Hey everyone,
Welcome to another installment of Harry Potter Theory.
Today we’re going to be discussing the economic status of the beloved wizarding family, The
Weasley’s.
In a world full of magic where seemingly ANYTHING is possible, it might surprise you to hear
that even witches and wizards can face financial hardship.
The advent of magical abilities makes life easier (and certainly a lot more interesting)
in a LOT of ways, but one limitation of note is that gold CANNOT be multiplied.
The result is that even magical families who can do amazing things like fly through the
air, summon objects with the flick of their wand, and teleport can find themselves in
financial dire straits.
Within the novels, there are numerous examples of fan-favourite witches and wizards exemplifying
this:
One example being Remus Lupin:
“The stranger was wearing an extremely shabby set of wizard’s robes that had been darned
in several places.
He looked ill and exhausted.
Though quite young, his light brown hair was flecked with gray.”
But perhaps the greatest example of wizarding poverty (that is alluded to TIME AND TIME
AGAIN) is the Weasley Family- the 9 person-strong wizarding family that embraces Harry with
open arms right near the beginning of the first book.
These 9 family members are Arthur, Molly, Bill, Charlie, Percy, Fred, George, Ron and
Ginny.
There are NUMEROUS passages referencing their lack of wealth, and their poverty seems to
be pretty consistent throughout the books.
As early as the first books, Draco Malfoy and his father Lucius condescendingly mock
the family while heavily implying that they 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.”
“Let’s see..Red hair...
vacant expressions...
tatty second hand book...
you must be the Weasleys.”
And in the Chamber of Secrets Harry ventures in to the Weasley family vault and witnesses
first-hand just how dire their financial situation really was.
“Harry enjoyed the breakneck journey down to the Weasleys’ vault, but felt dreadful,
far worse than he had in Knockturn Alley, when it was opened.
There was a very small pile of silver Sickles inside, and just one gold Galleon.
Mrs.Weasley felt right into the corners before sweeping the whole lot into her bag.”
And what makes their poverty even more evident is the fact that it’s constantly contrasted
with Harry’s massive fortune.
We’re approaching the wizarding world very much from the perspective of Harry, who has
no financial woes whatsoever.
Right near the beginning of the first book we’re shown Harry’s massive stacks of
gold in vault 687.
But what I want to explore now is..Why?
Why are the Weasleys SO POOR?
How is it that they’re living in such derelict conditions?
They’re a pure-blood family with deep ties in the wizarding world, Arthur has a good
job at a long-standing wizarding institution, and (seemingly) there’s an abundance of
family members with the ability to contribute to the family’s income.
Let’s dive in.
Are they actually THAT poor?
First things first- are they actually THAT poor?
Sure, there is a distinct emphasis placed on their ‘tatty clothes’ and lack of cash-
but are they really as poverty stricken as we are led to believe?
Personally, I don’t think so.
While it’s clear that unexpected expenses seem to be a point of stress for the Weasley
family (like Hogwarts school supplies, textbooks etc)- there are other lifestyle indicators
that would suggest money is not as tight as it may seem.
The first thing that I want to highlight is that all members of the Weasley family are
well fed.
They all seem to have at least 3 square meals a day, and at no point is food not an option
for them.
The same cannot be said for other characters like Remus Lupin, who appears to be malnourished
before arriving at Hogwarts in the Prisoner of Azkaban:
“He was as shabby as ever but looked healthier than he had on the train, as though he had
had a few square meals.”
To me this perfectly exemplifies the LEVELS of poverty present in the wizarding world.
Maybe they were in financial dire straits, but food on the table puts them a rung above
those who are truly at the bottom.
The next thing that I want to highlight is HOW they spend their money.
In the Prisoner of Azkaban the Weasleys win the Daily prophet Grand Prize Galleon Draw-
an annual contest held by the Daily Prophet.
Through this contest, the Weasley’s won a considerable amount of gold galleons.
But did they spend it fixing their house?
Buying new clothes for their ki*ds?
No- they spent it on a family-wide month long summer holiday to visit their son Bill in
Egypt.
When they came back from the trip they had enough galleons left over to buy Ron a new
wand, but apart from Ron’s wand all of the money was spent on the trip.
Bearing all of this in mind I can’t help but ask myself- if they were truly in the
dire financial state highlighted by the books, then was this the best possible use for this
money?
