Hey everyone,
Welcome to another installment of Harry Potter Theory. In today’s brief video, we’re
going to be discussing the Weasleys- and of course, once again, their economic status.
More specifically- we’re going to addressing their level of wealth and how it changed after
winning the wizarding lottery. Was it enough to let them live comfortably for the rest
of their lives? Was it enough for Arthur to drop a couple of hours at the ministry? Let’s
dive in to it.
Now, when we think of the Weasleys we certainly don’t think of wealth. We think of love,
friendship and unity- but one thing that’s certainly drilled in to our heads throughout
the Harry Potter books and films is that they don’t have a lot of money. They’re a BIG
family, consisting of Fred, George, Charlie, Molly, Arthur, Ginny,
Bill, Percy, and of course Ron- which means there are a lot of them to feed, clothe and
house- but money is evidently scarce. On Molly and Arthur’s income they were responsible
for 7 sets of clothes and 7 mouths to feed (8 if you include Harrys)- they had to cover
a lot. Their financial situation became so dire that ‘Weasley’ almost became synonymous
with ‘Poor’- something which Draco so fondly reminded them of whenever he had the
chance:
“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.”
Arthur Weasley ended up working for the ministry of magic in multiple roles over the years.
First he worked for the Misuse of Muggle Artefacts department- a department responsible for regulating
the use of magic on muggle objects, as well as keeping bewitched items away from muggles.
Later on, he moved in to a position at the detection and confiscation of counterfeit
defensive spells and protective objects department- where he became ‘head of office’. Head
of office sounds like it would pay well, right? Why was money so scarce? Basically, Arthur
had a lot of mouths to feed, a lot of school supplies to buy, and some work ‘issues’
that contributed to to this. You see, in his first role, Arthur’s boss was Cornelius
Fudge, who he did NOT get along with. This stunted his career progression, and ultimately
the amount of money that he was able to make.
HOWEVER- in the summer of 1993, Arthur and Molly got a bit of a break, when they won
the wizarding lottery. If you don’t know what the wizarding lottery is- well, it’s
just like our own lottery. It’s hosted by the Daily Prophet- a wizarding newspaper based
in London that serves as the primary source of news for British and Irish wizards. The
main office for the Daily Prophet is located right in Diagon Alley. In spite of the papers
dubious reputation for publishing slanted content at the request of Cornelius Fudge
and the Ministry of Magic- there are certainly some good elements to the paper- one of these
being The Daily Prophet Grand Prize Galleon Draw- an annual contest where witches and
wizards can win some money.
In the summer of 1993- Arthur Wealsey just so happened to win the annual galleon draw.
This is referenced by Draco when addressing Ron.
"I heard your father got his hands on some gold this summer, Weasley. Did your mother
die of shock?"
Provided that even Draco, a stuck-up wealthy young wizard, was able to recognize the sum
of money won- it tells me that the sum was at least noteworthy. Arthur Weasley was even
able to bring his entire family for a summer trip to Egypt to visit Bill. So- how much
did he win?
As it turns out, Arthur won about 700 galleons. It was with this money that he was able to
buy the trip to egypt, as well as a new wand for his son Ron. But, how much is 700 galleons
exactly? Is that a lot? A little? Did they still have money left after the aforementioned
expenses?
As reported by JK Rowling - 1 galleon- the largest form of wizarding currency, is said
to be worth about “about five great british pounds”. That means that Arthur won 3500
pounds- which isn’t anything to scoff at, but certainly isn’t enough to last forever.
Wizarding economy doesn’t seem to differ much from our own economy, either. Apparently,
a copy of advanced potion making costs 9 galleons, which would be 45 pounds- a figure that is
fairly consistent with our own world.
With all of that said, Arthur’s winnings were certainly a pleasant surprise- but nothing
life changing. Did you know about the wizarding lottery? Comment down below
Until next time
YER A WIZARD ARRY