I agree, Lily and James could have been Aurors considering thats who Vildemort was targeting at the time of thier deaths. And when they did die, everybody was so shocked about it. The Great Lily & James Potter...dead? Its like they were the best at what they did. Being Aurors, and for them to die was a shock. So Lily and James being Aurors is a possibility. They could have been anything really, but thats all that comes to mind for me.

I think that James might have been a spy.I dk though he also could have been an unspeakable.There are lots of possibilities.They could have worked for the Ministry maybe or something like the order of the pheonix.They could have not worked at that time they were going into hiding at the so maybe for they didnt work.I guess we will never know.

Well HPfan792 they were in the original Order of the Phoenix, but lots of them died so they gave up I think.. too lazy to look over. They could have possibly worked in the Department of Mysteries.

For some reason I doubt both Lily and James were Aurors. One, maybe, but I don't think either of them were. I like Tuitus' idea that they were Unspeakables, perhaps studying or inventing things for the ministry.

It is also possible that, James having inherited a sum of gold, neither of them thought much about having a job and dedicated all of their energy to the Order of the Phoenix and fighting Voldemort. If James had inherited enough gold for them to live comfortably without any further income, I could easily see them devoting themselves wholey to the Order.

Ok, I was listening to HBP and it occured to me:

Lily was the Potions professor at Hogwarts.

Slugworth mentions multiple times that she was a great potions student. We know the Dark Lord wants Slugworth for his talents, would it be possible a similar situation occured with Lily? LV tried to recruit Lily, and she defied him?

As for the Department of Mysteries: LV already had Rookwood, so I'm not sure why he would've need James/Lily if they worked there--especially not for the prophecy, since LV seemed content to go with Snape's information until OOTP.

I am not sure about what they did. It is possible that Lily did work as the Potions Mistress at Hogwarts, I imagine James working for the Ministry, high in the Ministry or someplace very high.

i dont think it does say but i am almost possitive that jk has done that on purpose and i think it will be a big part in the book. duno why i just think it will be a big part. i think they where unspeakables or some think!!!!

I think that James was training to be an Auror and Lily worked at the DOM. I can't picture the Potters as do nothing couple who just enjoyed their wealth before they had to go into hiding. I think that James was training to be an Auror because he was only 21 when he died, and it takes 3 years of extra schooling from Hogwarts. He didn't finish his training before they both became devoted just to the Order.
As for Lily, I think she worked in the DOM because it helped the Order.

i think james potter got his wealth from his father
gold going down generation......

Hi there Idiot!

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I personaly think that the theory that the potters were Aurors is a little bit predictable.
I mean, hello? JKR is a little bit deeper than that.
same to unspekables. but it is a little better than the auror-theory.

off course they had a profession that will make everyone who reads the book go WHOA, THAT MAKES SENSE!

kinda

i agree aurors is to predictable but they were well known in the community so im saying james was a well paid quidditch player and lily was in the ministry of magic something like a assistant to the minister or something like that

I know this may be a bit unralated to this thread but below is a transcript of the original sheet of paper wich JK wrote and cuold have changed everything and would also give explanation to how harrys parents would have got rich if it hadnt been for jk changing it.
I have written out what it said on the sheet as i recieved a copy of the actuel sheet she let me have one here it is:

“So this Flamel bloke found the stone “ said Ron
“No- he made it, “said Harry, “He was an alchemist. Which means
“Someone who turns base metals into gold” said Hermione. She had
that old proving- I- know- more- than- everyone- else look on her face, the
other two noticed, “Of course. I read about this in Alchemy, Ancient
Art and Science, by ### Argo Pyrites”.
“I missed that one myself,” muttered Ron.
“(and)—of course it's some of the most difficult magic you can do.
And you end up not just with pure gold but also with a funny stone thing ---“
“Which is what I’m on about,” said Harry, the Philosopher’s stone, yes.
And it works too. ### It kept Nicholas Flamel and his wife alive for
about five hundred years.”
“What?”
“I know,” said Harry. “But it's true. He was spotted at the opera in
Paris in 1762 and he was born back in 13 something.” ##
Ron whistled. #
“But he's dead now?” he asked.
“Of course,” said Harry, “Someone stole his stone so he couldn't make
any more Elixir of life, could he? It takes a while to make another
stone and by that time, I suppose, he was just too old to live without
his Elixir until a new stone was ready. “ And now I’ll tell you something
else really weird that I haven't told you up to now- the stone
was found in my parents safe at Gringott’s bank.”
But instead of the interested noises Harry had expected, Ron
and Hermione simply stared at him. ####
“What?” said Harry.
Ron cleared his throat, opened his mouth to speak but shut it
again."
“What?” Harry said.
“Well, Harry,” said Hermione. “I mean...”
“You mean what?”
He stared at them both as they shuffled their feet and tried
not to look him in the eye.
“You don't think”, he said suddenly and rather angrily, “That my
parents stole the stone?”
“Um...” said Ron.
“Look,” said Harry furiously, “That’s like saying they
murdered Flamel...”
“Oh Harry, we never thought...”
“Not much, you didn't,” said Harry. “I don’t know how it
got in there, but the stone wasn’t put there by them...”
“Right,” said Harry Ron quickly. "### I’m sure you're right.”
“There must be an # obvious explanation, “said Hermione.
### Harry wasn't at all convinced that they meant it,
but at that moment the bell rang which put an end to the
conversation.

