1. Anything Can Kill You
If we were wizards, we'd all be walking around in a state of perpetual terror and be constantly looking around for signs of something about to leap out and attack us. Places we consider to be danger zones by virtue of them being full of dangerous plants and animals that will kill us in minutes are like nurseries compared to anywhere in the wizardiing world. Because practically anything in the wizarding world has the potential to injure or kill you. For a start, the wizarding world is home to creatures like vampires, werewolves, basilisks, trolls, dragons, giants, sentient man-eating spiders, and whatever the hell Hagrid decides to breed after he's had a bit too much to drink in the Hog's Head. All of which can kill you in an instant. And it's not just animals you should wet yourself in fear at since there's a lot of aggressive plant life out there too, including the Whomping Willow (which some genius decided to plant at Hogwarts despite it beating the crap out of anything that comes near it) and Devil's Snare, which, unless you can conjure light or fire to ward it off, will consign you to a slow and painful death by strangulation. But beyond organic life, any mundane object can be turned into an implement of death with a few quick spells. Any world where a set of robes can be enchanted to try and strangle somebody to death or a school desk can be sent into battle as an independent soldier is not one where you should let your guard down. But the thing to be terrified of most is all of the things one wizard can do to another. All it takes is a wand, (which everybody buys at the age of eleven don't forget), knowing a certain incantation and wand movement, and enough practice and you can do pretty much anything to a person from locking their legs together to torturing them into insanity. It's no wonder Mad-Eye Moody became such a paranoid wreck.
What do you think would make the Harry Potter universe a bad to place to live in? Leave a comment...