MovieChat Forums > Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets (2002) Discussion > the Weasleys being poor

the Weasleys being poor

posted 5 years ago by ADBruno1985 (3572)
5 replies | jump to latest

I never understand this and feel almost as if it's a plot hole, because, logically, how? Really, how? If you can do magic, no, that won't solve life, but it makes money much less important. There are spells where you can multiply food, so buy enough for one person and keep multiplying it until there's enough for the whole family (and they seem to farm some of their own food anyway). Your house needs repaired? Boom, magic, done. Clothes need repaired? Magic. Need new clothes? Just buy fabric and magic up your own clothing. With all the magic cures, seems less need to go to doctors, so not as many high medical bills. Between Apparition and Floo Powder, travel's not terribly expensive. I just don't get it.

[–] JohnMcCock (136) 5 years ago

And robbing a bank without being caught wouldn't be such a hard task neither..

[–] Furienna (3375) 5 years ago

Appearantly, even a wizard family needed money to live. Even if you could produce some things yourself that cheaply, you had to buy some things. And don't forget that the Weasleys often had several kids at Hogwarts at the same time, who needed a heap of new school supplies every year.

[–] Otter (24464) 5 years ago

I don't think any wizard ever goes without the necessities of life, but of course in any society where money is used as a means of exchange, some wizards have fewer galleons than others. So the Weasleys aren't lacking for any of the necessities of life, they are just a bit short of consumer goods.

I think Rowling did a good job of showing what "poverty" might be like for a wizard family: Instead of worrying that they're going to end up out on the street like poor muggles do, they're sitting around big hearty dinners in a big but unfashionable house, wearing hand-knitted sweaters instead of the latest fashions, being doted over by a mum who doesn't feel the need to get a paying job, and grumbling because bringing second-hand robes and textbooks to Hogwarts makes them uncool.

[–] johnmarti59 (2356) 4 years ago

I think the father more than the mother didn't want or needed to be seen as a family with money.

[–] Otter (24464) 4 years ago

Well it's far from clear that earning a lot more money was an option for him Some, yes, there was a mention that he'd turned down promotions because he liked being a muggle nerd, but civil service jobs never pay fortunes and he just wasn't going to be promoted to the top or welcomed into circles of power - wrong kind of person from the wrong kind of background, with the wrong kind of enemies. He could have earned a bit more, but never enough to keep seven kids in a style that would impress the Malfoys.

And maybe he didn't really see the need for more money. As I said above his family had all the necessities of life, a comfy home with a garden and a shed where he could potter, and good hand-knitted sweaters, and brooms to play family quidditch games, and delicious meals three times a day, what more could a sensible person want? He just wouldn't see the need to compromise his own happiness, so that Ron could have cool clothes and the best racing brooms.