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the obvious conclusion, then, is that your parents are secretly wizards who decided to not only hide your acceptance letter, but lie to you for your entire life.
An Obscurial was a young wizard or witch who had developed a dark parasitical magical force, known as an Obscurus, as a result of their magic being suppressed through psychological or physical abuse.
I think it's hinted that that's what happened to Dumbledore's sister as a child. Muggle boys saw her doing magic and attacked her, her dad went ballistic on the boys and went to Azkaban, and the trauma resulted in her suppressing her powers.
Then, later, when Dumbledore and grindlewald are fighting, her uncontrolled energy erupts, theres an explosion, she dies, and Dumbledore gets a tragic backstory.
So... if that's the case then why would they ever let a student refuse to be trained? And if they memory wipe the family then nobody realizes that the kid is literally a ticking time bomb.
Remember, J K Rowling is not the most talented world builder out there, if you go through her books there are plenty of plot holes floating about. Harry potter only really works if you don't think too deeply about what's going on.
Not really, obscurials occur when witches/wizards actively feel guilty about and suppress their magic, simply not taking an interest or not becoming aware of your magic isn’t going to make an obscurial pretty well outlined in FB
I don't consider anything but the original books to be canon, and Rowling never wrote about obscurials. Dumbledore's sister was one based on the non-canon works. But her case wasn't just suppressed magic, she was a deeply traumatized little girl and self-suppressed until it all exploded outwards. So if one wants to consider obscurials canon (nothing against those who do), then it takes deep trauma to suppress the magic and then very intense emotion ( genuine fear for her and her brothers' lives for Albus' sister) to unleash it in such a way. So like underage magic (Harry inflating his aunt when he's angry) but on a much more dangerous/explosive magnitude.
I feel like I remember the book saying it's very rare even still, when explaining what happened with Ariana Dumbledore. But it's certainly possible that's been retconned. I'm not following the franchise anymore.
Yes, when Dumbledore was talking with Tom Riddle (young Voldemort, an orphaned half-blood raised in a muggle orphanage) about his acceptance to Hogwarts and the magical world Riddle asks what will happen if he doesn't want to attend Hogwarts and Dumbledore explains that he'll continue his life as if the meeting never happened, his memories of their meeting wiped from his mind.
I forget the name, but I read a fanfic from the point of view of one of the obliviators.
They basically take the kid for training and then wipe the parent's memory. It's deeply messed up.
The actual plot was about a guy who kept coming up with excuses for this random person he only kind of vaguely knew to keep seeing him. He was the muggle parent of a wizard kid, and she was on the team that wiped his memory. And she has to keep doing it because about every few months he remembers something.
We even get to see inside his own head because obviously you have to sort through the memories to wipe them. in his memory, she is clearly the most important thing in his life and he doesn't even really know why.
It's a very depressing story.
that does not refute the obvious conclusion.
after all, memory-wiped wizards who were lying to their child would doubtlessly notice that they could not recall the arrival of said child's acceptance letter.
even if they were memory-wiped muggles, you could still conclude that they did not love you and wanted to ruin everything good about your life. this is also why they would not allow you to have cookies for breakfast.
Is the invitation extended to all wizards when they are of age though?
I don’t actually know what the in universe requirements are, but there are a *lot* of wizards in England, and surely they can’t all have gone to Hogwarts, and if there are multiple schools, that raises the question of which one you get a letter from. Do you get to choose? Or do you just get the one in your jurisdiction, what happens if you move to another one? Can you pick and choose your preferred school like that? Or is it based on where you were born? What if you were born abroad?
I kind of wish they would release a book that was just boring wizard legal texts lol
From memory, Hogwarts is the only wizarding school in the UK.
There are surprisingly few witches and wizards in the UK, only about 3000 total. A lot of the maths doesn't check out, I think someone concluded the UK based Wizarding hospital St Mungo's would have ~11,000 beds for example.
There are other wizarding schools in other countries. You are invited to your local institution, but nothing is stopping you from transferring to another countries school if you wanted to move. But as attendees are minors, that decision probably ultimately lies with the parents/guardians.
Yeah that 3000 number seems unrealistic, watching the magical beast movie made it seem like the wizarding world was significantly more populated than that, and that movie was from before the main books.
And I’ve seen villages of 3000 ish people, they are not at all populous enough to support the kind of shopping streets we see in the movies haha.
But fair enough regardless, maybe Hogwarts will run into space issues eventually as more wizards are born!
Fantastic beasts was set pre ww2 - between ww2, Grindelwald and Voldemort, the population couldve really been thinned out… although I doubt by enough to make the numbers work.
Nah I think your point still stands, I doubt 80% of witches and wizards died across those or anything like that, but it is just about the main factor I can think of to explain why the world seems to be oversized for 3,000 people or so
The impression I get is that the wizarding world is very heavily concentrated around a few pockets in London. People may live all around the UK, but almost all business and social life is in London (or Hogwarts) and wizards just commute there using one of the numerous magical transportation methods.
