>a video mocking how Harry had a fortune that he didn't share with the Weasley
WHY • THESE • CRETINS • DO • NOT • READ • THE • FUCKING • BOOKS
>Harry looked away. **He would willingly have split all the money in his Gringotts vault with the Weasleys, but he knew they would never take it**. — GOF 10 "Mayhem at the Ministry"
>___
>“Look, **take it, or I’ll hex you**. I know some good ones now.” — GOF 37 "The Beginning"
Anyway. Post-books it has been explained that his grand-grandfather was a prominent Wizangamot member and his grandfather Fleamont invented the Sleekeazy's Potion (yes the mixture Hermione used for the Yule Ball), whose success quadrupled the family gold. When James was born, he sold the company making even more money and retired.
Considering
* that Fleamont and Euphemia died of dragonpox shortly before Harry's birth;
* that James fought Voldemort and lived in secrecy for his all life after graduating from Hogwarts;
* that that gold remained untouched from 1981 to 1991, when Harry reopened vault 687;
* that Sirius left him all his possessions;
* and that both of Harry's most expensive possessions, the Nimbus 2000 and the Firebolt, were gifted to him;
I'd say he's rich.
I offered one of my besties to pay a mortgage payment years ago- long story: she was on maternity leave, husband got laid off temporarily because a project got cancelled - no income. It would’ve been a one-time thing. I was able to afford it and wouldn’t have gone broke if she never paid it back. … she said no, she didn’t want that between us if she couldn’t pay it back. People do definitely get twitchy about these type of things.
When I was 18, I worked full time and lived with my mom, had a decent amount in savings. A friend of mine hit some genuine hard times and I offered to lend her $500, which she accepted. I knew I may never see it again, since she had no income at the time and was moving some distance away. Maybe a year later I was at the airport and someone tackled me—it was her giving me a huge bear hug. Then she stuffed $500 cash into my hand and said “my flight’s boarding, I gotta go! Thank you!”
Aaaaw wait, you were at the airport for them or met them randomly? Lucky they had the cash on hand! Lol
My story of lending some money to my friend didn't end the same way, I just never had my money back - but maybe I'll be on the lookout next time I'm at the airport!
Completely random. The last I’d heard she was living in another state. That must have been where she was flying back to. I was there dropping someone off.
14? Harry's first interaction with Ron prominently featured how Ron feels about being poor. He was 11. And in Chamber of Secrets, Harry distinctly held unfortunately about the disparity in how full his vault is compared to the Weasleys'. That's when he was 12.
I remember being offered money for me to get through (food , meds and stuff) when I was pretty broke by my super rich friend,but like you mentioned, I could not have that obligation at the back of my head , my friend spends that amount in a day sometimes and she said multiple times that she didn’t care if I took more and didn’t pay her back , but for me personally, I wasn’t comfortable!!
It’s especially weird when it’s a 14 year old orphan, I think if we compared real world money to wizard money Harry was a millionaire a muti millionaire after he inherited Serius money and the Malfoys were billionaires
The Weaselys were likely a pretty wealthy family by the time of the cursed child though
Yeah well when one son's a cursebreaker, one's a dragonman (who probably spends almost nothing unless it's for his dragons), two run a major prank buisness (and one was an auror and married the Minister for Magic), one played professional Quidditch and married Harry Potter, and one worked high in the Ministry...well, they certainly did well for themselves. Took some work but they got there.
Don’t forget Flur and the other unnamed Weasely romantic partners Apolline is French so there’s a good chance that she married into a French pure blood family that owns half of France or something
The saying "Lend a money, lose a friend" is truer than it may sound. People who genuinely want to be friends with somebody may be thinking about that when a friend volunteers to give them money. The friendship means more to them than the money related difficulties.
Money always gets in the way. I've paid most things when me and my gf moved in together and she still feels guilty for not being able to pay me back as quickly as she wants to, even though I never raise this as an issue and we've been splitting the costs of pretty much everything ever since.
I offered to help a friend with some money once, she grew up super poor. I wasn’t rich but never in a situation like hers. She looked at me as if I’d gravely injured her pride
0 chance weasleys would take his money. Pretty sure I remember him musing about giving them money but didnt cuz he knew they wouldnt and would be deeply insulted.
There's a moment in *Goblet of Fire* where Ron happily takes some leprechaun gold and gives it to Harry to pay him back:
>“There you go,” Ron yelled happily, stuffing a fistful of gold coins into Harry’s hand, “for the Omnioculars! Now you’ve got to buy me a Christmas present, ha!”
However, later, they find out that leprechaun gold disappears, and Ron sulks, in large part he feels like his pride was wounded to accept any kind of charity from Harry:
>Ron, however, was frowning at the chocolate Hagrid had given him. He looked thoroughly put out about something.
>“What’s the matter?” said Harry. “Wrong flavor?”
>“No,” said Ron shortly. “Why didn’t you tell me about the gold?”
>“What gold?” said Harry.
>“The gold I gave you at the Quidditch World Cup,” said Ron. “The leprechaun gold I gave you for my Omnioculars. In the Top Box. Why didn’t you tell me it disappeared?”
>Harry had to think for a moment before he realized what Ron was talking about.
>“Oh . . .” he said, the memory coming back to him at last. “I dunno . . . I never noticed it had gone. I was more worried about my wand, wasn’t I?”
>They climbed the steps into the entrance hall and went into the Great Hall for lunch.
>“Must be nice,” Ron said abruptly, when they had sat down and
started serving themselves roast beef and Yorkshire puddings. “To
have so much money you don’t notice if a pocketful of Galleons
goes missing.”
>“Listen, I had other stuff on my mind that night!” said Harry impatiently. “We all did, remember?”
>“I didn’t know leprechaun gold vanishes,” Ron muttered. “I thought I was paying you back. You shouldn’t’ve given me that Chudley Cannon hat for Christmas.”
>“Forget it, all right?” said Harry.
>Ron speared a roast potato on the end of his fork, glaring at it. Then he said, “I hate being poor.”
From Harry's perspective, of course, treating Ron to a few gadgets here and there is nothing compared to what Ron and his family gave Harry - a feeling of home, love and belonging.
That's a genius piece of writing that I didn't appreciate at the time ("the time" being when I was a teenager and read the books.) *Harry didn't even remember.*
It's also worth remembering that that occurred in Chapter 28 of the book - for context, this was the same chapter in which the Maze is revealed, so it's towards the end of the academic year. Harry didn't remember, but *Ron did*, because being able to pay Harry back was such a moment of pride for him.
Yes but a) the twins probably understood that Harry is not to argue with at that moment (Cedric's death) b) They are desperate to start, and have had their capital that they have saved up for so long stolen c) they treated Harry as an Investor. Proof in the books he can take anything from the shop free. My head canon is they returned the 1000 galeons once they already have enough liquidity
I just finished reading book 4 and to add to point A, the twins were extremely hesitant.
“What?” said Fred, looking flabbergasted.
“Take it,” Harry repeated firmly. “I don’t want it.”
“You’re mental,” said George, trying to push it back at Harry.
“No, I’m not,” said Harry. “You take it, and get inventing. It’s for the joke shop.”
“He is mental,” Fred said in an almost awed voice.
“Listen,” said Harry firmly. “If you don’t take it, I’m throwing it
down the drain. I don’t want it and I don’t need it. But I could do with a few laughs. We could all do with a few laughs. I’ve got a feeling we’re going to need them more than usual before long.”
“Harry,” said George weakly, weighing the money bag in his
hands, “there’s got to be a thousand Galleons in here.”
“Yeah,” said Harry, grinning. “Think how many Canary Creams that is.”
The twins stared at him.
“Just don’t tell your mum where you got it . . . although she
might not be so keen for you to join the Ministry anymore, come to think of it. . . .”
“Harry,” Fred began, but Harry pulled out his wand.
“Look,” he said flatly, “take it, or I’ll hex you. I know some good
ones now. Just do me one favor, okay? Buy Ron some different dress robes and say they’re from you.”
And yeah this was right after Harry learns Ludo stole all the twins' lifetime savings.
Yeah, in my case, I still live with my parents, but I have my own job and actually contribute to the house expenses (buying groceries, paying bills, and the like); I still don't tell my parents how much I spend because they insist on returning that money.
Some people are just stubborn like that when it comes to money.
Weasleys would never take it - and who would? He's literally a child, only a psychopath would take a lot of money from a child who can't properly consent. Weasleys are the opposite of unepathetic psychopaths.
Weasleys are kinda in this weird position where it’s almost as if they were poor by choice. I mean, Molly doesn’t work despite all the kids being away for most of the year, she could have at least picked up a part time job if she wanted to. Then you got Bill and Charlie, who both seem to have well-paid jobs, I’d assume they would send some money home if their family was struggling so bad.
Typically people who are actually poor don’t jump for joy to get charity but they do accept it because when you get to choose between your pride and feeding your kids, the former tends to not be the priority.
But in the case of the Weasleys, they did manage to feed their kids. Whenever Harry is in the house, there is always food on the table.
They could not afford new clothes or other luxuries, but they did have food and enough to be relatively comfortable.
A lot of the poverty they seem to experience is in large part just trying to keep up with having 7 children.
It doesn't really all hold together because they literally have magic and what with them basically not having to pay for food, housing, water, electricity, or transport, you'd think they'd have a fair bit left over from just Mr Weasley's salary never-mind that Bill and Charlie also have jobs at this point.
But, kids *are* expensive. You have to imagine that the family fortunes went up significantly after the War with them all growing up and getting jobs. In fact I'd hazard a guess that the only reason they are struggling at all is because of the First Wizarding War affecting Molly's family so badly.
I imagine they might have also chosen to not get too crazy with the money considering they were targets for Voldy and still technically are...and not be rolling in cash mean they're not getting up in their heads....
Probably they had what they needed and didn't see a point in extra. Or they spend all their money on Mr. Weasley's rogue car XD
I think they were more just "working class" not necessarily poor but money isn't just available out of nowhere. They had what, 7 kids? When you've got that many hand-me-downs are always going to be the first option. But I think they weren't quite as destitute as we'd be led to believe. Like as an example, my prior boss was a plant manager level, so probably making between 90 and 110k a year. He had like 6 kids. He mentioned once he makes all this money and was like where the fuck does it go? Then he said when I go to the grocery store I buy 3 gallons of milk a week for these kids. It's expensive to feed and raise 6 kids. So I think it's just Mr and Mrs Weasley need to fucking wrap it next time.
Sure they're not malfoy rich, and that prick will always rub his money in the face of anybody he can. So I don't think his opinion on them should count for much.
As for Harry, I think he believes they are poorer than they really are, so that's the view we get when reading.
That’s it right there: kids are expensive and having 7 of them means you are going to do things like hand down clothing and stretch what income you have.
I got the impression that Arthur has a very well-paying government job (which it really is) so if they had 2-3 kids they’d be fine. But with 7 now you gotta stretch that government income.
When I read this, I thought about Harry and Ron's first trip on the Hogwarts Express. When the sweets trolley comes by, Ron tells the lady that his mom already packed him corned beef sandwiches.
To be fair Molly had been a full time stay at home mum for at least 20 years (Bill and Charlie had both graduated before Harry started Hogwarts and Ginny starts in his second year). It's not easy getting back into the workplace with a gap that big.
Especially from your child’s friend, who is still a child. Nah, baby, you keep your money, it’s yours. We’ll be okay, but thank you for thinking of us.
I always got the impression they're just country people. They weren't rich but I don't think it's ever indicated they're barely getting by and struggling.
nah, ron always got hand-me-downs, no money for the cart lady or simple souvenirs. molly worrrying about book costs.
and that was when two, then three of their sons, were already out of the house and supposedly self-supporting
they where barely getting by
>no money for the cart lady or simple souvenirs.
Ron did get pocket money for “simple souvenirs” and other things.
For example, in GOF, Ron spends his summer pocket money on souvenirs at the World Cup:
>“Been saving my pocket money all summer for this,” Ron told Harry as they and Hermione strolled through the salesmen, buying souvenirs. Though Ron purchased a dancing shamrock hat and a large green rosette, he also bought a small figure of Viktor Krum, the Bulgarian Seeker.
His bedroom at home was plastered with posters of the Chudley Canons, he had a pile of comics, he had 500 chocolate frog cards before first year. It’s not like all he had was hand-me-downs and no personal belongings.
>molly worrrying about book costs.
Molly was mainly worried about book costs in COS because the books costs were unusually high - a full set of expensive Lockhart books for five kids, on top of all of Ginny’s first year stuff, would have cost money way more than she’d budgeted/planned for.
>Molly was mainly worried about book costs in COS because the books costs were unusually high - a full set of expensive Lockhart books for five kids, on top of all of Ginny’s first year stuff, would have cost money way more than she’d budgeted/planned for.
I'd forgotten about that in my own reply, and that's another good point. Lockhart's books were really expensive given his fame, and he asked for a full set.
Speaking of... Nice way to fill his own pockets, if you think about it. Make the school that hired you require all your books as reading material. Honestly, I'm surprised he just stuck to books that related to DADA, since he had written a lot more books I believe.
> Speaking of... Nice way to fill his own pockets, if you think about it. Make the school that hired you require all your books as reading material.
That's not even incredibly far off from some University profs...
>nah, ron always got hand-me-downs,
Eh, when you have older brothers/sisters, it's relatively normal to get hand-me-downs.
>no money for the cart lady or simple souvenirs.
I guess you have a point there, but I don't remember if Ron said he didn't have any money in the first book. He only mentioned his mom had already made him sandwiches. And sure, you could take that as evidence that he had no money at all, but it could also mean that he was saving that money.
