[HPforGrownups] Money, bribery and corruption in the wizarding world

[Emma Hawkes]

No: HPFGUIDX 127332


Money is one of the first things Harry Potter is introduced to in the 
wizarding world.  On his first trip to Diagon Alley Hagrid takes him 
to his Gringott's vault, which is bulging with galleons, sickles and 
knuts.  This contrasts painfully with the Weasley family vault which 
in The Chamber of Secrets contains a 'very small' pile of silver 
sickles and a single gold galleon.1 
	The financial woes of the Weasley family - as constantly 
decried sotto voice by Ron - stem partly from the unusually large 
size of their family.  For example, when the Weasleys meet Cedric 
Diggory and his father on their way to the quidditch world cup, Amos 
Diggory greets the Weasleys with a comment about the cost of buying 
tickets for so many children.

  'Quidditch World Cup, wouldn't miss it for a sackful of galleons - 
and the tickets cost about that.  Mind you,looks like I got off 
easy...' Amos Diggory peered good-naturedly around at the three 
Weasley boys, Harry, Hermione and Ginny. 'All these yours, Arthur?'

'Oh, no, only the redheads,' said Mr Wesley, pointing out his children.2

There were, of course, a further three red heads waiting at the camp 
site.  More viciously, Lucius Malfoy suggests that the Weasleys would 
have had to sell their house to afford the tickets.
	However, it is revealed that Arthur Weasley did not actually 
have to buy his tickets - they were donated by the dodgy Ludo Bagman 
(whose very name reeks of implied bribery). 

'I like Ludo... He was the one who got us such good tickets for the 
Cup.  I did him a bit of a favour: his brother, Otto, got into a spot 
of trouble - a lawnmower with unnatural powers - I smoothed the whole 
thing over.'3

	Small gifts and favours of this sort seem to be constantly 
traded among wizards.  In The Prisoner of Azkaban Arthur borrows a 
car from work.  In The Goblet of Fire a friend of his attaches the 
Dursley's fireplace to the floo network as a favour.  Arthur says, 
'I've got a useful contact at the Floor Regulation Panel and he fixed 
it for me.'4 
	This suggests, disturbingly, a culture of daily, petty 
corruption in the Ministry of Magic.  This presents the possibility 
of further, more sinister, corruption.  I am not suggesting that 
Arthur Weasley is corrupt, but it is clear that his work would 
present opportunities for such behaviour.  He is first introduced 
when he comes home after a night of raids, work where he acts as a 
kind of unsupervised Police officer (with all the opportunities for 
graft that presents).  He mentions too that related divisions of the 
Ministry of Magic have the authority to detain and question people.

'Mortlake was taken away for questioning about some extremely odd 
ferrets, but that's the Committee on Experimental Charms, thank 
goodness...'5

The mind boggles at the prospect of enchanted ferrets - what possible 
use can there be for such a thing? - and the blackmail opportunities 
that knowledge of such oddities (or perversities) implies.
	The Weasley's poverty is, however, a sign that Arthur does 
not take up such opportunities for illicit profit.  At the same time, 
it is clear that some wizards and witches at the Ministry of Magic do 
indulge in more sinister forms of corruption and bribery, some of 
which support the actions of Voldemort.  When Harry runs into a 
meeting between Fudge and Malfoy at the Ministry of Magic in The 
Order of the Phoenix he notes the 'gentle clinking of what sounded 
like a full pocket of gold'.  Harry then naively asks Arthur about 
the meeting:

'What private business have they got together, anyway?'
'Gold, I expect,' said Mr Weasley angrily. 'Malfoy's been giving 
generously to all sorts of things for years... gets him in with the 
right people... then he can ask favours... delay laws he doesn't want 
past... oh he's very well connected, Lucius Malfoy.'6  

This kind of evil - turning a blind eye to the second rise of 
Voldemort - is the nadir of corruption in the wizarding world. 
	The wizarding world appears to operate with an informal 
bureaucracy and a culture of acceptance of low-level favour exchanges 
or even corruption. Arthur Weasley clearly participates in the 
exchange of favours but appears to shun bribery and venal corruption. 
In this context,
the poverty of the Weasleys is perhaps the strongest indicator of 
Arthur's ethics and commitment to the forces of good.

End Notes

1, J.K. Rowling, Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets (Great 
Britain: Bloomsbury, 1998) p.47.
2, J.K. Rowling, Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire (Great Britain: 
Bloomsbury, 2000) p. 68.
3, Rowling,  Goblet of Fire (2000) p. 58.
4, Rowling, Goblet of Fire (2000) p.44.
5, Rowling, Chamber of Secrets (1998) p.34.
6, J.K. Rowling, Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (Great 
Britain: Bloomsbury, 2003) pp. 141-2.

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