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harry potter - Were Muggle-born wizards free to talk about their experiences?


Obviously, in the Harry Potter universe, some Muggles know all about wizards. The Dursleys, for example, and the British government, as well as Hermione's family. But at the same time, the Wizarding World has a vested interest in keeping themselves hidden, often going to extreme lengths to preserve the Muggles' ignorance about what's really going on. Some things (like this question) seem to take care of themselves, but word-of-mouth still seems like it would be an issue.


Are there any details provided about how they navigated this issue? Did Hermione ever mention (before the events of the final book where she straight-up mind-wiped them) an inability to tell her parents about anything she was doing? Was there a legal reason why the Dursleys could know about Hogwarts but Marge Dursley couldn't (aside from the Dursley's self-imposed shame)? Did we ever hear about family members' memories being altered after graduation, or any loose-lipped gossips needing to be told to hush up?



Answer



This was already covered on another question here, but high level the answer is simple:





  • Muggles who HAD to know (parents/guardians of wand carriers, Prime Minister) knew. Clear canon.




  • Muggles who were blabbed to, 2 options:




    1. The blabbee thought that the blabber was joking, lying, or nuts.


      Example: See Fudge telling Prime Minister nobody would hear it from him:




      "But then," bleated the Prime Minister, "why hasn't a former Prime Minister warned me--?"
      At this, Fudge had actually laughed.
      "My dear Prime Minister, are you ever going to tell anybody?"
      Still chortling, Fudge had thrown some powder into the fireplace, stepped into the emerald flames, and vanished with a whooshing sound. The Prime Minister had stood there, quite motionless, and realized that he would never, as long as he lived, dare mention this encounter to a living soul, for who in the wide world would believe him?





    2. If the blabbee ended up being named Fox Mulder and was ready to believe - they could always be obliviated, or have their memories messed with. No canon support, but again an obvious approach.







  • Muggles who knew (because they had to), were unlikely to blab for one of 2 reasons:




    1. Parents of wizard kids would not want to harm their children (would YOU want your child to end up in MI5 prison/lab?)




    2. People wouldn't want to be thought to be joking, lying, or nuts - see previos bullet point and Fudge/Prime minister quote.







  • Muggles who blabbed anyway, probably were told NOT to again. In the worst case they could be obliviated as well. No canon evidence but reasonably obvious approach.


    Most of them would not blab




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