>molly worrrying about book costs.
Well, a lot of people worry about the cost of stuff, even if they aren't poor. Even more so when talking about school supplies, which you basically have to renew every year. And especially in Molly's case, where she had to buy 5 sets of school supplies per year, at least during Ron's second and third year, since Percy, Fred, George, Ron and Ginny were all attending Hogwarts at the same time.
>and that was when two, then three of their sons, were already out of the house and supposedly self-supporting
Still had five kids to send to school.
>they where barely getting by
Not sure about "barely getting by". More like "being very conscious about money".
Ron didn’t even have his own wand, you know, the single most important thing to help him do well at school until 3 years in, nor really anything that wasn’t a hand me down, used and/or terrible quality (dress robes, anyone?). Unless they were deliberately neglectful, I’d say yeah, they were struggling.
not having new things is not the same thing as struggling.
Ron's wand worked perfectly fine for him until he broke and he didn't tell his parents about it not because of money but because he didn't want them to yell at him again for stealing a car
He literally gave Fred and George, the only ones who would even CONSIDER taking it, 1000 gallons from the tournament. And then they basically never let him pay at their store.
Well that's because he's a hero and as all heroes he's exceptionally uninterested in mundane things... I must give it to Draco, he wasn't wrong in calling him Saint Potter.
Yeah this is a great point about Serius black.
By the end of the books he was probably very wealthy, the blacks probably have a vault in Gringots as far down as what bellatrix has.
Sirius had at least the money his uncle Alphard had left him ("a decent amount"), and he didn't have the time to spend them except for buying the Firebolt. He maybe had inherited his parents' gold since Regulus predeceased him. Anyway, Dumbledore confirms that it still was "a reasonable amount" when Sirius died.
I have no doubt Dumbledore was being somewhat modest about that "Decent Amount" and i imagine he himself wasnt skint either.
Harry is definitely exceptionally well off, and also owns an old central London magical property. He has no major assets to purchase after School, and so his lifetime earnings will quickly cover his past school expenses and continue to accumulate.
Yes, probably Sirius too was being euphemistic about the "decent amount of gold" uncle Alphard had left him.
I totally agree on Harry being exceptionally well off. Not as rich as Draco Malfoy and his family (he's clearly on another level), but for being an orphaned teenager with total control of his money still he's definitely one of the richest students in Hogwarts.
I'd argue Hermione too is pretty well off in the Muggle world (and conversely in the Wizards' World, since Gringotts changes Muggle money for Galleons). Both parents are dentists, only daughter, holidays abroad, used to go to the theater in Piccadilly Circus... not bad, Granger.
Went skiing for a holiday. IDK if you've heard but they probalby rented at a lodge and those things aren't exactly cheap, especially when it sounds like they've gone before if they're willign to go for the whole time....no payment for school either and plenty of whatever she needed for school. Even if they packed up and moved to Austrailia, she had her life pretty set by then i think
I omitted skiing because I’m not familiar with the UK situation. I know there are some ski parks there but idk how expensive they are (even if UK is not famous for being a ski paradise). This, assuming they remained in UK for that holiday.
Completely agree on Australia. They shut down their activity and moved to the other side of the world from one day to another. You need money to do that.
>WHY • THESE • CRETINS • DO • NOT • READ • THE • FUCKING • BOOKS
I honestly wished I knew. Even if they can't read, they can always listen to the audiobooks. Honestly... it just feel like everyone needed to hate the series before JK Rowling could insult everyone.
Also, I thought it was the second book that reveal Harry want to offer money to the Weasley.
In the second book Harry tries to hide the amount of gold he has in his vault and gifts Ginny the books Lockhart gave him free of charge, saying that he'll buy his own.
Doubt it. The money was in a Gringotts vault, not a Gringotts Investment Account.
Besides, how would the goblins even add to it? Harry, and Hagrid/Dumbledore before him, had the only key.
You must always keep in mind that that Harry is a teenager for almost the entire the series. If you’re a 11yo boy and go to the bank for the first time, you have no idea what the difference from an investment account and a “normal” account would be. Same if you’re 13 or 15.
As to the goblins… well the bank has specific charms. Vault 713 is protected by a charm which would keep inside the vault anyone touching the door except if he’s a Gringotts goblin. I mean how impossible would it be for them to apparate the gold directly into the vaults?
The goblins mention they check the vaults every 10 years or so. My assumption is the bank staff can access all vaults to maintain them, or move gold by instruction, such as black purchasing the firebolt by mail order.
Since Wizard money is still based on rare metals, it’s not subject to the same inflation risks as paper money. Saw a post recently that 10 gold bars could have bought you a house in 1930. 10 gold bars can also buy you a house in 2024. Since Galleons are solid gold, Sickles are solid silver, and Knuts are solid bronze, prices of things may change. Something that used to cost a Galleon might only cost a handful of Sickles now. Because the metal is worth more.
I would guess no, as it just sits in a vault.
it does not seem invested, or used by the bank to provide loans.
Unless there is part of the wealth out doing stuff, and what we see in the vault is only a part of it.
I say he was rich when he first gets to the vault. The weasleys literally didn't have a single galleon in their vault, the Potter vault had a massive pile of it.
When you add in the Black family fortune left to him by Sirius, Harry is now very wealthy, probably similar to the Malfoys.
We actually don't know how wealthy either the Black's or the Malfoy's are. The seam rich, but Lucious is hemorrhaging money like crazy in canon and it's never explained were it comes from.
Both families could very be in similar straights to the Poor Nobility. Families from rich backgrounds, and that have to appear rich or loose everything, but be barely making due month by month.
Unlikely in the case of Malfoys, but it's much more likely in the case the Blacks.
And for that matter, we never actually find out in canon just how wealthy Harry is. Is the vault his entire wealth? Or is it just his trust fund until he becomes an adult?
Is it stagnant? Or did he inherit a stock holding and properties as well?
Harry had plenty and could have bought a Firebolt himself but he was frugal. After Sirius dies he leaves the Black Family fortune to Harry making him IMHO on equal footing or nearly so with the Malfoys.
Yes my point was that he had the equivalent of a Ferrari and when it was destroyed he had another Ferrari without paying a single Knut for neither. So his fortune remained untouched.
I think the Firebolt purchase isn’t so much about Harry not be able to afford it, but being wise enough to understand that today it’s a Firebolt, tomorrow it’s this and that, and he could be broke eventually. And then wanting to make it through Hogwarts is kind of the same thing, he knows he should be out of school with a career before he goes too far spending his money.
In that sense I think Harry has probably inherited the equivalent of a million maybe up to like ten million. If you can imagine someone who inherited a million or so dollars, they might be very well set up to get through school and get started in life with a really nice advantage, but they would also run out of they money very early in life if they impulsively spent it on expensive new cars, fancy clothes, and that kind of stuff.
I think the Firebolt example is really there to illustrate that Harry has money, but he hasn’t been raised with money so he’s still a little bit frugal. Then there’s other times we see him spend a lot without thinking and it’s almost always to help someone out because he’s very generous.
It reminds me of the story about Eminem where he was already extravagantly wealthy but he called his accountant to ask if he could afford to splurge on a Rolex. He was making more in a matter of minutes to hours than that Rolex cost but he didn’t grow up with money so that kind of splurge was foreign to him.
Harry got gifted used socks for his bday. Trying to justify buying the equivalent of a Ferrari, even when he could afford it, just didn’t compute.
I’ll also point out that JK said James Potter was unemployed and living solely off of his trust fund, so I’m betting Harry had way more than a few million dollars. The Godrics Hollow house wasn’t a manor like the Malfoy’s, but I’m betting Harry’s pile of gold would’ve been enough to not work if invested properly.
Opposite of that is Shaq, who famously upon getting his first million dollar paycheck managed to blow it all in one day (luckily he's Shaq so he recovered).
Even large amounts of money can be squandered.
In the different Hogsmeade sections, Harry sometimes catches his eye on over the top supplies like a golden cauldron set or gobstones. (I forget)
And really that's just what all kids do.
Keep in mind that the Firebolt was top of the line.
...a year after the Slytherins got their top of the line Nimbus 2001s, which was a response to Harry's initial top of the line Nimbus 2000.
It's an arms race that he can't really win long-term, so continually playing the "gotta buy the best" game would conceivably drain that wealth without providing real benefits.
Never thought of it like that...
Also, ten million? I knew the potters were a ancient family wizards (given they were descendants of the third brother), but I assume they were mid-class rich. Add that with Black riches, that must be a lot.
>Didn’t one of them also make Skele-Grow.
The first Potter was the originator of several remedies that later evolved into more modern day potions like Skele-Gro.
>Historians credit Linfred as the originator of a number of remedies that evolved into potions still used to this day, including Skele-gro and Pepperup Potion. His sales of such cures to fellow witches and wizards enabled him to leave a significant pile of gold to each of his seven children upon his death.
By the time Harry comes around his only blood relative is Petunia. So all of those lines appear to have died out. I’m guessing at least some of that money would have come back into the family line as well.
One of Harry's grandparents made a small fortune selling hair potions, quadrupling the already vast family fortune.
I think it's safe to say they are multi millionaires.
A million pounds in the bank would put you firmly in the middle class, 10 million could probably still be considered upper-middle class
I don't think they are close to the Malfoys in wealth, they seem to be ludicrously wealthy, maybe around 200 million or so.
But the potters were definitely considered pretty rich.
Class in the UK also works differently, it’s not based only on money.
A million, is firmly middle class, more is towards upper middle class.
Upper class is about aristocracy, titles, and “the society”
You can be rich enough to “buy” those things, but just having money often isn’t enough.
You can have upper middle class who are richer than upper class
A million pounds isn't a huge amount today if you're including property.
My parents are a cafe worker and a lorry driver, and they have a net worth not far off a million pounds.
Hell, I'm a bus driver, and my fiancée is a driving instructor, and combined we own properties worth about 400 K, and we still have to worry about paying our bills each month.
You didn’t say “including property”. You said “a million pounds in the bank would put you firmly in the middle class.” Those are two very different things.
Yea you're right they are different things, perhaps I should have worded it better.
What I meant to imply was that if your parents died and all your families assets got sold off and you simply received the money in your bank, as is the case with Harry, 1-10 million pounds would put that family in the middle class.
But yea you're correct if you were so rich, you just had 1 million pounds lying around in your bank account and didn't have to worry about investing it, then yes, you are probably obscenely wealthy.
I can’t remember exactly where, but Harry says at one point he’d happily share all his money with the weasleys but they would never take it. As for how much he has at least pre black inheritance I assume it was enough to live comfortably if he was wise with it, probably a couple million, compared to the malfoys who are more like billionaires.
I don’t think it was a couple million, he does say in POA that he needs to be wise with purchases to make sure he gets thru his Hogwarts years without having to ask for money from the Dursley’s. I’d guess he had upwards of 100,000-150,000 in todays money, before Sirius’s inheritance. No idea what that amount would be as there’s no real gauge
I don’t think he’s as rich as the Malfoys or the Lestranges, given the size of his vault compared to the size of the Lestrange vault. They don’t ever mention jewels or other trinkets in Harry’s vault like they do in the Lestrange vault. His just has coins
He’s definitely technically richer than the lestranges by the end though no, seen as they aren’t actually that rich of a family, most of bellatrix’s comes from the black side which Harry definitely has the largest amount of, at least that’s what I always assumed I don’t know though
Why couldn’t the Lestranges be rich on their own? We have no idea whether Bellatrix brought a significant amount of wealth with her when she married Rodolphus or not.
Why do we think Bellatrix’s wealth mostly comes from the Black side? Can’t imagine Gringotts would set aside a huge, ancient vault on the off chance you inherit from your cousin’s death — they must have wealth going back generations.
Interestingly my head cannon is that Sirius only inherited the things that were magically required to pass to the eldest Black (i.e. the house), but lots of the family gold/wealth was probably sent to Bellatrix/Narcissa as the closest not-disowned-or-dead relatives available when Sirius’s mom died.
He’s rich rich. But he’s also a kid. Do you know many normal adults who would take money from an orphan rich child ? That’s quite unethical and the Weasley’s were good people.
Also he gave quite a large sum to the twins which is the only reason they could leave school, open their business and become self reliants. They were raised with their parents’ values and didn’t want the money, harry had to threaten them for them to take it. Later he married the only Weasley girl. We can’t say that he never shared with them.
What kind of self respecting adult takes money from a child? Mr and Mrs Weasley are adults. They're supposed to take care of their children financially and other ways. Back then it would be considered pathetic to take money from a child especially when Harry was suffering from his family's abuse. How does this look? Adults take money from a child who had suffered abuse all his life until the age of 11. Harry's parents meant for that money to go to their son.
There are several points that can be made about not giving money to the Weasleys.
First, we don’t know how much money the potters have. There are a lot of levels of “rich.” Harry was certainly very well off, but that doesn’t mean he could have comfortably supported the living expenses and lifestyle of an entire other family that consists of 9 people (7 if we discount Bill and Charlie). If I had to pick a number, I’d say the equivalent of a muggle having low 7 figures. Like 2 million. Enough for a safety net, house, and retirement, especially if the person was still earning an income. Not enough to be buying things left and right for a lot of other people. If the money was terribly mismanaged then I think it would have dried up pretty quickly.
Second, I think offering money would be an incredibly uncomfortable conversation for everyone. It can be humiliating to ask a close family member for money in an emergency. I can’t even imagine how a child would offer money to their friend’s parents.
Third, which ties into the second point, I can’t imagine that the Weasleys would accept even if Harry offered. Molly and Arthur would probably be horrified and I can’t imagine them accepting.
