MUST-401 Lessons

Hello and let me welcome you all back to Muggle Studies today! We’re at our final lesson, and I have seen you all grow and learn so much throughout the year. I hope that you’ve enjoyed learning about the Muggle world so far. We’ve only covered the very basics, and in fact, we’re not even done with those! Today we will be discussing a crucial element of Muggle life you must know about before interacting with the non-magical world: how the two worlds come together and influence each other in the face of crisis.

There have been numerous times in which magic has been part of a ‘natural’ disaster, all of which needed to have been hidden in some way to the eyes of Muggles. This may seem cruel to hear about, especially since you no doubt know that some disasters -- and deaths -- have in fact been caused by magic. In fact, there were Muggle deaths in the midst of the Second Wizarding War even though the victims were entirely innocent bystanders. In an ideal world, those Muggles would have gotten the justice they deserved and their families would have been told what happened… but the ISoS does need to be protected. Therefore, their deaths must also be shrouded in secrecy or otherwise blocked by false memories.

Similarly, there are other disasters in human history that have had a connection to the magical world that most Muggles are still completely unaware of. In today’s lesson, we will cover a small handful of those disasters and how magic either worsened the situation or saved it.

Second Wizarding War

In 1996, the wizarding world was in the middle of a war. War tends not to be cut and dry or stay in one area… and this was the case with the Brockdale Bridge in the UK. Penelope Taylor, a Muggle woman, was quoted regarding a disaster that neither she nor any other Muggles could quite explain:

Just before the attack, we saw these plumes of smoke in the sky. If you looked directly at them, they disappeared, but you could see them out the corner of your eye. Then it all went dark and suddenly everything was exploding. If I hadn't stopped to try to see the smoke, I'd be dead by now. I know that these were devils, punishing us for our decadent Western lifestyle.

The non-magical people who were bystanders had no idea what was going on. However, we surely do. This was an attack made by Death Eaters upon a known Muggle area for the sake of terrorism. Through the work of Dark magic, the bridge twisted this way and that before eventually breaking in half and falling into the River Thames below. It is known that several Muggles were injured in the attack, including Penelope Taylor, and there were a couple of Muggles who lost their lives as well. 

Based on Taylor’s testimony, as well as those of other victims and bystanders, we know that Muggles generally have no idea what happened to the Brockdale Bridge. And that is the way it is going to stay; the only Muggle that was given access to the knowledge of the cause of Brockdale’s demise was the British Prime Minister.

As we discussed in our last lesson, one of the most important Muggle-magical interactions in the UK is of that between the British Prime Minister and the Minister for Magic. The Minister for Magic will inform the Prime Minister of important events that would affect both worlds, and a bridge collapsing and killing some Muggles, of course, fits that bill. That said, the general Muggle populace does not know more than that a freak accident happened.

In the same year, a seemingly strange natural phenomenon occurred in which a hurricane, an ocean storm usually experienced only in tropical climates, had made its way all the way to southwest England. It was extremely violent, with extensive damage being done to properties along the coast and a number of horrific injuries.

Such an event would be unheard of for British citizens and truly, it is rather impossible. In fact, what caused the damage of the storm was not actually a hurricane but, once again, Death Eaters. With the aid of giants, the followers of Voldemort used Dark magic on the ocean waters to completely upend the seaside towns of the English coast. This was similarly done for the purpose of terrorism, which is why the Ministry of Magic enlightened the British Prime Minister of the events and what truly happened. 

Despite the Second Wizarding War involving magical parties, innocent Muggle bystanders were nevertheless affected. It’s important to know this fact when you’re interacting with Muggles as a whole. You must never reveal the true causes of these “natural” disasters and it’s best not to mention the weird occurrences at all. But above all, it’s important to remember the lives that were lost during this tumultuous time, especially the Muggle lives that were lost simply because they were in the wrong place at the wrong time.

Getting Colder

Another interesting example to mention is the winter of 1990-1991 that affected western Europe. This area of the world generally gets mild winters -- snow, yes, but not much of it. However, in this specific year, this part of the world got an amount of snow that was relatively unheard of. All throughout the night of December 7th, the United Kingdom specifically was tormented with extreme cold and gusts that reached blizzard levels. The west coast of England received anywhere from 2 inches (6cm) of snow an hour that night, and some areas even got up to 13 feet (4m)! 