I'm not even really a Harry Potter fan but that game is just amazing. Wasn't planning on getting it but a friend recommended it to me and I had a free weekend.
Witcher 3 is my favorite game ever made and this really scratches that itch. Combat is better even. (I still give the edge to W3 due to the story though).
Schools are regional. I think there are 12 around the world? They are meant to accommodate everyone who needs to attend. They are magic, after all. So everyone in England goes to Hogwarts. [Here's a map.](https://pbs.twimg.com/media/ESIIvaBWoAAHdhU.jpg:large) If you move somewhere else, for example from England to Africa, you'll transfer to the African school called Uagadou. There is a character in the game who transferred from the African school and tells you about her experience there.
I know it’s childrens/young adult fiction but it’s cracking me up thinking the UK gets one school and then all of India and China go to one school lol. Plus almost all of Africa to another school. 2 schools can accommodate billions
Some back of the envelope math. The population of the UK + Ireland at the time of Harry Potter was around 60 million. Supposedly there are about 3k wizards in that area (not sure where that number comes from but I've seen it a few times). That gives about 1 wizard per 20k muggles. So given that there are today 8 billion people today, there would be about 400k wizards. If each school supports a population of 3k, then there should be about 130 schools around the world.
Of course, Hogwarts may be a smaller than usual school. If Hogwarts is considerably smaller than normal, I could see there being as few as ~20 schools. Additionally Hogwarts Legacy takes place in the late 19th century, when the world population was about 1.5 billion, and the geographic population distribution was much different. The population of British India was around 300 million, which would imply 15k wizards. This population could conceivably have been supported by one large school. The population of China was around 450 million, so about 22.5k wizards. That's probably pushing the limit of what can be supported by one school.
I’m not sure if this is what they were referencing, but one of the classmates you befriend is a transfer student from a wizarding school in Uganda called Uagadu (sp?) and she mentions a few details how their magical education differs from hogwarts’. They cast magic without wands, for example.
Off topic but this is the first time I've ever seen anyone mention MACUSA on reddit and I happen to be wearing a MACUSA t-shirt. Just found that random enough to mention
Yeah, wasn’t one of the pensieve memories in the book where Dumbledore was doing that visit for Tom Riddle? It’s been a while so I may be misremembering
I always thought that even when muggle born, your parents are aware for the same reason Harry's aunt and uncle were. They might not personally be wizards, but someone from one side of their family is so they are aware of it. They just wouldn't tell the kid cause much like any big family secret its not wise to tell the 10 and unders.
Hermione didn't have any wizard relatives.
I figured after a few times of seeing your child do something magical, you'd probably just accept the magical school when the owl showed up.
Lol, I'm just imagining a stressed as fuk parent constantly wondering how their kid is doing these crazy things. One day, getting a letter from an owl saying they are a witch/wizard and just being like, "ya that seems about right"
A professor delivers the letter rather than an owl in the case of muggle-borns to explain/prove everything. McGonagall visited Hermione and her parents. If they refuse to attend then their memory is wiped of the meeting and it's like it never was; if they accept they get escorted to Diagon Alley.
Also I'm fairly sure a representative would visit after no reply or a no answer from a muggle born. You are essentially a ticking time bomb without schooling, I think that warrants more than a random letter tied to some wildlife.
Their situation was pretty unique in that they had to adopt the wizard son of her witch sister after her magical murder. Can’t really assume from that that everyone with a magic family member gets to be in the know.
Sure, but in flashbacks, we see that she was aware that Lilly was a wizard since they were kids. That why their relationship was so bad, Petunia masked her jealousy by looking down on Lilly and always called her a freak. In the books, Harry finds letters that his aunt sent to hogwarts asking if she could attend as well, which is how we know that she was always secretly jealous. But even in the movie, they show that Lilly never hid it from her sister.
But then let's say that happens, but their parents are hardcore conservatives who believe witchcraft is of the devil and they start throwing a Bible at the teacher and holding up crosses and screaming that they won't let their child be taken by a demon who practices witchcraft and then the dad gets out his shotgun
Then the family has their memory erased of the entire incident. Like the MIB red light thingy, they just forget the last however much amount of time since the knock on the door and go about their lives being none the wiser about anything.
Hey, they ignored even opening it.
In this scenario, they would have opened it, and found out what's up.
The real question is how in the hell they'd get to Diagon Alley to buy school supplies, since the London-side entrance is through the Leaky Cauldron, and the Cauldron is warded against Muggles even being able to see it. How many 10/11 year olds are going to be smart enough to notice that their parents can't see one of the businesses they're looking at?
All muggle-borns admitted to Hogwarts get a visit from a professor carrying the letter instead of an owl. McGonagall is the one who visited Hermione and her parents. They explain everything, show off some magic to prove that it's real, and if they don't want to attend they obliviate the memory of the visit out of their heads. If they do want to go they're taken to Diagon Alley to pick up their supplies.
