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So, at the beginning of Harry Potter, Harry is found to have a large vault of gold at Gringotts. Where did all of that money come from? What did James (I assume it came from him, as Lily was muggle-born, and they were both young) do to get all of that cash?

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    Life insurance?
    – Kyralessa
    Apr 30, 2011 at 22:09
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    I imagine that what might seem a meager net worth to an adult might seem like a fortune to a child.
    – Sam
    May 1, 2011 at 1:11
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    Does the book mention (I can't recall) whether the amount of money is larger than other wizardly families have?
    – Tony Meyer
    May 1, 2011 at 1:30
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    @Tony: It's definitely a fair bit more than the Weasley's, but aside from that, I don't think they mentioned it. It seems like it's enough money to be fairly well off for a kid, I suspect it'd be around $250-500K or so USD. A good amount of money, more than most people have in savings, but not enough to be idle. Of course, I have no references to cite for that... May 1, 2011 at 1:32
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    I was wondering if all pure-blood wizardly families would have the same amount of money (i.e. it was normal for wizards, a lot for muggles). However, the Weasleys indeed don't fit with that.
    – Tony Meyer
    May 1, 2011 at 4:56

11 Answers 11

90

James (and, by extension, Harry) got rich the old-fashioned way: he had rich ancestors.

In a new short story originally posted on Pottermore (and now hosted at The Wizarding World), titled "The Potter Family", Rowling reveals that the Potter family made their fortune with the invention of several important potions.

The seeds of the Potter fortune were laid by the first member of the family, Linfred of Stinchcombe, who invented medicinal potions:

Linfred was a vague and absent-minded fellow whose Muggle neighbours often called upon his medicinal services. None of them realised that Linfred’s wonderful cures for pox and ague were magical; they all thought him a harmless and lovable old chap, pottering about in his garden with all his funny plants. His reputation as a well-meaning eccentric served Linfred well, for behind closed doors he was able to continue the series of experiments that laid the foundation of the Potter family’s fortune. Historians credit Linfred as the originator of a number of remedies that evolved into potions still used to this day, including Skele-gro and Pepperup Potion. His sales of such cures to fellow witches and wizards enabled him to leave a significant pile of gold to each of his seven children upon his death.

Linfred laid a foundation that future generations would build on, though the specifics of each generation aren't recorded in this story:

The Potters continued to marry their neighbours, occasionally Muggles, and to live in the West of England, for several generations, each one adding to the family coffers by their hard work and, it must be said, by the quiet brand of ingenuity that had characterised their forebear, Linfred.

The family fortune was then greatly expanded by Harry's grandfather Fleamont Potter, who invented Sleekeazy's Hair Potion:

It was Fleamont who took the family gold and quadrupled it, by creating magical Sleekeazy’s Hair Potion ( 'two drops tames even the most bothersome barnet' ). He sold the company at a vast profit when he retired, but no amount of riches could compensate him or his wife Euphemia for their childlessness.

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    In case anyone is asking the same question I did, the quoted text continues: "They had quite given up hope of a son or daughter when, to their shock and surprise, Euphemia found that she was pregnant and their beloved boy, James, was born." Mar 22, 2016 at 17:42
  • How much generations are there between Linfred and Fleamont? Because if it's more than three, that fortune would already be reduced to a regular amount of money per household, per the kondratieff cycle.
    – Kevin
    Apr 7, 2016 at 14:24
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    James was a spoiled rich kid? Man, who woulda guessed that.
    – DavidS
    Apr 10, 2017 at 9:03
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    Clearly inheritance tax does not have much prominence in the wizarding world. Aug 10, 2017 at 16:48
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    @aitchnyu You're probably referring to the so-called "Sacred Twenty-Eight"; the Potters were notably omitted from this list because, according to Rowling, "the anonymous compiler of that supposedly definitive list of pure-bloods suspected that they had sprung from what he considered to be tainted blood" Nov 3, 2017 at 13:17
125

Harry's money came from inheritance from his father, James.

