HOM-301 Lessons

In today’s lesson, I aim to be crisp and concise and briefly go over the International Statute of Secrecy, henceforth used interchangeably with the abbreviation “ISOS.” We will be talking about three time periods important to defining the goals and context of the ISOS, prior to its enactment, the present day, as well as what comes after in the future. Note that the “Post-ISOS” section of the lesson refers to the time period after the ISOS was signed, not the period after the ISOS disappeared! It is still a crucially important law which governs all we do, and will change and grow with wizarding society in many years to come.

The International Statute of Secrecy is considered the most important law in the magical world. The law was signed in 1689 and passed in 1692. You might be wondering what the difference between the signing of the ISOS and the law being passed is. Well, in colloquial terms, having it signed is basically approving the law and taking the first steps in the planning process in preparation for the law to be officially implemented. Thus, with respect to ISOS, the law took about three years to be prepared, have the particulars worked out, and made official for all magical beings to follow.

Of course, a law is ineffective unless passed by those who have authority to do so; thus the International Confederation of Wizards were the ones who were chosen to safeguard the wizarding community from Muggles and hide the existence of the wizarding world from the Muggle world. 

However, these are just the surface intentions of the ISOS. There were more motives behind the formation of the ISOS. Before the law was finalized, magical creatures such as goblins, trolls, giants, and many others were conspicuously ignored from any form of law. Wizards and witches also avoided them, believing that these creatures and beings would us if we interfered. This left their societal norms intact for a long period of time, but with the ISOS, everything changed.

With the passage of the International Statute of Secrecy, all witches and wizards, as well as all magical beings of “near-human intelligence” (elves, goblins, centaurs, merpeople, hags, vampires, etc.) were expected to obey the laws set forth by the primary governing body (the Ministry of Magic, or equivalent magical body in a different country) despite the fact that they had not been represented in the law-making body that approved the statute. The wizards in charge at the time believed it would be catastrophic if some species of magical being or creature were to expose them. Therefore, around the time of the Statute of Secrecy, many laws were written to regulate magical creatures.

“Each governing body will be responsible for the concealment, care and control of all magical beasts, beings, and spirits dwelling within its territory’s borders. Should any such creatures cause harm to, or draw the notice of, the Muggle community, that nation’s governing body will be subject to discipline by the International Confederation of Wizards.”

  Clause 73 of the International Statute of Secrecy

That being said, more laws and clauses were included in the ISOS for clarification during the Warlocks’ Convention of 1709, merely 17 years after the ISOS was officially passed.

Now, let’s go back a little to the objectives of ISOS.

1. To safeguard the wizarding community from Muggles
2. To hide the existence of the wizarding world from the world

A close historian friend once asked me this question, “Are we protecting ourselves from the Muggles or the Muggles from us? Is it still necessary for us to hide the existence of our world from the Muggles?” We must consider whether we are indeed protecting ourselves from the possible harm Muggles could cause us. This brings us to the beginning of today’s lesson. 

Before I begin, I would like you to note the seriousness of today’s lesson because it concerns possible life and death. Should you choose to break the law, especially after today’s lesson, you will be subjected to a possible trial by the Chief Warlock in the British Ministry of Magic Wizengamot. 

Pre-ISOS

Beginning around the year 1010, wizards created settlements away from the Muggles who were persecuting them. These wizards wanted to create a safe environment where wizards could roam the roads freely without worrying about being seen. These Muggle-free communities, still around today, bring a few questions to mind: How are we going to keep Muggles from stumbling across our settlements? What do we do if we are discovered? 

In fact, as we learned in your Second Year, witch hunts and trials were starting their crescendo around this time, threatening the existence of magical beings who lived amongst Muggles. The latter felt that it was a life-threatening act to live with those who could perform magic and wanted to eliminate any possibility of getting harmed. Children were the primary (non-Muggle) victims in the witch trials even though many records do not cover this aspect. Magical children are not able to control their powers in their early years, so covering up their powers and keeping them from mentioning them to others was a challenge for the witches and wizards in that era. After all, they were not able to keep them cooped up in the house for long periods of time. 

One such unfortunate case would be that of a little boy named Henry Jackerby. Born to two magical parents, Kelvin and Henrietta Jackerby, Henry was born a Squib. His parents were in denial that Henry had no powers because both of them were from strong wizarding families, but unfortunately, that was the reality of the situation. Still, they loved him. But Henry grew up in a household where magic was practiced frequently, both by his parents and other relatives. He always found it a little weird that their house looked different from the other houses in the area. It was often dimly-lit and the walls were grey, unlike those his friends had whose walls were often colourful. Little did he know that this was due to an enchantment placed upon the house to obscure the view inside in order to ensure no one from the outside would be able to see what was going on in the house. 