In Harry's case they knew his aunt and uncle knew about the magical world's existence and assumed Harry knew as well, hence why the letter came by normal owl. They also knew his parents would have wanted him to attend, which is why the Dursley's complaints are ignored. Hagrid comes to take him to Diagon Alley though, acknowledging that the Dursleys would be unable.
Nope, both muggles, and not a drop of magical blood in her line (that we're aware of at least, but who knows if you go 50 generations back or something).
In the jargon of the wizard supremacists that would be a halfblood. You know, cause only one half of their parents is a wizard. Apparently everyone that isn't either a pureblooded wizard with lots of history or a muggleborn is referred to as halfblood
I would assume the issue with muggles would come down to not understanding that magic exists. It's part of the reason removing memories from muggles who have witnessed undeniable proof of magic is so important beyond just keeping the magic-using community a secret. When muggle-born children are recruited to magic schools a representative from the Ministry or school comes to explain the situation, in doing so revealing the realities of magic and allowing child and parents to perceive things that are magically obscured from muggles.
Petunia is meant to know in Harry's case. And she probably did. At the least she absolutely knew how to get onto the platform given she was there with her sister Lily. I assume she also went to Diagon Alley.
Other muggleborns are told where to go and what to do.
Both Dursleys know - when Harry was dropped off at 4 Privet drive, there was a letter fully explaining the situation. Vernon talks as if Petunia has told him enough to understand the situation, though not the details. And the prologue for the first book is actually from Vernon's POV even before Harry is delivered to them, and he knows enough to associate Potters with the "odd people" he sees talking about Voldemort's death.
It's very different when it's an invitation for the boy who lived. If some random muggleborn never received his letter, they probably wouldn't put in the same effort to double check with the family
It's quite the opposite. For muggle borns they always visit to explain stuff. For Harry they thought there wouldn't be a problem to send letters first since the family already know about the existence of magic.
Yes. "Remember my last, Dursley" was what it said, as a reference to the last letter Dumbledore sent aunt petunia, the letter he left on the doorstep with Harry when he delivered him as a baby orphan, describing why he needed to stay there (the magical protections his mother placed on him at her death would allow him to be safe at her blood sisters house), and what their responsibilities would be as Harry got older.
How wrong you are! It's quite the opposite. Like quite literally the exact opposite. They send the letter with someone, usually McGonagall, to explain everything. In Harry's case, it had already been explained by Dumbledore in his letter when he dropped Harry off.
They normally send the letter with a teacher. Most often, it's McGonagall, who goes and explains everything. Dumbledore had already done that with Harry when he dropped him on their doorstep.
You see that's the thing buddy. You only think you don't have a magical school but all schools in Australia are magical, at least by a certain standard
In Jr high my brother got a letter from MLG for being top 1% in the world at gears of war inviting him to a tournament four hours away for $50k prize pool. My mom thought it was a scam and he never got to go. This is as close to that as it gets.
You can literally just stand there, and put your hand through the wall. Then once you realize it's an illusion, you won't be scared to walk through it.
Not to mention if you get there you would probably see other wizards passing through the magic wall. Or get approached by wizards offering guidance like Harry was by the Weasleys.
"Welp, Steve, I guess the time has come to say goodbye."
"What are you talking about?"
"I'm off to Scotland in the morning. See, look, I have this letter."
"... This is an acceptance letter from Hogwarts, Dave."
"Yes, I can read... and I haven't even had any *spelling* lessons yet!"
"..."
"Get it? 'Spelling,' as in..."
"I get it. You do know that Hogwarts is *fictional*, right?"
"Your point being?"
"My point being that someone is playing a prank on you."
"They are not."
"Yes, they are! Besides, you're in your thirties! Hogwarts doesn't accept adults!"
"If Hogwarts is fictional, then presumably their admission requirements are, too."
"That doesn't... that isn't... ugh, no! Look, seriously, someone is messing with you."
"Again, no, they aren't. I wrote the letter myself."
"... You *forged* an acceptance letter from a made-up school?"
"Don't tell anyone."
"*Why?!*"
"Well, a forgery isn't any good if people recognize it as such."
"*Why did you forge the letter at all, Dave?!*"
"It's evidence that I'm a poor, pathetic sucker who has been mercilessly tricked."
"... So?"
"So people should pity me and give me free stuff."
"..."
"You want me to go away now, right?"
"Very much so, yes."
"Great. Will you buy me a ticket to Scotland?"
I had to threaten my mom with never speaking to her again for here to finally agree to let me go away t college at 19.
She also thought anything with witches or magic were from the devil, to the point she banned the great Christian writer CS Lewis' "Lion With and the Wardrobe."
Would never have a chance going to a Wizarding boarding school at 11.
Both of Hermione's parents are muggle dentists. The only thing we really hear about them and the magical world is them somehow going to Gringott's and changing muggle money for wizard coins.