James was independently wealthy (from family money) when he left Hogwarts, sufficiently such that he was able to support himself, Sirius, and Lily as full-time (unpaid) fighters for the Order of the Phoenix. Beyond that, there is no information as to where James's wealth came from or what his parents (Harry's paternal grandparents) did for a living or how they made their money.

Source : JKR Interview by a 14-year-old boy named Owen Jones who won the chance in 2005 to interview her.

Q: Where does he [Harry] get his money? He always seems to have some. Does he have a bank account? Where is it? Where's his money?

JKR: Well, as you know, Harry's bank account is in Gringotts. His money came from inheritance, from his father. But I think, on a deeper level... [On the one hand,] Harry's money never really is that important in the books, except that he can afford his uniform and so on. [On the other hand,] I think I really gave him a fortune because I was so broke when I wrote the first book and it was wishful thinking that I would not have to worry about such things.

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    As for where did the money come from James' family, I'd like to point out that James would be Ignotus' descendant, and it is said that Ignotus himself created the perfect invisibility cloak. I'd expect that such a genius can make money easily :).
    – Saturn
    Dec 29, 2012 at 4:49
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    What kind of expenses would a wizarding household have anyway? No electric bills, probably wouldn't need plumbing. So, food, rent (mortgage?), potion making / other wizarding supplies?
    – DLeh
    Jun 19, 2014 at 17:58
  • It also seems pretty ironic to me that any Hogwarts graduate would be a competent wizard, interested in wealth, and NOT able to think of a way to accumulate at least a small fortune relatively easily.
    – Dronz
    Dec 25, 2014 at 19:08
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    "it was wishful thinking that I would not have to worry about such things" Sometimes wishes do come true, I suppose.
    – jpmc26
    Oct 6, 2015 at 23:41
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From an earlier interview by J.K.Rowling:

Q: What did James and Lily Potter do when they were alive?

JKR: Well, I can't go into too much detail, because you're going to find out in future books. But James inherited plenty of money, so he didn't need a well-paid profession. You'll find out more about both Harry's parents later.

It is not very clear how much is left, because James needed to support Lupin as well:

Jo related the fact that Remus Lupin, prior to the third book, was unemployable because he was a werewolf, and upon his graduation from Hogwarts, along with James and Lily, was supported by James using their own money. In addition to this, she shed more light on the early days of the Order, saying James, Sirius, Remus and Lily were full time Order members. "Full Time Fighters," as Jo put it.
- J. K. Rowling at Carnegie Hall, 2007

12

ykombinator is correct in that Harry inherited his money from his father's side of the family. New information from J.K. Rowling, released on Pottermore, however, goes into more detail regarding the source of the Potters' fortune.

The wizarding family of Potters descends from the twelfth-century wizard Linfred of Stinchcombe, a locally well-beloved and eccentric man, whose nickname, ‘the Potterer’, became corrupted in time to ‘Potter’. Linfred was a vague and absent-minded fellow whose Muggle neighbours often called upon his medicinal services. None of them realised that Linfred’s wonderful cures for pox and ague were magical; they all thought him a harmless and lovable old chap, pottering about in his garden with all his funny plants. His reputation as a well-meaning eccentric served Linfred well, for behind closed doors [Linfred] was able to continue the series of experiments that laid the foundation of the Potter family’s fortune. Historians credit Linfred as the originator of a number of remedies that evolved into potions still used to this day, including Skele-gro and Pepperup Potion. His sales of such cures to fellow witches and wizards enabled him to leave a significant pile of gold to each of his seven children upon his death.

As well, it was a Potter who invented Sleekeazy Potion, the hair-taming tonic that Hermione uses to control her wild, bushy hair at the Yule Ball in Goblet of Fire:

It was Fleamont [Potter] who took the family gold and quadrupled it, by creating magical Sleekeazy’s Hair Potion ( ‘two drops tames even the most bothersome barnet’ ). He sold the company at a vast profit when he retired, but no amount of riches could compensate him or his wife Euphemia for their childlessness. They had quite given up hope of a son or daughter when, to their shock and surprise, Euphemia found that she was pregnant and their beloved boy, James, was born.

