MUST-301 Lessons

Good morning students! Before we get started into the fascinating world of Muggles, let me introduce myself quickly. My name is Professor Anna Soleil. I grew up in a family full of Muggles, or No-Majs as some people say. So in some ways, the Muggle life is more familiar to me than magic! I spent my childhood travelling under the wing of two parents that were more interested in seeing the world than settling down. Eventually, it was discovered I had magical ability in me and I found myself at the American counterpart to Hogwarts, Ilvermorny. (Go Pukwudgies!) 

But enough about me, let’s get on with why you’re all here - learning about Muggles!

This course is designed to give you a wide but brief summary of what it is like to be a Muggle, the relationship between Muggles and magical people, as well as non-magical inventions and technologies. In these lessons, you’ll be challenged to think outside of the box, especially if you came from a magical family. The aim of your Hogwarts education is to teach you how to harness and effectively use your magic, yes, but this class will hone your ability to use magic in conjunction with other skills. Muggles may live in a different fashion than magical people do, but that does not mean that they are inferior! You may actually find that their methods are incredibly useful at times.

Before we get started, I’d like to take a brief moment to go over what we will be discussing this year. Our current syllabus is as follows:

I’ll cover a few more policies at the end of the lesson, but until then, let us carry on to more fun topics!

Muggles, the ISoS, and Rappaport’s Law

The obvious place to start this class is describing what exactly a Muggle is. I’m sure all of you have a basic understanding of this due to simply being in a world with Muggles. Or, if you haven’t ever interacted with Muggles before, you have covered them in some detail in your other classes. Regardless, let me reiterate the definition. A Muggle is simply a person that does not possess the ability to use magic, and is born to two parents who also do not have this ability. That is to say, they are a people that cannot do magic and do not have magic around them. This is in contrast to Squibs, who do not have any or much magical ability either, but do come from at least one magical parent.

As Muggles do not have access to magic, their way of living has developed in a completely different manner than our own. They have different modes of transportation, different forms of entertainment, and even wholly different technologies. Some of these may be completely foreign to you, but throughout the course I hope you’ll come to appreciate these aspects of Muggles’ lives.

Muggles generally live in complete obliviousness to the ways of witches and wizards, even though we have all lived alongside one another for generations. This is due to the International Statute of Secrecy. This has been discussed in other classes previously, but let me refresh your memory.

The International Statute of Secrecy (ISoS) was established in 1692, introduced by the International Confederation of Wizards. This confederation is a global organization with representatives from many nations whose job it is to meet regularly and pass laws for magical people and creatures’ safety. It was established to create a protective barrier for witches and wizards in light of the horrific persecution coming from non-magical people. As an effect of this law, all magic knowledge was to be kept from Muggles so that witches and wizards may live in secrecy and safety. Departments have been formed within the Ministry of Magic of Great Britain whose sole job it is to conceal magical knowledge from Muggles, whether that be the Misuse of Muggle Artefacts Office (who attempt to keep Muggle items unenchanted, so as not to arouse suspicion) or the Muggle-Worthy Excuse Committee (who invent excuses to give to Muggles if one were to see magic accidentally).

Despite the ISoS, there are cases in which Muggles and magical people do interact. Here in Britain, it is legal for the two people to marry, for example, despite the Statute. Trusted Muggles know about the existence of magic, only under close supervision. This hasn’t always been the case however; in America, the controversial Rappaport’s Law was passed in 1790.

The law came about after a man named Bartholomew Barebone was given secret information about magical life, despite the fact that he was a No-Maj. A witch of the name Dorcus Twelvetrees, being young and in love, trusted him with the knowledge of magical people. While the specific information he learnt is unknown, it is generally believed that he learned about the extent of what magic can do. Barebone promptly became fearful and angry that witches and wizards would do something horrible, so it stands to reason that he learned about something of great strength - perhaps something as powerful as the Killing Curse?

