Wizards in California 1849

[circlemidnight]

How do you think Wizards would have been like during the Gold Rush? Would they adapt to a rough Muggle lifestyle? Would they even follow the International Stature of Secrecy? Also, do you think the wizards could take the Floo or Apparate there, or would they take the same mode of transportation as the Muggles? And then, how would they establish themselves?

[AidaLuthien]

My first question is...

Why would wizards be subject to the (any?) Gold Rush? Gold seems quite plentiful in the HP universe if the monetary system is anything to judge by. As I recall, Galleons are solid gold and rather large. They might not be subject to the same feelings of "OMG there's gold, I have to get some before other people do!"

Or are you asking how wizards in California would react to the huge amount of Muggles suddenly streaming in?

In response to the rest of your questions:

Would they adapt to a rough Muggle lifestyle?

We don't know how all wizards live. For that matter, we don't know how wizards get their food. Given that one law of magic is that food cannot be created by it, someone somewhere is theoretically a wizard-farmer. They're probably used to roughing it.

Anyone who is attracted to a gold rush isn't going to be the highest class of society anyway. They're going to come in and run the show, if they bother at all.

Your pure-blood, rich, snooty Malfoy and Black types aren't going to be interested.

Would they even follow the International Stature of Secrecy?

I would think that their respective Ministries would throw them in prison if they did not.

Also, do you think the wizards could take the Floo or Apparate there, or would they take the same mode of transportation as the Muggles?

To floo anywhere there has to be an exit gate. Who set up the exit gate in rough gold rush era California? Are there even many actual fireplaces?

To apparate depends on how far you think a person can successfully apparate or if there are a series of apparation points or whatever.

Most wizards do seem quite inept at Muggle transportations.

And then, how would they establish themselves?

I honestly doubt that most wizards would be even interested in the Gold Rush. But if they were, are they just looking for gold? Or are they doing other work?

I believe in the earliest periods, people could just pan for gold wherever they wanted. Eventually, there were rules about who could do what and money had to be paid to take over a spot.

[lucca4]

How do you think Wizards would have been like during the Gold Rush?
I picture most of the American wizards Apparating to California to search for gold as well. They would probably have an easier means of getting it than the Muggles (which may have been why so few Muggles "struck it rich" ), but at that time America was still a developing country and there were probably very few wealthy wizards.

Would they adapt to a rough Muggle lifestyle?
I think their lifestyles would be rough already. America had just ended the devastating war with Mexico, and even though it was a Muggle war, I'm sure the wizards would be at least partially affected. Also, like I said before, the country was still relatively young and I believe the wizarding life in America would have been much different from England in the late 1840-50s. These were the "frontier days;" I think the wizards would be trying to settle into the young country just like the Muggles.

Would they even follow the International Stature of Secrecy?
I think that most of them would basically try to follow it, but not be as careful as they should be. I think this law would be pretty loosely abided by, especially during the Gold Rush frenzy when greed was driving everyone so fiercely. If there was a choice between getting rich and keeping the Stature of Secrecy, I'm sure most of them would choose the gold.

Also, do you think the wizards could take the Floo or Apparate there, or would they take the same mode of transportation as the Muggles?
To California? I'm thinking they would Apparate--riding on a broomstick would probably take too long, and Flooing might be hard with the small quantity and bad quality of fireplaces. Some of them might ride in private covered wagons together and use magic to speed up the journey, but I can't see a wizard or witch riding a ship (if they lived on the East coast) to get to California. Ships are extremely slow and any magical "help" to speed things up would be noticed by everybody, plus it's not like they would be helping themselves individually--the whole group of people on the ships would still be arriving at the same time . I think Apparating would be most widely used, as it is faster by far than the Muggle means of travel.

And then, how would they establish themselves?
Hm...they would probably use magical means to get the gold...and then either they would realize they had enough and make a profit of it somehow (selling it to Goblins? ) or keep searching for gold until the Gold Rush ended. I doubt most witches/wizards would stay in California for long--it wasn't even technically a State until 1850 and even then it was still pretty underdeveloped. The "boom towns" that resulted on account of the Gold Rush soon turned to deserted ghost towns (except San Francisco of course...), there was a lot of crime and not enough law enforcement...All in all, just not a great place to be. I think the wizards would have recognized that.

I hope this helped!

Edit:

Why would wizards be subject to the (any?) Gold Rush? Gold seems quite plentiful in the HP universe if the monetary system is anything to judge by. As I recall, Galleons are solid gold and rather large. They might not be subject to the same feelings of "OMG there's gold, I have to get some before other people do!"

Aida, I was thinking the same thing after I finished answering the first few questions ! But not all wizards are rich, so Galleons aren't plentiful for all of them. Plus, America was still learning how to be a country then--and I'm assuming wizards got settled in America around the same time Muggles did--money wasn't abundant for many wizards there. And then there are the really greedy wizards to think of--the ones who probably wouldn't realize when they had enough gold to last a lifetime. "Gold Fever" was pretty common throughout America, and I think some of the wizards/witches probably caught it, too.
Oooh, this sparked a thought...do you think the wizards/witches of America were on the same currency system as the UK?

x x Ariana

[EnchantedCamel]

do you think the wizards/witches of America were on the same currency system as the UK?

Thinking realistically, most likely not. I mean, if you really think about the world, most different countries have their own currencies. This is just a theory, of course, but wouldn't it also be possible that galleons, for instance, had more value back then than they had now? I mean, money changes, and so a galleon could have been worth more. If you think about it in that way, I would think that the gold rush would affect at least some of them. Because we have to remember that galleons, sickles, and nuts have probably changed in value over time.