Blog Minx

Harry Potter’s so hot right now. He’s the focus of many water-cooler chats this month, ranking just below Ms Hilton and the iPhone. He has a new movie out and his seventh book is about to hit the shelves.

I went to see Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix yesterday and have reviewed it on my Movie Minx blog. I’ve also written about The Joy of Fantasy Travel on Travel Minx. Now I’m going to blog about money and Harry Potter here.

I’m not just milking the search terms, I’m genuinely interested. Since discovering Mr Potter about five years ago I’ve been hooked, despite not normally loving fantasy tales. When the books are released I pre-order them, pick them up immediately and read them in a few hours before encountering the plot spoilers on Digg and countless other sites about Dumbledore dying on page 596 of The Half-Blood Prince (oh come on, that was from the book two years ago! I didn’t spoil it!).

Harry Potter and the $4 Billion Empire

So let’s look at the figures. Since Harry was ‘born’ in 1997 the books have sold 325 million copies, according to Wikipedia. The seventh and final book, due to be released on July 20, has already sold 12 million copies in pre-orders alone.

The author, JK Rowling, is believed to be the richest writer in literary history. She was sitting on a train one day when the idea of Harry Potter just popped into her head. Lucky she made notes.

The books have spawned five films so far, and video games and other merchandise, with a theme park coming soon. According to Wikipedia, the total worth of the Potter empire is a cauldron-spinning $4 billion. Although it’s more of a twisted tale for retailers.

Harry Potter and the Order of the Finances

Currency: Galleons, sickles and knuts. Convert them into dollars.
Banking: Gringotts. Its vaults are guarded by goblins and perhaps dragons.

Harry Potter doesn’t need to worry about money. He inherits a vaultload at the beginning of the first book once he discovers he’s a wizard. Sorted.

His friend Ron Weasley comes from a poor family with six kids. Mr Weasley works at the Ministry of Magic in the Misuse of Muggle (non-wizard) Artifacts department and is not well-paid.

Ron’s naughty twin brothers, Fred and George, become entrepreneurs when they start creating fun magic products like Extendable Ears to help people eavesdrop, and a Skiving Snackbox to help students get out of class by taking ‘remedies’ such as Nosebleed Nougat, Puking Pastilles or Fainting Fancy. They quit school and opened their own shop, which is doing very well.

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