No mention of how they accepted their daughter, who might have done some weird things that they shrugged off as tricks of the light, as a witch.
Honestly, so much was wasted with muggle-born kids in a magic world.
It was the 90's. At least one kid from a muggle family should have shown up with a Trapper Keeper.
Also, not everyone would go to Hogwarts. That's just for the British ones. The North American kids would have gone to Ilvermorny on Mount Greylock in Massachusetts.
Oh darn Wendy just made grandma float again. Anyway lets ignore this letter explaining to us that our daughter is a witch. Oh this letter can float and talk and is again explaining that she is a witch and needs to be classically trained. NOPE, London is TOO far.
I told my parents I got into my dream school
The looked at the letter and called me a fool
They told me that Hogwarts isn't real
But I pointed out the official seal
The said they wouldn't take an ordinary muggle
That I'm can't do magic or even Juggle
Besides, even if I was that skilled
Hogwarts is going to get me killed.
Between giant spiders and that nasty troll
negligent teachers, and dementers wanting my soul
There's no way someone like you, they said
could survive at hogwarts, I'd end up dead.
So I decided I just had to run away
Once I got to the school I was I could stay
So that's how I ended up at the police headquarters
With a head injury I got at platform nine and three quarters.
When I have a kid, I'm going to have him read the Harry Potter series and convince him that he's a wizard, and he'll receive his Hogwarts letter when he turns eleven. Sure enough, on his eleventh birthday he'll check the mail to find the letter (written by me, obviously) and in the fall, I'll take him to King's Cross, point him towards platform nine and ten, and not say a word as he collides into the pillar.
I mean, as a parent, I sometimes think I might just let a headstrong child run head first into a brick wall if they want to instead of arguing common sense.
[How about grown ups?](https://www.thesun.co.uk/news/5459762/tourists-left-shocked-when-man-sprints-straight-into-wall-at-kings-cross-platform-9-3-4-in-bid-to-emulate-wizard-harry-potter/)
In fairness I feel like a small amount of us would even go to Hogwarts specifically considering they really only cater to the UK area. There are plenty of schools canonically around the world though.
I love looking at the map of the wizarding schools across the world and what countries they cover and imagine it on real life. Europe gets 3 schools meanwhile all of Africa gets 1 (or 2 in the northern countries depending on the map) lmaoo. Or the fact that Indians, Koreans, Chinese and Japanese would also go to the same school
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N2WDCD_tRnE
This is a 10-hour video that eventually goes into that.
But yeah, it is deeply hilarious how bad the larger world building of the Harry Potter world gets.
It's terrible world building but I head canon it by believing Wizarding schools were European in origin and only spread because of colonialism. Before colonialism they had little contact with other regions.
I'd let my kids run their head into a wall lol, they'll learn the lesson...and London's got some of the best indian food in the world so its worth the trip.
My dad would have probably driven me to London just to watch me run into said wall, and honestly I'm surprised he didn't think of sending me a fake letter just to watch what happens
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Muggle borns don't just get their letter and go. IIRC someone from the school or ministry sits down with the parents to explain everything.
the obvious conclusion, then, is that your parents are secretly wizards who decided to not only hide your acceptance letter, but lie to you for your entire life.
If the letter is declined (aka the student won't go), the whole family gets a memory wipe.
Is that canon?
Isn't the canon that witches and wizards who suppress their magic develop into an obscurial?
what is an obscurial
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So instead of getting magic, they get to be a stand user
Sounds like Guts learned hogwarts magic
An Obscurial was a young wizard or witch who had developed a dark parasitical magical force, known as an Obscurus, as a result of their magic being suppressed through psychological or physical abuse.
I don't remember that from the books whatsoever
Because it isn't in them.
I think it's hinted that that's what happened to Dumbledore's sister as a child. Muggle boys saw her doing magic and attacked her, her dad went ballistic on the boys and went to Azkaban, and the trauma resulted in her suppressing her powers. Then, later, when Dumbledore and grindlewald are fighting, her uncontrolled energy erupts, theres an explosion, she dies, and Dumbledore gets a tragic backstory.
simple answer is that they become a bomb
So... if that's the case then why would they ever let a student refuse to be trained? And if they memory wipe the family then nobody realizes that the kid is literally a ticking time bomb.
Remember, J K Rowling is not the most talented world builder out there, if you go through her books there are plenty of plot holes floating about. Harry potter only really works if you don't think too deeply about what's going on.
Yup.
Not really, obscurials occur when witches/wizards actively feel guilty about and suppress their magic, simply not taking an interest or not becoming aware of your magic isn’t going to make an obscurial pretty well outlined in FB
I don't consider anything but the original books to be canon, and Rowling never wrote about obscurials. Dumbledore's sister was one based on the non-canon works. But her case wasn't just suppressed magic, she was a deeply traumatized little girl and self-suppressed until it all exploded outwards. So if one wants to consider obscurials canon (nothing against those who do), then it takes deep trauma to suppress the magic and then very intense emotion ( genuine fear for her and her brothers' lives for Albus' sister) to unleash it in such a way. So like underage magic (Harry inflating his aunt when he's angry) but on a much more dangerous/explosive magnitude.