#= words which were scribbled out.

Unspeakables sounds pretty likely. It's strange, when you think about how important that factor is and we know absolutely nothing about it. How did the Potters have so much money to give to Harry in their early 20s? What did they do? What were Lily and James involved with to thrice defy Voldemort?

Why hasn't Harry ever asked Sirius about what his parents' professions were? Has he just never thought about it?

<3

they were aurors and they were in the ootp

Well this is a mystery i'd like to learn more about but i don't think that they were Aurors nor Unspeakables but they had a lot of money that James inherited from his family but they must've had jobs before they went into hiding.

I've never really thought about what the Potters did for a living. I never could think about it but I don't think Aurors were a possibility. Maybe he was security guard or somehting, I don't really know.

Well i agree that aurors is unpredictable and would make evry one fell like uh, oh yeah thought so. Theres the possibility that james was a pro. quiditch player, but wouldnt ron or one of the weaslys have heard of him.

Now here are some possibilitys i think Lilly could have done. Firstly i think she may have been involved in some sort of charity like S.P.E.W (not spew but somthing similar). Or maybe she worked in potions as in HBP horice slughorn says more than once that she was a brilliant potions maker and that when harry was suddenly good at potions (thanks to snape's book) he said his mothers genes were coming out in him, so maybe she could have been inventing somthing maybe to stop wearwolfes transforming but then had to go into hiding, i no it a long shot and most probably unlikely but its only an example and that would explain why lupin liked her so much lol.

Now for james. We know he was a highly talent wizard (like Lilly) but what could he have done. We know his wand was good for transfiguration and he was a brilliant seeker. but i doubt he would be a famouse quiditch player as like i have said one of the weaslys would know. But maybe he did somthing that involved transfiguration, maybe a spy or somthing.

What ever they did i dont think the pay REALY would matter that much as like some one has already stated james had inherited alot of money. And whatever they did im sure we will find out in the final book and knowing JK i think it will be somthing none of us here expected and we probable havnt even guessed on this forum.

Thank You For Reading My Oppinion-LukeUK

Hello .
This is prolematic! auror's,
as previously stated by lot's
of people, is unlikley beacause
of their age, and i believe
unspeakable's are unlikley for
the same reason.

QUOTE(Lukeuk)

"Now for james. We know he was a highly talent wizard (like Lilly) but what could he have done. We know his wand was good for transfiguration and he was a brilliant seeker. but i doubt he would be a famouse quiditch player as like i have said one of the weaslys would know."

That is an extremely good point,
smart . It seem's increasingly more
likely that they did not
have job's, which would make sense: If you
had inherited lot's of money, and were on the
run from an evil murderous snake man gone
wrong thing, and were
working in the order, and raising a young son,
AND were only 22 , i do not think that
they would have enough time
to have a job, would they?
Or perhap's lily was an alchemist? Goodness
only know's. jkr will probably reveal it all soon
enough
Happy posting everyone xoxoxo ~ river.

i dont know about james but im almost certain lily was an unspeakable nearly right out of school , my reasons for believing this are ....

proffeser slughorn adored lily , and he had ministry conections , he could of got her a job pretty soon after she finished school

and im sure if voldie came nocking on my door wanting to kill me and my son , i would want a plan b , because lily worked in the department of mysteries , she knew what love protection she was putting on harry when she sacraficed herself , otherwise i would fight and try to kill voldemort because i doubt lily would have just died not knowing what she was doing , because she would just be sentencing harry to his death

as for james , we now know after deathly hallows that he was a direct decendent from one of the percival brothers , which stretches his family back years , therefore i think he inherited the gold when he came of age or his parents died

Like someone else has said, James had a lot of money that he inherited from his family. The only job James and Lilly had was the Order of the Phoenix. They spent all their time with the organization, until Harry was born that is and went into hiding from Voldy. At the time the Order needed all the members they could get. They needed as much intel and power as possible. Members were being killed left and right. James and Lilly gave themselves to the Order and didn't have time for a normal wizarding job.

Yep that is what I thought, here's some info I just found...

James and Lily Potter had a son, Harry James Potter, born on July 31, 1980. In an interview, Rowling revealed that James and Lily were asked by Lord Voldemort to join the Death Eaters, but refused, making it "one strike against them before they were even out of their teens".[1] Both of them belonged to the Order of the Phoenix, an organisation created and led by Albus Dumbledore for wizards and witches who want to battle Voldemort and his followers, the Death Eaters.~~~~Wikipedia

Dawn

As Hermoine17 stated, they were very young when they went into hiding. But where did they get all that money from? It may have been inherited, but we never learn anything about James' family. Lily's family wasn't rich, she grew up in the suburbs with her sister, parents and snape. I'd guess that James family was relativly wealthy.

I always assumed that the Potters' only job was being in the Order and that all the money they left Harry was inheritance. If Lily and James had stayed alive I think they would have gone to work for the ministry.

If you remember back to when Marge visited the Dursley's and she asked what Harry's dad for a living. Petunia said he was unemployed. When I thought about this later, I laughed because technically he was unemployed when he was in hiding. He wasn't unemployed because he was a bum or anything, but it was still comical to me.