![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
It occurred to me the other day to wonder whether a Muggle would adapt more easily to the wizarding world than a witch or wizard might adapt to Muggle society. My conclusion? It would be far easier for the Muggle to adjust to the wizarding world than vice versa.
Consider Harry Potter, for example. Until the age of eleven, he knows absolutely nothing about the wizarding world. His birthday is in July and by the end of September of that same year, he has fitted himself neatly into the wizarding world, even becoming the Seeker of the Gryffindor quidditch team, a game he'd never even heard of two months before. He has also made several new friends.
Despite Draco Malfoy's assertion to Harry on their first meeting in Madam Malkin's robe shop that Muggle-borns shouldn't be allowed into Hogwarts because they haven't been raised to it (Sorcerer's Stone, pg. 78), careful, methodical Hermione Granger has prepared herself as well as she can for the wizarding world. Given her numerous references to Howarts, A History, it is safe to assume that she read every book on the wizarding world that she could get her hands on before boarding the Hogwarts Express on 1 September.
But these are children, and merely Muggle-born (yes, yes, Harry is a half-blood, but he was raised as a Muggle by Muggles), not actual Muggles. What about Muggle adults? What would one of them do if suddenly confronted by the wizarding world, and without someone from the Ministry of Magic handy to modify their memory?
After the initial shock and surprise, a Muggle would very likely settle in well enough. After all, what has really changed for them? They're now aware of the wizarding world, and even though they're without magic themselves, they're quite used to doing without it. They would undoubtedly be able to continue on just always. Even the argument that they wouldn't be able to get into Diagon Alley doesn't hold up: For one thing, they'd really have to reason to do so. But there must be ways for Muggles to get there; how else would Hermione have bought her school things before purchasing her wand?
It is unlikely, however, that such a transition would work as well in the opposite direction. Consider Arthur and Molly Weasley, members of an old -- if impoverished -- wizarding family. When we first see their house through Harry's eyes, we see all the paraphernalia of the everyday wizard life. Dishes wash themselves, meals are prepared with the help of magic, and -- in the movie, at least -- all those Weasley sweaters knit themselves. Would Molly Weasley be able to keep her family going without magic? Does she know how to cook, clean or knit without a wand? And while Arthur may be fairly conversant with items from the Muggle world, he clearly doesn't really know what they're for or how they work. Remember Harry handling the money when he and Mr. Weasley rode the Underground to the Ministry (Order of the Phoenix, pg. 124)?
Molly Weasley may actually know how to cook, clean and knit without magic -- those skills may even be necessary to make the spells work. But what about Narcissa Malfoy? She certainly wouldn't know how to get by in the Muggle world, and though she might eventually figure out how to trade her wizarding gold for Muggle cash, she would still have to keep herself and her family in the meantime, and probably without the help of her Muggle-loathing husband (can you imagine Lucius Malfoy stuck in the Muggle world? Okay, stop laughing now).
The ultimate proof that Muggles would adapt better actually comes from the wizarding world itself. From time to time, just as magical children are born to Muggles, non-magical children are born to wizards. These Squibs, as they are called, must get around the wizarding world with no magic of their own, and we have seen two -- Arabella Figg and Argus Filch -- who do very well. (For the purposes of this essay, Rubeus Hagrid could also be counted as a Squib, even though he has merely been denied the use of the magic that he has been born with).
The wizarding world obviously has and uses some Muggle technology. Wizards can negotiate the Underground, for example, and they have radios -- though they probably work by magic rather than the reception of electromagnetic transmissions. It's clear, however, from their attempts at Muggle dress if nothing else, that the average wizard has less idea of how the Muggle world might work than the average Muggle might have about the wizarding world.
---
References
Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone, Scholastic, 1999.
Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, Scholastic, 1999.
Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, Scholastic, 1999.
Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, Scholastic, 2000.
Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, Scholastic, 2003.
Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, Scholastic, 2005.
Consider Harry Potter, for example. Until the age of eleven, he knows absolutely nothing about the wizarding world. His birthday is in July and by the end of September of that same year, he has fitted himself neatly into the wizarding world, even becoming the Seeker of the Gryffindor quidditch team, a game he'd never even heard of two months before. He has also made several new friends.
Despite Draco Malfoy's assertion to Harry on their first meeting in Madam Malkin's robe shop that Muggle-borns shouldn't be allowed into Hogwarts because they haven't been raised to it (Sorcerer's Stone, pg. 78), careful, methodical Hermione Granger has prepared herself as well as she can for the wizarding world. Given her numerous references to Howarts, A History, it is safe to assume that she read every book on the wizarding world that she could get her hands on before boarding the Hogwarts Express on 1 September.
But these are children, and merely Muggle-born (yes, yes, Harry is a half-blood, but he was raised as a Muggle by Muggles), not actual Muggles. What about Muggle adults? What would one of them do if suddenly confronted by the wizarding world, and without someone from the Ministry of Magic handy to modify their memory?
After the initial shock and surprise, a Muggle would very likely settle in well enough. After all, what has really changed for them? They're now aware of the wizarding world, and even though they're without magic themselves, they're quite used to doing without it. They would undoubtedly be able to continue on just always. Even the argument that they wouldn't be able to get into Diagon Alley doesn't hold up: For one thing, they'd really have to reason to do so. But there must be ways for Muggles to get there; how else would Hermione have bought her school things before purchasing her wand?
It is unlikely, however, that such a transition would work as well in the opposite direction. Consider Arthur and Molly Weasley, members of an old -- if impoverished -- wizarding family. When we first see their house through Harry's eyes, we see all the paraphernalia of the everyday wizard life. Dishes wash themselves, meals are prepared with the help of magic, and -- in the movie, at least -- all those Weasley sweaters knit themselves. Would Molly Weasley be able to keep her family going without magic? Does she know how to cook, clean or knit without a wand? And while Arthur may be fairly conversant with items from the Muggle world, he clearly doesn't really know what they're for or how they work. Remember Harry handling the money when he and Mr. Weasley rode the Underground to the Ministry (Order of the Phoenix, pg. 124)?
Molly Weasley may actually know how to cook, clean and knit without magic -- those skills may even be necessary to make the spells work. But what about Narcissa Malfoy? She certainly wouldn't know how to get by in the Muggle world, and though she might eventually figure out how to trade her wizarding gold for Muggle cash, she would still have to keep herself and her family in the meantime, and probably without the help of her Muggle-loathing husband (can you imagine Lucius Malfoy stuck in the Muggle world? Okay, stop laughing now).
The ultimate proof that Muggles would adapt better actually comes from the wizarding world itself. From time to time, just as magical children are born to Muggles, non-magical children are born to wizards. These Squibs, as they are called, must get around the wizarding world with no magic of their own, and we have seen two -- Arabella Figg and Argus Filch -- who do very well. (For the purposes of this essay, Rubeus Hagrid could also be counted as a Squib, even though he has merely been denied the use of the magic that he has been born with).
The wizarding world obviously has and uses some Muggle technology. Wizards can negotiate the Underground, for example, and they have radios -- though they probably work by magic rather than the reception of electromagnetic transmissions. It's clear, however, from their attempts at Muggle dress if nothing else, that the average wizard has less idea of how the Muggle world might work than the average Muggle might have about the wizarding world.
---
References
Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone, Scholastic, 1999.
Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, Scholastic, 1999.
Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, Scholastic, 1999.
Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, Scholastic, 2000.
Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, Scholastic, 2003.
Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, Scholastic, 2005.