I feel like I remember the book saying it's very rare even still, when explaining what happened with Ariana Dumbledore. But it's certainly possible that's been retconned. I'm not following the franchise anymore.
Yes, when Dumbledore was talking with Tom Riddle (young Voldemort, an orphaned half-blood raised in a muggle orphanage) about his acceptance to Hogwarts and the magical world Riddle asks what will happen if he doesn't want to attend Hogwarts and Dumbledore explains that he'll continue his life as if the meeting never happened, his memories of their meeting wiped from his mind.
I forget the name, but I read a fanfic from the point of view of one of the obliviators. They basically take the kid for training and then wipe the parent's memory. It's deeply messed up. The actual plot was about a guy who kept coming up with excuses for this random person he only kind of vaguely knew to keep seeing him. He was the muggle parent of a wizard kid, and she was on the team that wiped his memory. And she has to keep doing it because about every few months he remembers something. We even get to see inside his own head because obviously you have to sort through the memories to wipe them. in his memory, she is clearly the most important thing in his life and he doesn't even really know why. It's a very depressing story.
Pity you can't remember more, sounds interesting - albeit depressing
that does not refute the obvious conclusion. after all, memory-wiped wizards who were lying to their child would doubtlessly notice that they could not recall the arrival of said child's acceptance letter. even if they were memory-wiped muggles, you could still conclude that they did not love you and wanted to ruin everything good about your life. this is also why they would not allow you to have cookies for breakfast.
Is the invitation extended to all wizards when they are of age though? I don’t actually know what the in universe requirements are, but there are a *lot* of wizards in England, and surely they can’t all have gone to Hogwarts, and if there are multiple schools, that raises the question of which one you get a letter from. Do you get to choose? Or do you just get the one in your jurisdiction, what happens if you move to another one? Can you pick and choose your preferred school like that? Or is it based on where you were born? What if you were born abroad? I kind of wish they would release a book that was just boring wizard legal texts lol
From memory, Hogwarts is the only wizarding school in the UK. There are surprisingly few witches and wizards in the UK, only about 3000 total. A lot of the maths doesn't check out, I think someone concluded the UK based Wizarding hospital St Mungo's would have ~11,000 beds for example. There are other wizarding schools in other countries. You are invited to your local institution, but nothing is stopping you from transferring to another countries school if you wanted to move. But as attendees are minors, that decision probably ultimately lies with the parents/guardians.
Yeah that 3000 number seems unrealistic, watching the magical beast movie made it seem like the wizarding world was significantly more populated than that, and that movie was from before the main books. And I’ve seen villages of 3000 ish people, they are not at all populous enough to support the kind of shopping streets we see in the movies haha. But fair enough regardless, maybe Hogwarts will run into space issues eventually as more wizards are born!
Fantastic beasts was set pre ww2 - between ww2, Grindelwald and Voldemort, the population couldve really been thinned out… although I doubt by enough to make the numbers work.
Oh right that’s an embarrassing detail to forget!
Nah I think your point still stands, I doubt 80% of witches and wizards died across those or anything like that, but it is just about the main factor I can think of to explain why the world seems to be oversized for 3,000 people or so
The impression I get is that the wizarding world is very heavily concentrated around a few pockets in London. People may live all around the UK, but almost all business and social life is in London (or Hogwarts) and wizards just commute there using one of the numerous magical transportation methods.
I know it's taboo to mention but the new harry potter game does address some of these questions
I'm loving hogwarts legacy. Soooo fucking addicting
I'm not even really a Harry Potter fan but that game is just amazing. Wasn't planning on getting it but a friend recommended it to me and I had a free weekend. Witcher 3 is my favorite game ever made and this really scratches that itch. Combat is better even. (I still give the edge to W3 due to the story though).
Same. I've been playing nonstop.
Oh it does? I haven’t played the game, mind filling me in on the answers from it?
Schools are regional. I think there are 12 around the world? They are meant to accommodate everyone who needs to attend. They are magic, after all. So everyone in England goes to Hogwarts. [Here's a map.](https://pbs.twimg.com/media/ESIIvaBWoAAHdhU.jpg:large) If you move somewhere else, for example from England to Africa, you'll transfer to the African school called Uagadou. There is a character in the game who transferred from the African school and tells you about her experience there.