Surely if money was as tight as is described, then this money should have been directed
towards necessities.
Lastly I think it’s important to take note of the fact that the Weasleys were able to
treat their ch*ldren on occasion- like buying Ron a broom when he makes prefect and Percy
an owl.
If we consider all of the above, it paints a picture of a normal family where money is
a bit tight, and not a poverty stricken family that’s struggling to make ends meet.
Are they a bit strapped for cash?
Sure.
But immersed in poverty?
Certainly not.
Income
The next thing that I want to discuss is the Weasley family income.
Provided that for the duration of the books most of their ch*ldren are enrolled at Hogwarts,
the burden of providing for the family falls on the parents - Molly and Arthur.
HOWEVER, Molly takes on the role of stay-at-home mum, leaving Arthur with the responsibility
of being the primary earner for the entire family.
Arthur Weasley worked for the Ministry of Magic and was head of the Misuse of Muggle
Artifacts department.
It was his job to regulate the use of magic on muggle objects and to prevent bewitched
items from falling into muggle hands.
Later on, however, he was promoted to the head of office for the Detection and Confiscation
of Counterfeit Defensive Spells and Protective Objects department.
We aren’t actually provided with in-depth information on how much Arthur makes, but
if we consider their economic standing- it can’t be THAT much.
However, what’s particularly unusual about this is that Arthur, in both of his roles,
is head of a department.
PRESUMABLY Arthur, in a position of authority at the ministry, should be compensated accordingly.
As it happens, there are a few factors that may have influenced Arthur’s salary.
The first big issue for Arthur was that Cornelius Fudge was his boss.
It’s well known that Arthur and Cornelius did not get along, and so it’s not unlikely
that Fudge inhibited Arthur’s salary and career progression.
Even if Arthur excelled in his role, it’s likely that Fudge got in the way of raises
and promotions.
It wasn’t until 1996 that Fudge was out of office, which meant that for the majority
of his ch*ldren’s lives (before they became adults) Arthur was professionally stunted.
Because of Fudge, Arthur was effectively stuck in a dead-end job, without much chance of
progression, supporting a family of 7 ch*ldren and a wife.
Expenses
Most of the time, income level is not the sole factor in determining whether or not
someone is poor.
In fact, someone could have an extremely healthy salary and still be poor, provided that their
expenses are equally as high.
In the case of Arthur, he had a LOT of expenses.
The most significant expense for Arthur was undoubtedly his ch*ldren, and all of the expenses
that come with having ch*ldren.
For starters, every single one of the Weasley ch*ldren attended Hogwarts, and while Hogwarts
is affordable in some ways (tuition is free)- school supplies and materials are not- especially
at scale.
Buying wands, books, brooms and all sorts of other school supplies on top of taxes,
bills, insurance, food, clothes, robes and even fines (flying ford anglia incident) comes
at a heavy price, and given that Arthur was the sole provider for the family, its certainly
not surprising that the Weasleys were under some level of financial stress.
Bearing that in mind, however, I think the next question we need to tackle is why MOLLY
didn’t work as well.
Well, I think the most obvious answer to this is that with 7 ch*ldren YOU HAVE to have a
parent around to maintain order.
With both Molly AND Arthur working, who is supposed to take care of the ki*ds?
While there may have been intermittent periods for Molly to work (like when the ki*ds were
away at school), I’m sure that she had more than enough responsibilities around the house
to keep herself busy.
Conclusion
If we consider everything I’ve said so far in this video- I think it’s safe for me
to disclose the following conclusions:
They aren’t that poor Their expenses are significant
They just don’t care about money
Sure the Weasleys may have been portrayed as poor, but the messaging certainly doesn’t
stop there.
If the Harry Potter books are anything to go by, then it’s clear that money isn’t
everything.
If we contrast the happy, thriving and loving (but poor) Weasley family with the cold, snarky
and miserable (but rich) Malfoy family, I think we have an answer as to how important
money really is.
The Weasley family was a perfect representation of how love and companionship can be far more
valuable than money.
They may not have had the wealth of the Malfoys, but they were wealthy in love and happiness.
The Weasley family's financial situation made them appreciate the little things in life,
and they were thankful for what they had- an abundance of love, warmth and companionship.
And that’s it for this video!
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Until next time
Remember
It does not do to dwell on dreams and forget to live