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This Cracked article reminded me of the reason why I asked this question.

What jobs were open to wizards and witches in the world of magic?

From crowd scenes at Quidditch competitions it seems that there are many wizards and witches out there but not many occupations are listed [in the books]. So that leads me to think either there are many jobs not listed or no one actually needs to work after they graduate.

To clarify I am not asking what Muggle related jobs there may be or even what jobs the Ministry of Magic has available. The books pretty much divide it into teaching, government, shop owner, reporter, writer and Quidditch player.

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Kevin Howell
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    That Cracked article is wrong. Wizards can work for Gringott's, as that is Bill Weasley's occupation. – Jack B Nimble Mar 14 '12 at 19:31
  • Sorry, this is a duplicate. I can't find the original though.. – DVK-on-Ahch-To Mar 14 '12 at 19:32
  • http://scifi.stackexchange.com/questions/12376/work-after-completing-hogwarts – DVK-on-Ahch-To Mar 14 '12 at 19:33
  • http://scifi.stackexchange.com/questions/7446/is-there-an-estimate-of-how-many-people-work-for-ministry-of-magic – DVK-on-Ahch-To Mar 14 '12 at 19:34
  • http://scifi.stackexchange.com/questions/7445/are-there-non-squib-wizards-witches-who-work-100-in-muggle-world – DVK-on-Ahch-To Mar 14 '12 at 19:34
  • @DVK How can I close my question then? I tried to search before I posted this but the list for Harry Potter is quite long to look through. So I used the lazy approach of posting and letting someone more experienced tell me if this is a duplicate. At least it's been duplicated more than once. – Kevin Howell Mar 14 '12 at 19:48
  • @Ok I checked through the other questions and I don't feel they covered the exact same ground. The closest would be 12376 asking about work after hogwarts which was closed. The one you wrote 7445 asks about muggle related jobs and 7446 asks for the number of people inside of the ministry of magic. Also looking at the 2 answers I've received verses the other answers for those questions I think it shows that this is a different question and should be reopened. – Kevin Howell Mar 14 '12 at 22:03
  • I reopened. @DVK This question is broader than the questions you cited; altogether they leave some points open (options other than MoM and muggle world). In fact Work after completing Hogwarts is broader and the present question could be closed as a duplicate of that, but since the earlier question had no complete answer I'm going to close the other way. –  Mar 14 '12 at 22:31
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    This question appears to be off-topic because it is asking for an open-ended list. – user931 Jan 03 '15 at 20:28

3 Answers3

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Employment options we see or that can be inferred:

  • The Ministry. Employs a large percentage of witches and wizards in Britain.
  • Hogwarts. Employs a score, give or take, of teachers and a few other staff (Filch, Mme. Pomfrey, Mme. Pince, at least).
  • St. Mungo's. No idea how many they employ. I'd guess an absolute minimum of 50, probably closer to 100.
  • Gringotts. Sure, most of the workers there are goblins, but Bill Weasley works for Gringotts, so they have some employees, even if they're all off-site.
  • Shops. There are dozens, maybe hundreds of shops in Diagon Alley, and a dozen or two more in Hogsmeade. We only see the proprietors of most (except the twins' assistant), but there must be more.
  • Supply Chain. Just like in our world, most shop owners don't make all their products. Even those who do (e.g. It's implied Olivander makes all his wands, the Weasley twins enchant all their own products) have to get the raw materials somewhere. I really have no idea on this, but I'd have to guess at least twice as many people as work in shops.
  • The Service Industry. Somewhat surprisingly, we don't see this much in the books, but, e.g. caterers, personal assistants, whatever else people will pay another to do for them.
  • Entertainment. This is so big I'll break it down a bit.
    • Press. The Daily Prophet, The Quibbler, the various wizarding wireless (radio) stations.
    • Bands. We see/hear several bands/music groups.
    • Quidditch. There are 13 quidditch teams in Britain, so 91 on the field, who knows how many substitutes, coaches, managers, owners, greenskeepers, ushers, vendors, announcers, and probably more categories I overlooked.
    • Authors. Gilderoy Lockhart, the authors of all the kids' textbooks, and other books in, e.g. the Hogwarts Library and the bookstore in Diagon Alley.
  • Old Money. People, e.g. Lucius Malfoy, the Potters before they were killed, who have enough money they don't have to work.
  • Housewives. And househusbands if you insist on gender equality.