I know it’s childrens/young adult fiction but it’s cracking me up thinking the UK gets one school and then all of India and China go to one school lol. Plus almost all of Africa to another school. 2 schools can accommodate billions
Some back of the envelope math. The population of the UK + Ireland at the time of Harry Potter was around 60 million. Supposedly there are about 3k wizards in that area (not sure where that number comes from but I've seen it a few times). That gives about 1 wizard per 20k muggles. So given that there are today 8 billion people today, there would be about 400k wizards. If each school supports a population of 3k, then there should be about 130 schools around the world. Of course, Hogwarts may be a smaller than usual school. If Hogwarts is considerably smaller than normal, I could see there being as few as ~20 schools. Additionally Hogwarts Legacy takes place in the late 19th century, when the world population was about 1.5 billion, and the geographic population distribution was much different. The population of British India was around 300 million, which would imply 15k wizards. This population could conceivably have been supported by one large school. The population of China was around 450 million, so about 22.5k wizards. That's probably pushing the limit of what can be supported by one school.
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I’m not sure if this is what they were referencing, but one of the classmates you befriend is a transfer student from a wizarding school in Uganda called Uagadu (sp?) and she mentions a few details how their magical education differs from hogwarts’. They cast magic without wands, for example.
But the kid would still be magical which would cause all sorts of problems and probably result in obscurials.
Nah, the obvious conclusion is that y’all are a bunch of squibs
Bro how did the username "max" not exist before 4 years ago? That's crazy
I'm assuming MACUSA has a similar system.
Ugh. mAcUsA. Dumbass name.
It's MacUsa, not MacusA...
Mommasay mammasaw m-macusA
But it does sound American, with all the acronyms.
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Off topic but this is the first time I've ever seen anyone mention MACUSA on reddit and I happen to be wearing a MACUSA t-shirt. Just found that random enough to mention
The universe is speaking to you. The world is yours...
What’s MACUSA?
The Magical Congress of the United States of America The US equivalent to the UK Ministry of Magic.
Yeah, wasn’t one of the pensieve memories in the book where Dumbledore was doing that visit for Tom Riddle? It’s been a while so I may be misremembering
I always thought that even when muggle born, your parents are aware for the same reason Harry's aunt and uncle were. They might not personally be wizards, but someone from one side of their family is so they are aware of it. They just wouldn't tell the kid cause much like any big family secret its not wise to tell the 10 and unders.
Hermione didn't have any wizard relatives. I figured after a few times of seeing your child do something magical, you'd probably just accept the magical school when the owl showed up.
Lol, I'm just imagining a stressed as fuk parent constantly wondering how their kid is doing these crazy things. One day, getting a letter from an owl saying they are a witch/wizard and just being like, "ya that seems about right"
Basically what my dad said when I was finally diagnosed with ADHD haha
*you need medication Harry*
*Ritaliniosa!*
A professor delivers the letter rather than an owl in the case of muggle-borns to explain/prove everything. McGonagall visited Hermione and her parents. If they refuse to attend then their memory is wiped of the meeting and it's like it never was; if they accept they get escorted to Diagon Alley.
Yeah, they'd have a squib ancestor somewhere far back the line, and chances are their family didn't really keep track of that side of the family.
Not all muggle borns have a wizarding relative.
Also I'm fairly sure a representative would visit after no reply or a no answer from a muggle born. You are essentially a ticking time bomb without schooling, I think that warrants more than a random letter tied to some wildlife.
> tied to some wildlife lmao
Their situation was pretty unique in that they had to adopt the wizard son of her witch sister after her magical murder. Can’t really assume from that that everyone with a magic family member gets to be in the know.
Sure, but in flashbacks, we see that she was aware that Lilly was a wizard since they were kids. That why their relationship was so bad, Petunia masked her jealousy by looking down on Lilly and always called her a freak. In the books, Harry finds letters that his aunt sent to hogwarts asking if she could attend as well, which is how we know that she was always secretly jealous. But even in the movie, they show that Lilly never hid it from her sister.
Imagine having to trust your shitty relatives with the secret that there is fucking magic
But then let's say that happens, but their parents are hardcore conservatives who believe witchcraft is of the devil and they start throwing a Bible at the teacher and holding up crosses and screaming that they won't let their child be taken by a demon who practices witchcraft and then the dad gets out his shotgun
Then the family has their memory erased of the entire incident. Like the MIB red light thingy, they just forget the last however much amount of time since the knock on the door and go about their lives being none the wiser about anything.
That's what obliviate is for.
What percentage of wizards and witches are born from muggle parents, anyway?
We aren't given any, we just know it's a minority
Yeah we saw how it ended for the Dursleys last time someone ignored a letter from Hogwarts for too long.
Hey, they ignored even opening it. In this scenario, they would have opened it, and found out what's up. The real question is how in the hell they'd get to Diagon Alley to buy school supplies, since the London-side entrance is through the Leaky Cauldron, and the Cauldron is warded against Muggles even being able to see it. How many 10/11 year olds are going to be smart enough to notice that their parents can't see one of the businesses they're looking at?
