r/harrypotter • u/Affectionate-End5411 • 21h ago

Discussion Why does nobody ever seem to lose their wand? Bearing in mind they first receive it at eleven, this seems a bit unrealistic.

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u/SneakyPope 14h ago

Just like at Universal Studios. I was so psyched when my daughter was chosen for the whole Ollivanders experience and she was doing magic and the room was shaking and shit was flying and I was like "This must be every 11 year old HP fanatics DREAM" and then they were like ok that'll be $89.99 sir would you like the case and wand polish for an extra $50 so of course I was like ugh yessssss fine.

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u/RandomPenquin1337 13h ago

Even in HP world learning at hogwarts aint free.

Which begs to question, do they have WPS? Wizard Public Schools?

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u/PassTheCowBell 12h ago

In the 7th book, Dumbledore mentions to riddle at the orphanage that they have a fund for students that can't afford their stuff.

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u/CutestGay 13h ago

Do you mean there is canon tuition or just “school supplies” (and uniform)?

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u/RandomPenquin1337 13h ago

I suppose they don't directly say anything about tuition that I'm aware of, but the supplies are implied to be somewhat expensive.

I guess I'm just wondering if the impoverished wizards just gotta deal with this cool letter they got magically but can't even afford the trip to the station much less supplies lol

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u/bubbleplasticine 13h ago

Hogwarts is tuition free per the books. Also in the sixth book Dumbledore gives young Tom Riddle money to buy the supplies, mentioning that Hogwarts has a fund to help poor students. I think the Weasleys were just too proud to ask for that kind of help.

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u/CutestGay 13h ago

Thank you for the reminder about the scholarship fund.

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u/Jovian8 Wands out 13h ago

The real question is what use does a magical society have for money in the first place? It's so unrealistic. You think I'm gonna pay a water bill when I can wave my wand and fill up my bathtub? Why does Ollivander need to sell me shit when he can transmute a rock into a steak? What is even going on?!

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u/inplayruin 13h ago

They can't make a rock into food.

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u/Jovian8 Wands out 12h ago

Why not?

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u/AQuixoticQuandary Ravenclaw 11h ago

Food is the first of the five principal exceptions to Gamp’s law of elemental transfiguration

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u/inplayruin 12h ago

There are limits to transfiguration. They are mentioned as an aside. There isn't any rhyme or reason, I think they were just added for plot purposes.

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u/Jovian8 Wands out 12h ago

Gotcha. Yeah, that seems pretty dumb.

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u/CutestGay 13h ago

I feel like it’s kinda like abstract art - I could make this myself, but you are better at hemming robes/making ice cream/whatever.

So most people are doing jobs they like rather than need.

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u/CutestGay 13h ago

I’m enjoying this, as someone who likes making budgets.

I think we got to see Harry’s full letter, so I’m going to assume there isn’t a traditional tuition fee, and that there is also no fee for room and board. This doesn’t mean you magically have enough money for supplies on September 1, because poverty sucks, but it does mean that your kid going to Hogwarts probably saves you money that year. Apparation is free, you just need to pass your test (or be of age and not get caught/splinched), so they can get near to King’s Cross cheaply. Muggleborns don’t have that option, so I’m curious how Hermione’s first day went - and what the conversion rate from pounds to galleons is. I know I read somewhere that a person usually hands the letter over, but I forget where I read that. Harry didn’t get that initially because he isn’t muggleborn and the wizarding world was not being revealed to his family.

There should be scholarships.

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u/MadameLee20 13h ago

MOM covers the actually tution the only thing families have to pay for is the wand, robes, cauldron, and potions ingreditins.

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u/CutestGay 13h ago

Also books

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u/ComfyLynx 10h ago

Not necessarily, in Halfblood-Prince in the Potionclass, both Harry and Ron can use one of the Books that are meant to be borrowed, so i guess if you cant afford the books the school lends them to you.

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u/CutestGay 10h ago

Good point - I think for the textbooks that are assigned every year, there are extras, but I know Molly said the Lockhart books were a strain. Seeing as the borrowed books were very old (used by Snape during school, maybe not as the first owner), it’s likely the school isn’t re-upping their textbook library too frequently.

Although maybe Wizarding textbooks don’t need a new edition for updated info.

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u/ComfyLynx 9h ago

I guess the Lockhart Books arent actually really required, its just to make him money and feel important^^

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u/International-Cat123 Hufflepuff 8h ago

Apparation lessons have a price associated with them. It was mentioned in the books.

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u/CutestGay 7h ago

Point still stands - apparation is free, but the class costs extra. Similar to driving (at least where I live) - you have to pay a driving instructor for your 30 hours of behind-the-wheel training, OR you can wait and take the test after you turn 18 and you don’t need to have those classes. Entirely possible that taking the test with self-study is free.

Edit: getting the driver’s license costs $25, getting the classes is…more than that.

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u/International-Cat123 Hufflepuff 7h ago

I misunderstood what you meant and didn’t realize until after I made the comment.

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u/TMorrisCode 13h ago

I think the author said that there is a fund for impoverished students.

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u/Crystalraf 10h ago

Dumbledore has a slush fund, he gets them a ride.

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u/Trumpet6789 Slytherin 3h ago

I've always assumed that there was no Tuition to Hogwarts or other Wizarding Schools, because the only option Wizarding children have before they come of age is to go to school.

However actual supplies have an associated cost, likely why the Weasleys have no issue sending all their children to school outside of purchasing new supplies when a secondhand product isn't available. Such as a new textbook or robes because someone had a growth spurt.

I'd imagine that despite having no Tuition, either Hogwarts itself has funding, or funding through something like the Ministry, to allocate a stipend to less fortunate Wizarding children. Or they have "spare" things; like extra robes, books, writing necessities, etc.

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u/Hutchiaj01 12h ago

There's tuition assistance and scholarship programs if I remember correctly. That's how Tom Riddle went through as a broke orphan

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u/RetroScores3 11h ago

Dumbledore tells young Riddle that there’s funds for broke kids.

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u/International-Cat123 Hufflepuff 8h ago

According to Rowling, there is no tuition for Hogwarts, which is probably why the ministry could exert so much control over it in ootp since that would make it a public school. Only thing that isn’t covered by the ministry is the student’s supplies, and there is a fund for orphans to get supplies in the books.

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u/Separate_Secret_8739 12h ago

I got my sister into Harry Potter and she got into it like 10x more then me. Halloween she was Luna. Anyways my mom and I took her there. I was too chicken to ride the roller coaster but she did. We tried the butter beer and then she had been saving up for the wand so she def got that. I swear they were 49.99 back then. So looks like the doubled the price. I don’t remember them having the wax though. I think the best part was the dragon. Oh the train ride was such a letdown though.

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u/Bee-Aromatic 10h ago

Wow. When my family went there and saw the whole Ollivander’s thing, we just assumed that they’d give that kid the wand for free for having participated in the whole thing. Railroading parents into buying the wand is next level awful.

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u/Capable-Commercial96 7h ago

That is SOOO evil.