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Why the poor Wizard Families(like Weaseleys) do not turn to the muggle world to earn some easy money and then change the Muggle money back to Wizard one and get better financially. Things like

  1. Organizing Magic shows, (The magic He/She does looks like real!!!)

  2. cheating in Casinos (well not so a good thing...)

  3. Setting up a business for any product (as you should only need a duplicating charm to create as many product as you want) and much more.

I believe there is no restriction of usage of Magic in front of Muggles for adult wizards as long as Muggles don't get too suspicious, and I don't think Muggles will start believing in a Wizarding world out of just a Magic show. Also Muggle Money can be changed into Wizarding Money at Gringotts or how else would Muggle Born have bought the Wizard things?

"Oh look Molly, they are changing Muggle Money" said Arthur looking at nervous Hermione's parents who were standing just by the counter.

Prakhar Londhe
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  • the question assumes that muggle money is valuable in the wizarding world, unless it were pure gold one obtained in the muggle world, it is unlikely that anything gained in the muggle world would be useful anyway. – NKCampbell Feb 10 '16 at 14:12
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    Somehow I doubt that traditional Muggle money means anything to the Wizarding world. If a wizard wanted lots of it they could just conjure or duplicate a bunch of £100 pound notes. – DavidS Feb 10 '16 at 14:12
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    @DavidS then why were Hermione's parents changing muggle money for wizard ones at Gringotts in Chamber of secrets?? – Prakhar Londhe Feb 10 '16 at 14:24
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    @prakharlondhe You're absolutely right, I'd forgotten about that. – DavidS Feb 10 '16 at 14:32
  • Entirely speculative, but perhaps it is just for muggle-borns for their years of schooling. Otherwise, how would they pay for any of their materials – NKCampbell Feb 10 '16 at 19:13
  • It mustn't be... what happens if a person is a muggle born and not yet having a job and want to buy something in diagon alley or elsewhere... what would he do then. .? – Prakhar Londhe Feb 11 '16 at 04:10
  • Is this not a dupe? – The Giant of Lannister Mar 24 '16 at 13:54
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    Part of one of the good HP fanfics involved buying bronze from muggles, getting it cast into knuts then exchanging those for the equivalent in galleons melting them down and selling the gold to muggles. In theory this would make tons of money, I don't think just getting some metal cast into coins is cannon though lol – Probst Mar 24 '16 at 14:23
  • Of course, the wizard in question (perhaps a werewolf like Remus who has difficulty getting work) can simply work AS A MUGGLE in the Muggle world, no magic involved. There is no anti-Werewolf prejudice there since they believe werewolves don't exist. – pleurocoelus Mar 24 '16 at 22:52

3 Answers3

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Yes, there are restrictions on the usage of magic, quite clearly seen throughout the novels.

There's the Misuse of Muggle Artefacts Office, set up to make sure Muggle-made items aren't enchanted or cursed.

There's the Improper Use of Magic Office, which is well-known for enforcing the Trace, which tracks whether underage witches and wizards are using magic per the Decree for the Reasonable Restriction of Underage Sorcery. Part of their purpose is to ensure the magical community stays hidden from Muggles.

In general, it seems that the policy is to keep Muggles from knowing about the Wizarding community, and also to protect them from being abused or taken advantage of by witches and wizards.

It's reasonable to assume that wizards attempting to use their magic for gain or notoriety in the Muggle world would be dealt by the Wizarding Government (the Ministry of Magic in the UK). The Ministry of Magic even has a team of Obliviators who go around erasing the memories of Muggles that encountered magic, such as those harassed by Death Eaters during the Quidditch World Cup, or those that saw Harry and Ron flying Mr. Weasley's car to Hogwarts.

The Wizarding majority wants to keep the Wizarding world secret from Muggles, and would self-police or actually police Wizards trying to work outside that system. Even the Ministry of Magic's relation with the Prime Minister of England is based on getting Muggle government support in helping keep the world a secret. Muggle government helped cover up the truth behind the attacks of Voldemort and his Death Eaters.

We have no reason in the books to assume that Wizards be allowed to exploit Muggles without repercussion.

