wizards and Muggles

[breegenie at yahoo.com]

No: HPFGUIDX 30321

Rita wrote:
The wizard folk keep themselves secret from Muggles because THEY 
ARE SCARED OF MUGGLES. 

Cindy wrote:
I am not sure I would characterize the problem as wizard fear of 
Muggles, though.  I would say it is more the desire to be left along, 
although perhaps different from the way Hagrid sees it.  If Muggles 
knew about wizards, they might feel threatened and behave 
aggressively.  These efforts to persecute wizards would be 
unsuccessful, of course, but bothersome nonetheless.  Indeed, it is 
hard to imagine how Muggles could really harm wizards.  A wizard 
captured by Muggles could simply apparate away, after all.  

Cindy

IMHO, wizards avoid Muggles for the same reason anyone who 
is "different" avoids the majority--it makes them 
<i>uncomfortable</i>. JKR makes this very clear from the beginning of 
the series. 

Petunia Dursley best expresses this in SS/PS, during her outburst 
about her sister. To her parents, Lily (Evans) Potter's magical 
abilities made her special. To Petunia, she was a "freak." I'm sure 
that most of Muggle society agrees with Petunia, rather than Lily's 
parents. 

Tolerance is a huge issue in the HP universe. As the wizard community 
has enough trouble within itself (Pureblood vs. half-blood vs. 
Mudblood) they aren't likely to go searching for more trouble with 
the intolerant Muggles.

Bree
another newbie who just "de-lurked"