Thus, one evening in 1525, when Henry was eight, he blurted out some of the interesting things that happened at home (i.e the magic his parents used in the household) during a village meeting without realising the consequences of his actions. Members of the village were immediately suspicious and decided that exterminating the possible threat was the only course of action. They immediately detained Henry, who was essentially defenseless, and used him to gain the compliance and capture of his parents. However, instead of killing them by burning them at the stake, they decided that giving them a life worse than dying would be a more painful option. It was believed that magic was only done by words and actions; they based their punishment accordingly. During the witch trial, all three of them: Kelvin, Henrietta, and Henry (despite being a Squib) had their arms chopped off and localized poison poured down their throats so that they would never be able to perform magic of any form again as they were never able to move their arms or speak a word again. Accounts of the Jackerbys cut off here, though little speculation is required to guess what happened to them shortly after.

With witch-hunts on the rise in the 1500s, the demand for a safe haven for wizards became a top priority for the Wizards’ Council, then headed by Chief Columbus Weatherby. Weatherby created a team to scour the British country for suitable locations for wizard institutions, and at the same time, develop infrastructure and routes that would aid commerce and development of the community. The team was called the Magical Alliance To Ensure Survival (MATES), implying that they were the saviours of their race. The team was headed by Balfour Blane, who succeeded Weatherby as Chief Warlock in 1619.

The first MATES had five members, each an expert in a particular branch of magic. Each member had a specific task necessary for the project to be a success. Their names are honoured in the British Museum of Magic, currently located right under the London Eye, a Muggle contraption that delights the children and tourists in the city of London.The members of the first MATES were Balfour Blane, Dillsbury Cartwright, Evana Limburg, Xandra Murdock., and Xenophilius Murdock.

The Present

Despite its necessity, the ISOS was not unanimously accepted. In the decades before the ISOS was passed, anti-Muggle sentiments were growing exponentially stronger. This contributed greatly to the majority acceptance of the International Confederation of Wizards’ actions. However, a large voice also belonged to activists who believed Muggle-wizard relations were beneficial. These activists were eventually suppressed by influential opponents, but a few exceptions remained who could not be worn down. Even after the ISOS was finally passed, many in these small splinter groups continued to cause problems for Ministries across the world and do to this day (we will talk about some of these groups a little later). 

In the 320-odd years since the passage of ISOS, nothing much has changed except in the rare instances when additional clauses have been added. Similarly, each ministry retained its responsibilities with regards to protecting the wizarding world from Muggle detection. If you were to look into each department of the Ministry, you would see they have a purpose and main objective to work towards, ensuring that it will always be pointed towards the same singular goal - to hide our existence. 

In addition to these ministerial departments (or other forms of wizarding government) magical communities all over the world develop task forces as necessary to be in charge of the construction and concealment of our magical institutions or projects. The Whereabouts Task Force is activated only when there is a need to develop new magical locales, and disbanded immediately after the completion and concealment of these locations. These task forces are often international, particularly in recent times, as the specialists required may not be from the country in which the project is being developed. There are also times when wizards seek the aid of magical architects and contractors for their expertise in astounding and somewhat crazy inventions to further the construction of a building, rather than simply going for functionality. A building that shows both of these situations is the Chinese Herbological Investigations Network, which is housed in a beautiful enchanted lotus that opens and closes at will and floats, undetected, in the middle of a bustling city in an attempt to curb some of the pollution there. Due to the lack of experience in magical anti-pollution situations among most Asian wizards, many European members of the Herbology High Commission and Hanging Gardens of Babylon were contracted to work alongside native witches and wizards to achieve this feat of architecture and magic. 

However, on occasion, problems arise when locations are too near Muggle technology, and wizards and witches are unable to find solutions, or require some assistance from those more experienced. An example of this was the development of the wizarding entertainment hall in Amsterdam called Clearbottom Hall. This massive, domed building currently fits a thousand wizards and was meant to be the site of a concert tour by popular Dutch wizard band, The Sighing Warlocks. 

