Muggle parents and Hogwarts (was: First impressions of Hogwarts)

[tangawarra1]

No: HPFGUIDX 34287

--- In HPforGrownups at y..., "jrober4211" <midwife34 at a...> wrote:
"...So to wrap up my point, a better question would be " Would you 
let your kids attend a school you can't visit, much less find?" 
over "How do muggles find Diagon Alley?"Finding the Alley to shop 
would be the least of my concerns. 

- Jo Ellen"

Its an interesting point to ponder. There could be any number of 
untrained witches and wizards running around, whose Muggle parents 
refused, or were simply unable to send their children to Hogwarts.   

I believe many Muggle parents would be extremley proud of their 
children. From the last chapter of CoS we get the impression, just 
from Hermione's expectations of the Dursleys, that her parents would 
be very proud of her achievements:

"You're Aunt and Uncle will be proud though, wont they? ... When they 
hear what you did this year" (Hermione. CoS p251)

and in PS Aunt Petunia is still very bitter about her parent's 
reaction to Lily upon receiving her Hogwarts letter: 

"So proud they were to have a witch in the family" (paraphrased. 
sorry don't have PS with me to find the exact quote). 

So perhaps the sheer joy and pride that comes with having a magical 
child outweighs the concerns Muggle parents may have about Hogwarts.  
Unless they are silly enough to read Hogwarts, A History it is 
unlikley that Muggle parents would ever have a full understanding of 
the dangers involved. 

Also, consider having an untrained witch or wizard around the house! 
(A teenager one at that!) Evidence of this can be seen in Hagrid's 
comment to Harry on the hut on the rock:

"did you ever make anything happen that you just can't explain" 
(paraphrased. Damn not having PS handy) 

and Harry's numerous magical accidents across the four books - The 
snake at the zoo on Dudley's birthday,  being chased to the top of 
the wash sheds by Dudley's gang, blowing up Auny Marge etc. 

I would assume that it is more dangerous to have an untrained witch 
or wizard, who does not fully understand and cannot control 
their "abnormality" (as Vernon Dursley would put it), than for Muggle 
parents to send their child to Hogwarts where they can learn their 
craft in relative safety. 

rachel