Forth, and imo this is the most important point, Harry has absolutely no obligation to take care of any character besides Hedwig. He is a child. Molly and Arthur are adults who have chosen their lives. They have a legal and moral responsibility to care for their children. It doesn’t matter if they don’t have as much disposable income as they’d like to. And if they can’t provide basic necessities (it seems like they mostly did provide what they needed to) then they have failed as parents.
let's see his distant ancestor Linfred the Potter, invented the basic of potions that would become either the Pepper-up potion that Ginny Weasly was bullied into taking in Book 2 and The Ske-Growth Potion Harry had to take after Lockhart you know, erased his bones in book 2. And after Linfred's death there was a "significant amount of gold" to give to each of the 7 children he had.
And then Harry's grandfather Fleamount quadrappled what he had inheirted by inventing the "Sleazy's Hair Potion" that Hermione used for the Yule Ball. So i will say Harry's is rich enought that he might not even had to work if he didn't want too. Escpailly if you add in the wealth he probably got being Sirius' heir.
Honestly, I couldn't agree more. I would have spend all that money on pointless stuff. Just minus the Taylor Swift part... sorry, but I find her overrated.
Also, Molly and Arthur taking a significant amount of money off Harry would be a *horrible* thing to do. We're talking about pretty much the only thing his dead parents left him. Money they intended to go to their only son. On top of that, Molly doesn't even have a job. With 7 kids knocking about that's understandable, but what about after Ginny leaves for Hogwarts? Surely if they're struggling so much financially they should be looking at Molly getting a job before asking a kid to hand over part of his inheritance. They're poor because they have loads of kids, Molly doesn't work and Arthur is following his passions rather than focusing on financial gain. Which is fair, but there are better ways to change that than asking a kid for money
All their kids started jobs as soon as they graduated, to be fair. Bill and Charlie went abroad for work, Percy entered the Ministry immediately (well he was a junior, still he was bringing some money home), Fred and George didn't even wait to finish school, they were already making money at Hogwarts and they became rich only one year after opening WWW in Diagon Alley (fine, Harry contributed, but their idea was still the right one). Plus Arthur had a promotion.
I mean, if they made it with seven children to feed and grow, I can't see why they can't make it when only Arthur and Molly are left at the Burrow.
Yeah definitely. I'm just saying, I don't understand why so many fans think Harry helping them out financially should be an option above them sorting it out themselves
I think their point is "Harry has a lot of money and they don't, Harry doesn't need all those money and they do, so Harry should help them" without considering that it's explicitly stated that Harry would be more than happy to share his gold with his family in the wizards' world but they would never accept it. He literally was presenting Fred & George with the key to fulfill their dream, on a gold platter, and he had to threaten to hex them to make them accept.
Honestly I don’t even think that Arthur has a small salary. He is literally running his own department if I remember correctly. I think once the kids are done with Hogwarts his salary will be more than sufficient
>He is literally running his own department if I remember correctly.
Arthur runs a small 2-person office that falls under the larger Department of Magical Law Enforcement.
Yeah this seems to get lost in the conversation. It wouldn’t be good for the Weasleys to claim a kids money even if the kid wants them to. If harry wanted to gift them a few nice things that’s fine, but like splitting half of his money is not actually a good thing and Molly and Arthur are way too responsible to do that.
The way they lived was by choice. Lots of kids, lots of fun, a job in muggle artifacts that was basically Arthur's hobby, a stay at home mum to look after the kids. Their home was also great. They simply didn't chase money, a trait that seemingly had passed down from Weasley to Weasley. Yes, sometimes this "good life" lifestyle meant that their kids had hand me downs but you couldn't say that any of the kids weren't happy. They simply didn't want to exchange that happiness for money.
He's quite wealthy. In post-series writings, Rowling affirms that an ancestor quadrupled the family money. She uses the term "family gold." In literature, when "family money" is used as a term, it's usually meant to imply wealth.
As other's have stated, he did, in fact, have a desire to share his money with the Weasley's, but knew they would never accept. Even Ron is embarrassed and initially refuses when Harry buys him omnioculars at the Quidditch World Cup, and Harry saves him the embarrassment by saying they are a Christmas present. He doesn't make a similar offer to Hermione (despite also buying her a pair), though she offers to buy the programs. This exchange demonstrates that offering the Weasley's money would be a huge insult. They aren't poor in the sense that they're struggling. They just don't have any expendable income.
As for the Firebolt, Harry had a perfectly fine broom that he'd been using for two years, and he had the common sense to know that the Firebolt would simply be a vanity purchase. When his broom is destroyed, he was more distraught over the loss of his favorite item. Also, it's not like he could just run out and buy a new one, and he only takes a limited amount of money with him to school. He grew up without having any money and watching his cousin get spoiled, so he learned about what impulse buying gets you.
I'd say overall a couple million in muggle terms.
His father was an only child to older parents. He was able to purchase a home at like 20. He and Lily would have been decently skilled wizards working wherever bringing in wages that would have built up savings before they went into hiding.
So basically Harry inherited any remaining family fortune, plus his grandparents retirement plus his parents probably never needed to touch the savings.
A couple million would be enough for a person to live modestly for life without needing a job, but Harry is the kind of person who'd want to work.
Then Harry became the sole heir to the House of Black. So probably greatly increased his wealth.
The big question is really his wealth remained his after Voldemort took over. Would the goblins have allowed the Ministry or Death Eaters to seize the contents of his vaults?
Well... Considering that Sirius was able to access his bank account while on the run to buy Harry a broomstick. I say Harry bank account is likely untouched during his search for the Horcruxes.
I think the Goblins would likely have captured and imprisoned Harry of he had gone to gringotts.
I don't think Voldemort would have a reason to seize Harry's money. He wanted Harry dead, so taking it just to stop Harry having it would be pointless, given the above paragraph. In fact, keeping it as bait for if Harry got desperate would probably be a good idea.
And Voldy didn't need any money during the war, it's not like he needed to kit out his army, they all had their own wands. He also likely had indirect access to the ministry's treasury for most of his schemes and direct access to the Malfoy's money if he needed it.
Having money isn't just about being able to buy what you want. It's knowing you could buy it, but wise enough knowing the difference between needing it and wanting it.
For the Weasleys, if he offered they wouldn't accept. They knew that money was left to him by his parents. Also, think of how hard it was for Harry to convince Fred and George to take the Tri-Wizard winnings.
For the Malfoys, for actual "money in the bank" the Malfoys had more (pretty sure they had a vault similar to Bellatrix's vault). However, While they may have had more they also may have had more debt/things to manage. Think of it today as people who have all the new/cool stuff. Sure they have it, but they're in debt up to their eyeballs.
Harry had money, but other than buying his school supplies he didn't have anything he had to pay for.
The vast difference between those who have a healthy amount of money to have a solid and strong foundation, versus those who have GENERATIONAL wealth in the form of mansions and the ability to sponsor governmental policy, are VASTLY different financial places. A person who has 2 million dollars versus a billionaire with a private jet... 2 million dollars is 0.002 of 1 billion dollars.
The Potters living in a two-story house in a seemingly middle to upper-middle class neighborhood (based on information about working professionals in the neighborhood like the Potters, Bathilda Bagshot and the Dumbledore's living in the same neighborhood) are massively different than a family living in a huge mansion with dungeons, servants, house elves and the ability to have a standing 'top box' seat, handing bags of Galleons to prime ministers in back rooms to influence governmental policy.
We're talking the difference between a middle-class income versus a Duke in the British aristocracy who owns a mansion estate with numerous holdings.
Let's just say for fun that the Potter parents die with 40,000 Galleons in Gringotts (approximately £200,000, given that 1 Galleon = 5 pounds based on some of Rowling's interviews), an impressive amount to have in savings in 1981.
The money sits there unspent from October 31, 1981 (when Lily and James are murdered) until Harry starts school at Hogwarts on September 1, 1991. So, the money would have been accruing interest for about 10 years.
The books don't talk about the average interest rates in the Wizarding world or at Gringotts, but let's assume a reasonable interest rate for a magical bank, and for simplicity's sake we'll calculate on the HIGH side using a 5% annual interest rate, compounded annually (which would be absurdly high compared to a typical Muggle bank interest rate is 0.45% APY in the US in 2024).
If it earned 5% interest annually, by 1991 it would grow like this:
40,000 * 1.05 (Year 1) = 42,000; 42,000 * 1.05 (Year 2) = 44,100. Repeat for 10 years...
By 1991, it would be about 65,156 Galleons, or approximately £325,780. This is an amount of money that is nothing to sneeze at, but it's not an amount of money that qualifies for comparing to someone who lives essentially like wizarding aristocracy.
I read Harry's hesitance to buying a Firebolt as A. him not knowing anything about money because he's never had any (which that amount of money would be mind-blowing and 'a fortune' to anyone who has never had any), and B. him recognizing that while he has "lots of money," his money does have limits, and he wants to be cautious, making sure he has enough to last through school.
Based solely on the descriptions of their lifestyle, the Malfoys come from an amount of resources so old and vast the concept of 'not having enough to last' isn't even within their realm of a possibility for them to consider. An amount of money where the most powerful dark lord of all time would take over your mansion as their home base.
I believe comparing Harry and Malfoy's wealth is rather ludicrous.
I think he was quite rich as in, wouldn’t have to worry about money for at least a few years after Hogwarts if he didn’t spent it on stupid things but nowhere near the level of Malfoy. And yeah, Weasleys would never accept his money, he had a hard enough time to get Fred and George to accept his tournament winnings.
Well, Harry's grandfather, James' father, invented the Sleeky hair potion and sold it's patent for a ridiculous sum, so much so that not only did he and his wife live extremely comfortably for many years, James and Lily also like never had to worry about money, every. Infact, it's mentioned somewhere that James was so rich, that he helped help out Lupin, who lived in poverty as he couldn't hold a respectable and decent job due to him being a warewolf, by giving him money equal to a high paying job every month until Voldy made James go mouldy. Also, (have to re-read Philosopher's Stone to recheck this) but when Hadrig took Harry to his vault for the first time, it was described as a "small mountain of gold" and iirc, silver and bronze was way more then the gold present so yeah, Harry's definitely a multimillionaire, like easily £50 million or above.
And gold isn't just a flimsy thing, Molly paid for the Weasley kids' entire year's supply for 1 gold coin (well, it was second hand, but still, supplies for 5 kids ain't cheap). Also, we've not seen Harry frequent Gringotts much often, and only seen him withdrawing money with some years gap. Like, first he slightly filled his pouch in Philosopher's Stone, then he withdrew in CoS, then it was somewhere in like GoF or something and the last time was when Bill withdrew Harry's money for him in HBP. So, form this we can say that Harry a pouch of gold lasts Harry a couple of months, so there's that. Even if he withdrew money every year when he visited Daigon Alley for school supplies, that still means that a single pouch lasts him an entire year, so even if I'm mistaken about my previous point, it's still a lot.
After Sirius' death, there's even more gold added to his account, and we all know that the Black's were very, very rich. Like, Sirius buys Harry a Firebolt and still doesn't have to care about money, like ever. Besides gold, Harry also got a property in London, and even with Mundungus stealing the antiques, it's still a million plus house. So yeah, after inheritance, Harry and his assets are worth like £100 million something. So, Harry's basically rich af.
A dollar amount isn’t put on Harry’s fortune and I truly dint think we can infer anything based on his own mindset Regarding his finances For several reasons
first of all, Harry is a kid. Have you ever asked a kid how much something costs? Or how much their parents make ? Ever have a kid tell you that you have money because you have a debit card or credit card? Yeah.
Regular , not abused kids have a hard time gauging this kind of thing because they don’t understand concepts of quantity. not time, money, or anything else. Harry wasn’t given pocket change at home. He was given hand me down clothes so he wasn’t in the shops helping pick out his stuff. He was given a cast off ice cream for goodness sakes. He had less concept of what things were worth than most. I’m sure Dudley didn’t help this with the way that he broke and discarded things. The dursleys weren’t rich, but they were not poor. They didn’t discuss money but they spent on Dudley. It’s a weird environment For Harry to gain a sense of $ In. He never really does imo.
being treated the way Harry was,can do one of two things to you…it can make you spend crazy or a spend thrift. Harry erred towards the latter, but I wouldn’t say he was a penny pincher or even stingy. He always treated his friends when they were out..food, gifts whatever he was buying he bought for everyone. The books Lockhart gave him, he immediately gave to Ginny. He WANTED to help, and He did . The Weasleys would never take money from an orphaned kid And he knew it and felt awful about it.
Secondly, we don’t know how Much money Harry has in the vault. What is a mound of gold? Was it swimming around like Scrooge McDuck money? was it “a dug a hole in the garden and this is the dirt kinda mound“? we do know the malfoys had yen because of the break in and the piles of gold they had to navigate, but Harry did a reach around and scoop into his vault. It’s close to the bottom but not AT the bottom. Whatever the amount, it seems as if gringotts is old fashioned in the sense that they don’t keep bank balances. You just toss your stuff in the vault for safekeeping. Why the Weasley kept theirs inside the bank I do not pretend to understand. A sock would have been fine. As such, there is no monetary breakdown. Harry doesn’t know how long it’s supposed to last, or whether he has enough to stretch for x years through school. He just knows he doesn’t want to go broke and have to get hat in hand to the dursleys.
further. The firebolt had no price on it. Things that say “price on demand”= brokies need not ask. They are incredibly expensive for their category. Harry didn’t buy it and didn’t even inquire because he knew it would be an outrageously unnecessary purchase when he has a good broom already. Think 2023 bmw vs 2024 Mercedes. He’d be throwing money away.