The only trouble was the building site that had been judged to be the appropriate distance away from Muggles and had already undergone multiple levels of spells and protections was too late discovered to be right beside an oil field. The wizard contractors were at a loss as to how to prevent the oil from seeping into the grounds surrounding the hall. To help them, they sought the aid of a Muggle architect, Darren Anderson, who specialized in leaks and oil containment. After a period of earning trust, an enthusiastic Anderson and his new team spent a month putting up what Anderson called ‘state of the art titanium siding that to protect the walls of the dome and ensure the safety of the visitors.’ As soon as Mr. Anderson’s job was finished, they Modified his memory, sent him back to his home, and left a substantial amount of money for his services. To this day, he and his wife cannot believe their luck in winning the lottery, and Anderson still enjoys consulting on architecture projects on the side at no charge.

Post-ISOS

So now, we are left with what’s going to happen in the future. For one, the future will always be an unknown (though Professor Catterforn might tell you otherwise). Apart from that, what is ISOS to us now, over 300 years after its ratification? What will the ISOS be for all of you in the future when you graduate from Hogwarts? A few questions that constantly ring on in my head, and hopefully in yours as well, are -- “Why is ISOS still necessary? Do we really still need to keep it a secret from the Muggle community?”

The International Confederation of Wizards meets on the last Thursday of every month of the year. Of late, during these meetings, they have ongoing discussions of possible reforms of the ISOS. It is believed by some that the entire ISOS needs to be rewritten in order to conform with new social norms, namely the Muggle’s incredible advances in technology. Many agree with this idea, while some want to keep things as is, and others simply want to eliminate the ISOS entirely. These various groups all have differing motives and goals. Some of these groups are extreme blood purists and advocate “throwing off the shackles of secrecy,” while others believe in the “Muggles’ right to know,” and still others take the pragmatic stance that both parties will benefit immensely from an end to the secrecy, and a new golden age will be ushered in. We will now take a moment to discuss one example group that covers a few of these different categories. 

Born in the early 1920s, Calotta Pinkstone was originally an advocate for the latter mindset. She believed that it was beneficial for both Muggles and magical persons to seek out a more open society. However, many disagreed with her methods, as she was not content to sit by and merely politic, but would actively and openly practice magic in public places in front of Muggles, causing quite the headache for Obliviators and the Muggle-Worthy Excuses Committee alike. For quite a while, Pinkstone operated individually, and resorted to ever more daring stunts to not only attempt to out herself to Muggles, but to get the wizarding community at large to notice her antics and, hopefully, listen to her message. Finally, after an incident that resulted in the deaths of two Muggles as a result of uncontrollable magical fires, Pinkstone was jailed -- this time for life -- in 1964. 

This was not the death of her cause, however. Following her incarceration, her cause was picked up by many young witches and wizards who named themselves the Pinkstone Union, though their desire for flashier and flashier stunts and their leadership via a rather uncompromising, though zealous witch as caused them to be labelled a group of magical terrorism. These stunts more and more frequently Muggles in danger, requiring magical citizens to out themselves and perform magic to save their Muggle brethren. Pinkstone’s Union indicates it was the only way to show wizardkind that the Statute of Secrecy is not protecting Muggles, but in fact harming them. It is not known how Pinkstone herself actually feels about this group crusading in her name, nor if she is even aware it exists, but a strong argument can be made that it no longer serves the same purpose it once did.

With that being said, the wizarding community does still need to research whether or not it is now safe for us to present ourselves to the Muggles without the fear of being hunted down once more. Even though their actions might not be as violent as the acts of their predecessors, we can never be fully sure of the motives Muggles might have towards us. It is difficult to know someone else’s mind, and particularly difficult to know the mind of roughly seven billion people. These concerns (as to whether we should reveal ourselves or not) are especially relevant due current technological leaps and discoveries Muggles have made over the years. It would be safe to assume that we might be thoroughly analysed if found. However, on the other end of the spectrum, it would also be possible for them to be in complete denial in two forms -- disbelief, that we are magical, and possibly viewing us all as fools because they no longer truly believe that real magical powers exist; or complete nonchalance, similar to how Muggle youths these days act, no longer curious or surprised about their surroundings.

This also marks the end of today’s lesson. I hope you’ve learned something new and interesting about the International Statute of Secrecy. For now, there will be one creative assignment and one extra credit essay available as today’s work. I’ll see you again next week in History of Magic. Have a fabulous week!

Original lesson written by Professor Autumn Maddox
Additional portions written by Professor Venita Wessex
Image credits here, here, here, and here