Hey everyone,
Welcome to another installment of Harry Potter Theory. In today’s video, we’re going
to be discussing something that exists in both the Harry Potter world and our own world.
Something that most of us want, something that drives economy, and something that certainly
pushes some to madness. I am of course talking about MONEY- gold, shekels, galleons, sickles,
knuts, pounds, dollars-you name it.
The wizarding world is certainly different than our own muggle world in a lot of ways,
but one way that they’re almost completely the same surrounds the structure of their
economy.
Economies are ‘systems of making and trading things of value divided into goods (physical
things) and services (things done by people). It assumes there is medium of exchange, which
in the modern world is a system of finance.”
So whether you’re muggle or magical, in order to obtain goods or services a medium
of exchange is required- and this is where money comes in. Depending on where you live
everyone uses different forms of currency, and in the wizarding world this currency is
comprised of Galleons, Sickles, and Knuts - in depreciating order. Galleons, being the
largest, are worth about 17 sickles or 493 knuts.
But that’s enough about types of money- that’s not the focus of the video, the main
focus is WHO is the richest? That’s right, just like our own world, there is an uneven
distribution of money in the wizarding world. There are rich families, poor families, and
some people in between. The distribution of this wealth, and it’s inequality, is called
the ‘wealth gap’ which is in essence an unequal distribution of assets.
Using the United States as an example, a 2013 study showed that the top 10% of families
accounted for 76% of the nations entire wealth, and that the bottom 50% of families accounted
for just 1% of the nation’s total wealth. This is a horrifying statistic, but- something
tells me that there’s something similar going on in the Harry Potter universe. Based
on what we see in the series, there seem to be an awful lot of vaults full of gold as
well as an awful lot of wizards doing everything they can just to get some of the scraps. I
think that a lot of this has to do with OLD money- that is, money that has been passed
down for generations in certain wizarding families.
To add to all of this, there seems to be an awful lot of emphasis placed on money and
status in the series. It’s emphasized time and time again that the Weasley’s are poor:
“Think my name's funny, do you? Well, no need to ask yours. Red hair, and a hand-me-down-robe?
You must be a Weasley.”
‘That lot won’t come cheap,’ said George, with a quick look at his parents. ‘Lockhart’s
books are really expensive ...’
‘Well, we’ll manage,’ said Mrs Weasley, but she looked worried.
“Let’s see..Red hair... vacant expressions... tatty second hand book... you must be the
Weasleys.”
Inversely, Harry’s immense wealth seems to be constantly mentioned:
"Inside were mounds of gold coins. Columns of silver. Heaps of little bronze Knuts."
“Harry said nothing. He felt a bit awkward. Stored in an underground vault at Gringotts
in London was a small fortune that his parents had left him.”
“Harry felt even worse when they reached his vault. He tried to block the contents
from view as he hastily shoved handfuls of coins into a leather bag.”
But, just as the Weasley’s certainly aren’t the poorest, Harry certainly isn’t the richest-
even despite the constant mentions of his innumerable wealth.
So- who is the richest? Is it perhaps the Malfoys? They always seem to be praised as
wealth individuals- right? As it turns out, the generational wealth that the Malfoy’s
possess started with a wizard named Armand Malfoy who arrived in Britain with William
the Conqueror.
“Having rendered unknown, shady (and almost certainly magical) services to King William
I, Malfoy was given a prime piece of land in Wiltshire, seized from local landowners,
upon which his descendants have lived for ten consecutive centuries.”
Having land ownership so early on in history is certainly an advantageous start, however,
as it turns out, part of the Malfoy wealth came from muggles.
“The result is that they are one of the richest wizarding families in Britain, and
it has been rumoured for many years (though never proven) that over the centuries the
family has dabbled successfully in Muggle currency and assets. Over hundreds of years,
they have managed to add to their lands in Wiltshire by annexing those of neighbouring
Muggles, and the favour they carried with royalty added Muggle treasures and works of
art to an ever-expanding collection.
Historically, the Malfoys drew a sharp distinction between poor Muggles and those with wealth
and authority. Until the imposition of the Statute of Secrecy in 1692, the Malfoy family
was active within high-born Muggle circles, and it is said that their fervent opposition
to the imposition of the Statute was due, in part, to the fact that they would have
to withdraw from this enjoyable sphere of social life.”