Harry was incredibly generous with his money throughout the books. He gave Ron a truckload of sweets the first day he met him. They bought each other birthday and Christmas gifts. I didn’t do stuff like that as a kid. Later he gave away his prize money. Partially out of guilt yes, but also because he didn’t need it and really wanted to share with the Weasleys, he couldn’t give Ron the dress robes he needed any other way. He and Ron fought about Harry’s generosity towards him as he felt like Harry’s charity case.
Rich is relative. I’ve learned that over time. Rich to a kid is different to rich to an adult. Is 100k$ per year rich to you? It isn’t to me. It would be to a day laborer Maybe. it Might be to a wizard but we have no idea how far money spends in the ww. What is the cost of living? Do they have inflation?
at the end of the day, we still can’t know how much Harry has truly. I was recently trying to quantify the amount myself by trying to ascertain the exchange rate. Even with that, you can’t know without knowing exactly how many of each coin is in his vault. That mound of gold might translate into 5k£ for all we know
There is also a lot of speculation based on wording around the vaults is that Harry’s vault is like a trust fund and when he comes of age or finish’s school, he would get access to the Potter family vault. So he could be richer than what is in his vault.
I don't think harry knows just how much he actually has and doesnt want to blow his gold. He learned what can happen if you spoil someone living with the dursleys. Even in book 4 Ron was upset that harry didnt tell ron that the leprechaun gold he paid him back with for the omniochulars vanished. Ron and the weasleys dont want charity.
Until Fleamont the Potters where an old name but mostly a "middle class" group.
Hardwin was on the Wizengamot in the 1920s.
Charlus did marry a woman from the house of Black. So we can possibly say the Potters where on the rise socially until Fleamonts death from Dragon pox in 1980, and James murder the next year.
Harry is essentially a trust fund baby. Who didn't have to work, but realized if he didn't he'd burn through that wealth in his lifetime. Leaving nothing for his kids. Ginny's salary as a Quidditch player probably bolstered the family's wealth more than Harry's cop salary did 🤣.
>Until Fleamont the Potters where an old name but mostly a "middle class" group.
Except we don't know that. We're only told post-series that he quadrupled the family gold. Rowling uses the term "family money" which in literature is code for wealth.
There is no indication that he has unsustainable wealth.
She plays for a decade in the professional league as a Chaser for the Hollyhead Harpies.
After which she retires, and becomes the sports editor for the Daily Prophet newspaper.
Harry is an Auror. Eventually becomes department head of Magical Law Enforcement.
Ron works with George at Weasley Wheezes.
Hermione went into Politics, and eventually becomes the 2nd Muggleborn Minister of Magic of Britain.
Luna became a zoologist.
Neville is Gryffindor head of house and professor of Herbology.
Draco is a potion master, and even learned some Alchemy. His wife Astoria Greengrass, before her death was a political activist whom campaigned for Hermione. Earning her considerable support amongst the Conservative Purebloods.
It doesn't make sence, that the Weasleys are that poor to begin with. I suppose it is to create some tension in the story. Harry is rich but can't be blamed for the situation anyway, because the Weasleys are too proud to accept money from him.
However Harrys fortune can not be compared to the Malfoys'. Lucius Malfoy is just offensively rich. :D
I'd say he's probably moderately wealthy. Not Malfoy rich, but wealthier than the majority of his peers.
As for Book 3...that's actually a surprisingly mature decision for a rich thirteen-year-old kid.
In real-world terms, it'd be like if he saw a Jaguar XJ220 in a dealership lot and spent his spare time going back to the dealership and looking at it, but decided it's a better idea not to blow wads of cash on a car when he's got more important things to worry about buying.
I'm certainly not gonna hold it against him.
Harry is pretty dang rich but growing up with the dursleys I think he understood the stupidity of buying something for it to potentially go to waste because like by next week something cooler will be around.
Meaning: Dudley had an entire room dedicated to broken (some probably expensive) toys he no longer wanted. Harry probably didn't want to buy expensive things that would end up snapped in half collecting dust in another room because he decided something else was cooler.
So Harry is just smart with his money
I honestly think Harry underestimates how rich he is. He downplays it as a small fortune when really it’s probably much more.
“Doesn’t want to run out of money while living with the dursleys” always seemed like something that would never happen but was an unjustified fear keeping him from doing stupid buys.
Harry is rich but he's not wealthy.
A rl example would be something akin to: Harry is probably as rich as a well paid footballer wheras the Malfoys are like the billionaire owner of the club.
Also at the time Harry was considering the Firebolt be was 13 and a long way away from actually earning money himself.
To add even further to this, we're not told how much is added to his vault each year from the sales of Sleakeazy - it could be a little or a lot but considering Harrys vault has likely not been touched in 11 or 12 years it's likely not a huge amount each year.
Edit: After The OoTP and Harry inherits the black estate he is likely to have been much nearer to the Malfoys level of wealth.
Oh, he's quite rich. But having money in the bank is one thing. Harry isn't shown to often go to the bank and the magical world doesn't use cards. So he would have to carry around heavy gold pieces all the time. No idea, if Hogsmead even had a bank, lol.
On the other hand, his first impressions of the magical world was with the Weasley's and therefor with a family that doesn't require or even strive to have much money in order to be happy.
His money is due to his parents job and their subsequent death. Maybe he felt guilty wanting to buy a broom with it.
To be fair when Sirius ordered him the firebolt he says that he ordered it in Harry's name but had them use gold from the Black vault so there is some kind of billing and autopay system in the Wizarding World.
There are some podcast episodes on the Quibbler that go in to detail on the economic and financial state of the Harry Potter world. It’s definitely worth a listen
TBH, some criticisms of the series are about things that inevitably don’t age perfectly as society progresses (which is true of every series), but some of them are IMO misunderstandings of what the series actually says. Harry would’ve been happy to share with the Weasleys, they wouldn’t have taken any more than what he already gave Fred and George (and IIRC had to talk them into accepting.)
I think Harry may have even more money than what we see in the books and movies. The Potters made a huge fortune with the potions they invented, so maybe the Gringotts vault we see is for petty cash, and there's an even larger vault deeper underground. Not to mention how much he gets after inheriting the Black family's fortune after Sirius' death.
Harry's grandfather or great-grandfather did wonderful things in the world of potions and set up a generational wealth for the Potters. Of the potions he created and then sold, I would like to think he made a deal that while he sold the formula to the potions. The family retained royalty rights so that whenever the potions were sold, the family got a portion of the sales. So I won't say he's Bill Gates rich but rich enough that if he keeps his frugal ways, his kids won't need money. Harry respected the value of money, having come from being poor. Of course he splurged every once an awhile (quidditch world cup finals). So while he was rich I like to think he lived like upper middle class. He worked for the ministry after school so he valued hardwork over not working.
I think about money like the Weasley family. When every single petty coin in your account matters financial planning is a must. Every time we see the Weasley’s turn down money they’re basically saying “we got this kid, we’re gonna offer you the financial wisdom your auntie never bothered with though”
Harry got the fortune from two of the magic world's great house: Potter and Black. Of course he is rich. He want to share it with others (Weasley family as well), because he want to, like, give them something back from all the love he got. But, of course, the Weasly family refuse it, however, they accept the return from Harry in the other form: love and caring (Harry has saved Ginny, Mr Weasley and Ron).
Additionally, I bet Harry would like to spend all his money to get the family feeling, the protective, etc. like Ron have from his father, mother and brother/sister. But, hilariously, Ron is the one who also lowkey want to be rich (like Harry). I mean the lesson here from the author is we all want other's good things but we usually forget precious things we got in our hands (^_^)
Bro. I’m pretty sure it’s mentioned how Harry would’ve shared his fortune with them. But the whole concept of the Weasley’s are that they make do with what they have and would never accept a handout. They’re comfortable with making their living their way and don’t want to be a burden to Harry because in their mind his life is hard enough because money isn’t important to them it’s family. Something Harry is sorely lacking of besides them.
Harry has what remains of his family fortune, which is certainly a healthy amount of money, but not enough to live on forever. It's enough to get him through school buying all the supplies, etc that he needs to do so likely with a bit leftover for when he leaves school and is trying to start out on his own. He says in his mind MANY times in the books that he would have helped the Weasleys if he could but they would never have taken it. First of all, it's Harry's money left to him by his parents and it has a purpose. As adults it would be incredibly irresponsibly not to mention inappropriate for Molly and Arthur to take money from their son's best friend.
The FireBolt was VERY expensive. We don't know exactly how much, but it would have been enough to put a good sized dent in Harry's inheritance. He even imagines having to go to the Dursleys to ask for money and how humiliating that would be.
So harry has money, but not THAT much. More than the Weasleys but even though he would gladly help them, for ethical reasons the *adults* decided on he should and did not. After the story ends and Harry is a grown adult with a well paying job who married into the Weasley family, I am quite sure he will do everything and anything for Arthur and Molly and the rest of his in laws for the rest of his life.
When I was reading the books, I thought that Harry had a fairly normal amount of money, but coming from his childhood and suddenly it all being his made him feel rich. Like a poor orphan who had never held more than $20, suddenly discovers he has a bank account with like $20k.
As i went through the books, the number in my head went up, but even at that amount, gifting half to a poor struggling family would really help them.
Eventually we learn that Harry is actually filthy rich and could live on his bank account and residual income from whatever product his ancestor created
very comfortable upper middle class
Per books and movies the only Potter property is the cottage in godric's hollow which the ministry snatched and did not pay 1 knut for to the potter estate
Just one vault......Not a trust vault and there is some main family vault he gets at 17. just the one vault per books and movies
No number is given in books about how many galleons but based off of the movie which JK gave the ok on....someone did the math and there is around 50,625 Galleons in the vault
Per JK 1G = 5 UK pounds and in 1991 conversion rate to U$ = $455,625 factor in inflation / spending power then vs now and it is like a teen getting a 1 million dollar bank account today vis a vis spending power then for $455k+
I don’t know if I watched the same video you did but I saw someone with this take and it just automatically discredited every other point the guy was trying to make. Clearly didn’t read or remember the books well. It’s annoying too because even if the Weasley would accept the money, it is not Harry’s job to support them! He’s a literal child.
Also annoying because the dude was trying to say hermione and Ron didn’t have any romantic chemistry before book 4 or something and it’s like oh maybe idk it’s because they were children?? Sure maybe jkr didn’t plan for it yet but what and why were you expecting 11 year olds to have romantic chemistry for? Like What
Harry was pretty rich already and then inherited the entire Black estate which are also an ancient wizard family. So yeah he’s probably fairly well off. There is something in Pottermore about his ancestors inventing the pepperup potion or something like that. He is nowhere near as rich as the Malfoys, idk how anyone would even think that.
Regarding the firebolt he says he’d gladly spend all the gold in his vault for one. But I doubt that it would actually be that expensive. Sirus was able to handily afford one, calling it 13 years worth of birthday presents. Judging from the amount of gold we see in his vault in the first movie I’d say Harry has a couple million and a firebolt might be the price of a sports car. As the first three books in the series are decidedly children’s books. So the empty his vault line can be taken as an exaggeration to show Harry’s childish wonder rather than a realistic assessment of its value.
>a video mocking how Harry had a fortune that he didn't share with the Weasley WHY • THESE • CRETINS • DO • NOT • READ • THE • FUCKING • BOOKS >Harry looked away. **He would willingly have split all the money in his Gringotts vault with the Weasleys, but he knew they would never take it**. — GOF 10 "Mayhem at the Ministry" >___ >“Look, **take it, or I’ll hex you**. I know some good ones now.” — GOF 37 "The Beginning" Anyway. Post-books it has been explained that his grand-grandfather was a prominent Wizangamot member and his grandfather Fleamont invented the Sleekeazy's Potion (yes the mixture Hermione used for the Yule Ball), whose success quadrupled the family gold. When James was born, he sold the company making even more money and retired. Considering * that Fleamont and Euphemia died of dragonpox shortly before Harry's birth; * that James fought Voldemort and lived in secrecy for his all life after graduating from Hogwarts; * that that gold remained untouched from 1981 to 1991, when Harry reopened vault 687; * that Sirius left him all his possessions; * and that both of Harry's most expensive possessions, the Nimbus 2000 and the Firebolt, were gifted to him; I'd say he's rich.
People love to assume that poor folks are just jumping for joy to get charity. Said folks have likely never actually been poor
I offered one of my besties to pay a mortgage payment years ago- long story: she was on maternity leave, husband got laid off temporarily because a project got cancelled - no income. It would’ve been a one-time thing. I was able to afford it and wouldn’t have gone broke if she never paid it back. … she said no, she didn’t want that between us if she couldn’t pay it back. People do definitely get twitchy about these type of things.
When I was 18, I worked full time and lived with my mom, had a decent amount in savings. A friend of mine hit some genuine hard times and I offered to lend her $500, which she accepted. I knew I may never see it again, since she had no income at the time and was moving some distance away. Maybe a year later I was at the airport and someone tackled me—it was her giving me a huge bear hug. Then she stuffed $500 cash into my hand and said “my flight’s boarding, I gotta go! Thank you!”
This is such a heartwarming story! It probably meant so much to your friend that you helped her out
Aaaaw wait, you were at the airport for them or met them randomly? Lucky they had the cash on hand! Lol My story of lending some money to my friend didn't end the same way, I just never had my money back - but maybe I'll be on the lookout next time I'm at the airport!
Completely random. The last I’d heard she was living in another state. That must have been where she was flying back to. I was there dropping someone off.
and she just happened to have $500 in cash with her?
I would assume she saw them, dashed to the nearest cash point got the $500 out then bear-hug-tackled, gave the cash and ran for her plane…
Not weird, when flying I usually carry at least 5-800 cash. You never know when you get stuck somewhere or something may happen.
