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Reading the question "Rich Wizards, Poor Muggles" about wizard money and muggle money, I think I hit upon a contradiction. In the answer to that question, it was stated correctly that:

For the most part, there's very little that members of Wizard society want or need from Muggles. Property, housing, and food really seem to be about the extent of it for the vast majority of Wizard families.

Though most of the Wizards seem to have completely no knowledge of muggle money and how it works. An example of that is Mr. Weasly when he had to go with Harry to the Ministry of Magic by muggle transportation (using the subway), and have in mind that if Mr. Weasly doesn't know of how muggle money works with all the love and interest that he has in them, I think there is very little chance that others have better knowledge of it.

Some Wizard families grow their own groceries, though they still need other stuff that has to be bought, like bread or meat etc. And for sure because of Gamp's Law of Elemental Transfiguration we know that food cannot be conjured.

In addition to that, I have to assume that Wizard families buy their food (groceries, meat, etc.) from muggle stores, for which they would need muggle money and of course the knowledge of how they work (currency, etc). (I have never found a statement about butcher or grocery shops, for example, existing only for Wizards, even though in the answer to "Rich Wizards, Poor Muggles" the answerer assumes that there is such a place in Diagon Alley for which there is no evidence of existence though.)

These two facts contradict each other and confuse me. Is there a book mention that I am missing here or, if not, maybe from other sources (Pottermore or J.K.R interview) which states the existence of shops (to buy groceries, meat etc.) existing only for the Wizard community? Or else how is it possible that Wizards do their food shopping from muggle stores when they don't even know how muggle money works?

jwodder
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Sir. Hedgehog
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    Hermione's parents change money from muggle to wizard. I would assume that this goes both ways. – Valorum Jun 21 '16 at 07:56
  • http://harrypotter.wikia.com/wiki/The_Magic_Neep – Valorum Jun 21 '16 at 08:07
  • http://harrypotter.wikia.com/wiki/Pumpkins_R_Us – Valorum Jun 21 '16 at 08:09
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    @Valorum i know of that, I am not saying its not possible to exchange money, we know it is... what i am saying is how wizards without knowledge of how muggle money works buy their groceries meat, food in general.... – Sir. Hedgehog Jun 21 '16 at 08:23
  • @Valorum nice links provided btw.... So knowing that one groceries shop exhists and one for pumpkins exists should make us believe/suppose that there are more shops for general food byuing as well? hmmmmm – Sir. Hedgehog Jun 21 '16 at 08:27
  • Possible dupe of Would Gringotts convert Wizard money to Muggle money? – Valorum Jun 21 '16 at 09:18
  • @Valorum not a dupe of that, because i am clearly not asking how or with what kind of money wizards exchange money, i am clearly asking from where and how they wizard community would buy food.. – Sir. Hedgehog Jun 21 '16 at 09:21
  • If they can exchange money, and since most wizards live in or near muggle communities, I'd guess the answer would be "Tesco". – Valorum Jun 21 '16 at 09:23
  • @Valorum dont know what "Tesco" that you are reffering to is, though a partial answer could be that wizard food shops exists because of the two links you provided, though i cannot be sure if with two references we are able to conclude that many more shops like that exists. – Sir. Hedgehog Jun 21 '16 at 09:25

1 Answers1

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I don't believe wizards/witches need to do their grocery shopping exclusively at Muggle stores. I'm pretty sure there are plenty of Wizarding grocery stores available.

Some of these appeared to have fallen over when the bus stopped abruptly in Grimmauld Place; a few witches and wizards were still getting to their feet, grumbling, and somebody’s shopping bag had slid the length of the bus; an unpleasant mixture of frog spawn, cockroaches, and custard creams was scattered all over the floor.
Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, Chapter 24: Occlumency

As we can see, some witch/wizard has done her/his shopping at a Wizarding store (I doubt frog spawn and cockroaches are easily available in Muggle stores) and since the custard creams were in the same shopping bag we can assume the stores where these items had been purchased were close by (if not the same store). So it would be a Wizarding shopping area similar to Diagon Alley.

Also, it would be quite "beneath the dignity" of the pure-blood fanatics to do their shopping at Muggle stores. And they can't all have been growing their own produce, especially the ones living in big cities like London. They would ensure that a Wizarding grocery store was set up.

Thirdly, we know witches and wizards do struggle with the idea of Muggle clothing. If magic folk did their shopping at Muggle stores regularly, you would think they would get the hang of dressing up like Muggles, especially since they would have to do so in order to 'blend in' at said stores.

ʀᴇᴅ_ᴅᴇᴠɪʟ226
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  • i am not familiar with custard cream term, is it an actual food ingedient? not like the other two used for potions i guess... – Sir. Hedgehog Jun 21 '16 at 09:55
  • @hedgehog It's a type of sweet snack. A biscuit sandwich if you like. Here's the Wikipedia link to Custard Cream – ʀᴇᴅ_ᴅᴇᴠɪʟ226 Jun 21 '16 at 10:01
  • ohh i see then.... Then we could assume that shops for wizard people only to buy food exists.... Just add up to your answer the two references that Valorum linked on the comments of the question and I think it would have pretty good standing against others to maybe later come.... also if you find any other reference to support this please do with no further ado.... – Sir. Hedgehog Jun 21 '16 at 10:04
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    I see plenty of people who struggle to blend in at my local (muggle) supermarket. – Valorum Jun 21 '16 at 11:40
  • @Valorum These people struggle so much that they wear frock coats and spats over a one piece bathing suits? Or perhaps men wearing women's nightdresses? :P You have to admit JKR's wizards almost go out of their way to undeniably prove they aren't Muggles in their attempt to 'blend in' with Muggles. – ʀᴇᴅ_ᴅᴇᴠɪʟ226 Jun 21 '16 at 11:50
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    @ʀᴇᴅ_ᴅᴇᴠɪʟ226 When I lived in North England such sights were occasional at the local Morrisons. – Calchas Jun 21 '16 at 13:58
  • @Calchas Haha alright! I live in India where there absolutely no chance of any 'outlandishly' clothed people being sighted. We care too much about what the random shopper next to us thinks of us :P – ʀᴇᴅ_ᴅᴇᴠɪʟ226 Jun 23 '16 at 07:24
  • I assumed that wizard stores hired squibs to shop for them in the non-wizarding world. They wouldn't need to buy much, since magic can be used to multiply food. – Aaron Gullison May 13 '18 at 23:16
  • @AaronGullison I understand the logic behind using squibs, but do you have any canon evidence to support your assumption? – ʀᴇᴅ_ᴅᴇᴠɪʟ226 Jun 15 '18 at 21:43