Skip to main content

harry potter - Can doing magic in front of a Muggle get you expelled or not?


This question is heavily inspired by this one, asked just a few hours ago, but takes a different angle. In particular, this comment by NKCampbell was what made me ask, and the inconsistency noted by Slytherincess in this answer further fuelled it.


In Chamber of Secrets, when Dobby hovers and smashes Aunt Petunia’s wobbly pudding, he immediately receives a missive from Mafalda Hopkirk of the Improper Use of Magic Office that reads as follows (emphasis mine):



Dear Mr Potter,
    We have received intelligence that a Hover Charm was used at your place of residence this evening at twelve minutes past nine.
    As you know, underage wizards are not permitted to perform spells outside school, and further spellwork on your part may lead to expulsion from said school (Decree for the Reasonable Restriction of Underage Sorcery, 1875, Paragraph C).

    We would also ask you to remember that any magical activity which risks notice by members of the non-magical community (Muggles) is a serious offence, under section 13 of the International Confederation of Warlocks’ Statute of Secrecy.



Three years later, when Harry conjures a Patronus to fight off the Dementors that Madam Toad sics on him (and Dudley, presumably inadvertently), he receives an even more strongly worded letter from Mafalda Hopkirk (emphasis mine again):



Dear Mr Potter,
    We have received intelligence that you performed the Patronus Charm at twenty-three minutes past nine this evening in a Muggle inhabited area and in the presence of a Muggle.
    The severity of this breach of the Decree for the Reasonable Restriction of Underage Sorcery has resulted in your expulsion from Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Ministry representatives will be calling at your place of residence shortly to destroy your wand.
    As you have already received an official warning for a previous offence under Section 13 of the International Confederation of Warlocks’ Statute of Secrecy, we regret to inform you that your presence is required at a disciplinary hearing at the Ministry of Magic at 9 a.m. on the twelfth of August.



Naturally, Dumbledore intervenes and Harry remains safe until his hearing. At the hearing, Dumbledore states (to the entire Wizengamot, nonetheless):




‘The Ministry does not have the power to expel Hogwarts students, Cornelius, as I reminded you on the night of the second of August,’ said Dumbledore. ‘Nor does it have the right to confiscate wands until charges have been successfully proven; again, as I reminded you on the night of the second of August. In your admirable haste to ensure that the law is upheld, you appear, inadvertently I am sure, to have overlooked a few laws yourself.



These two statements (taking the first two letters as one, as they essentially say the same thing) directly contradict each other, as far as I can tell, and are completely incompatible if taken at face value:



  • The first letter states that Paragraph C of the Decree for the Reasonable Restriction of Underage Sorcery (DRRUC) at least makes it possible to expel students for breaches of it, and the second letter seeks to carry this out, actually expelling him.

  • Dumbledore’s statement (which is a repetition, apparently, of what he said to Fudge on 2 August, and which Fudge evidently accepted as true) states that the Ministry, and thereby also its laws and decrees, does not have the authority to expel Hogwarts students.


Now, the wording “may lead to expulsion” could theoretically just be hedging, meaning that the Ministry will suggest that the Headmaster expel the student… but that would be a highly uncommon and misleading use of directly citing a legal decree as the source of a statement that something may lead to expulsion. Depending on how exactly Wizarding laws work, it could even be illegal in itself, if that were the correct interpretation of this “may”. And the second letter definitely seems to bear out the fact that no such scenario is implied, hinting that it is the severity of the breach (Patronus > pudding) that has caused the expulsion, and that “may” therefore means “may, depending on the severity of the breach”.


So who’s right? What exactly does Paragraph C of DRRUC say, and what does it authorise the Ministry to do? Why do the warning letters (seemingly) state something that the Ministry itself recognises to be false?



Canon answers preferably, though I’m fairly sure at least the books are mum on the subject—or, if there is some logical flaw in my reading that fully explains and reconciles all the statements given, that will do fine for an answer, too.




Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

harry potter - Do the Kwikspell courses work?

In Harry Potter we are introduced to Kwikspell course in The Chamber of Secrets (and never hear about it again). We see Filch taking courses, presumably by mail. The descriptions of Kwikspell make me think it is for people who are weak in magic (kind of like how Neville was supposed to be when he was younger), but had magic in them nonetheless. However, Ron's comments later in the chapter make it sound like it is mainly for Squibs to learn magic. However, it is strongly implied through out all the books that Squibs are essentially Muggles, and will never be able to do magic. How then is a Kwikspell course supposed to work? Do we have any information to know if it works at all? Is it a scam? An answer from any level of canon is welcome. Answer Kwikspell courses are (probably) useful to some wizards, but not to squibs. The Kwikspell course literature comes with two testimonials. Madam Z. Nettles of Topsham writes: ‘I had no memory for incantations and my potions were a family joke...
Post a Comment
Read more

futurama - How much time is lost in 'Time Keeps on Slippin''

In time Keeps on Slippin' , Farnsworth creates a basketball team which he matures by abusing Chronitons. This leads to time skipping forward by random, but ever increasing amounts. How much time was skipped in this way? Answer Unfortunately, I don't think a good estimate can be made for this, for two reasons: Many of the time skips move forward by an indeterminate amount of time. At one point, the Professor mentions localized regions of space skipping forward much more than others. We then see two young boys on the street below complaining about having to pay social security, only to suddenly become senior citizens and start complaining about wanting their money. Thus, each individual could have experienced a different amount of time skippage.
Post a Comment
Read more

star wars - What "exactly" happens when someone turns to the Dark Side?

When I saw the original Star Wars saga as a kid, the concept of the Dark Side imprinted in me was quite simple. You did a bad thing, so you're a bad person so you go to the Dark Side and keep doing bad things. Now, obviously this doesn't hold true in reality. In my mind it is perfectly reasonable for Luke to kill the Emperor and Vader and then just flee the Death Star and rejoin the Alliance. After all they are at war, those are enemy officers that have captured him and are taunting him by threatening with death of all loved ones and the whole operation was intended to kill the Emperor anyway. The same would hold true for Anakin. He could have killed Mace Windu to save the Chancellor and Padme but that doesn't mean he's going to then go mad and kill all Jedis including children. It doesn't add up from a merely psychological point of view. He had a set of objectives and that made him want to keep the Chancellor alive (quite valid by the way, Mace Windu is quite clums...
Post a Comment
Read more

star trek - Warning regarding forward saucer section in Nemesis?

In Star Trek: Nemesis , just before the Enterprise rams into the Scimitar, Picard sends a text message from his captain's chair arm pad to Troi — who is manning the helm in lieu of the crewman who was just blown out through what was once the view screen — indicating that she should put full impulse on standby. (Literally, if you watch the scene closely, Troi's console prefaces the order with "TXT MSG" !) My question is: Did Picard also somehow warn crew members in the forward saucer section about what was about to happen? The ramming of the Scimitar was a heat of the moment decision. Considering that he also resorted to calling the auto-destruct sequence shortly after (which ended up being offline), he probably was of the mindset that any losses would be acceptable in order to hault Shinzon's march to Earth. Still, I'm curious. Answer The original script indicates that he called for the crew to " brace for impact ". Whether that call (or the comma...
Post a Comment
Read more