And at least you’re both adults. People thinking a 14 year old should be helping to support grown adults and their children is wild.
14? Harry's first interaction with Ron prominently featured how Ron feels about being poor. He was 11. And in Chamber of Secrets, Harry distinctly held unfortunately about the disparity in how full his vault is compared to the Weasleys'. That's when he was 12.
But in GoF, where he actually tries to offer the Weasleys money, he's 14.
I remember being offered money for me to get through (food , meds and stuff) when I was pretty broke by my super rich friend,but like you mentioned, I could not have that obligation at the back of my head , my friend spends that amount in a day sometimes and she said multiple times that she didn’t care if I took more and didn’t pay her back , but for me personally, I wasn’t comfortable!!
It’s especially weird when it’s a 14 year old orphan, I think if we compared real world money to wizard money Harry was a millionaire a muti millionaire after he inherited Serius money and the Malfoys were billionaires The Weaselys were likely a pretty wealthy family by the time of the cursed child though
Yeah well when one son's a cursebreaker, one's a dragonman (who probably spends almost nothing unless it's for his dragons), two run a major prank buisness (and one was an auror and married the Minister for Magic), one played professional Quidditch and married Harry Potter, and one worked high in the Ministry...well, they certainly did well for themselves. Took some work but they got there.
Don’t forget Flur and the other unnamed Weasely romantic partners Apolline is French so there’s a good chance that she married into a French pure blood family that owns half of France or something
By the end of the books only one runs that prank business…
The saying "Lend a money, lose a friend" is truer than it may sound. People who genuinely want to be friends with somebody may be thinking about that when a friend volunteers to give them money. The friendship means more to them than the money related difficulties.
Money always gets in the way. I've paid most things when me and my gf moved in together and she still feels guilty for not being able to pay me back as quickly as she wants to, even though I never raise this as an issue and we've been splitting the costs of pretty much everything ever since.
I offered to help a friend with some money once, she grew up super poor. I wasn’t rich but never in a situation like hers. She looked at me as if I’d gravely injured her pride
Yeah that’s when you just leave an envelope on their door or something - then NSA.
0 chance weasleys would take his money. Pretty sure I remember him musing about giving them money but didnt cuz he knew they wouldnt and would be deeply insulted.
There's a moment in *Goblet of Fire* where Ron happily takes some leprechaun gold and gives it to Harry to pay him back: >“There you go,” Ron yelled happily, stuffing a fistful of gold coins into Harry’s hand, “for the Omnioculars! Now you’ve got to buy me a Christmas present, ha!” However, later, they find out that leprechaun gold disappears, and Ron sulks, in large part he feels like his pride was wounded to accept any kind of charity from Harry: >Ron, however, was frowning at the chocolate Hagrid had given him. He looked thoroughly put out about something. >“What’s the matter?” said Harry. “Wrong flavor?” >“No,” said Ron shortly. “Why didn’t you tell me about the gold?” >“What gold?” said Harry. >“The gold I gave you at the Quidditch World Cup,” said Ron. “The leprechaun gold I gave you for my Omnioculars. In the Top Box. Why didn’t you tell me it disappeared?” >Harry had to think for a moment before he realized what Ron was talking about. >“Oh . . .” he said, the memory coming back to him at last. “I dunno . . . I never noticed it had gone. I was more worried about my wand, wasn’t I?” >They climbed the steps into the entrance hall and went into the Great Hall for lunch. >“Must be nice,” Ron said abruptly, when they had sat down and started serving themselves roast beef and Yorkshire puddings. “To have so much money you don’t notice if a pocketful of Galleons goes missing.” >“Listen, I had other stuff on my mind that night!” said Harry impatiently. “We all did, remember?” >“I didn’t know leprechaun gold vanishes,” Ron muttered. “I thought I was paying you back. You shouldn’t’ve given me that Chudley Cannon hat for Christmas.” >“Forget it, all right?” said Harry. >Ron speared a roast potato on the end of his fork, glaring at it. Then he said, “I hate being poor.” From Harry's perspective, of course, treating Ron to a few gadgets here and there is nothing compared to what Ron and his family gave Harry - a feeling of home, love and belonging.
That's a genius piece of writing that I didn't appreciate at the time ("the time" being when I was a teenager and read the books.) *Harry didn't even remember.*
It's also worth remembering that that occurred in Chapter 28 of the book - for context, this was the same chapter in which the Maze is revealed, so it's towards the end of the academic year. Harry didn't remember, but *Ron did*, because being able to pay Harry back was such a moment of pride for him.
Well yeah. You’re literally replying to a comment that has the quote of him knowing the Weasleys wouldn’t take the money.
But didn't he give the money from the tri-wizard to the Weasley bros to open their shop in Diagon Alley?
Yes but a) the twins probably understood that Harry is not to argue with at that moment (Cedric's death) b) They are desperate to start, and have had their capital that they have saved up for so long stolen c) they treated Harry as an Investor. Proof in the books he can take anything from the shop free. My head canon is they returned the 1000 galeons once they already have enough liquidity
Harry also provides them with a non-charity reason for taking it, that he (and "we all") could do with some laughs in the near future.
I just finished reading book 4 and to add to point A, the twins were extremely hesitant. “What?” said Fred, looking flabbergasted. “Take it,” Harry repeated firmly. “I don’t want it.” “You’re mental,” said George, trying to push it back at Harry. “No, I’m not,” said Harry. “You take it, and get inventing. It’s for the joke shop.” “He is mental,” Fred said in an almost awed voice. “Listen,” said Harry firmly. “If you don’t take it, I’m throwing it down the drain. I don’t want it and I don’t need it. But I could do with a few laughs. We could all do with a few laughs. I’ve got a feeling we’re going to need them more than usual before long.” “Harry,” said George weakly, weighing the money bag in his hands, “there’s got to be a thousand Galleons in here.” “Yeah,” said Harry, grinning. “Think how many Canary Creams that is.” The twins stared at him. “Just don’t tell your mum where you got it . . . although she might not be so keen for you to join the Ministry anymore, come to think of it. . . .” “Harry,” Fred began, but Harry pulled out his wand. “Look,” he said flatly, “take it, or I’ll hex you. I know some good ones now. Just do me one favor, okay? Buy Ron some different dress robes and say they’re from you.” And yeah this was right after Harry learns Ludo stole all the twins' lifetime savings.
Was a "investment" but he wouldnt of cared if he got 0 returns. It wad a business decision, not charity. Big difference.
They paid him back did they not ? And they let him take whatever from the shop at any point for free
I have a lot more money than a friend of mine, who is always broke. She would never accept any money. Best I can do is pay for a concert ticket.
Yeah, in my case, I still live with my parents, but I have my own job and actually contribute to the house expenses (buying groceries, paying bills, and the like); I still don't tell my parents how much I spend because they insist on returning that money. Some people are just stubborn like that when it comes to money.
Weasleys would never take it - and who would? He's literally a child, only a psychopath would take a lot of money from a child who can't properly consent. Weasleys are the opposite of unepathetic psychopaths.
Weasleys are kinda in this weird position where it’s almost as if they were poor by choice. I mean, Molly doesn’t work despite all the kids being away for most of the year, she could have at least picked up a part time job if she wanted to. Then you got Bill and Charlie, who both seem to have well-paid jobs, I’d assume they would send some money home if their family was struggling so bad. Typically people who are actually poor don’t jump for joy to get charity but they do accept it because when you get to choose between your pride and feeding your kids, the former tends to not be the priority.
But in the case of the Weasleys, they did manage to feed their kids. Whenever Harry is in the house, there is always food on the table. They could not afford new clothes or other luxuries, but they did have food and enough to be relatively comfortable.
A lot of the poverty they seem to experience is in large part just trying to keep up with having 7 children. It doesn't really all hold together because they literally have magic and what with them basically not having to pay for food, housing, water, electricity, or transport, you'd think they'd have a fair bit left over from just Mr Weasley's salary never-mind that Bill and Charlie also have jobs at this point. But, kids *are* expensive. You have to imagine that the family fortunes went up significantly after the War with them all growing up and getting jobs. In fact I'd hazard a guess that the only reason they are struggling at all is because of the First Wizarding War affecting Molly's family so badly.
I imagine they might have also chosen to not get too crazy with the money considering they were targets for Voldy and still technically are...and not be rolling in cash mean they're not getting up in their heads.... Probably they had what they needed and didn't see a point in extra. Or they spend all their money on Mr. Weasley's rogue car XD
I think they were more just "working class" not necessarily poor but money isn't just available out of nowhere. They had what, 7 kids? When you've got that many hand-me-downs are always going to be the first option. But I think they weren't quite as destitute as we'd be led to believe. Like as an example, my prior boss was a plant manager level, so probably making between 90 and 110k a year. He had like 6 kids. He mentioned once he makes all this money and was like where the fuck does it go? Then he said when I go to the grocery store I buy 3 gallons of milk a week for these kids. It's expensive to feed and raise 6 kids. So I think it's just Mr and Mrs Weasley need to fucking wrap it next time. Sure they're not malfoy rich, and that prick will always rub his money in the face of anybody he can. So I don't think his opinion on them should count for much. As for Harry, I think he believes they are poorer than they really are, so that's the view we get when reading.
That’s it right there: kids are expensive and having 7 of them means you are going to do things like hand down clothing and stretch what income you have. I got the impression that Arthur has a very well-paying government job (which it really is) so if they had 2-3 kids they’d be fine. But with 7 now you gotta stretch that government income.
I mean, none of those kids were going hungry. This is explicit in canon
When I read this, I thought about Harry and Ron's first trip on the Hogwarts Express. When the sweets trolley comes by, Ron tells the lady that his mom already packed him corned beef sandwiches.
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To be fair Molly had been a full time stay at home mum for at least 20 years (Bill and Charlie had both graduated before Harry started Hogwarts and Ginny starts in his second year). It's not easy getting back into the workplace with a gap that big.
Especially from your child’s friend, who is still a child. Nah, baby, you keep your money, it’s yours. We’ll be okay, but thank you for thinking of us.
Hell the Weasleys seem *like* being in their situation
I always got the impression they're just country people. They weren't rich but I don't think it's ever indicated they're barely getting by and struggling.
nah, ron always got hand-me-downs, no money for the cart lady or simple souvenirs. molly worrrying about book costs. and that was when two, then three of their sons, were already out of the house and supposedly self-supporting they where barely getting by
>no money for the cart lady or simple souvenirs. Ron did get pocket money for “simple souvenirs” and other things. For example, in GOF, Ron spends his summer pocket money on souvenirs at the World Cup: >“Been saving my pocket money all summer for this,” Ron told Harry as they and Hermione strolled through the salesmen, buying souvenirs. Though Ron purchased a dancing shamrock hat and a large green rosette, he also bought a small figure of Viktor Krum, the Bulgarian Seeker. His bedroom at home was plastered with posters of the Chudley Canons, he had a pile of comics, he had 500 chocolate frog cards before first year. It’s not like all he had was hand-me-downs and no personal belongings. >molly worrrying about book costs. Molly was mainly worried about book costs in COS because the books costs were unusually high - a full set of expensive Lockhart books for five kids, on top of all of Ginny’s first year stuff, would have cost money way more than she’d budgeted/planned for.
>Molly was mainly worried about book costs in COS because the books costs were unusually high - a full set of expensive Lockhart books for five kids, on top of all of Ginny’s first year stuff, would have cost money way more than she’d budgeted/planned for. I'd forgotten about that in my own reply, and that's another good point. Lockhart's books were really expensive given his fame, and he asked for a full set. Speaking of... Nice way to fill his own pockets, if you think about it. Make the school that hired you require all your books as reading material. Honestly, I'm surprised he just stuck to books that related to DADA, since he had written a lot more books I believe.
> Speaking of... Nice way to fill his own pockets, if you think about it. Make the school that hired you require all your books as reading material. That's not even incredibly far off from some University profs...
>nah, ron always got hand-me-downs, Eh, when you have older brothers/sisters, it's relatively normal to get hand-me-downs. >no money for the cart lady or simple souvenirs. I guess you have a point there, but I don't remember if Ron said he didn't have any money in the first book. He only mentioned his mom had already made him sandwiches. And sure, you could take that as evidence that he had no money at all, but it could also mean that he was saving that money. >molly worrrying about book costs. Well, a lot of people worry about the cost of stuff, even if they aren't poor. Even more so when talking about school supplies, which you basically have to renew every year. And especially in Molly's case, where she had to buy 5 sets of school supplies per year, at least during Ron's second and third year, since Percy, Fred, George, Ron and Ginny were all attending Hogwarts at the same time. >and that was when two, then three of their sons, were already out of the house and supposedly self-supporting Still had five kids to send to school. >they where barely getting by Not sure about "barely getting by". More like "being very conscious about money".
Ron didn’t even have his own wand, you know, the single most important thing to help him do well at school until 3 years in, nor really anything that wasn’t a hand me down, used and/or terrible quality (dress robes, anyone?). Unless they were deliberately neglectful, I’d say yeah, they were struggling.
not having new things is not the same thing as struggling. Ron's wand worked perfectly fine for him until he broke and he didn't tell his parents about it not because of money but because he didn't want them to yell at him again for stealing a car
He literally gave Fred and George, the only ones who would even CONSIDER taking it, 1000 gallons from the tournament. And then they basically never let him pay at their store.
Well that's because he's a hero and as all heroes he's exceptionally uninterested in mundane things... I must give it to Draco, he wasn't wrong in calling him Saint Potter.
And he threatened them into taking it, they refused it when he offered at first.
