Muggles in the Wizarding World

[Steve]

No: HPFGUIDX 85147

--- In HPforGrownups at yahoogroups.com, "Wendy" <hebrideanblack at e...> wrote:

> Wendy:
>
> ...edited...
> 
> Mostly, I'm wondering about Muggles interacting with the Wizarding 
> World. We know that they can get into Diagon Alley somehow 
> (Hermione's parents are there in CoS), but *how*? Could they have 
> gotten through the entrance without Hermione and her wand? 
> 

bboy_mn:

Not just any muggle can get into 'magic space' like Diagon Alley. This
is the entrance to the most secret society on the face of the earth;
at least, on the face of the fictional earth. So muggle don't come and
go as they please.

First, they can't see the entrance to The Leakey Cauldron in the same
sense that they can't see the Knight Bus or Hogwarts Express. The only
way to walk into Diagon Alley/Leakey Cauldron is to have a magical
guide escort you through. Hermione's parent get in because some one
had told Hermione where it is and how it works, and her magical eyes
allow her to see the entrance on Charing Cross Road. She sees it, and
her parents follow close behind as she leads them in.

Based on Ron's statement that there are a lot of Muggle/Magic
intermarriages, I think there are a substantial number of muggles who
are aware of the wizard world. Take Seamus's father who is a muggle;
he knows his wife is a witch, and they still seem to be together, so
one can only assume that he is aware of and has been to the magic
world. Pretty hard for him not to be aware, I think.

I also have my own theory, stated here many times, that a significant
number of the muggle/magic intermarriages live predominantly in the
muggle world. This puts them in the perfect position to use their
shops and businesses as a way for the wizard world and the muggle
world to interface. A means by which Gringot's can engage in currency
exchange, for example. Also, a means by which goods and services can
be exchanges. 

Are there really enough magical gardens to supply the entire wizard
world with things like cabbage, lettuce, strawberries, meat, potatoes,
tea, coffee, etc...? I'm pretty sure that I, as a muggle living in the
USA, get most of my apples from New Zealand. If my apples can come
from half way across the world, it doesn't seem unreasonable that
wizard world apples are also imported. 

So, these muggle shops run by the spouses of magic people could easily
funnel fresh produce into the wizard world. In a sense, they are just
import/export companies, but instead of trading between England and
France, they trade between magic and muggle. As long as they can keep
ahead of the tax man, they could do quite well in a business like this.


> Wendy:
>
> I'm also curious about transporation. ... But what about Floo 
> Powder? Is it the powder that holds the magic, or does the hand that 
> throws the powder need to have magic, ....

bboy_mn:

Remember that Floo Poweder travel is based on being hooked up to the
Floo Network. I think the Network is where the magical transportation
enchantment is. The Floo Poweder is merely the means by which the Floo
Network is activated. Like buying a ticket for the subway, you've got
to have it, but it's not what makes the subway run.


> Wendy:
>
> Same question for Portkeys - it is the Portkey that is magical, or 
> it is the combination of Portkey and magical person that matters? 
> ..edited..

bboy_mn:

These are very interesting and very tough questions. On one hand, a
Portkey is an enchanted object. An object that has been very precisely
enchanted for a specific purpose. I would suspect that Muggles could
travel by both Floo Powder and by Portkey. But I suspect that Portkeys
have additional protective enchantments built into them.

Let's look at some Portkey examples, the Portkey they used from the
top of Stoad Hill, was a manky old boot and was set to activate at a
very precise time. In that case, I'm guessing that once the time
passed and the Portkey expired, it would revert back to a manky old
boot and nothing more. Being a very common and unappealing object, it
is unlikely that muggles would mess with it. Also, it was placed in a
very remote location, that while accessable, would not be likely to
have muggle there at the precise activation time of the Portkey. So we
see several safety methods and protection that would prevent it from
actually working with a muggle.

Having said that, I think if a wizard intended to transport a muggle,
it could be done. Most protections are to prevent accidental muggle
transport.

>From the Tri-Wizards maze, the cup/portkey was activated by touch.
Generally, that's not a very safe method as far as accidental muggle
transport is concern, but it was used in a very protected environment.
Not likely for a stray muggle to come wandering through the maze, and
touch the portkey.

The portkey of Harry and the Weasleys from Hogwarts to Grimauld Place,
and the transport of Harry from the Ministry back to Dumbledore office
were activated on Dumbledore command via a count of three. In a sense,
it was activated by Dumbledore's willfull intent. So that would not
produce a portkey that could accidentally be used by a muggle; not
magical intent available to activate it.

In summary, I personally think you can tranport muggle by Portkey if
you desire to do so, but in most cases, there are sufficient
protections to prevent accidental transports.


> Wendy continues:
>
> ... And what about broomsticks? Is the enchantment on the broom 
> enough to keep a Muggle afloat, or does the person riding it need 
> magic as well, to make it work?
> 

bboy_mn:

Again, a very tough call; I can only speculate. First, I think wizard
are extremely careful NOT to let enchanted object laying around where
muggles can find them. On the other hand, Mr. Weasley's entire job is
based pretty much on fixing that when it happens; he corrects
encounters between muggles and enchanted objects. I suspect most of it
he handles on his own, and when it reaches disasterous proportions, he
calls in the Obliviator Squads to handle it.

So, it would be extremely rare for a broom to fall into the hands of a
muggle. If that did happen, it would be unlikely for the muggle to
even think of riding it. However, there is sufficient muggle witch
lore available that a muggle might try to ride a broom as a joke. What
happens then?

Hummmm..... One thought comes to me, when Harry gets his new broom, it
seems to be sensitive to him; it hovers at just the right mounting
height, for example. So while I believe the flying magic is in the
broom, I have to think, or at least hope, that some kind of
enchantment has been added to sense the magical abilities of the
rider. Can't prove that, but it seems logical.

> Wendy:
>
> I'm also curious about how Muggles would fit into the Wizarding 
> justice system (such as it is). ...edited...
> 
> Looking forward to hearing some thoughts about these things. :-)
> 
> 
> Cheers!
> Wendy

bboy_mn:

Again, another difficult question. I think we must assume that people
who commit crimes in the magical world, must know about that magical
world or they could have never gotten into it. I don't think too many
muggles take a wrong turn on Charring Cross road and end up in Diagon
Alley, or that a couple Soccer Hooligans accidentally stumble into the
Leaky Cauldron. Just don't see that happening.

So, for the crime to occur in the magic world, the person would have
to be very knowledgable of the magic world, and in that case, would be
subject to the full impact of magical law.

A different scenerio would be the commission of a crime against a
magical person that occurs in the muggle world. It seems that most
magical people live hidden amoung muggle. Malfoys, for Example, live
in Whiltshire. Dedalus Diggle lives in Kent. The Black family appears
to have lived in North London. 

I think most wizards would envoke a degree of street justice in that
circumstance. If you were dumb enough to break into a wizard's home or
tryi and mug one on the street, I think the punishment would be
immediate, swift, and sure.

If you managed to kill a wizard in a violent attack, cause extreme
harm to them, or created a similar circumstance that demanded that
authorities be called, I'm not sure what would happen. Maybe the
Ministry would get the Prime Minister to pull some strings and get the
'Bobbies' to chase after them. 

Despite seeming to have an endless well of half baked theories, this
one has me somewhat stumped.

Just a few thoughts.

bboy_mn