I should be working on my
writing. Procrastination has set in. This is merely done for the fun of
it. I enjoy Ms. Rowling's imaginitive writing, but I get these questions
in my head and want to answer them (writing practice and mental exercise is my
excuse). So to get the formalities out of the way: Disclaimer: All
Harry Potter names, characters, places, incidents et al. herein are the
property of J.K. Rowling and her legal licensees, including but not limited to
Bloomsbury/Scholastic, etc. No copyright or trademark infringement is intended
and no money is being made.
Muggle-born
Orientation Lecture (MOLe) #22,
presented by Prof. Amelia Tillywig, answering
the question,
“Do wizards need money?”
Professor Tillywig: “Most wizards have a large stockpile of
gold, silver, and bronze metals in the bank.
Some of the most powerful wizards and witches in history are said to
have had the powers of alchemic transmutation –the ability to turn base metals
into precious metals. All magical folk
have the power to feed, to clothe, and to shelter themselves without the need
of money. Magical folk can exist
without money or an economic system, yet we choose to use the gold Galleon, the
silver Sickle, and the bronze Knut everyday. Why do we bother with a system of
money?
It happens that gold, silver, and bronze have the unique
characteristics of being incredibly powerful conductors and intensifiers of
magic. Rarely are wands made using
gold, silver, or bronze due to their power potential; when one of the precious
metals is used in creation of a wand it must be used in small amounts by a
powerful wizard using other substances able to subtlety balance the effects of
the potent metal. Any spell using these metals should be considered very
forceful and extremely effective (and should only be attempted by accomplished
magic folk). Charms, amulets, and other magical items made of one of the
precious metals has the magic of the item amplified many, many times over. A
witch and wizard can successfully use magic without ever using the precious
metals; however, the metals remain an extremely strong cultural symbol of
increased magical power and potential.
The symbolism of the metals is actually the basis of the
wizard ‘monetary system’. Magic folk
could easily swap needed items or use a simple barter system, yet they prefer
to use a system of ‘power exchange’.
When a magic person offers the owner of The Three
Broomsticks Pub two sickles for a pint of butterbeer, he isn’t offering money
–he’s offering power. He’s saying, in
effect, ‘Take this small representation of potential magical strength in
exchange for the butterbeer’. It is an
exchange of power having nothing to do with economics.
Old wizarding families that sit upon outrageous uncountable
fortunes would look wealthy by Muggle standards but to magic folk they are
powerful –powerful enough to give away bits of potential magical power in
exchange for grand finery without worry.
Magic people with more limited stashes of the precious metals must be a
bit more conservative.
Why not just make more precious metals using magic? The alchemic transmutation of base metals
into precious metals is difficult for even the most experienced and powerful
wizards using huge amounts of magic; and even then, it has its
limitations. Most available precious
metals have been secured into family vaults and are passed on to following
generations.”