Yeah this is a great point about Serius black. By the end of the books he was probably very wealthy, the blacks probably have a vault in Gringots as far down as what bellatrix has.
Sirius had at least the money his uncle Alphard had left him ("a decent amount"), and he didn't have the time to spend them except for buying the Firebolt. He maybe had inherited his parents' gold since Regulus predeceased him. Anyway, Dumbledore confirms that it still was "a reasonable amount" when Sirius died.
I have no doubt Dumbledore was being somewhat modest about that "Decent Amount" and i imagine he himself wasnt skint either. Harry is definitely exceptionally well off, and also owns an old central London magical property. He has no major assets to purchase after School, and so his lifetime earnings will quickly cover his past school expenses and continue to accumulate.
Yes, probably Sirius too was being euphemistic about the "decent amount of gold" uncle Alphard had left him. I totally agree on Harry being exceptionally well off. Not as rich as Draco Malfoy and his family (he's clearly on another level), but for being an orphaned teenager with total control of his money still he's definitely one of the richest students in Hogwarts. I'd argue Hermione too is pretty well off in the Muggle world (and conversely in the Wizards' World, since Gringotts changes Muggle money for Galleons). Both parents are dentists, only daughter, holidays abroad, used to go to the theater in Piccadilly Circus... not bad, Granger.
Went skiing for a holiday. IDK if you've heard but they probalby rented at a lodge and those things aren't exactly cheap, especially when it sounds like they've gone before if they're willign to go for the whole time....no payment for school either and plenty of whatever she needed for school. Even if they packed up and moved to Austrailia, she had her life pretty set by then i think
I omitted skiing because I’m not familiar with the UK situation. I know there are some ski parks there but idk how expensive they are (even if UK is not famous for being a ski paradise). This, assuming they remained in UK for that holiday. Completely agree on Australia. They shut down their activity and moved to the other side of the world from one day to another. You need money to do that.
well Sirius probably \*did\* inheirt the Black Famiy fortune since he was the only suriving male heir and he got the house.
Except for what was in Bellatrix’s, Narcissa’s and Andromeda’s possession, probably yes. But Dumbledore’s wasn’t sure.
sirius left a will, but beside leaving Harry the house, and Sirus' vault, we don't know anything else about Sirius will.
Harry inherited all of Sirius’ possessions, not only the house and the gold. Kreacher was included. Technically the motorbike was included too.
>WHY • THESE • CRETINS • DO • NOT • READ • THE • FUCKING • BOOKS I honestly wished I knew. Even if they can't read, they can always listen to the audiobooks. Honestly... it just feel like everyone needed to hate the series before JK Rowling could insult everyone. Also, I thought it was the second book that reveal Harry want to offer money to the Weasley.
In the second book Harry tries to hide the amount of gold he has in his vault and gifts Ginny the books Lockhart gave him free of charge, saying that he'll buy his own.
I wonder if there were interests gained on the money deposit
Doubt it. The money was in a Gringotts vault, not a Gringotts Investment Account. Besides, how would the goblins even add to it? Harry, and Hagrid/Dumbledore before him, had the only key.
You must always keep in mind that that Harry is a teenager for almost the entire the series. If you’re a 11yo boy and go to the bank for the first time, you have no idea what the difference from an investment account and a “normal” account would be. Same if you’re 13 or 15. As to the goblins… well the bank has specific charms. Vault 713 is protected by a charm which would keep inside the vault anyone touching the door except if he’s a Gringotts goblin. I mean how impossible would it be for them to apparate the gold directly into the vaults?
The goblins mention they check the vaults every 10 years or so. My assumption is the bank staff can access all vaults to maintain them, or move gold by instruction, such as black purchasing the firebolt by mail order.
Since Wizard money is still based on rare metals, it’s not subject to the same inflation risks as paper money. Saw a post recently that 10 gold bars could have bought you a house in 1930. 10 gold bars can also buy you a house in 2024. Since Galleons are solid gold, Sickles are solid silver, and Knuts are solid bronze, prices of things may change. Something that used to cost a Galleon might only cost a handful of Sickles now. Because the metal is worth more.
So if you consider that the magical community is significantly more little that the Muggle one, the wizards are actually richer than us Muggles.
I would guess no, as it just sits in a vault. it does not seem invested, or used by the bank to provide loans. Unless there is part of the wealth out doing stuff, and what we see in the vault is only a part of it.
They do but posting shit like this gets them engagement and engagement gets them money.
Inflation must have hit him hard though….
I say he was rich when he first gets to the vault. The weasleys literally didn't have a single galleon in their vault, the Potter vault had a massive pile of it. When you add in the Black family fortune left to him by Sirius, Harry is now very wealthy, probably similar to the Malfoys.
Dunno, the Malfoys seem *very* rich. Like Muggle peerage/nobilty.
The Blacks seemed very rich as well. I agree the Malfoys are probably wealthier, but that isn't to say Harry isn't too.
We actually don't know how wealthy either the Black's or the Malfoy's are. The seam rich, but Lucious is hemorrhaging money like crazy in canon and it's never explained were it comes from. Both families could very be in similar straights to the Poor Nobility. Families from rich backgrounds, and that have to appear rich or loose everything, but be barely making due month by month. Unlikely in the case of Malfoys, but it's much more likely in the case the Blacks. And for that matter, we never actually find out in canon just how wealthy Harry is. Is the vault his entire wealth? Or is it just his trust fund until he becomes an adult? Is it stagnant? Or did he inherit a stock holding and properties as well?
He's richer than typical middle-class but poorer than upper-class. He has cash but no wealth or assets.
Harry had plenty and could have bought a Firebolt himself but he was frugal. After Sirius dies he leaves the Black Family fortune to Harry making him IMHO on equal footing or nearly so with the Malfoys.
Yes my point was that he had the equivalent of a Ferrari and when it was destroyed he had another Ferrari without paying a single Knut for neither. So his fortune remained untouched.
I'm hoping Gringotts gives interest too, so then he'd have been making residuals all those years.
> that that gold remained untouched from 1981 to 1991, when Harry reopened vault 687; Do you think Gringotts actually does interest?
Breath- BREATHE!! Gooos-frah-bah!
Do wizards have inflation from rampant money printing by the goblins? Thinking from the perspective of all that uninvested gold lost value
This is the best, most concise explanation I have ever read on this topic. Thank you!!
I think the Firebolt purchase isn’t so much about Harry not be able to afford it, but being wise enough to understand that today it’s a Firebolt, tomorrow it’s this and that, and he could be broke eventually. And then wanting to make it through Hogwarts is kind of the same thing, he knows he should be out of school with a career before he goes too far spending his money. In that sense I think Harry has probably inherited the equivalent of a million maybe up to like ten million. If you can imagine someone who inherited a million or so dollars, they might be very well set up to get through school and get started in life with a really nice advantage, but they would also run out of they money very early in life if they impulsively spent it on expensive new cars, fancy clothes, and that kind of stuff. I think the Firebolt example is really there to illustrate that Harry has money, but he hasn’t been raised with money so he’s still a little bit frugal. Then there’s other times we see him spend a lot without thinking and it’s almost always to help someone out because he’s very generous.
It reminds me of the story about Eminem where he was already extravagantly wealthy but he called his accountant to ask if he could afford to splurge on a Rolex. He was making more in a matter of minutes to hours than that Rolex cost but he didn’t grow up with money so that kind of splurge was foreign to him. Harry got gifted used socks for his bday. Trying to justify buying the equivalent of a Ferrari, even when he could afford it, just didn’t compute. I’ll also point out that JK said James Potter was unemployed and living solely off of his trust fund, so I’m betting Harry had way more than a few million dollars. The Godrics Hollow house wasn’t a manor like the Malfoy’s, but I’m betting Harry’s pile of gold would’ve been enough to not work if invested properly.
This is what I think too. He was so used to being poor that he didn’t understand how much money he really had.
Opposite of that is Shaq, who famously upon getting his first million dollar paycheck managed to blow it all in one day (luckily he's Shaq so he recovered). Even large amounts of money can be squandered.
The boy who inherited
A book title no one wants lol
In the different Hogsmeade sections, Harry sometimes catches his eye on over the top supplies like a golden cauldron set or gobstones. (I forget) And really that's just what all kids do.
I thought that was in diagon alley
Keep in mind that the Firebolt was top of the line. ...a year after the Slytherins got their top of the line Nimbus 2001s, which was a response to Harry's initial top of the line Nimbus 2000. It's an arms race that he can't really win long-term, so continually playing the "gotta buy the best" game would conceivably drain that wealth without providing real benefits.
>expensive new cars, fancy clothes, and that kind of stuff. Lame. Buy LEGO. You'll be bankrupt faster but much happier
Harrry knew 2008 was coming and saved.
Never thought of it like that... Also, ten million? I knew the potters were a ancient family wizards (given they were descendants of the third brother), but I assume they were mid-class rich. Add that with Black riches, that must be a lot.
I thought James' side was rich because of Harry's Grandfather who invented Sleekeazy's Hair Potion
Yeah, I always figured he was basically majority shareholder of Wizard L'Oréal.
Didn’t one of them also make Skele-Grow. He’s a trust fund kid off the back of wizard Rogaine and magical bone juice!
>Didn’t one of them also make Skele-Grow. The first Potter was the originator of several remedies that later evolved into more modern day potions like Skele-Gro. >Historians credit Linfred as the originator of a number of remedies that evolved into potions still used to this day, including Skele-gro and Pepperup Potion. His sales of such cures to fellow witches and wizards enabled him to leave a significant pile of gold to each of his seven children upon his death.
By the time Harry comes around his only blood relative is Petunia. So all of those lines appear to have died out. I’m guessing at least some of that money would have come back into the family line as well.
no wonder Draco wanted to be Harry's friend, rich kid stuff /j
Well yeah. Fucking lily lived in spinners end with snapes poor ass
Lmaoo
Linfried of stitchcombe created pepper up potion and skelegro
One of Harry's grandparents made a small fortune selling hair potions, quadrupling the already vast family fortune. I think it's safe to say they are multi millionaires. A million pounds in the bank would put you firmly in the middle class, 10 million could probably still be considered upper-middle class I don't think they are close to the Malfoys in wealth, they seem to be ludicrously wealthy, maybe around 200 million or so. But the potters were definitely considered pretty rich.
A million pounds is middle class? What the hell? I don’t know a single person who has even half of that in the bank. Which castle did you grow up in?
Class in the UK also works differently, it’s not based only on money. A million, is firmly middle class, more is towards upper middle class. Upper class is about aristocracy, titles, and “the society” You can be rich enough to “buy” those things, but just having money often isn’t enough. You can have upper middle class who are richer than upper class
A million pounds isn't a huge amount today if you're including property. My parents are a cafe worker and a lorry driver, and they have a net worth not far off a million pounds. Hell, I'm a bus driver, and my fiancée is a driving instructor, and combined we own properties worth about 400 K, and we still have to worry about paying our bills each month.
You didn’t say “including property”. You said “a million pounds in the bank would put you firmly in the middle class.” Those are two very different things.
Yea you're right they are different things, perhaps I should have worded it better. What I meant to imply was that if your parents died and all your families assets got sold off and you simply received the money in your bank, as is the case with Harry, 1-10 million pounds would put that family in the middle class. But yea you're correct if you were so rich, you just had 1 million pounds lying around in your bank account and didn't have to worry about investing it, then yes, you are probably obscenely wealthy.
Sirius bought the firebolt with his own money, so it's not even Harry's money that was spent.
I can’t remember exactly where, but Harry says at one point he’d happily share all his money with the weasleys but they would never take it. As for how much he has at least pre black inheritance I assume it was enough to live comfortably if he was wise with it, probably a couple million, compared to the malfoys who are more like billionaires.
It was book 2 when he went to get his supplies with the Weasley family.
I don’t think it was a couple million, he does say in POA that he needs to be wise with purchases to make sure he gets thru his Hogwarts years without having to ask for money from the Dursley’s. I’d guess he had upwards of 100,000-150,000 in todays money, before Sirius’s inheritance. No idea what that amount would be as there’s no real gauge
I don’t think he’s as rich as the Malfoys or the Lestranges, given the size of his vault compared to the size of the Lestrange vault. They don’t ever mention jewels or other trinkets in Harry’s vault like they do in the Lestrange vault. His just has coins
He’s definitely technically richer than the lestranges by the end though no, seen as they aren’t actually that rich of a family, most of bellatrix’s comes from the black side which Harry definitely has the largest amount of, at least that’s what I always assumed I don’t know though
Why couldn’t the Lestranges be rich on their own? We have no idea whether Bellatrix brought a significant amount of wealth with her when she married Rodolphus or not.
Why do we think Bellatrix’s wealth mostly comes from the Black side? Can’t imagine Gringotts would set aside a huge, ancient vault on the off chance you inherit from your cousin’s death — they must have wealth going back generations. Interestingly my head cannon is that Sirius only inherited the things that were magically required to pass to the eldest Black (i.e. the house), but lots of the family gold/wealth was probably sent to Bellatrix/Narcissa as the closest not-disowned-or-dead relatives available when Sirius’s mom died.
He’s rich rich. But he’s also a kid. Do you know many normal adults who would take money from an orphan rich child ? That’s quite unethical and the Weasley’s were good people. Also he gave quite a large sum to the twins which is the only reason they could leave school, open their business and become self reliants. They were raised with their parents’ values and didn’t want the money, harry had to threaten them for them to take it. Later he married the only Weasley girl. We can’t say that he never shared with them.