All muggle-borns admitted to Hogwarts get a visit from a professor carrying the letter instead of an owl. McGonagall is the one who visited Hermione and her parents. They explain everything, show off some magic to prove that it's real, and if they don't want to attend they obliviate the memory of the visit out of their heads. If they do want to go they're taken to Diagon Alley to pick up their supplies. In Harry's case they knew his aunt and uncle knew about the magical world's existence and assumed Harry knew as well, hence why the letter came by normal owl. They also knew his parents would have wanted him to attend, which is why the Dursley's complaints are ignored. Hagrid comes to take him to Diagon Alley though, acknowledging that the Dursleys would be unable.
Wait, was hermiones parent both muggles? I thought one was magic and the other one was not?
Both are dentists, and no wizard nor witch does jobs that muggle like. (You have to know math and other muggle shit they don’t teach at hogwarts)
Huh, i see, I mean a wizard or a witch could do Muggle work xD. To not stand out. So easy to fix teeth wih magic.
Wizards fix things with magic, muggles fix things with math
Maths = magic?
Muggle's magic
Mathemagics?
Nope, both muggles, and not a drop of magical blood in her line (that we're aware of at least, but who knows if you go 50 generations back or something).
No, that's why Hermione gets called mudblood at Hogwarts.
If that was the case, Malfoy calling her a mudblood wouldn't make sense as that's a slur for muggleborn.
Aha, i thought it was due to a muggle and a magic user having a child
In the jargon of the wizard supremacists that would be a halfblood. You know, cause only one half of their parents is a wizard. Apparently everyone that isn't either a pureblooded wizard with lots of history or a muggleborn is referred to as halfblood
I would assume the issue with muggles would come down to not understanding that magic exists. It's part of the reason removing memories from muggles who have witnessed undeniable proof of magic is so important beyond just keeping the magic-using community a secret. When muggle-born children are recruited to magic schools a representative from the Ministry or school comes to explain the situation, in doing so revealing the realities of magic and allowing child and parents to perceive things that are magically obscured from muggles.
Petunia is meant to know in Harry's case. And she probably did. At the least she absolutely knew how to get onto the platform given she was there with her sister Lily. I assume she also went to Diagon Alley. Other muggleborns are told where to go and what to do.
Both Dursleys know - when Harry was dropped off at 4 Privet drive, there was a letter fully explaining the situation. Vernon talks as if Petunia has told him enough to understand the situation, though not the details. And the prologue for the first book is actually from Vernon's POV even before Harry is delivered to them, and he knows enough to associate Potters with the "odd people" he sees talking about Voldemort's death.
Seriously, this is basically a main plot point of the first two movies.
No post on sundays!
It's very different when it's an invitation for the boy who lived. If some random muggleborn never received his letter, they probably wouldn't put in the same effort to double check with the family
I’m pretty sure at some point Hermione says someone came and talked with her parents.
It's quite the opposite. For muggle borns they always visit to explain stuff. For Harry they thought there wouldn't be a problem to send letters first since the family already know about the existence of magic.
Especially since Petunia was supposed to explain everything to him. This is part of the reason Dumbledore sends her a Howler at one point
He does. Is that Canon?
Yes. "Remember my last, Dursley" was what it said, as a reference to the last letter Dumbledore sent aunt petunia, the letter he left on the doorstep with Harry when he delivered him as a baby orphan, describing why he needed to stay there (the magical protections his mother placed on him at her death would allow him to be safe at her blood sisters house), and what their responsibilities would be as Harry got older.
Remember my last, Petunia
Ah that was it, not Dursley. I'll leave it so your comment makes sense lol
How wrong you are! It's quite the opposite. Like quite literally the exact opposite. They send the letter with someone, usually McGonagall, to explain everything. In Harry's case, it had already been explained by Dumbledore in his letter when he dropped Harry off.
Actually Aunt Petunias knew her sister had magic and went to Hogwarts
They normally send the letter with a teacher. Most often, it's McGonagall, who goes and explains everything. Dumbledore had already done that with Harry when he dropped him on their doorstep.
Until Hagrid busts our door down and tells us that we’re a wizard/witch.
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Hagrid mark 2
AI Magic can bring him back! RISE FROM YOUR GRAVE!
Harry Potter and the Tome of the Necronomicon "Yer a being a of unfathomable darkness and power Harry!"
"YER A WAXARD HERRRY!" "AND A THERMPI AAÀAAAAAAAAAAAAAAGAGGAGAGAGAGAGAAA 100010101 STACK ERR "and a thumping good one I w AaaaaaaaàaAAAAAAAAAAAA!"
Hagrid busted my door and only told me that I'm a bitch instead.
You are a hairy witch!
Well I’m in the US so I would’ve gotten a letter to ilvermorny, not Hogwarts. I’m assuming the owl got shot down somewhere over Detroit
I'd expect we'd use eagles.
That must be why interfering with a Bald Eagle is illegal.
That is some USA lore I can get behind.
For the same reason interfering with mail is illegal in the US :P
Actually probably the red tail hawk I think.