The cold weather continued throughout the month, with snow falling sporadically up through February! This amount of extreme weather would be difficult for any country, but as the people in western Europe did not usually receive this much snow, they were caught unprepared. Many injuries and deaths occurred simply due to driving on the icy roads in such a high wind. Others died on the account of frozen trees falling, and still, some died because they were not able to get the supplies they needed to live.

Another terrible aspect of this winter had to do with power lines. These are the strange ‘trees’ (more commonly known as electric poles) you may see along the road in Muggle areas, with wires between them -- they are what electricity travels through in order to get to a household! Amidst the ice and wind, these poles often fell and it was difficult to right them. While waiting for these lines to be fixed, many homes were without electricity and, therefore, without heat or water. Over half a million people lost power during this period and over a million were without water for days on end. 

So what does this awful tragedy have to do with magical people? Well, you may be wondering why this horrible winter happened on such a large scale. Muggle scientists believe it may have had to do with a cold front coming in from the east, but this winter was colder than they could have expected even from that explanation. The cold front was certainly part of the problem, but a large aspect of it had to do with our criminal fortress, Azkaban.

As you may be aware, Azkaban was guarded by ghastly creatures called Dementors. You will learn more about these creatures in your Sixth Year of Defense Against the Dark Arts, so I will spare you the specifics. Needless to say, they are foul creatures and I do hope you never come across one! They are Dark creatures that feed on happiness which in turn leaves their victims extremely depressed or even dead. They were thought of as good guards for this reason, as they could try to apprehend any potential escapees, as well as punish those who were imprisoned there with horrible depression. 

While the making of these creatures is a bit hazy, most specialists agree that Dementors are ‘born’ in the midst of extreme despair. It is also generally understood that those who work at Azkaban must have some way to create new Dementors or at least control the terrible creatures. We also know that when Dementors are created en masse, they can affect the weather. This usually results in a cold mist that settles in the area. Although the specifics are kept confidential by the Ministry, it is widely believed that a large number of Dementors were created during the winter of 1990-1991. The combination of a true natural cold front plus the Dark creatures’ birth resulted in the unheard-of blizzarding conditions of that winter.

Never fear though! You may remember I said that the cold and snow continued until February? After then, a warm front began to settle in which let everything warm up enough to a more reasonable temperature. Indeed, a natural warm front came through, but that was not entirely without the aid of magickind. Under order of the Ministry, Azkaban was ordered to temporarily limit the number of Dementors in order to limit the reach of their coldness. 

In a strange turn of events, the way of doing this was to not make the prison as depressing as it usually is. For the first - and only - time in history, the prisoners were allowed entertainment. Radios were brought into the building so that music could fill the air. In my experience, music is an excellent way of getting me out of dark moods and, while it was not enough to completely cure the prisoners’ depression, it certainly brightened some spirits. This increase in happiness plus the existing warm front was enough to raise the temperature of the surrounding areas, thus resulting in an end to the horrible winter. After this, it is said that the Azkaban employees were more careful with Dementor creation - making sure it was controlled to a set maximum of creatures. Dementors are no longer used at all thankfully, so we shouldn’t have to worry about this weird disaster happening again in the future… except for a true natural reason.

Conclusion

As you can see, magic has been involved in a number of ‘natural disasters’ in ways Muggles have no idea about. This is for their own protection, of course, but it does beg the question: is the presence of magic worth the lives of the innocent Muggle bystanders? Of course, there’s no good answer to this question but it’s worth considering whenever you think about Muggle-magical relations. Magic is obviously a blessing and does not make us better than Muggles. However it is a significant power we have over non-magic users, and so that gives us a responsibility to protect those without that power, does it not? What do you think?

And this concludes MUST-401! I hope you’ve enjoyed yourself and also learned a lot about Mugglekind. If I leave you with anything at the end of your education at Hogwarts, I hope it is that wizardkind does not exist within a bubble. As much as older generations may want to argue this point, it is impossible to have a magic-only society anymore. And we shouldn’t want to - think of the great progress Muggles have made without the use of magic! What could we accomplish if magic users and non-magic users worked together?

I’ve had great pleasure teaching you this subject this year as well as discussing these tough questions. I hope you all join me next year as we cover even more aspects of the Muggle existence, namely pop culture!

Anna Soleil

Sources:

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