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    Well that's why I am asking for Adult Wizards.. And come on, Ministry hasn't got that much power to find out that a wizard cheated in a casino... Also Organizing a magic show wouldn't come under Improper use or Violation of Secrecy, as muggles are too naive(or terrified) to understand real magic... And also I am not asking about bewitching muggle objects, I am indeed asking about creation of Muggle objects using magic...That won't be dangerous for Muggles, and well Ministry couldn't even know it... – Prakhar Londhe Feb 07 '16 at 09:28
  • @prakharlondhe How do you know it wouldn't be a violation of secrecy? That's a strong presumption that you haven't proved within your question. The entire series of books show us how Wizards go out of their way to hide the Wizarding world. –  Feb 07 '16 at 20:00
  • Well for one thing we know that Magic has been performed quite a lot in vicinity of the Dursleys and even if they know Magic is there, it would be still the violation of secrecy. Also in 6th part when Fred and George's joke shop is booming.. They say that a girl in the Village liked my magic tricks.. its almost like real magic..... – Prakhar Londhe Feb 08 '16 at 00:51
  • And I am not saying Wizards going in the air and Screaming, "HEYA... I CAN DO MAGIC!!! STUPEFY!!! ". The Obliviators are required to erase powerful magical confirmations that Muggles incur .. Wizards secretly doing magic won't be of any harm to secrecy, ... – Prakhar Londhe Feb 08 '16 at 00:53
  • Muggle guardians of Wizards obviously are exempt from having secrets kept, so Dursleys are not an example. See how Aunt Marge, on the other hand, needed to be obliviated. Regardless, you seem to want us to fabricate new info that's not canon anywhere to suit your opinion, so I'm done here. –  Feb 08 '16 at 01:32
  • you missed the whole point of my question.. How would statue of secrecy be violated if I duplicate an object (say a "mug") in secrecy in my home away from any Muggle eye and then sell it in market?.. also in magic shows people would really think they are seeing illusions/tricks/sleight of hand.. It won't be a violation of secrecy as none of Muggle would ever think of a parallel Magical world to exist based on a mere Magic show.... and that's not fabrication... I have that canon but I can't find my book copy... I would give the canon after maybe 5-6 hours.. – Prakhar Londhe Feb 08 '16 at 01:52
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    You misunderstand my answer. I understood your question. If it's not enough, hopefully other answers will suffice for you. –  Feb 08 '16 at 01:54
  • Let us continue this discussion in chat. – Prakhar Londhe Feb 08 '16 at 02:14
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Probably worth pointing out how entirely dismissive of anything Muggle-made the wizarding community is. Wizard-made clothing and accessories are a status symbol in addition to their various useful properties. Though I say it without much proof, I suspect parading around in Muggle-made copies of wizarding clothing would probably get one laughed at.

Meanwhile, witches and wizards require very little support for basic sustenance. You can easily keep yourself fed, clothed, and sheltered with a basic magical education, so the pressure is fairly minimal.

All that said, it's fairly possible that some witches and wizards do seek success outside the Wizarding World, just more subtly. Why else do we see so many half-bloods? The magical parent is almost certainly making it in the mundane world, and for adults, they'd be able to use magic so long as they do nothing to expose themselves or endanger the mundane world.

Sarah Z.
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Pottermore features some American Wizarding History. Piece Three, on "Rappaport's Law", explains how:

"In 1790, the fifteenth President of MACUSA, Emily Rappaport, instituted a law designed to create total segregation of the wizarding and No-Maj communities."

We're also told that "Scourers" exist, who know about magic and are taught to hate it by their families.

So, In (the USA) America, it is neither safe nor legal for a wizard to earn money in the "no-maj"/muggle communtity.

(Rowling mentions the atrocities of the Salem witch trials- blending real history into wizarding history- as examples)

However, bearing in mind that you were asking about the good-ol' English muggle community, I'll answer as best I can:

1) Many Wizards just don't have the required understanding of muggle society to get along in it, even the heads of departments that deal with Muggles regularly... such as the head of the Misuse of Muggle Artifacts office...

There were countless problems with wizards not dressing as Muggles:

"People are being downright careless, out on the streets in broad daylight, not even dressed in Muggle clothes, swapping rumors." - Harry Potter and the Philosopher's stone

Or not dressing appropriately as Muggles...

“Muggle women wear them, Archie, not the men, they wear these,' said the Ministry wizard, and he brandished the pinstriped trousers.

'I'm not putting them on,' said old Archie in indignation. 'I like a healthy breeze 'round my privates, thanks.” ― J.K. Rowling, Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire

2) Although not illegal (in the UK) to fraternise with muggles, certain things were, including

  • Underage Magic

  • Enchanting Muggle Artifacts

car

  • Duplicating Muggle Money

    " There is legislation about what you can conjure and what you can't. Something that you conjure out of thin air will not last."

    • J.K Rowling
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