This was one of the largest breaches of ISoS in recent history. Barebone, now a fierce opponent of witches and wizards, used this information to spread a massive amount of hate towards magic users, culminating in the desire to massacre a group of suspected wizards. Barebone was arrested by No-Maj law enforcement for doing so. However, the magical legal system got involved as well. The legal system in that country is an organization called Magical Congress of the United States of America, or MACUSA, and is essentially the American equivalent of the Ministry of Magic. After Barebone’s arrest, MACUSA President Rappaport decided to make a law to prevent another devastating breach of information in the future. 

After Rappaport’s Law was passed, it was illegal for magical people to marry, befriend, or even fraternize with No-Majs at all. While the ISoS was developed to protect ourselves from harmful persecution, Rappaport’s Law was considered to be incredibly harsh. Today, we all know not to judge someone based on their blood status, and certainly not say all Muggles are inherently evil simply because some are. This leads us to our next point…

The Importance of Muggles and Interacting with Them

While the ISoS is a necessary statute to have in place, especially in the time of its writing, it is still imperative that we do not truly cut ourselves off from Muggles completely. The effects of Rappaport’s Law were complete segregation, which meant that witches and wizards were totally separated from No-Majs. This is too extreme, as we as a magical people can benefit from learning about non-magical people! Muggles are our brothers and sisters and, even though we must keep some areas of our lives secret from them, we can still respect and learn their ways. 

If you’re taking this course, that means you understand that Muggles are worthy of respect, or in the very least you’re curious to know how Muggles live. Good! I believe that the more one knows about a subject, the less strange and scary it seems. You may have only heard that Muggles should not be trusted, thus the creation of the ISoS, but I hope that you can learn throughout the class that Muggles are as complicated and interesting as we magic users are. Perhaps one day, in your future, we will live in a world where Muggles may once again know about magic and, when it comes, I hope that you all are able to live in harmony.

Until then though, it is important to follow the ISoS and keep one’s magic a secret. This means not practicing spellwork out in the open, not using enchanted objects or transportation near them, and certainly not speaking about anything of our world. You will learn much about Muggle culture in this class that would be appropriate to talk about though, especially if you plan on interacting with Muggles on a regular basis in the future.

Conclusion

Before you all leave for the day, I would like to quickly go over the grading rubric for the course. I do not expect you to be perfect always, but I do expect a certain caliber of work. You are all Third Year students, and are experienced enough to handle somewhat tougher guidelines. Do not let that scare you though; as long as you study the material, read prompts carefully, and put in the appropriate effort, I have no doubt that you’ll succeed in this course.

For quizzes, you need simply to provide the correct answer for the question. A note: if the question calls for a short answer, then I expect said answer to be written in full sentences. 

Essays will generally allow a variety of submission options. If you’d like to answer the prompt in a standard essay format you may, but you are allowed and encouraged to express yourself in any creative way that you’d like as well. So long as your submission addresses the prompt with a clear amount of effort, you will do well in the class.

Essay Rubric:

50% - Content

40% for Effort

10% - Spelling/Grammar

Automatic 0% for plagiarized submissions. This includes short answers; do not simply copy and paste material straight from the lesson or else it will be marked incorrect. 

As is the case with all the other classes you’ve taken so far, you do have the option of placing ‘NES’ (Non-English Speaker) or ‘LD’ (Learning Disability) at the beginning of your essays if that applies to you; this will let the grading team know to grade your submissions appropriately. 

Also, please do not put any identifying marks on your assignments! This includes your name, House, year, etc. This is to keep things as anonymous and unbiased as possible. 

And with that, we’ve reached the end of today’s lesson! I have a couple of assignments for you to complete. If you need to contact me for any reason, please send me a personal message.

Outside Sources:

https://www.pottermore.com/writing-by-jk-rowling/rappaports-law-en 

http://harrypotter.wikia.com/wiki/Magical_Congress_of_the_United_States_of_America 

https://muhammadalfaysalali.wordpress.com/2016/04/03/brotherhood-in-islam/