For Muggles, the question of how to treat those of other races revolves almost entirely around the various skin tones of humans. However, in the magical world, things are far more complicated. There are several nonhuman species whose intelligence is similar to that of humans. The most well-known of these sapient magical creatures are goblins, house elves, centaurs and giants, but there are others as well, such a sphynxes and merpeople. For many wizards, the question of how to treat our nonhuman brethren is closely tied to how we treat those of "impure" blood status. Since there are so many sapient magical races, it will be difficult to discuss this entire issue in one chapter. The question of human-goblin interactions has led to several wars, and may continue to do so, depending of course on how we address the question of how to treat them.

Something that sometimes comes as a shock to Muggle-borns when they first enter the magical world is discovering the existence of house elves. The servitude of house elves closely resembles to them the now-discredited practice of enslaving other human beings, a practice which has been deemed unethical in Europe and America for centuries. This major shift in the Muggle world was so remarkable that its shockwaves managed to reach the magical community at the time, and the question of whether house elves ought to be freed was raised then. The overwhelming response by the majority of the wizarding world can be summed up in this excerpt from a dissertation written by Perseus Malfoy in 1835:

"The house elf is a fundamentally different creature from Man. In the heart of every man there is a lust for freedom and independence. Man is born to be a ruler of nature, and so to keep him in captivity is against the natural order. Not so with house elves. From birth, the house elf seeks only to serve, and to serve well. The house elf cannot be happy without a master to command him. It is therefore advantageous to both the wizard and the house elf that the wizard should command and the house elf obey. In this way, each can fill his natural role to the benefit of all."

This argument is the same used by wizards today in opposition to those who wish to see house elves freed. Indeed, it is supported by many of the house elves themselves. In researching this book, I spoke to Winky, a house elf who was set free during the Second Wizarding War, and who now works for Hogwarts. When I asked her what house elves thought of freedom, she replied thus:

"House elves is not wanting to be free, sir. House elves is wanting to serve their masters very much. Winky was very sad when Master forced her to be free. Winky wishes Master was still alive so Winky could go back to serving him!"

At this point, the poor creature began to cry uncontrollably, and it took me a long time to finally comfort her.

Still, there are those who believe that house elves are not treated properly and who lobby for reform. The most vocal of these is Hermione Weasley, who now works for the Ministry of Magic in the Department for the Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures. During a hearing at the Ministry discussing one of her petitions in 2002, she gave a speech, during which she said:

"It's true that most house elves don't want to be free, but that's because slavery is all they've ever known. They're taught that their whole purpose in life is to be a slave from the moment they're born, so of course most of them don't want to be free! Still, house elves are people. They have feelings just like you and me, and we ought to pass laws to ensure that house elves are not being mistreated. Many house elves have a tendency to injure themselves if they feel they have not properly served their masters. This can cause serious damage to their bodies and their minds, and the practice ought to be actively discouraged."

Since giving that speech, Weasley has managed to get several pieces of legislation passed which improve conditions for house elves. Many scoff at her attempts, including the majority of house elves, but if she is correct, perhaps house elf attitudes toward freedom will change in the next few decades.

The long history of violence between goblins and wizards is well-known. Wizards often consider goblins to be greedy and power-hungry, while goblins feel the same about wizards. The two points of greatest contention between goblins and humans are the questions of ownership and the refusal of wizards to allow Goblins to own or use wands. For this book, we shall briefly discuss the question of wand ownership, since a full treatment of both topics could fill an entire book on its own.

It has been difficult to find any goblin writings on this subject. Many goblin records were destroyed during the goblin uprisings, when wizards burned many goblin documents with the intention of quelling the goblins' "rebellious tendencies." Since then, goblins have been reluctant to allow wizards access to any documents which express their true feelings on controversial subjects, for fear of wizard retribution. However, Ragnok the Pigeon-toed touches on this subject in his book, "Little People, Big Plans," in which he writes:

"It is wrong for wizards to deny us the right to carry wands. Many wizards see this as just, since we goblins can perform our magic wandlessly, but that is to miss the point. The magical potential of the goblin people remains untapped so long as they are denied this basic tool. The wizard reluctance to grant goblins this right is due to the fear that should goblins use wands, it would demonstrate the ineptitude with which wizards use their feeble magic, something which wizard hubris will not permit them to do."

However, many wizards contend that to allow goblins access to wands would be to invite trouble. Melinda Bobbin, an opinion columnist for the Daily Prophet, wrote an article in 2007 which sums up the argument nicely:

"Wands are a powerful magical tool, easily abused by those who seek great power. To allow goblins, a race with a long history of antagonism toward wizard-kind, access to such a powerful weapon would be not only foolish, but dangerous. Wands allow wizards and witches to perform on an even playing field with other magical races whose wandless magic is far more developed than our own. Goblins, who have never been known to be generous or trustworthy toward wizardkind, would immediately rebel, leading to even more death and suffering. I, for one, think that You Know Who has caused more than enough chaos and destruction for our generation, and that the best course of action is to keep powerful weapons out of the hands of a race that would most certainly turn on us the moment they had the chance."

In general, Bobbin's opinion is representative of the concerns many wizards have regarding other races as well. There is a fear that if centaurs or giants, for example, should be given more freedoms, they would use those freedoms to enact revenge upon the wizarding community. Still, some argue that this does not excuse what they consider to be a continuation of the mistreatment of these magical creatures. Again we must turn to the most vocal activist of our times regarding such matters, Hermione Weasley. In 2009, she contributed an article to "The Quibbler" in which she wrote:

"The way we treat magical creatures is just awful. Many of them joined Voldemort because he promised them rights which we had denied them for so long. When Voldemort returned to power, Dumbledore encouraged the Ministry to make an alliance with the giants and offer them more freedom than they have now, but Fudge and Scrimgeour wouldn't listen to him. Instead, they sided with the likes of Dolores Umbridge, and many wizards died as a direct result when the giants joined Voldemort. The only reason they hate us so much is because we've mistreated them. If we would treat them as equals instead of inferiors, we wouldn't have to fear them any more."

As I have said before, the topic of how wizards interact with non-magical creatures is a vast and complicated one - too large to completely explore in this book. Yet I would feel remiss if I did not at least mention that some argue that the rightful place of wizards is superior to that of other maical creatures. The argument of Perseus Malfoy above touches on this idea somewhat, and it plays an important role with regards to Class Ethics.

I would also like to point out that we have seen a mixture of arguments from both sides of these issues which appeal to both Deontological frameworks and Consequentialist frameworks. This highlights how murky and difficult it can sometimes be to decide what is right and wrong, even with the aid of an ethical theory to guide you. This is not to say that all these arguments are equally valid or correct - I leave that to the reader to decide - but it is worth noting that those who disagree with us have their reasons for doing so, and if we are to convince them otherwise, such reasons must be addressed.

Follow-Up Questions:

Do you think there are any magical creatures who deserve equal rights with humans? If so, which races are those and why? If not, why not?

Do you think house elf attitudes toward servitude are innate or learned? Does this make a difference in how we should treat them?

Is the fear of violence a sufficient reason to give or deny certain races the rights they seek? Why or why not?