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Altered Nova

Well-Known Member
The Weasleys were "poor" because Molly was a stay-at-home mom, Arthur worked in the most underfunded department of the Ministry (and it was implied that he didn't get along with Fudge so he was probably passed over for raises and promotions a lot) and because they had a LOT of children to care for. And they obviously weren't elite wizards so they probably didn't know about many of those potential spells you mentioned that could have made their financial situation easier.

Keep in mind, however, that poverty is relative. The Weasleys may not have been able to afford to buy anything new and shiny, but they owned their own home, were able to send all of their children to a prestigious school, and they were all well fed and cared for. They were certainly better off than the vast majority of low income muggles.
 

alucard964

Well-Known Member
it was recently posted somewhere that there is no hogwarts tuition. you are only responsible for your clothes and supplies. and since there was so many hand me downs it was probably mostly food and clothing so many children that made them so poor along with molly being a stay at home mom.
 
alucard964 said:
it was recently posted somewhere that there is no hogwarts tuition. you are only responsible for your clothes and supplies. and since there was so many hand me downs it was probably mostly food and clothing so many children that made them so poor along with molly being a stay at home mom.
One page before this, in a huge image post. It's what got this discussion started.

Though, yes, this is probably correct. One working parent with a large family is the reason they are 'poor' even though they're really not. They just aren't wealthy. There isn't really any discussion about them having trouble making ends meet. Plus if push came to shove, Charlie, Bill, and Percy also have jobs where they could likely pitch in if things were really bad off at home.

The Weasleys aren't living in poverty or struggling. They're just not wealthy.

Honestly, if not for the whole mess with Voldemort and the blood protection magic keeping him hidden and alive on Privet, they probably would have taken Harry in.
 

zerohour

Well-Known Member
She was homeless?  I thought it was just on welfare, and that was because she quit her job to write the books.   Not in a great place, but certainly not as bad off as people like to make her sound with the rags-to-riches vibe.

Still, magic solves pretty much any basic problem you might end up having.  With just your wand, you could probably live a decent life without ever having to work.
 
zerohour said:
Still, magic solves pretty much any basic problem you might end up having.  With just your wand, you could probably live a decent life without ever having to work.
That gets into the effectively unresolvable 'wizards are stupid'/'no they aren't, we just aren't seeing everything' argument.  One of the annoying flaws in JKR's writing style is that we have to either assume facts not in evidence (albeit sometimes vaguely implied), or assume that the average intelligence in the Potterverse, both muggle and magical, is significantly lower than in Real Life.

She offers a few rules, such as Gamp's Law of Elemental Transfiguration (and it's five Principle Exceptions, the phrasing of which implies that there might perhaps be other exceptions, that aren't as important, or only apply under rare circumstances, or something), but leaves big loopholes in the ones we see, as well as leaving the rules we see vague and incomplete (e.g. most of what we know of Gamp's Law covers that one Principle Exception).
 

Altered Nova

Well-Known Member
I'm not sure what the argument really is here. zerohour is right that a wizard probably could live a decent life without every having to work as long as they had a wand and knew a few key spells such as the Gemino Curse. I fail to see how that is an issue with the plot of Harry Potter though. All it means is that actual real poverty would be almost nonexistent among wizards. Since we don't ever see or are told about any wizards actually struggling with real poverty (only the "poor" Weasleys who still own a house and are well fed) that doesn't contradict anything JKR ever wrote.
 

da_fox2279

California Crackpot
[video=youtube]https://youtu.be/4J6XSdD01X8[/video]
 

zerohour

Well-Known Member
It's only an issue because Rowling transitioned the books from children's books to darker/more realistic as the series advanced.  It made people start paying more attention to the details instead of saying it's just a kids book, don't worry about it too much.

Things like a guy running a division that would work with muggles on a regular basis being unable to pronounce telephone or electricity.   Harry being borderline if not outright abused in a first world country without anyone doing anything about it. Luring a psychotic murderer into a school filled with children and protecting his target with an equally murderous animal, hoping that saying "stay away" will keep kids from looking into it.  The list goes on.

