that would cost a fortune”. Don’t get me wrong, I don’t think that
the Firebolt was cheap by any means- but maybe not expensive to the extent that it would
EMPTY the vault of a wealthy young wizard.
Fortunately for us, there is ONE clue that gives us some insight in to the cost of the
Firebolt. When Harry first receives the broom,Ron suggests that the Firebolt might be a gift
from Dumbledore, to which Harry replies that Dumbledore wouldn't spend "hundreds of galleons"
on a Firebolt for him. This narrows down the cost of a firebolt immediately, as now we
should be able to reasonably deduce that it costs anywhere between 200 and 999 galleons.
If I had to guess, I would theorize that the cost of a Firebolt broom would be approximately
30-40x the cost of a wizarding staple, such as a wand. From what I can tell, most things
in the wizarding world are paid for in lesser currency- like sickles or knuts. Though there
are certainly objects that cost ‘galleons’- most day to day objects utilize these lesser
currencies.
Harry Potter’s wand cost him 7 galleons, and if we apply my theory of ‘30-40x’
the cost of a wand, the firebolt would be somewhere between 210 and 280 galleons. This
means that the Firebolt would have cost Harry approximately 1500-2000 dollars, or 1100-1400
pounds. This price, in my eyes, works well with Harry’s socioeconomic status and his
perception of currency as just a young man.
What do you guys think of this theory? What do YOU think the Firebolt cost? Let me know
down in the comment section below.
Until next time
Bad times like that bring out the best in some people and the worst in others