And I'm sure there are fairly large categories I've missed. I don't think there's any shortage of jobs in the Wizarding World.

ibid
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    What about Azkaban? – OghmaOsiris Mar 15 '12 at 08:17
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    @oghma Yes, I suppose a couple wizards must supervise the dementors at Azkaban, but it's not many, most of the guarding is done by dementors. – Kevin Mar 15 '12 at 13:37
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    It always appeared to me that many Wizards were engaged in research. For example Ron's brother who went to Romania to work with Dragons. Not sure what work there is to do with them aside from studying them (he did however help transporting the dragons used in the Triwizard tournament). – Zottek Mar 16 '12 at 06:17
  • We also know Gringotts has wizard workers such as guards from DH chapter 16. – b_jonas Jul 13 '12 at 22:35
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    @b_jonas The human Gringotts guards in DH were almost certainly Death Eaters who had been put there by Voldemort. The Goblins didn't trust humans as far as they could throw them, they almost certainly wouldn't hire them for security. – Kevin Jul 13 '12 at 22:44
  • Something that isn't mentioned here, is companies that produce magic things such as the Nimbus and Firebolt brooms, as well as the Every Flavour Beans and Chocolate Frogs and other sweets. Are these things produced in factories? How many people are employed there? – Arturo Torres Sánchez Mar 11 '15 at 16:07
  • @ArturoTorresSánchez I'm including them in "Supply chain." – Kevin Mar 11 '15 at 16:08
  • @Kevin, OK, I didn't notice that. – Arturo Torres Sánchez Mar 11 '15 at 16:12
  • @Zottek I suppose the real question about Charlie is, does his work as a zoologist mean that he is employed by some branch of the British Ministry or a magical ministry in another country? Is he employed by the Wizengamot?

    Luna Lovegood is a Wizarding naturalist, and there is no evidence she wrote books to support herself or was directly employed by the Ministry. Perhaps there are independent wizarding research organizations, as in the Muggle world?

     – E. J. Jun 24 '15 at 18:38
  • Where do you get 65 from? 13 times 7 is 91. – Rand al'Thor Sep 10 '15 at 08:03
  • @randal'thor I suspect I was forgetting about the beaters. – Kevin Sep 11 '15 at 03:25
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The article makes a distinction between Aurors and people who work for the Ministry of Magic but the Aurors do work for the Ministry. Since Cracked makes that distinction then I will as well. Here is a quick list of the different departments in the Ministry of Magic from HP Lexicon:

Department of Magical Law Enforcement

  • Improper Use of Magic Office
  • Magical Law Enforcement Squad
  • Misuse of Muggle Artifacts Office
  • Office for the Detection and Confiscation of Counterfeit Defensive Spells and Protective Objects
  • Wizengamot and Wizengamot Administration Services
  • Council of Magical Law
  • Magical Equipment Control

Department of Magical Games and Sports Here you'll find not only the British and Irish Quidditch League Headquarters but also the Official Gobstones Club and the Ludicrous Patents Office.

Department of Magical Accidents and Catastrophes The Department operates teams which can respond at a moment's notice to a magical accident. These teams include:

  • Accidental Magic Reversal Squad

Also referred to as the Accidental Magic Reversal Department in earlier editions of the book, this team is the first on the scene when a magical accident or catastrophe occurs. The team will include trained Obliviators to modify memories of Muggles on the scene.

  • Invisibility Task Force

Although not specifically stated as being in this department, it seems logical, since this group casts various forms of invisibility magic to hide magical places and creatures from Muggle eyes (DP).

  • Muggle-Worthy Excuse Committee

This group is responsible for creating alibis and providing alternative (non-magical) explanations for magical accidents to pass along to the Muggles.

Department of International Magical Cooperation The dept. duties include: working with magical governments of other countries setting standards for trade creating regulations for things like cauldron thickness worked with Department of Magical Games and Sports on the Triwizard Tournament They also work with the International Confederation of Wizards, British Seats International Magical Office of Law International Magical Trading Standards Body

Department of Magical Transportation

  • Apparition Test Center
  • Broom Regulatory Control
  • Floo Regulation Panel/Floo Network Authority
  • Portkey Office

Department for the Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures

  • Office of Misinformation: Beast Division
  • Centaur Liaison Office
  • Committee for the Disposal of Dangerous Creatures
  • Dragon Research and Restraint Bureau
  • Pest Advisory Board
  • Werewolf Capture Unit
  • Werewolf Registry
  • Being Division
  • Goblin Liason Office
  • Office of House-Elf Relocation
  • Werewolf Support Services
  • Spirit Division

Department of Mysteries

Committee On Experimental Charms

If you add in all of the support staff that any bureaucracy needs you have a lot of jobs.

If we add in Kevin's answer we have a lot of different jobs.

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  • This is a great list of government jobs in the Harry Potter world but I'm asking for any other jobs as well. Outside of government. – Kevin Howell Mar 15 '12 at 17:34
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They also breed animals like dragons like Rons brother does, this might be a working branch, also they need lots of stuff (like plants) for their potions even if one could wonder if they actually use a lot, most wizards most be rentiers (people who don't work) not spending lots of inherited gold simply because they don't need to, they all kind of nobles. Also wizards own land which they may trade... But in fact muggles are probably doing must of the work like providing food because wizards can't create that. Most working wizards seem to work by the ministary of magic, which must have it's money from the British government, so again muggles provide food and wizards don't do much, they probably having so much politics, rivalries, wars simply because they are bored.

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