Underage magic enforcement

[Freeman, Louise Margaret]

No: HPFGUIDX 94458

>>And would Hermione have gotten a letter of warning from the Ministry 
for practicing those first few spells at home?

Lionel<<

My guess is, underage magic rules are not enforced before the child gets 
their Hogwarts letter, on the assumption that kids at that age are not 
powerful enough to do much on their own and would (at least for wizard-born 
children) get adequate supervision from their parents.  Muggle-borns 
presumably could not intentionally do magic until they know it exists, so 
anything they did would be purely accidental, like Harry regrowing his hair 
and freeing the snake. Otherwise, poor Neville's parents couldn't try to 
force magic out of him by throwing him out windows, Ron couldn't have tried 
to practice turning Scabbers yellow and Hermione couldn't have done her few 
spells. The small kids flying on brooms, etc. at the World Cup got little 
notice, even though ministry officials were everywhere.

After Hogwarts, underage magic seems to be comprable to underage drinking 
enforcement in the US. Yes, it's technically against the law, but not 
strictly monitored in private homes and generally left to parents and 
schools to enforce. The MOM, for instance, didn't go after Harry and Ron for 
flying the car, even though it was a serious offense viewed by Muggles;  it 
was left to their school and parents to discipline them. The MOM does not 
seem to be monitoring every kid everywhere during the summer and citing them 
for each little charm, just as our police don't haul every kid off to 
juvenile hall who takes a sip of beer in their own home. Also, parents can 
probably "authorize" their kids to do some limited types of magic in their 
own home, just as parents can legally give their own underage children 
alcohol. Intervention happens usually only in the most extreme situations 
and typically only when there is a danger to others. A kid who starts hexing 
muggles in the London Underground could get hauled in, while a kid doing a 
charm in their own home is unlikely to.

Harry, of course, is the big exception.  Both Dumbledore's people and the 
MOM seem to be watching him like a hawk, at least from the start of CoS, at 
first probably for his protection, later for other reasons. Hence the 
instant responses and official warnings literally at the drop of a hat (or 
the hovering of a pudding.) By OotP, once the MOM has launched its vendetta 
against Harry, they are going to use every legal means (and some illegal) 
against him.  Hence the over-reaction (threats of immediate expulsion and 
wand destruction) until Dumbledore reminded them of Harry's legal rights.  
And the surprise of the OotP at the full hearing...  it was the wizarding 
world's equivalent full jury trial in adult court against a 15 year old who 
took a sip of beer.

"Louise"