The Statute of Secrecy

[Ken Hutchinson]

No: HPFGUIDX 159122

--- In HPforGrownups at yahoogroups.com, "pippin_999" <foxmoth at ...> wrote:
> Pippin:
> 
> I find all this effort put into ways Dumbledore could have come up
> with an official document to show Mrs. Cole amusing. Would this
> document give an address, phone number and contact person for
> Hogwarts? If Mrs. Cole followed up on this information, as she 
> should  if she is to show due diligence, would her questions be
> answered truthfully? If not, then Dumbledore would be handing her
> a document that he knows is not what it purports to be, and his
> hands would be no cleaner than they were before. 
> 

My only response is why not??? Something like half their student population
is Muggleborn, showing proper credentials to Muggles can't be an uncommon
request for Hogwarts. They have plenty of graduates with the proper 
background to establish an office with a telephone to handle enquiries
like this. From the opening chapter of HBP we know that the relationship
with the PM's office goes back to previous Minister's of Magic and previous
PMs. Kingsley Shacklebolt is not necessarily the first wizard or witch to 
serve in the Muggle government or even the only one currently doing
so. A much better question would be why bother to have a relationship
with the Muggle government if you do no use it to handle the routine
details that have to arise on a regular basis? It is an enormous risk to reveal
your existence to the PM. Why would you do that unless it served some
practical, essential purpose? This is not rocket science just good bureacratic
attention to detail and the Ministry of Magic seems perfectly capable of 
dealiing with *that*.

Ken