So in the Harry Potter movies, the Weasley family has been our favorite. The Weasleys were from a pure-blood family, but they were not as rich as other pure-blood families like the Malfoys, the Black family, and the Potter family.
They were often not able to afford school books, so they used to buy second-hand books. All of Ron’s clothes were his brother’s old clothes, and even the magic wand Ron used until the second year was his brother Charlie’s.
But why were the Weasleys so poor? Why were they not as rich as the Potters and Malfoys? Today, we will know the answer to this question.
First of all, just as the Potters and Malfoys were hereditarily rich and inherited a lot of gold from their ancestors, the Potter, Malfoys, and Black families were hereditarily rich because their ancestors were rich. They were successful, but the Weasley family was not rich.
Talking about Molly and Arthur Weasley, they both got married soon after graduating from Hogwarts. At that time, Voldemort was a terror, but both of them wanted to start their new lives as soon as possible, so they did not join the Order of the Phoenix, and they stayed away from the First Wizarding War.
Arthur joined the Misuse of Muggle Artefacts Department in the Ministry of Magic. Arthur was the head of that department, but it was not a very high-paying job. There were only two people in his department: one was himself, and the other was Perkins.
Arthur worked in this department for about 15 years, but in these 15 years, neither his salary increased, nor did he get any bonus, nor did he get any promotion.
When Bill was born, his salary was enough for his family. They were able to afford to live a good life. But as Charlie, Percy, Fred, George, Ron, and Ginny were born, Arthur’s expenses also started increasing as the family grew. Arthur’s salary, which had not increased till now, now had to support nine members on the same salary.
There were six boys in their family because Molly always wanted a daughter. If Ginny had been born in the second or third year, we would not have seen the Seven Weasleys. Since Arthur and Molly had seven children, their expenses were also very high.
Their clothes, books, magic wands, school supplies, and daily expenses for all seven children were very expensive for Arthur because he was the only earning member in his family, and Molly was a housewife.
But Molly never compromised for her children. Molly’s cooking skills were very good, so the children loved her food. Even though they could not afford luxuries, Molly never let the children feel the lack of food.
Talking about Arthur, Arthur was also a very talented wizard. He was very interested in Muggles, so he joined the Misuse of Muggle Artifacts Department. Arthur’s job in this department was to ensure that Muggles were not harassed by using magic on artifacts.
Many times, people used to harass Muggles by casting magic on their things, such as casting magic on Muggle household items like toothbrushes, making them work on their own.
Arthur had to ensure that such items were corrected and made safe for Muggles. Many times, dangerous cases came to Arthur’s office, like cases of cursed objects, or sometimes people used to cast magic on Muggle objects with malicious intent, which could endanger the lives of Muggles.
Arthur’s job here was to find such Muggle objects and neutralize them so that they did not pose a threat to Muggles.
But this department was not given much attention in the ministry because this department was related to Muggles, and the other departments were much more important. So, the ministry never felt the need to spend more on this department. This was the reason why Arthur’s salary never increased, but this did not mean that Arthur was not capable.
Arthur was very intelligent, and he passed many bills that forced Lucius Malfoy to find all his dark artifacts. Arthur raided Lucius’ house to find dark artifacts. Apart from this, Arthur had cast a spell on a car and made it a flying car. He was a very good duelist, and we got to see these skills of his in the Second Wizarding War.
Arthur would have easily gotten a promotion if he were the head of any other department. He could have gotten a very good salary and power, but Arthur chose to fight for the Muggles. Due to supporting the Muggles, he was called a blood traitor many times.
He did not get a promotion either, but he never compromised with his thinking and principles. He wanted to fight for the Muggles and ensure their safety, and the thinking of the Ministry was very different from this. This was the reason why the Weasley family was poor.
Molly agreed with Arthur’s thinking, so she always supported him and worked hard at home to take care of her family and create a better world for children.
Arthur loved his job, and his family and principles were more important to Arthur and Molly than money. So, when Arthur won some money in the third book, he spent all the money on a holiday to Egypt to meet his son Bill.
When Bill and Charlie graduated from Hogwarts and started working, Percy was in his sixth year and already had his wand and uniforms. But at the same time, Ron entered his first year at Hogwarts, and due to less money, he got all the books second-hand.
The wand he got was also his brother Charlie’s, and his uniforms were old clothes that actually belonged to his brothers. Even the dress that Molly sent for Ron at the time of the Yule Ball was second-hand. If you look carefully in the movie, this is portrayed very well, where Ron’s clothes look much duller and older than Harry’s.
So, the reason for the Weasleys being poor was that his family was very big, and Arthur was the only earning member. His salary was not high enough to support nine people properly.
But later, the Weasleys also became rich when Fred and George opened a joke shop in Diagon Alley. Their joke shop became very popular, due to which Weasley’s financial condition became much better.
So, I hope you have understood why the Weasleys were so poor.