For the first few books, it's fine, because it's not meant to be taken too seriously,  and is part of the otherworldly setting, but once Cerebus Syndrome sets in, you look back and wonder what the hell is wrong with the world.


In this case, the ability to duplicate things eliminates the need to buy more than one of anything, unless most wizards have some for of lojack on their products, but that still takes care of the majority or regular expenses, like food, water, clothing, home maintenance, and other things normal people have to deal with, but they can hand wave away.


Hm... there are plenty of Harry Potter stories where they break the economy because of the Galleon exchange.  Any stories out there where wizards learn about digital, or in this case, magical piracy?  Watching the economy collapse because no one needs to buy anythign anymore could be an entertaining take on the well worn story.
 
"There was much debate over whether a copy created with the Gemino Curse held the same value as the original, as the two items were impossible to tell apart at first, being identical to one another. However, over time, the copy tended to rot or tarnish more quickly than the original, making it possible to identify eventually. Because of this, the replicas created through this charm are considered to have no value or worth. It is also unknown as to whether or not the Gemino Curse can duplicate living or sentient beings, or if it is able to replicate an object's magical properties." http://harrypotter.wikia.com/wiki/Gemino_Curse

So, the Gemino Curse would yes make you be able to have enough material things as long as you have a source. But it is not able to be used as a valuable. And no enchanted things.

Also, "An odd characteristic of the spell, for which a solution was never found, was that only the original caster could stop the multiplication of the object. If for some reason the caster was interrupted in his/her casting, the object would continue multiplying for hours or even days, stopping only when the copies began to break down."
I take it to mean that copies get worse if made from other copies, or if too many are copied at once, so they'd still need an actual source.
 

Altered Nova

Well-Known Member
The Gemino Curse would be fantastically useful even if the copies degraded so quickly that you could only use them for a couple of days. You'd only need to own one pair of clothes, one pair of shoes, one set of dishes, etc. You'd just have to cast the spell a few times a week and you'd have unlimited amounts of disposable goods.

Not sure I'd trust any food created by that spell though. I feel like it would probably lose nutritional value quickly and you'd end up malnourished if you relied on it too much. Same issue with medicine which would lose potency prematurely. However, that might be a feature with duplicated recreational drugs.
 

zerohour

Well-Known Member
I don't know, rotting or tarnishing sounds like physical damage or corruption.  Having that happen to parts of your bopdy after you absorb the food seems like it would have a worse effect than minor malnutrition from eating duplicate food too often.

Then again, having parts of your brain rot could explain why people are so dumb...


I chalk it up to Rowling not really thinking about the wider repercussions spells could have on her world.  Again, not an issue in children's books, but when she decided to go for a grittier, more realistic world... yeah, that started being an issue.
 

Ordo

Well-Known Member


All right people, I need fanfic ideas!
 
Ordo said:
All right people, I need fanfic ideas!
Obviously, Boba Fett at some point got taken down by Harry, who swiped his armor due to all the face concealing stuff. That's when Boba really started making his reputation as an impossibly good bounty hunter.
 

Innortal

Well-Known Member
lord geryon said:
Ordo said:
All right people, I need fanfic ideas!
Obviously, Boba Fett at some point got taken down by Harry, who swiped his armor due to all the face concealing stuff. That's when Boba really started making his reputation as an impossibly good bounty hunter.
I could see a small campaign to try and get Daniel into one of the up coming Star Wars movies as a new Mandalorian.
 

AnimeRonin

Well-Known Member
Ordo said:
All right people, I need fanfic ideas!
Someone introduced Harry to Star Wars and, in a moment of madness possibly due to so many head shots over the years, took it for a 'how to' rather than entertainment.

He blames Arthur, really... and Sirius. And Remus. He was left unsupervised!
 
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