James inherited this fortune accordingly, and when he and Lily were killed, the Potter fortune passed down to Harry.

12

It's never really explained where the money that's left to Harry comes from. His grandparents on both sides are apparently dead before the start of the first book, possibly at the hands of the Death Eaters.

It's said in the book and the movie by Hagrid, "you didn't really think your parents would leave you with nothin'?" Again, it's not clear what James and Lily did for a living, if they ever did have to work for a living (maybe James was indeed independently wealthy; he's cocky enough as a kid to be an heir), but if they did work, they'd probably have some sort of retirement fund they'd been socking away toward, which would pass to Harry as next of kin.

Although the financial system of the Potterverse isn't covered in-depth, it would also be easy to imply that Gringott's pays interest on any gold they're allowed to make use of in loans; some vaults are like safe deposit boxes, while others are more like ordinary bank accounts. Gringotts is a business like anything else; I doubt the goblins love gold so much they'd work for free just to be around it. Behold the wonders of compound interest accrued over 10 years on a nest egg that is never touched.

Anyway, what was left to Harry is enough that Harry's time in school is financially comfortable, but it's by no means extravagant; he didn't buy his own Firebolt, for instance. It only looks like a lot compared to what the Weasleys live on; working in the Misuse of Muggle Artifacts office doesn't pay much, obviously, and the Weasleys have had seven kids. The Malfoys, on the other hand, are the evil Rockefellers; so much money that Lucius thinks nothing of buying Draco's way onto the Slytherin Quidditch team.

9

Harry is a descendant of the Peverells, an ancient and magically powerful family (and so, potentially rich, like the Malfoys). He inherited the invisibility cloak that belonged to Ignotus, so presumably any family fortune would also have been passed down from parent to child.

6

In Rowling's original drafts, they made their fortune from the Philosopher's Stone,

(they may or may not have stolen this from the Flamels.)

transcription below

“But he's dead now?” he [Ron] asked.
“Of course,” said Harry, “Someone stole his stone so he couldn't make any more Elixir of life, could he? It takes a while to make another stone and by that time, I suppose, he was just too old to live without his Elixir until a new stone was ready. “And now I’ll tell you something else really weird that I haven't told you up to now— the stone was found in my parents safe at Gringott’s bank.”
But instead of the interested noises Harry had expected, Ron and Hermione simply stared at him.
(The old jkrowling.com - Scrapbook entry #1 - "Very early page of Philosopher's Stone")

In the final canon, as others have pointed out, they made their fortune by selling hair care products.

It was Fleamont who took the family gold and quadrupled it, by creating magical Sleekeazy’s Hair Potion (‘two drops tames even the most bothersome barnet’).
(The Wizarding World: The Potter Family)

I'll let you decide which version sounds better.

4

Xenophilius Lovegood says in book 7 that anyone who possesses the Invisibility Cloak (Third Deathly Hallow) would be unbelievably rich. As the cloak was handed down from Ignotus Peverell through his wizarding line over the years, the family accumulated money, which was handed down to James as an only child and then Harry as an only child.

From Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Chapter 21 - The Tale of the Three Brothers

"Ah, but the Third Hallow is a true Cloak of Invisibility, Miss Granger!"

...

"Exactly," said Xenophilius, as if he had defeated them all in reasoned argument. "None of you have ever seen such a thing. The possessor would be immeasurably rich, would he not?"

0
2

To someone's earlier answer about how he didn't buy his Firebolt, the only reason he didn't was that he didn't want to waste a big chunk of the money he would need to get through five more years at Hogwarts.

The money he was left from his parents came from his dad's side of the family, for they were really wealthy. When Sirius died he left Harry all of his possessions, including his own great wealth from being the sole heir to the Black family fortune.

Sirius bought Harry the Firebolt as a present to make up for the missing 13 birthdays. It also had a more significant meaning behind it because for Harry's 1st birthday Sirius had bought him a little toy broomstick for wizard kids to hover around on.

