For over 400 years, the Wizarding World has lived underground out of fear for the safety of its community. Throughout all of that time, there have only been whispers of the reunion of the Wizarding and Muggle worlds; however in the 2020s, everything has changed. Minister of Magic Hermione Granger has been working closely with the Prime Minister of Britain in order to break down the nearly 500 year old barriers between our worlds.
“Wizard vs Muggle does not matter anymore. All of humanity is facing a truly devastating and unprecedented tragedy, and it is not in our nature as wizards to stand idly by as thousands die,” the Minister of Magic said.
The International Statute of Secrecy (the law that sent all of the Wizarding World into permanent hiding) was signed in the 1600s as retaliation against the non-magical community for the violence inflicted on the Wizarding community during the era of witch burning across the world.
“Muggles do not commit those atrocities anymore, they haven’t for nearly half of a millenia. If you look into Muggle history, they have only grown in tolerance and acceptance, and they are overall a good-hearted population. Now they need help as much as we do, and there is no valid reason to be afraid of them,” The Minister continued.
Minister Granger’s point is valid: the Muggle community has almost completely turned itself around. The Salem Witch Trials took place in the 1600s, then Muggles moved their fixation to enslaving African people and trading them across countries. The 1700s and 1800s were quite dark in the Muggle world: France, England, the United States and many others were at war, and the slave trade was what kept the world’s economy afloat. In the 1800s, Queen Victoria of the United Kingdom and several other world leaders fought against slavery, however it wasn’t until the American Civil War that the world began to truly shut its doors on the issue.
By the early 1900s, the post-slavery world seemed to have turned over – which meant that the terms of the International Statute of Secrecy were considered to be in for a rewrite.
“It’s honestly quite unfortunate,” said Seamus Finnegan, Muggle Studies professor at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. “There have been a few times in our combined histories in which we could have all come together, and the 1900s seemed to be full of promise for the future of Wizard-Muggle relations.”
It is true that the governing bodies of the Wizarding World considered lifting the Statute of Secrecy during the turn of the 20th century, however as we all know, the Muggles destroyed that hope once again. World War I and World War II were the first Muggle conflicts that directly involved the Wizarding World. Kaiser Wilhelm and Adolf Hitler targeted the wizarding community, and thousands of witches and wizards were murdered among the millions of victims in both wars.
The early 20th century was the last time the Wizarding World has considered suing for peace with the Muggle World. Nearly 100 years later, with the outbreak of the coronavirus pandemic, the Wizarding World has suffered a horrendous number of casualties. The total number of deaths around the Wizarding World is almost equal to the death toll among Muggles.
St. Mungo’s Hospital for Magical Maladies and Injuries has determined that with the staggering number of deaths in both the magical and non-magical communities, it seems that wizards are not immune to the disease. COVID-19 does not discriminate in whom it infects and kills.
Head Healer Poppy Pomfrey stated that, “we often forget that the Wizarding World is not as large of a population as we believe. In reality, we are the minority. As the Muggle population declines, our population declines ten-fold.”
Experts have confirmed her exact statement to be true; if the Wizarding World is to learn anything from Muggle history, it’s the fact that humanity itself cannot hope to survive if we put up barriers. Historical barriers such as the violent divisions between Muggle religions, races and sexual orientation have only brought chaos, destruction and bloodshed for hundreds of years.
If a Muggle were to look back upon our own history in the Wizarding World, they would see major similarities between our two worlds. We drew a line in the sand in the 17th century, and we have stubbornly fought to deny the truth for centuries: magical or non-magical does not matter, we are all human and we are all in this together.
Therefore, St. Mungo’s Hospital has begun to work with Muggle hospitals across the United Kingdom, and Gringott’s Bank has begun a proposal to open Diagon Alley to Muggles – with proceeds being donated to the British National Health Service.
The Harry Potter Foundation for Lost Witches and Wizards has also been working with Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry to have the school open its doors to orphaned and abused children of the Muggle community.
“When I was a little boy, Hogwarts was the first place that felt like home,” Harry Potter said. “I want to bring the kids with no school or anything to escape their bad environments, to the place that brought me out from the cupboard under the stairs and into a world of something they’ve always hoped for: magic and hope.”
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