Why Latin / foreign students / abracadabra

[potioncat]

No: HPFGUIDX 186137

 "Catlady (Rita Prince Winston)" 
> 
> The question is how much the wizarding general population was separate from the Muggle general population in Antiquity, Late Antiquity aka Early Middle Ages, and High Middle Ages. In the Potterverse, I believe they were in contact (all those court wizards and village witches really were wizards and witches) but the wizarding folk had enough view of themselves as a separate community that they were able to elect their own separate government, such as the Warlocks Council and Chief Wizard Barbarus Bragge. They had owl mail as a much more reliable postal system than European Muggles had then, and they had Apparation and broomstick flight and hippogriff flight to get together in person. 

Potioncat:
(snipping because it's her habit, not because she has to!)
Oops, snipped wrong part.

yes, the WW as we see it in HP seems to have been in close contact with the Muggle world--and we know it wasn't until the 1600s that they went into hiding. In fact, in canon, it's the desire to come out of hiding that both Regulus and (I think) Severus talk about. They want to be wizards among Muggles.

JKR gave her own twist to our folklore--which as you say, had wizards and witches living openly with Muggles. My memories of the Merlin stories, have him being raised at a Muggle court, but of receiving magical training as an apprentice to a wizard.

Again, I think this hints at British wizards having the same historical influences as Muggle Europe. Same language, same religion.