But both the Potters and the Blacks were extremely wealthy purebloods and since James was an only child, he inherited it all. Since Sirius was the only living child at the time of his mother's death, he inherited it in turn. So when Harry finally inherited the money and possessions of both families he was considered extremely wealthy by wizard standards; probably close to, if not more than, the Malfoys.

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    Can we lose the stream of consciousness with some punctuation, please?
    – wbogacz
    Jul 16, 2013 at 23:19
  • Welcome to the site. WOW ! @wbogacz has a legitimate concern. I see only one period in the whole answer. Very difficult to read through and don't think it's fair to look for someone else to edit and parse into meaningful sentences.
    – Stan
    Jul 17, 2013 at 0:33
  • Actually I believe that Sirus wasn't the only living child. Since his two cousins were still alive when he was alive. Tonks and Beatrix. Also Mrs. Malfoy as well. Sirus was the only direct MALE line child. The other one Regulas died under mysterious circumstances. Jan 31, 2015 at 2:41
  • It would depend on how succession works but I assume the money that belonged to Sirius's parents would have gone to him entirely along with the house.
    – Pwassonne
    Feb 24, 2016 at 21:42
1

It never really mentions how come Harry Potter has so much money, but James Potter inherited a lot of money from his parents and no doubt Sirius Black's relations are rich. I think they provided Harry Potter with enough money for "comfortable living" given Harry has no siblings or other members of family to share his parent's money with. JKR also mentions that the Dursleys, highly wealthy by themselves, would readily take all the money in his vault, in TPS:

The Dursleys couldn't have known about this or they'd have had it from him faster than blinking.

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  • I seem to remember the novels have a specific statement to the effect that Harry didn't believe the Dursley's aversion to everything magical would extend to a pile of gold. I can't find that statement now though.
    – b_jonas
    Dec 29, 2012 at 17:25
  • @b_jonas I'll confirm its there, having just read it, though I can't find it either at the moment, I'm fairly sure you've got it nearly word for word. Jan 4, 2013 at 3:43
-1

From Pottermore:

The wizarding family of Potters descends from the twelfth-century wizard Linfred of Stinchcombe, a locally well-beloved and eccentric man, whose nickname, ‘the Potterer’, became corrupted in time to ‘Potter’. Linfred was a vague and absent-minded fellow whose Muggle neighbours often called upon his medicinal services. None of them realised that Linfred’s wonderful cures for pox and ague were magical; they all thought him a harmless and lovable old chap, pottering about in his garden with all his funny plants. His reputation as a well-meaning eccentric served Linfred well, for behind closed doors he was able to continue the series of experiments that laid the foundation of the Potter family’s fortune. Historians credit Linfred as the originator of a number of remedies that evolved into potions still used to this day, including Skele-gro and Pepperup Potion. His sales of such cures to fellow witches and wizards enabled him to leave a significant pile of gold to each of his seven children upon his death.

Later on in the article:

The Potters continued to marry their neighbours, occasionally Muggles, and to live in the West of England, for several generations, each one adding to the family coffers by their hard work.

And...

...Fleamont Potter... It was Fleamont who took the family gold and quadrupled it, by creating magical Sleekeazy’s Hair Potion ( ‘two drops tames even the most bothersome barnet’ ). He sold the company at a vast profit when he retired.

Fleamont Potter was James Potter's father.

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    How much does this add to the existing answers by Jason Baker and Slytherincess?
    – Rand al'Thor
    Feb 24, 2016 at 21:05
  • @randal'thor - Ah, I see it doesn't. Shame they didn't receive lots of upvotes to boost theirs to the top of this. I'll pick one and add my +1.
    – ThruGog
    Feb 24, 2016 at 21:07
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    Oh, Jason's just got accepted! I guess you brought the OP back to this question :-)
    – Rand al'Thor
    Feb 24, 2016 at 21:08
  • @randal'thor - Ah good! Makes me feel better about posting the same thing lol. Thought I was being real smart too...
    – ThruGog
    Feb 24, 2016 at 21:10

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