Money, Trips, Cars, and More Money (Was: Ron, Molly, Robes...)

[Steve]

No: HPFGUIDX 59329

--- In HPforGrownups at yahoogroups.com, rayheuer3 at a... wrote:
> CareALotsClouds at a... writes:
> 
> ..edited out previous post...
> 
> Actually, the prize they won was cash.  700 Galleons to be specific 
> (in the accepted "exchange" rate, that's roughly $5.000 US).  


bboy_mn:

Close but no cigar. The exchange rate is G1.00 = £5.00 as stated by
JKR in an interview. Unfortunately, we have no G to $ exchange rate,
and we have no sense as to what factors would cause the Galleon/Pound
exchange rate to float,  so...

Brit £ = US $1.634
US $ = £0.612

So...

£5.00 x 1.634 = US$8.17 

Although the exchange rate is down, the HP Lexicon says $7.33. The 3
yr average is 1.55, so... £5.00 x 1.55 = US $7.75. [for simplicity, I
always use G1:£5:$7. Nice round numbers]

Someone earlier in this thread said, that he money won in the contest
should have been put into the bank and used to enrich the children's
live instead of being squandered on a vacation.

I say the trip of a lifetime, and a lifetimes worth of memories and
family bonding are a lot more enriching than new robes or new books.
Long long long after the robes are outgrown and the books are
gathering dust, the Weasley family will sit around laughing and
remembering their trip to Egypt; the fun, the family, the food, the
people, the magic, the education, the sites, etc....  

Money placed in the bank would be nickled and dimed (...er ...Sickled
and Knutted) away and never really seen, never really making a
difference in the Weasley's lives. G700 is about $5,000, certainly
nice but not life altering. 

So the Weasley parents had to make a choice, they were already getting
by, even though they didn't have everything they wanted, they
certainly we not lacking for anything they needed, and the money was a
windfall. It was not something budgeted into their life. So the
choices were put it in the bank and watch it slowly fade away, or
spend it on something that would enrich their family for a lifetime.
Personally, I would have chosen lifetime of family enrichment.

Now if they were truly destitute and starving, it would have been a
foolish decision, but given their circumstances and their modest but
stable lives, I think they made the right choice.


> 
> I always got the impression that the Ford Anglia was seized by the 
> Ministry and Arthur kept it for "study".  I doubt he would *ever* be
> "finished" with his  "study" of the car.  And he certainly couldn't 
> "sell" it, it's contraband.
> 
> However, this does bring up an interesting point.  ..., the 
> Anglia was pretty much the only way the Weasleys had of getting 
> around as a family. 
>
> ...edited...
> 
> -end rayheuer3-


bboy_mn continues:

Just exactly how enchanted was that car? It's been running around the
forest for a long time and there aren't likely to be any petrol
station in an enchanted forbidden forest. So can I assume that the car
is fueled by magic???

That would mean that Mr. Weasley was breaking the law everytime he
drove the car. Even thought the car appear to function as a normal
car, it was still fuel by magic and the many enchantments the Mr.
Weasley placed on the car. Of course, how would anyone know, since,
when used in a normal way, the car would appear perfectly normal?

As a side note, I suspect that Sirius's motorcycle was the same way.
It was enchanted to fly, but anytime there was a possibility of Muggle
detection, Sirius drove it like a normal motorcycle and no one was the
wiser including the Ministry of Magic. Where is that motorcycle
anyway? Hagrid was the last one to have it, is it possible that he has
it stashed away in a shed somewhere? Is it possible it will be a
legacy passed on to Harry? Is there any chance they will let me drive
it? ...hummmm.... enquiring minds want to know.

Which brings up another question, does Arthur, or Fred, George, or Ron
for that matter, actually know how to drive a car? Given heavy London
traffic, it would certainly take a skilled driver.

I personally believe that the car was driven by magical intent. Mr.
Weasley intended for the car to drive safely down the highway, so the
car took that magical intent and did what Mr. Weasley wanted. It was
really the car driving the car. Mr. Weasley and all the young Weasley
would be completely lost at the wheel of a true muggle car. 

Just a thought.


bboy_mn