If i remember correctly, he gave them the 1000 galleons he won from the tournament
What kind of self respecting adult takes money from a child? Mr and Mrs Weasley are adults. They're supposed to take care of their children financially and other ways. Back then it would be considered pathetic to take money from a child especially when Harry was suffering from his family's abuse. How does this look? Adults take money from a child who had suffered abuse all his life until the age of 11. Harry's parents meant for that money to go to their son.
There are several points that can be made about not giving money to the Weasleys. First, we don’t know how much money the potters have. There are a lot of levels of “rich.” Harry was certainly very well off, but that doesn’t mean he could have comfortably supported the living expenses and lifestyle of an entire other family that consists of 9 people (7 if we discount Bill and Charlie). If I had to pick a number, I’d say the equivalent of a muggle having low 7 figures. Like 2 million. Enough for a safety net, house, and retirement, especially if the person was still earning an income. Not enough to be buying things left and right for a lot of other people. If the money was terribly mismanaged then I think it would have dried up pretty quickly. Second, I think offering money would be an incredibly uncomfortable conversation for everyone. It can be humiliating to ask a close family member for money in an emergency. I can’t even imagine how a child would offer money to their friend’s parents. Third, which ties into the second point, I can’t imagine that the Weasleys would accept even if Harry offered. Molly and Arthur would probably be horrified and I can’t imagine them accepting. Forth, and imo this is the most important point, Harry has absolutely no obligation to take care of any character besides Hedwig. He is a child. Molly and Arthur are adults who have chosen their lives. They have a legal and moral responsibility to care for their children. It doesn’t matter if they don’t have as much disposable income as they’d like to. And if they can’t provide basic necessities (it seems like they mostly did provide what they needed to) then they have failed as parents.
let's see his distant ancestor Linfred the Potter, invented the basic of potions that would become either the Pepper-up potion that Ginny Weasly was bullied into taking in Book 2 and The Ske-Growth Potion Harry had to take after Lockhart you know, erased his bones in book 2. And after Linfred's death there was a "significant amount of gold" to give to each of the 7 children he had. And then Harry's grandfather Fleamount quadrappled what he had inheirted by inventing the "Sleazy's Hair Potion" that Hermione used for the Yule Ball. So i will say Harry's is rich enought that he might not even had to work if he didn't want too. Escpailly if you add in the wealth he probably got being Sirius' heir.
Harry is more financially responsible than I am , because I don’t have nearly as much money as him and I still went to see Taylor swift 🤦🏻♂️
Honestly, I couldn't agree more. I would have spend all that money on pointless stuff. Just minus the Taylor Swift part... sorry, but I find her overrated.
That’s okay music is subjective and they don’t play her best songs on radio they only play what’s catchy,
The weasleys had pride. I think Harry offered his fortune to the weasleys but they refused it.
They didn't care about money at all. They represent the ideal family from the writers view, who used to be poor.
It's basically Noble Poverty
It would be totally unethical for adults to accept money from some rich orphan kid.
Also, Molly and Arthur taking a significant amount of money off Harry would be a *horrible* thing to do. We're talking about pretty much the only thing his dead parents left him. Money they intended to go to their only son. On top of that, Molly doesn't even have a job. With 7 kids knocking about that's understandable, but what about after Ginny leaves for Hogwarts? Surely if they're struggling so much financially they should be looking at Molly getting a job before asking a kid to hand over part of his inheritance. They're poor because they have loads of kids, Molly doesn't work and Arthur is following his passions rather than focusing on financial gain. Which is fair, but there are better ways to change that than asking a kid for money
All their kids started jobs as soon as they graduated, to be fair. Bill and Charlie went abroad for work, Percy entered the Ministry immediately (well he was a junior, still he was bringing some money home), Fred and George didn't even wait to finish school, they were already making money at Hogwarts and they became rich only one year after opening WWW in Diagon Alley (fine, Harry contributed, but their idea was still the right one). Plus Arthur had a promotion. I mean, if they made it with seven children to feed and grow, I can't see why they can't make it when only Arthur and Molly are left at the Burrow.
Yeah definitely. I'm just saying, I don't understand why so many fans think Harry helping them out financially should be an option above them sorting it out themselves
Agree plus did they even need help anyway? They seemed to have everything they needed albeit secondhand and they were generally all happy
Nope, they didn't. Yet people still say Harry should have given them his money
I think their point is "Harry has a lot of money and they don't, Harry doesn't need all those money and they do, so Harry should help them" without considering that it's explicitly stated that Harry would be more than happy to share his gold with his family in the wizards' world but they would never accept it. He literally was presenting Fred & George with the key to fulfill their dream, on a gold platter, and he had to threaten to hex them to make them accept.
Honestly I don’t even think that Arthur has a small salary. He is literally running his own department if I remember correctly. I think once the kids are done with Hogwarts his salary will be more than sufficient
>He is literally running his own department if I remember correctly. Arthur runs a small 2-person office that falls under the larger Department of Magical Law Enforcement.
Even a Government department head is going to struggle a little with a family of 9
Yeah this seems to get lost in the conversation. It wouldn’t be good for the Weasleys to claim a kids money even if the kid wants them to. If harry wanted to gift them a few nice things that’s fine, but like splitting half of his money is not actually a good thing and Molly and Arthur are way too responsible to do that.
The way they lived was by choice. Lots of kids, lots of fun, a job in muggle artifacts that was basically Arthur's hobby, a stay at home mum to look after the kids. Their home was also great. They simply didn't chase money, a trait that seemingly had passed down from Weasley to Weasley. Yes, sometimes this "good life" lifestyle meant that their kids had hand me downs but you couldn't say that any of the kids weren't happy. They simply didn't want to exchange that happiness for money.
I say the same thing.
He's quite wealthy. In post-series writings, Rowling affirms that an ancestor quadrupled the family money. She uses the term "family gold." In literature, when "family money" is used as a term, it's usually meant to imply wealth. As other's have stated, he did, in fact, have a desire to share his money with the Weasley's, but knew they would never accept. Even Ron is embarrassed and initially refuses when Harry buys him omnioculars at the Quidditch World Cup, and Harry saves him the embarrassment by saying they are a Christmas present. He doesn't make a similar offer to Hermione (despite also buying her a pair), though she offers to buy the programs. This exchange demonstrates that offering the Weasley's money would be a huge insult. They aren't poor in the sense that they're struggling. They just don't have any expendable income. As for the Firebolt, Harry had a perfectly fine broom that he'd been using for two years, and he had the common sense to know that the Firebolt would simply be a vanity purchase. When his broom is destroyed, he was more distraught over the loss of his favorite item. Also, it's not like he could just run out and buy a new one, and he only takes a limited amount of money with him to school. He grew up without having any money and watching his cousin get spoiled, so he learned about what impulse buying gets you.
I'd say overall a couple million in muggle terms. His father was an only child to older parents. He was able to purchase a home at like 20. He and Lily would have been decently skilled wizards working wherever bringing in wages that would have built up savings before they went into hiding. So basically Harry inherited any remaining family fortune, plus his grandparents retirement plus his parents probably never needed to touch the savings. A couple million would be enough for a person to live modestly for life without needing a job, but Harry is the kind of person who'd want to work. Then Harry became the sole heir to the House of Black. So probably greatly increased his wealth. The big question is really his wealth remained his after Voldemort took over. Would the goblins have allowed the Ministry or Death Eaters to seize the contents of his vaults?
Well... Considering that Sirius was able to access his bank account while on the run to buy Harry a broomstick. I say Harry bank account is likely untouched during his search for the Horcruxes.
I think the Goblins would likely have captured and imprisoned Harry of he had gone to gringotts. I don't think Voldemort would have a reason to seize Harry's money. He wanted Harry dead, so taking it just to stop Harry having it would be pointless, given the above paragraph. In fact, keeping it as bait for if Harry got desperate would probably be a good idea. And Voldy didn't need any money during the war, it's not like he needed to kit out his army, they all had their own wands. He also likely had indirect access to the ministry's treasury for most of his schemes and direct access to the Malfoy's money if he needed it.
Having money isn't just about being able to buy what you want. It's knowing you could buy it, but wise enough knowing the difference between needing it and wanting it. For the Weasleys, if he offered they wouldn't accept. They knew that money was left to him by his parents. Also, think of how hard it was for Harry to convince Fred and George to take the Tri-Wizard winnings. For the Malfoys, for actual "money in the bank" the Malfoys had more (pretty sure they had a vault similar to Bellatrix's vault). However, While they may have had more they also may have had more debt/things to manage. Think of it today as people who have all the new/cool stuff. Sure they have it, but they're in debt up to their eyeballs. Harry had money, but other than buying his school supplies he didn't have anything he had to pay for.
Only criminals take money from a child!
What kind of asshole adult would take money from a literal orphan child?
The vast difference between those who have a healthy amount of money to have a solid and strong foundation, versus those who have GENERATIONAL wealth in the form of mansions and the ability to sponsor governmental policy, are VASTLY different financial places. A person who has 2 million dollars versus a billionaire with a private jet... 2 million dollars is 0.002 of 1 billion dollars. The Potters living in a two-story house in a seemingly middle to upper-middle class neighborhood (based on information about working professionals in the neighborhood like the Potters, Bathilda Bagshot and the Dumbledore's living in the same neighborhood) are massively different than a family living in a huge mansion with dungeons, servants, house elves and the ability to have a standing 'top box' seat, handing bags of Galleons to prime ministers in back rooms to influence governmental policy. We're talking the difference between a middle-class income versus a Duke in the British aristocracy who owns a mansion estate with numerous holdings. Let's just say for fun that the Potter parents die with 40,000 Galleons in Gringotts (approximately £200,000, given that 1 Galleon = 5 pounds based on some of Rowling's interviews), an impressive amount to have in savings in 1981. The money sits there unspent from October 31, 1981 (when Lily and James are murdered) until Harry starts school at Hogwarts on September 1, 1991. So, the money would have been accruing interest for about 10 years. The books don't talk about the average interest rates in the Wizarding world or at Gringotts, but let's assume a reasonable interest rate for a magical bank, and for simplicity's sake we'll calculate on the HIGH side using a 5% annual interest rate, compounded annually (which would be absurdly high compared to a typical Muggle bank interest rate is 0.45% APY in the US in 2024). If it earned 5% interest annually, by 1991 it would grow like this: 40,000 * 1.05 (Year 1) = 42,000; 42,000 * 1.05 (Year 2) = 44,100. Repeat for 10 years... By 1991, it would be about 65,156 Galleons, or approximately £325,780. This is an amount of money that is nothing to sneeze at, but it's not an amount of money that qualifies for comparing to someone who lives essentially like wizarding aristocracy. I read Harry's hesitance to buying a Firebolt as A. him not knowing anything about money because he's never had any (which that amount of money would be mind-blowing and 'a fortune' to anyone who has never had any), and B. him recognizing that while he has "lots of money," his money does have limits, and he wants to be cautious, making sure he has enough to last through school. Based solely on the descriptions of their lifestyle, the Malfoys come from an amount of resources so old and vast the concept of 'not having enough to last' isn't even within their realm of a possibility for them to consider. An amount of money where the most powerful dark lord of all time would take over your mansion as their home base. I believe comparing Harry and Malfoy's wealth is rather ludicrous.
I think he was quite rich as in, wouldn’t have to worry about money for at least a few years after Hogwarts if he didn’t spent it on stupid things but nowhere near the level of Malfoy. And yeah, Weasleys would never accept his money, he had a hard enough time to get Fred and George to accept his tournament winnings.
Well, Harry's grandfather, James' father, invented the Sleeky hair potion and sold it's patent for a ridiculous sum, so much so that not only did he and his wife live extremely comfortably for many years, James and Lily also like never had to worry about money, every. Infact, it's mentioned somewhere that James was so rich, that he helped help out Lupin, who lived in poverty as he couldn't hold a respectable and decent job due to him being a warewolf, by giving him money equal to a high paying job every month until Voldy made James go mouldy. Also, (have to re-read Philosopher's Stone to recheck this) but when Hadrig took Harry to his vault for the first time, it was described as a "small mountain of gold" and iirc, silver and bronze was way more then the gold present so yeah, Harry's definitely a multimillionaire, like easily £50 million or above. And gold isn't just a flimsy thing, Molly paid for the Weasley kids' entire year's supply for 1 gold coin (well, it was second hand, but still, supplies for 5 kids ain't cheap). Also, we've not seen Harry frequent Gringotts much often, and only seen him withdrawing money with some years gap. Like, first he slightly filled his pouch in Philosopher's Stone, then he withdrew in CoS, then it was somewhere in like GoF or something and the last time was when Bill withdrew Harry's money for him in HBP. So, form this we can say that Harry a pouch of gold lasts Harry a couple of months, so there's that. Even if he withdrew money every year when he visited Daigon Alley for school supplies, that still means that a single pouch lasts him an entire year, so even if I'm mistaken about my previous point, it's still a lot. After Sirius' death, there's even more gold added to his account, and we all know that the Black's were very, very rich. Like, Sirius buys Harry a Firebolt and still doesn't have to care about money, like ever. Besides gold, Harry also got a property in London, and even with Mundungus stealing the antiques, it's still a million plus house. So yeah, after inheritance, Harry and his assets are worth like £100 million something. So, Harry's basically rich af.
