Wizard attitudes towards Muggles

[Eric Oppen]

No: HPFGUIDX 30531

It occurs to me that acts such as Arthur Weasley's Muggle Protection Act
might not be motivated by pure, disinterested love of us Muggles.  Instead,
down deep, Arthur W. could be just as prejudiced against Muggles as Lucius
Malfoy, but just express it differently, even to himself.  Instead of "those
Muggles are scum, we should get rid of or enslave them," it might be more
along the lines of "oh, those poor Muggles---they could never, ever handle
the truth, they're so limited and feeble-minded.  As a wizard, it's my job
to keep the truth from them, just as I would keep a charged wand out of the
hands of a chimpanzee."

Forgive me, but neither attitude really pleases me.  I think myself that
many or most Muggles could easily handle knowing about the existence of the
wizarding world (after all, the Dursleys know, at least---and if _they_ can
handle the knowledge without going mad(der), who can't?)  They say that we
work hard to deny the existence of magic, while at the same time they've got
wizards whose whole _job_ is to modify Muggle memories so that we don't know
it's there.

Although I love all the Weasleys, they do show a lot of the prejudice of
their pure-blood wizard background when they say things like this.  I wonder
how Hermione felt (I think she was around when Arthur was barbering on about
how Muggles just couldn't handle knowing that magic was out there) since I'm
sure that her parents knew where she went and why and what she was studying.
In fact, I think that now that Lord V is back, she's probably had to tell
them things that might disquiet them.  "_This_ is safe enough to do, and so
is _this,_ and so is _this._  On the other hand, _that_ is very
dangerous...and, for Heaven's sake, if someone calling himself 'Tom Riddle,'
'The Dark Lord,' 'Lord Voldemort,' or 'He Who Must Not Be Named,' rings and
asks for me---I'm in New Zealand and you don't know when I'll be back!"
Just by being her parents, they are in the line of fire and have a right to
know what's going on.

It would be interesting if Lord V's downfall came from underestimating
Muggles, or the talents of a Muggle-born like Hermione, wouldn't it?