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Activity: The Secret of Magic
Points: Long debate: Participation 10pts, Additional comment: 2pts.
Deadline: April 22, 11:59 PM UTC
Details:
Let's jump right into the magical world's secrets with a debate on the biggest secret of all: the secret of magic itself.
What are your opinions on the International Statute of Secrecy? Is it a fair law? When is it okay to break the law and reveal the secret of magic to Muggles? And what would you do if a Muggle discovered your secret and tried to take advantage of it?
Initial comment of at least 150 words for 10 points, additional comments 2 points each. Let's get a conversation going!
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Date: 2013-04-05 05:49 pm (UTC)caitie / puff / 232 words
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Date: 2013-04-13 11:41 pm (UTC)Emmapuff
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Date: 2013-04-22 02:20 am (UTC)Evyclaw
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Date: 2013-04-22 10:17 am (UTC)On the other hand, parents of Muggleborn students know about magic and seem to see magic as well. Think about the Grangers visiting Diagon Alley or the spontaneous magic of the kid in question.
Kat//Hufflepuff
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Date: 2013-04-22 11:13 pm (UTC)Practicing magic in front of your spouse, should be an okay thing to do. I mean, what harm is going to come in performing a spell to chop carrots, or whatever. I mean would your spouse really be like "OH NO! I SAW YOU CHOP A CARROT!"? I don't think so. I mean, Petunia was afraid of Lily, for what seemed like a long while and resented her for her magic. But, I don't think she ever outright hated her. I think, in front of family, it should be okay to do.
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Date: 2013-04-22 11:39 pm (UTC)Avipuff/8
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Date: 2013-04-05 07:15 pm (UTC)One of the fics I read recently, one in which Harry keeps on reliving his life regardless of how he does, featured the Muggles finally discovering the Wizarding world sometime around 2007. The point was that with the Internet, YouTube, and similar phenomena, Muggles could broadcast the knowledge of Wizards in a convincing way faster than Wizards could Obliviate them... with YouTube posts, for example, having millions of viewers each scattered through the world! The way that particular fic dealt with the issue was that Harry knew of this discovery... and the Muggles subjugating Wizards in a war with very few magical people surviving by 2020 or 2030... and that therefore Muggles, not Voldemort, were the real problem to worry about.
Basically, it worked well enough at its purpose for a couple of centuries - but I simply don't see it holding up under 21st century technology!
William//Slytherin [197]
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Date: 2013-04-08 01:56 pm (UTC)caitie/puff
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Date: 2013-04-14 12:02 am (UTC)Emmapuff
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Date: 2013-04-15 08:37 pm (UTC)Evyclaw
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Date: 2013-04-22 11:08 pm (UTC)Its interesting though, cause you bring up a good point, that Muggles would eradicate Wizards faster than Wizards could Obliviate memories.
Its kind of a scary thought, though. Yeah...real scary.
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Date: 2013-04-22 11:19 pm (UTC)Avipuff/7
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Date: 2013-04-11 06:09 pm (UTC)On the other hand, how ~fair~ is it to have certain magical dangers present and potentially bleeding into the Muggle world exist whilst Muggles are completely unaware of it? I suppose the way the Ministry of Magic has it set up now, with liaisons established for Muggle government, serves to address that issue, and I guess, for what it's worth, they seem to be doing a decent job of helping cover up magic while also ensuring Muggles remain safe.
So at the end of the day I think there is inherently no harm in upholding the International Statute of Secrecy, but I would seriously consider looking into alternatives should the secret ever come out. Doesn't hurt to be ready in case disaster strikes!
Evyclaw
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Date: 2013-04-13 11:34 pm (UTC)The concern over what could happen when Muggles are suffused with fear is so real. SO REAL. Many smarter minds than mine have devoted studies to seeing just how inhuman people get when they are in a large group and not in their right mind. It ain't pretty and it could, like you said, be very bad for magical people.
Emmapuff
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Date: 2013-04-22 10:50 pm (UTC)But then take Harry and Dudley's circumstance. They were in front of Dementors, and only Harry could save Dudley's life. So, in that case, I would think its okay to do it in front of a Muggle, in extreme cases.
But I think on a day to day basis, hiding magic is ridiculous. I don't see why Wizards and Muggles couldn't live in harmony. But of course, you think of things like the Salem Witch Trials, and Joan of Arc. I mean, bad things happen to everyone, everywhere, on an unfair basis everyday. But still, I don't see why we can't all live peacefully and happily.
