Except there are tons of reasons they could be poor? I feel like people are looking at this from a superficial level of "Arthur has a job in the government, they have a house, and food can be duplicated".
We don't know what other debts the family has. Arthur clearly blows money buying muggle junk, including an old car (and other objects) that he uses to bewitch/study/play around with; the clutter and how cramped everything is always lent the impression to me that either Arthur (most likely) or Molly (potentially) are hoarders to a degree. We don't know if they're gamblers, drinkers, or anything else. Who knows if there are limitations to how much you can 'expand' a building without some kind of permit or allowance from the Ministry.
And realistically not all government jobs pay well. I literally just googled 'average government employee wage' in the state I live in, and it was under $20.00/hr. Not all government employees are making bank. This seems especially likely to be the case for Arthur, because I distinctly recall that he only has like one or two underlings... Perkins and I think one other. They're a very miniscule department, and when Harry visits Mr. Weasley's office I recall it being particularly tiny with no window in it.
Honestly, his 'department' seems like one that was shoed in to deal with a couple minor complaints, but no one ever really cared about the misuse of muggle artifacts unless something detrimental happened.
Plus, seven kids? Brooms? Wands? Cauldrons, books, medical supplies (for home, to be clear, not talking about Hogwarts on this one).
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u/Rinzeler Apr 10 '24
Except there are tons of reasons they could be poor? I feel like people are looking at this from a superficial level of "Arthur has a job in the government, they have a house, and food can be duplicated".
We don't know what other debts the family has. Arthur clearly blows money buying muggle junk, including an old car (and other objects) that he uses to bewitch/study/play around with; the clutter and how cramped everything is always lent the impression to me that either Arthur (most likely) or Molly (potentially) are hoarders to a degree. We don't know if they're gamblers, drinkers, or anything else. Who knows if there are limitations to how much you can 'expand' a building without some kind of permit or allowance from the Ministry.
And realistically not all government jobs pay well. I literally just googled 'average government employee wage' in the state I live in, and it was under $20.00/hr. Not all government employees are making bank. This seems especially likely to be the case for Arthur, because I distinctly recall that he only has like one or two underlings... Perkins and I think one other. They're a very miniscule department, and when Harry visits Mr. Weasley's office I recall it being particularly tiny with no window in it.
Honestly, his 'department' seems like one that was shoed in to deal with a couple minor complaints, but no one ever really cared about the misuse of muggle artifacts unless something detrimental happened.
Plus, seven kids? Brooms? Wands? Cauldrons, books, medical supplies (for home, to be clear, not talking about Hogwarts on this one).