It seems I am one of the only ones who picked money.

Look at the average wizard in Harry Potter, pretty normal life, magic would be cool and all. But looking at the average wizard, and the average billionaire... I pick the later.

With magic you could help some people, but it seems the ministry would stop you from to much.

With 10 billion.... I could help thousands, maybe millions of people long term, and live a fucking awesome life myself.

 

Assuming that you would keep your current memories, you would know more than enough to allow someone vastly more skilled and more powerful than yourself (whose initials might or might not be A.P.W.B.D.) to deal with the whole Voldemort problem. This person would certainly be able to prevent Riddle's resurrection when forewarned about both the means of its execution and of actors capable and willing to perform it (Pettigrew and Crouch Jr).

The Horcrux in your scar wouldn't be all that much of a baggage. With Voldemort still being a floating spirit (or maybe a captured spirit, if that's at all possible), it won't cause you any problems. (It didn't cause canon Harry any problems before the fifth year.) It will make it impossible to ultimately destroy Voldemort as long as you're still breathing, of course... but as long as Voldemort doesn't have a body of his own, or followers able to provide it, he's not all that much of an issue. He would die at last when you would die of old age. Hell, maybe even before that, if Dumbledore would be able to find some reliable means of extracting the Horcrux without having to kill you; without Riddle running around, he would have whole years to spend on researching how to do just that.

If I were to forget the fact that I'm emotionally attached to this world (and forgetting that is kind of a requirement for this question anyway), then I'd rather choose to be canon Harry than to get 10 billion USD. It would still offer a longer and better life than being a Muggle, even a ridiculously wealthy one.

 

I was thinking selfishly, and to be entirely honest, you're right.
10 billion dollars could be used to save a hell of a lot of people. Those lives are worth more than magic. I'm changing my vote.

 

You guys realize that magic is capable of healing any non magical injury or disease, right? Just be subtle that nobody is aware of magic and the ministry probably wont care.

 

And do a genuine cold blooded murder.

It would seem making a Horcrux, and doing good in the world are mutually exclusive.

 

I'd pick the money. Magic would be incredible, obviously, but if I'm going back to 11 I'm leaving behind my existing relationships and friendships to be around preteens. I'd struggle to connect with any of them as friends, and would probably end up lonely, while the life of an average wizard in canon doesnt actually seem that much better in quality than the life of an average muggle. I doubt the same can be said of multi-billionaires, especially since if I did get that much money, I wouldnt exactly go shouting about it to everyone.

If the question was $10 Billion vs suddenly becoming a (the only) wizard in the current world, with knowledge of an average wizard in the HP-verse, that becomes a very different answer.

 

I'm on the fence. On the one hand, $10 billion. On the other hand, magic but having to go through school and puberty again.

Ah, what am I saying? I'd take magic just for the ability to use the summoning charm even if it did take 4 years to get there.

 

Money, I do not want to live in the Harry Potter Universe.

If the choice was between 10 billions and magic in this world, I would chose magic.

 

As crazy as it sounds, I think I'd do so if it weren't for the chance to start my life over at 11. As amazing as magic would be, it'd still open up a whole bunch of potential complications the money probably wouldn't, especially since I somehow doubt MACUSA has actually improved a whole lot since the Fantastic Beasts movies. And as darklordmike said, I'd still pick the money over the second childhood if it had to be Harry Potter's childhood specifically.

 

Magic over money, but why not both?

I assume by do-over you mean you're 11yo again in whatever year you were 11yo and you keep your memories. I could make myself a billionaire before I graduate school with that foreknowledge.

Even if the world is slightly different or butterflies, you know what ideas become very profitable. On top of that the recessions should mostly be the same as they are generally driven by the market as a whole rather than individual companies. 2008 for example was basically inevitable once it started. Buying options there will easily make you several thousand times returns for you.

 

Might as well have asked "would you prefer a deed to 10 square kms of prime real estate... or a slightly moldy carrot?"

 

Yeah, I'd take some magic right about now and fuck off. That'd make the whole Into the Wild thing a lot more comfortable. And I don't care to be eleven and around strict teachers and the threat of detentions and docked house points, lmao.

I'd learn a lot of Herbology and Care of Magical Creatures, as well as charms and transfiguration on the side/as required.