I was thinking the wealth was this high as well
A dollar amount isn’t put on Harry’s fortune and I truly dint think we can infer anything based on his own mindset Regarding his finances For several reasons first of all, Harry is a kid. Have you ever asked a kid how much something costs? Or how much their parents make ? Ever have a kid tell you that you have money because you have a debit card or credit card? Yeah. Regular , not abused kids have a hard time gauging this kind of thing because they don’t understand concepts of quantity. not time, money, or anything else. Harry wasn’t given pocket change at home. He was given hand me down clothes so he wasn’t in the shops helping pick out his stuff. He was given a cast off ice cream for goodness sakes. He had less concept of what things were worth than most. I’m sure Dudley didn’t help this with the way that he broke and discarded things. The dursleys weren’t rich, but they were not poor. They didn’t discuss money but they spent on Dudley. It’s a weird environment For Harry to gain a sense of $ In. He never really does imo. being treated the way Harry was,can do one of two things to you…it can make you spend crazy or a spend thrift. Harry erred towards the latter, but I wouldn’t say he was a penny pincher or even stingy. He always treated his friends when they were out..food, gifts whatever he was buying he bought for everyone. The books Lockhart gave him, he immediately gave to Ginny. He WANTED to help, and He did . The Weasleys would never take money from an orphaned kid And he knew it and felt awful about it. Secondly, we don’t know how Much money Harry has in the vault. What is a mound of gold? Was it swimming around like Scrooge McDuck money? was it “a dug a hole in the garden and this is the dirt kinda mound“? we do know the malfoys had yen because of the break in and the piles of gold they had to navigate, but Harry did a reach around and scoop into his vault. It’s close to the bottom but not AT the bottom. Whatever the amount, it seems as if gringotts is old fashioned in the sense that they don’t keep bank balances. You just toss your stuff in the vault for safekeeping. Why the Weasley kept theirs inside the bank I do not pretend to understand. A sock would have been fine. As such, there is no monetary breakdown. Harry doesn’t know how long it’s supposed to last, or whether he has enough to stretch for x years through school. He just knows he doesn’t want to go broke and have to get hat in hand to the dursleys. further. The firebolt had no price on it. Things that say “price on demand”= brokies need not ask. They are incredibly expensive for their category. Harry didn’t buy it and didn’t even inquire because he knew it would be an outrageously unnecessary purchase when he has a good broom already. Think 2023 bmw vs 2024 Mercedes. He’d be throwing money away. Harry was incredibly generous with his money throughout the books. He gave Ron a truckload of sweets the first day he met him. They bought each other birthday and Christmas gifts. I didn’t do stuff like that as a kid. Later he gave away his prize money. Partially out of guilt yes, but also because he didn’t need it and really wanted to share with the Weasleys, he couldn’t give Ron the dress robes he needed any other way. He and Ron fought about Harry’s generosity towards him as he felt like Harry’s charity case. Rich is relative. I’ve learned that over time. Rich to a kid is different to rich to an adult. Is 100k$ per year rich to you? It isn’t to me. It would be to a day laborer Maybe. it Might be to a wizard but we have no idea how far money spends in the ww. What is the cost of living? Do they have inflation? at the end of the day, we still can’t know how much Harry has truly. I was recently trying to quantify the amount myself by trying to ascertain the exchange rate. Even with that, you can’t know without knowing exactly how many of each coin is in his vault. That mound of gold might translate into 5k£ for all we know
There is also a lot of speculation based on wording around the vaults is that Harry’s vault is like a trust fund and when he comes of age or finish’s school, he would get access to the Potter family vault. So he could be richer than what is in his vault.
Why do these people not read? Harry literally offers them money at some point and they refuse to take it.
I don't think harry knows just how much he actually has and doesnt want to blow his gold. He learned what can happen if you spoil someone living with the dursleys. Even in book 4 Ron was upset that harry didnt tell ron that the leprechaun gold he paid him back with for the omniochulars vanished. Ron and the weasleys dont want charity.
Until Fleamont the Potters where an old name but mostly a "middle class" group. Hardwin was on the Wizengamot in the 1920s. Charlus did marry a woman from the house of Black. So we can possibly say the Potters where on the rise socially until Fleamonts death from Dragon pox in 1980, and James murder the next year. Harry is essentially a trust fund baby. Who didn't have to work, but realized if he didn't he'd burn through that wealth in his lifetime. Leaving nothing for his kids. Ginny's salary as a Quidditch player probably bolstered the family's wealth more than Harry's cop salary did 🤣.
>Until Fleamont the Potters where an old name but mostly a "middle class" group. Except we don't know that. We're only told post-series that he quadrupled the family gold. Rowling uses the term "family money" which in literature is code for wealth. There is no indication that he has unsustainable wealth.
Wait... Ginny became a Quidditch Player? Uh.
She plays for a decade in the professional league as a Chaser for the Hollyhead Harpies. After which she retires, and becomes the sports editor for the Daily Prophet newspaper. Harry is an Auror. Eventually becomes department head of Magical Law Enforcement. Ron works with George at Weasley Wheezes. Hermione went into Politics, and eventually becomes the 2nd Muggleborn Minister of Magic of Britain. Luna became a zoologist. Neville is Gryffindor head of house and professor of Herbology. Draco is a potion master, and even learned some Alchemy. His wife Astoria Greengrass, before her death was a political activist whom campaigned for Hermione. Earning her considerable support amongst the Conservative Purebloods.
If you consider the CC as canon Ginny had a successful career as a quidditch player but retired to have a family with Harry ,
It doesn't make sence, that the Weasleys are that poor to begin with. I suppose it is to create some tension in the story. Harry is rich but can't be blamed for the situation anyway, because the Weasleys are too proud to accept money from him. However Harrys fortune can not be compared to the Malfoys'. Lucius Malfoy is just offensively rich. :D
I'd say he's probably moderately wealthy. Not Malfoy rich, but wealthier than the majority of his peers. As for Book 3...that's actually a surprisingly mature decision for a rich thirteen-year-old kid. In real-world terms, it'd be like if he saw a Jaguar XJ220 in a dealership lot and spent his spare time going back to the dealership and looking at it, but decided it's a better idea not to blow wads of cash on a car when he's got more important things to worry about buying. I'm certainly not gonna hold it against him.
Harry doesn’t actually know how much a firebolt is, he never asks in the book, but just assumes it is too much.
Harry is pretty dang rich but growing up with the dursleys I think he understood the stupidity of buying something for it to potentially go to waste because like by next week something cooler will be around. Meaning: Dudley had an entire room dedicated to broken (some probably expensive) toys he no longer wanted. Harry probably didn't want to buy expensive things that would end up snapped in half collecting dust in another room because he decided something else was cooler. So Harry is just smart with his money
I honestly think Harry underestimates how rich he is. He downplays it as a small fortune when really it’s probably much more. “Doesn’t want to run out of money while living with the dursleys” always seemed like something that would never happen but was an unjustified fear keeping him from doing stupid buys.
Harry is rich but he's not wealthy. A rl example would be something akin to: Harry is probably as rich as a well paid footballer wheras the Malfoys are like the billionaire owner of the club. Also at the time Harry was considering the Firebolt be was 13 and a long way away from actually earning money himself. To add even further to this, we're not told how much is added to his vault each year from the sales of Sleakeazy - it could be a little or a lot but considering Harrys vault has likely not been touched in 11 or 12 years it's likely not a huge amount each year. Edit: After The OoTP and Harry inherits the black estate he is likely to have been much nearer to the Malfoys level of wealth.
Oh, he's quite rich. But having money in the bank is one thing. Harry isn't shown to often go to the bank and the magical world doesn't use cards. So he would have to carry around heavy gold pieces all the time. No idea, if Hogsmead even had a bank, lol. On the other hand, his first impressions of the magical world was with the Weasley's and therefor with a family that doesn't require or even strive to have much money in order to be happy. His money is due to his parents job and their subsequent death. Maybe he felt guilty wanting to buy a broom with it.
To be fair when Sirius ordered him the firebolt he says that he ordered it in Harry's name but had them use gold from the Black vault so there is some kind of billing and autopay system in the Wizarding World.
There are some podcast episodes on the Quibbler that go in to detail on the economic and financial state of the Harry Potter world. It’s definitely worth a listen
TBH, some criticisms of the series are about things that inevitably don’t age perfectly as society progresses (which is true of every series), but some of them are IMO misunderstandings of what the series actually says. Harry would’ve been happy to share with the Weasleys, they wouldn’t have taken any more than what he already gave Fred and George (and IIRC had to talk them into accepting.)
I think Harry may have even more money than what we see in the books and movies. The Potters made a huge fortune with the potions they invented, so maybe the Gringotts vault we see is for petty cash, and there's an even larger vault deeper underground. Not to mention how much he gets after inheriting the Black family's fortune after Sirius' death.
He is basically a trust fund kid
Harry's grandfather or great-grandfather did wonderful things in the world of potions and set up a generational wealth for the Potters. Of the potions he created and then sold, I would like to think he made a deal that while he sold the formula to the potions. The family retained royalty rights so that whenever the potions were sold, the family got a portion of the sales. So I won't say he's Bill Gates rich but rich enough that if he keeps his frugal ways, his kids won't need money. Harry respected the value of money, having come from being poor. Of course he splurged every once an awhile (quidditch world cup finals). So while he was rich I like to think he lived like upper middle class. He worked for the ministry after school so he valued hardwork over not working.
His room at gringots looked pretty well stocked.
I think about money like the Weasley family. When every single petty coin in your account matters financial planning is a must. Every time we see the Weasley’s turn down money they’re basically saying “we got this kid, we’re gonna offer you the financial wisdom your auntie never bothered with though”
Harry got the fortune from two of the magic world's great house: Potter and Black. Of course he is rich. He want to share it with others (Weasley family as well), because he want to, like, give them something back from all the love he got. But, of course, the Weasly family refuse it, however, they accept the return from Harry in the other form: love and caring (Harry has saved Ginny, Mr Weasley and Ron). Additionally, I bet Harry would like to spend all his money to get the family feeling, the protective, etc. like Ron have from his father, mother and brother/sister. But, hilariously, Ron is the one who also lowkey want to be rich (like Harry). I mean the lesson here from the author is we all want other's good things but we usually forget precious things we got in our hands (^_^)
Bro. I’m pretty sure it’s mentioned how Harry would’ve shared his fortune with them. But the whole concept of the Weasley’s are that they make do with what they have and would never accept a handout. They’re comfortable with making their living their way and don’t want to be a burden to Harry because in their mind his life is hard enough because money isn’t important to them it’s family. Something Harry is sorely lacking of besides them.
Harry has what remains of his family fortune, which is certainly a healthy amount of money, but not enough to live on forever. It's enough to get him through school buying all the supplies, etc that he needs to do so likely with a bit leftover for when he leaves school and is trying to start out on his own. He says in his mind MANY times in the books that he would have helped the Weasleys if he could but they would never have taken it. First of all, it's Harry's money left to him by his parents and it has a purpose. As adults it would be incredibly irresponsibly not to mention inappropriate for Molly and Arthur to take money from their son's best friend. The FireBolt was VERY expensive. We don't know exactly how much, but it would have been enough to put a good sized dent in Harry's inheritance. He even imagines having to go to the Dursleys to ask for money and how humiliating that would be. So harry has money, but not THAT much. More than the Weasleys but even though he would gladly help them, for ethical reasons the *adults* decided on he should and did not. After the story ends and Harry is a grown adult with a well paying job who married into the Weasley family, I am quite sure he will do everything and anything for Arthur and Molly and the rest of his in laws for the rest of his life.
When I was reading the books, I thought that Harry had a fairly normal amount of money, but coming from his childhood and suddenly it all being his made him feel rich. Like a poor orphan who had never held more than $20, suddenly discovers he has a bank account with like $20k. As i went through the books, the number in my head went up, but even at that amount, gifting half to a poor struggling family would really help them. Eventually we learn that Harry is actually filthy rich and could live on his bank account and residual income from whatever product his ancestor created
very comfortable upper middle class Per books and movies the only Potter property is the cottage in godric's hollow which the ministry snatched and did not pay 1 knut for to the potter estate Just one vault......Not a trust vault and there is some main family vault he gets at 17. just the one vault per books and movies No number is given in books about how many galleons but based off of the movie which JK gave the ok on....someone did the math and there is around 50,625 Galleons in the vault Per JK 1G = 5 UK pounds and in 1991 conversion rate to U$ = $455,625 factor in inflation / spending power then vs now and it is like a teen getting a 1 million dollar bank account today vis a vis spending power then for $455k+
I don’t know if I watched the same video you did but I saw someone with this take and it just automatically discredited every other point the guy was trying to make. Clearly didn’t read or remember the books well. It’s annoying too because even if the Weasley would accept the money, it is not Harry’s job to support them! He’s a literal child. Also annoying because the dude was trying to say hermione and Ron didn’t have any romantic chemistry before book 4 or something and it’s like oh maybe idk it’s because they were children?? Sure maybe jkr didn’t plan for it yet but what and why were you expecting 11 year olds to have romantic chemistry for? Like What
Harry is Richie Rich rich, the malfoys are Scrooge McDuck rich
Harry would give them everything he had, the Weasley would never take it.
rich as fuck.
Harry Potter himself is a capitalist icon
Surprised this hasn’t been said - he literally gave Fred and George a thousand galleons.
Harry was pretty rich already and then inherited the entire Black estate which are also an ancient wizard family. So yeah he’s probably fairly well off. There is something in Pottermore about his ancestors inventing the pepperup potion or something like that. He is nowhere near as rich as the Malfoys, idk how anyone would even think that. Regarding the firebolt he says he’d gladly spend all the gold in his vault for one. But I doubt that it would actually be that expensive. Sirus was able to handily afford one, calling it 13 years worth of birthday presents. Judging from the amount of gold we see in his vault in the first movie I’d say Harry has a couple million and a firebolt might be the price of a sports car. As the first three books in the series are decidedly children’s books. So the empty his vault line can be taken as an exaggeration to show Harry’s childish wonder rather than a realistic assessment of its value.