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harry potter - Why are some muggles allowed to know of the magical world?


Throughout the series, there are many muggles which we see that know about the wizarding world, and no effort seems to be made to stop them. All of them seem to fit into the mold of family of wizards, but let me just make a list of the ones we know about.



  1. The Dursleys.


  2. Hermione's parents

  3. Lily/Petunia's family seemed to know a bunch as well.

  4. The British Prime Minister.


I'm sure there are others, but this seems to be a fair start. Why are they allowed to know, and what measures prevent such people from telling other people, letting the cat out of the bag?



Answer



This is a slightly different variation on Tango's answer:



Why do some Muggles know?




There are two categories:




  • Relatives of witches/wizards.


    This is for practical reason (easier when they know); as well as ethical (the wizards with muggle families probably don't WANT to hide from the family, and would likely object to magical means of screwing with families' heads).




  • Government liaison (E.g. Prime Minister of the UK)


    This is:





    1. to ensure that there is no major issues in case of some contact




    2. to assist wizarding world when needed (e.g. search for Sirius Black).




    3. Presumably, so that PM can stop any law enforcement/intelligence agencies from looking in the "magic" direction if they start.








Why isn't that a Big Deal considering the efforts to hide wizarding word from Muggles?



Three reasons:




  1. The relatives are unlikely to say anything if they are explained that "outing" wizarding world will have bad consequences for EVERY wizard, their wizarding family members included.





  2. Who's gonna believe those who say anything? Remember Fudge's chat with PM:



    Cornelius Fudge: "The Minister of Magic only reveals him--or herself to the Muggle Prime Minister of the day. We find it the best way to maintain secrecy."


    Prime Minister: ""But then, why hasn't a former Prime Minister warned me?"


    Cornelius Fudge: "My dear Prime Minister, are you ever going to tell anybody?"



    I mean, you start trying to tell the truth like that; at best you would be thought of as a wackjob and some know-it-all from http://skeptics.stackexchange.com gets a bunch of up-votes showing just why you're nuts; at worst you get put into the psychiatric institution.





  3. Plus, there are magical ways of dealing with exceptions to the first two. (memory charms etc...). Could even be some sort of magically binding "don't tell" oath similar to Unbreakable Vow as preventive measure.


    P.S. Dursleys are a bit different - they don't fit into #1; but they don't even need #3 as they actively pretend magical world doesn't exist all on their own.




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