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Date: 2013-04-22 11:00 pm (UTC)Avipuff/6
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Date: 2013-04-13 11:24 pm (UTC)Emmapuff, 203 words
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Date: 2013-04-15 08:32 pm (UTC)Evyclaw
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Date: 2013-04-18 04:10 pm (UTC)I think the Statute is really important and definitely fair. People are not extremely willing to accept the idea of magic, it's always considered an evil force. Think of the Salem Witch Trails, for instance. While I think the Muggle world is more tolerant than it used to be, it's not hard to imagine a huge backlash if people knew that there were actual wizards and witches and other supposedly mythological and imaginary creatures roaming the world. Muggles have something to lose without the ability to protect themselves against magic, so I could imagine more and more witch hunts and a whole lot of chaos and insanity and death and uggghhh. I would love to think that this wouldn't happen, but there are so many countries that have such a complex about perceived threats that I can't really ignore the plausibility of full scale war against the wizarding world because who knows what they're capable of.
i think it's okay to break it in cases of marriage and other things like that. If a witch or wizard can't perform magic in front of their Muggle spouse... well, something just seems wrong about that to me. "Don't be who you naturally are when the person you devoted your life to is in your presence". Yeah, okay.
As for cases of muggles discovering and taking advantage of their knowledge of someone being magical, I think there should be a department in the ministry that deals with this. The wizard who's been found out would contact the Ministry and then they would send off a very specialized Ministry employee to use memory charms on that person (instead of the wizard doing it themselves, because not everyone is great at memory charms and you would only want to erase that one bit of information... anything more is just cruel imo).
Julia // Gryffindor
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Date: 2013-04-22 02:34 am (UTC)Evyclaw
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Date: 2013-04-19 07:20 pm (UTC)However, the means of enforcing the statute make me uncomfortable. Obliviating seems like such a cruel punishment to a person. I hate to use the word "rape," but invading somebody's brain and wiping their memories away against their will, just because they happened to see something magical, seems really violating to me. Perhaps a better idea would be a binding spell of some sort, so that the Muggle cannot speak or communicate about what they have seen? That seems a little less harsh. Then again, it leaves them to realize what has happened and recognize their punishment for what it is, which is also not a very pleasant consequence. It just seems unfair to me because it's not like that person did anything wrong. The magical person did the wrong thing, by allowing their abilities to be seen. So why punish the innocent bystander?
But that leaves the question of what, then, to do when this sort of thing occurs. Incorporate Muggles into the magical society, and deal with the consequences of that as they arise? Who knows what could happen?
As for when it is okay to break the statute, I would like to say that people should be able to use magic if they need to save somebody's life, like in an emergency situation. Then, look, superheroes could be a real thing! People might then start begging that wizard/witch to use magic to do things for them, too, though. I don't know, it's such a complicated issue. I guess I'd just resign myself to keeping the status quo, because I'm not wise enough to come up with a more suitable answer.
Crystalpuff
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Date: 2013-04-22 02:33 am (UTC)Evyclaw
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Date: 2013-04-22 10:12 am (UTC)On the other hand, Muggles could take advantage of Wizards and therefore Magic, as well. I'm thinking of Muggle dictators using a wizard or two to suppress their people without other Muggle countries even able to figure it out.
The exceptions mentioned in the books sound reasonable to me. If there's a life threatening situation and one uses magic to safe one's own life while Muggles are present or to save the Muggles' life, it is reasonable to use magic and breach the statute.
Kat//Hufflepuff//168 words
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Date: 2013-04-22 09:10 pm (UTC)Avipuff/2
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Date: 2013-04-22 12:36 pm (UTC)That being said, those who are exposed to magic who do not possess it themselves from what we know is the parents of witches and wizards who would hopefully not take advantage of their son or daughter's powers and instead try to be supportive, but if other family members were to find out and let it slip to their friends they might not be the case, so my point is that the law is rather susceptible to circumstance and figuring out where the line is drawn is a tricky matter that does not always end up falling on the side of justice.
Ashleigh//Hufflepuff//210 words.
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Date: 2013-04-22 08:51 pm (UTC)Avipuff/1
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Date: 2013-04-22 08:35 pm (UTC)Avipuff
(206 words)
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Date: 2013-04-22 10:59 pm (UTC)Kristine | Puff
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Date: 2013-04-22 10:44 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2013-04-22 10:57 pm (UTC)Kristine | Puff
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Date: 2013-04-22 10:55 pm (UTC)What I have a hard time with is that I feel the law contributes to a huge gap between wizards and muggles, where some wizards have no desire whatsoever to want to learn about muggles. But the way I see it, wizards are still humans, and even if they have powers other people don’t, they really still should be concerned with the world in general and the people in it. I think wizards knowing and understanding muggles more would be a good thing (plus, then if a muggle accidentally discovers magic being done by someone they know and trust, they are much more likely to accept it. As I assume most of the Muggle parents of half-blood children have done once they realized their child had magical powers. I imagine most parents are more like Hermione’s and less like the Dursleys).
Okay, and now that I read this over, I guess the second paragraph doesn’t really have much to do with the law itself, it’s just a consequence of it. But STILL.
Kristine | Puff | 262 non-sensical words sorry
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Date: 2013-04-22 11:24 pm (UTC)Its hard to judge how people react though, but, really, I just want everyone to get along and live peacefully.
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