Hop on a broom, find a plot of land, 'acquire' it, and conceal it via fidelius or regular muggle repelling charms. Start setting up different microclimates for all my plants and few (magical) animals. Probably some sort of poultry and cattle for eggs and dairy.

Life would be spent exploring magic, primarily by using it to improve QoL, but also as a means of creative expression and intellectual stimulation. Like doing maths, philosophy, writing, painting, etc.

For example: if I have magic, is there any reason my house should be a box with a ceiling supported by beams? My house can be straight out of a Dr. Seuss book, and it'll work just fine. Want a mezzanine and no walls? Done. Or maybe one day I could charm the house to be multiple rooms at once, like a lofi Room of Requirement. Want sourdough? There's probably a charm that does that. How about an aquarium that feels as deep as the ocean as my ceiling? oof.

I also want a jungle of sorts, where I can go play Tarzan semi-safely. Or have friends over and we can pretend fight each other. Paintball with wands.

I also love the idea of a living space that's been built around the vegetation/land, like it's part of it.

I'd also like a bag that can hold all my possessions, charmed to give me what I seek when I reach into it.

Maybe an elf for busywork.

 

I don't have any myself but does anyone here have kids? Doesn't going back in time to be 11 years old mean there's a chance that your kid won't be born no matter how hard you try to mimic all the events?

If I was the only one who had Magic then I'd go for it. Unfortunately, that's not the case here. Clearly there are reasons why the Weasleys aren't filthy rich. Perhaps laws from the Ministry preventing trade of Magically enhanced items or something. Whatever the case, Magic isn't going to necessarily help my financial situation. Plus, I'd rather live in a world where I have to deal with incompetent Presidents/Prime Ministers and North Korean Dictators than world where Dark Lords rise once every century.

Now, 10B is enough for me to do literally anything I want. Plus, it's the kind of money that means I get to effectively ignore World Leaders and do my own thing.

 

The *ONLY* thing that causes this to be a not immediate decision for magic, on reading the original query, is if I'm reset to 11.

All my friendships are gone. My dogs are potentially no longer born, and given I wasn't the one to find the advert for either, and didn't memorize where/when they'd been born, I'd never be able to find them again.

*Edit*
I was going to ask about kids - does that change anyone else's answer? I don't have any, but I raised my dogs from 8 wk old pups.
*/Edit*

On the other hand, there's been personal tragedies since then I could avert (and global things, but I'm going to be honest, they don't really factor into my decision).

If I'm starting Hogwarts as an adult, or history is re-written so that my high-school was Hogwarts but everything else is the same, or I'm suddenly de-aged roughly nearly 20 years and go as a first year in 2021, then no contest. If I'm cast back in time though, with no gaurentees of the time stream, I don't think I could.

10 billion is FUCK YOU money.

 

Any invention that you could fund with money could also be done with magic guys, let's not be silly. As someone that rides a motorcycle and enjoys snowboarding, give me a broom and take my 10B. What is the purpose of money anyway, guys? It's a tool. A versatile one, yes. But, I can think of a better one.

Also, the immunity of a wizard to say "fuck you" to Covid sounds pretty good at this point in lockdown.

 

It depends on whether I'd be allowed to be creative with magic, or if the society we see in canon is the peak of what magic can do, and every muggleborn who came up with clever ideas to make life fun and fabulous with magic found out the hard way that working as a clerk in the ministry doing pointless paper pushing is the limit of what's available to them. Because I'd take the money any day over living the life of a canon muggleborn in canon magical world.

If I'm allowed to be creative, it becomes a lot harder. There's plenty of ways I can imagine to get the exact same things money can buy with magic, and a lot of things magic can do that no amount of money can buy, but reseting to a kid means losing all the relationships I have at the moment.

 

Yeah, brooms are awesome but it seems like there's only a few places you could ride them without breaking the Statue of Limitations. Hogwarts or your own backyard if you have the space.

You can still be poor, even with Magic. You can still struggle, even with Magic. You can't apparate somewhere and steal money. There are probably safeguards in place to prevent duplicating Muggle money and exchanging that or using the Muggle World to your financial advantage in any way. You can't apparate between countries (I think) and have to rely on Portkeys which need Ministry Permission.

You will literally never have any problems to deal with if you have 10B. You can go anywhere, do anything, buy anything.

Now, it would be a different story if my choice was either keep my current money or become a wizard. Or if I was the only one with Magic. Or if the Wizarding World still existed if I took the 10B.