Harry Potter: 10 Ways The Muggle World Would Inevitably Discover Wizards
Can wizards keep the biggest secret of all?
Harry: But what does a Ministry of Magic do? Hagrid: Well, their main job is to keep it from the Muggles that theres still witches an wizards up an down the country. Harry: Why? Hagrid: Why? Blimey, Harry, everyoned be wantin magic solutions to their problems. Nah, were best left alone. - From Harry Potter and the Philosophers Stone (Sorcerers Stone, to the American market)The magical world envisioned by author J.K. Rowling has caught the imagination of the Muggle (non-wizard) world. In her seven books on Harry Potter and his friends, we learn that there is a wonderful world where wizards and witches are taught the wonders of magic at a boarding school called Hogwarts. Some students come from wizarding families, some come from Muggle families, and some are half-and-half. There are fantastic creatures, some we know from classic mythology, others from the mind of Rowling herself. And overseeing it all is the Ministry of Magic, which exists not only to manage wizard affairs, but to keep the Muggles ignorant of their world. Rowling has created a mythology to rival that of the worlds created by J.R.R. Tolkien, Frank Herbert, Gene Roddenberry, Issac Asimov and a wealth of other famous authors. However, she has set it in our present day. Her London is our London, even if Muggles cant go where wizards go. But what really keeps this biggest of secrets; the existence of magic and a magical world? The probability of a secret being broached is inversely proportional to the number of people in on the secret. Therefore, were going to examine ways in which Section 13 of the International Confederation of Warlocks Statute of Secrecy can be broken, alerting Muggles to the existence of the wizarding world, as defined in the books and films. Yes, we know that Rowling has answered fan questions that might answer some of these points here. But those quotes are difficult to track down, and harder to attribute properly. If you have a credible answer and source, please let us know in the comments below. Once again, we begin the sniping by casting the snarking spell: Criticius reviewus!