So they were wealthy in BOTH worlds. To add to this, in the Deathly Hallows, the Death
Eaters and Voldemort hold their meeting at the Malfoy Manor- and it certainly doesn’t
sound like a building to scoff at. When Yaxley and Snape approach the Manor, Yaxley snarls
and notes that there are peacocks on the grounds. He murmurs - with an edge of jealousy - that
Lucius Malfoy always "did well." Their grand estate, expensive pets roaming the property,
and mentions of wealth throughout the books and films - really seem to support the argument
that they’re the wealthiest. However- they’re not- in fact, I can think of two families
richer than them right now, starting with the Lestranges.
The Lestrange Vault at Gringotts was one of the most well protected, and not just because
of the horcrux held inside, but also, because of the IMMENSE stacks of gold inside.
"The door of the vault melted away to reveal a cavelike opening crammed from floor to ceiling
with golden coins and goblets, silver armour, the skins of strange creatures — some with
long spines, others with drooping wings — potions in jewelled flasks, and a skull still wearing
a crown"
Okay, so- why were the Lestranges so wealthy? Well, the main reason for this is that the
Lestrange family had old money. But it’s not JUST their old money that made them so
rich- you see, at one point, the Blacks (another family with old money) MARRIED in to the Lestrange’s,
and then the two worlds of money collided. Bellatrix Lestrange, who we know, was a pure-blood
witch that hailed from the Black family- and later married in to the pure-blood Lestrange
family. Both the Black family and Lestrange families were wealthy in their own right-both
stemming from the ‘Sacred Twenty-Eight’, a directory of truly pure-blood families that
still existed within the wizarding world. Bellatrix, and her husband Rodolphous, ended
up with a large portion of the money from both family trees, and the combination of
these fortunes made them immensely wealthy, even richer than the Malfoy’s. Most people
think that these two are the wealthiest- but I think I know of someone even wealthier.
THE TRUE WEALTHIEST.
Ever heard of the ‘Immortal Philosopher’: Enter: Nicolas Flamel.
I know what you’re thinking- wasn’t he just some humble old fart that obsessed over
alchemy? Well, he was a bit more than that. First of all- Nicolas Flamel exists in both
our own world AND the Harry Potter world.
Flamel was a French scribe born in the 1300s in the city of Pontoise- he lived in Paris
for the majority of his life, and spent much time there over the course of the 14th and
15th century. Flamel was such an influential figure in Parisian history that there is even
a road named after him, called ‘Rue Nicolas Flamel’.
On a day-to-day basis, Flamel worked as a scribe and manuscript-seller, and ran two
shops offering these services in Paris. Flamel achieved a great deal of success in his career
and as a result became quite wealthy. In the year 1368, Flamel would go on to marry his
wife Perenelle, a generous benefactress who had a great deal of money from her former
2 marriages. The joining of the two meant that they would become immensely wealthy-
but, what’s interesting, is that their wealth at this time was just at the tip of the iceberg.
Flamel ended up living to somewhere between 666 and 670 years old, and that’s thanks
to a little object called the Philosopher’s Stone- ever heard of it?
Flamel, an alchemical master, created the stone earlier on in his life- an object of
exceptional wonder and magical properties. One of the unique properties of the Philosopher’s
Stone was that it allowed whoever possessed it to create one of the most powerful potions
in existence- an elixir of life. Flamel capitalized on this property of the stone, and this is
why he was able to live for such a long time.
HOWEVER, that wasn’t the only property of the stone. Ever heard of King Midas and the
Midas touch? Well- let me refresh you- King Midas was a figure from Greek mythology that
had the ability to turn anything to gold, simply by touching it. Flamel’s stone, though
limited when compared with the powers of King Midas, held similar properties, and had the
capacity to turn ANY metal in to pure gold. A stone that can turn ANY metal in to pure
gold? Sounds like we may have a new contender for RICHEST wizard.
Flamel of course eventually dies, but in the 666 or 670 odd years that he existed on the
planet, I’m sure he had one or two opportunities to turn objects in to gold. In fact, I’m
willing to bet that he capitalized on it. Add that to the already IMMENSE wealth that
he and Perennelle held, and well, we’ve got a winner.
What do you guys think? Did you expect the positively UNASSUMING Nicolas Flamel to be
the RICHEST wizard? Who did you think it was?
Leave your comments down below
Until next time
“As much money and life as you could want! The two things most human beings would choose
above all - the trouble is, humans do have a knack of choosing precisely those things
that are worst for them.”