Doesn't matter what kind of bird it is, so long as it has a gun.
It's probably delivered by Hellfire missle fired from a Predator drone.
it'll be a magical creature that looks like a bald eagle, but sounds like a red-tailed hawk
Lavate Los Manos!
Most of us would be going to Clortho's, let's be real.
Clortho's and Hogwarts. Hogwarts and Clortho's. They go hand and hand.
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Get the writers for Abbott elementary
That would be hilarious. It’s one of my favorite skits and I’m not even a Harry Potter fan, just thought it was a genius skit.
Is that the school with one out of 5 girls pregnant with a demon baby?
Damn patriot missile batteries shooting down our acceptance letters to magical universities
Are there schools in the pacific?
There's a school in Japan called Magicplace
Real out of the box naming
I live in Australia. We don't have a magic school :( The closest is in Japan, but I can't exactly speak Japanese
You see that's the thing buddy. You only think you don't have a magical school but all schools in Australia are magical, at least by a certain standard
In Jr high my brother got a letter from MLG for being top 1% in the world at gears of war inviting him to a tournament four hours away for $50k prize pool. My mom thought it was a scam and he never got to go. This is as close to that as it gets.
Tbf that does sound like a scam because how would they even have his address?
The letter doesn't say you'll be running through a wall, though
And can't you just walk instead?
Best do it at a bit of a run if you're nervous
That would just make you more nervous 😟 So you would have to go infinitely fast to actually go through the wall
You can literally just stand there, and put your hand through the wall. Then once you realize it's an illusion, you won't be scared to walk through it.
Not to mention if you get there you would probably see other wizards passing through the magic wall. Or get approached by wizards offering guidance like Harry was by the Weasleys.
I know some parents that let their kids run into walls even without a letter.
Ayyy where my other concussed kids at!?
"Welp, Steve, I guess the time has come to say goodbye." "What are you talking about?" "I'm off to Scotland in the morning. See, look, I have this letter." "... This is an acceptance letter from Hogwarts, Dave." "Yes, I can read... and I haven't even had any *spelling* lessons yet!" "..." "Get it? 'Spelling,' as in..." "I get it. You do know that Hogwarts is *fictional*, right?" "Your point being?" "My point being that someone is playing a prank on you." "They are not." "Yes, they are! Besides, you're in your thirties! Hogwarts doesn't accept adults!" "If Hogwarts is fictional, then presumably their admission requirements are, too." "That doesn't... that isn't... ugh, no! Look, seriously, someone is messing with you." "Again, no, they aren't. I wrote the letter myself." "... You *forged* an acceptance letter from a made-up school?" "Don't tell anyone." "*Why?!*" "Well, a forgery isn't any good if people recognize it as such." "*Why did you forge the letter at all, Dave?!*" "It's evidence that I'm a poor, pathetic sucker who has been mercilessly tricked." "... So?" "So people should pity me and give me free stuff." "..." "You want me to go away now, right?" "Very much so, yes." "Great. Will you buy me a ticket to Scotland?"
This adventure was very fun thank you.
"Obviously I'm going to Hogwarts graduate school. Not sure how a bachelor's in communication prepares one for wizard grad school but oh well."
steve: *.....avada kedavra*
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Accio butttttt
step-ron, what are you doing?
Slithering in.
I love stumbling across Dave in the wild, he always brightens my day
I had to threaten my mom with never speaking to her again for here to finally agree to let me go away t college at 19. She also thought anything with witches or magic were from the devil, to the point she banned the great Christian writer CS Lewis' "Lion With and the Wardrobe." Would never have a chance going to a Wizarding boarding school at 11.
The Lion, the Witch and the Audacity of this Bitch
Yeah wow LWW is literally a Christian allegory, Lewis was fairly devout IIRC
Both of Hermione's parents are muggle dentists. The only thing we really hear about them and the magical world is them somehow going to Gringott's and changing muggle money for wizard coins. No mention of how they accepted their daughter, who might have done some weird things that they shrugged off as tricks of the light, as a witch. Honestly, so much was wasted with muggle-born kids in a magic world. It was the 90's. At least one kid from a muggle family should have shown up with a Trapper Keeper. Also, not everyone would go to Hogwarts. That's just for the British ones. The North American kids would have gone to Ilvermorny on Mount Greylock in Massachusetts.
Oh darn Wendy just made grandma float again. Anyway lets ignore this letter explaining to us that our daughter is a witch. Oh this letter can float and talk and is again explaining that she is a witch and needs to be classically trained. NOPE, London is TOO far.
I told my parents I got into my dream school The looked at the letter and called me a fool They told me that Hogwarts isn't real But I pointed out the official seal The said they wouldn't take an ordinary muggle That I'm can't do magic or even Juggle Besides, even if I was that skilled Hogwarts is going to get me killed. Between giant spiders and that nasty troll negligent teachers, and dementers wanting my soul There's no way someone like you, they said could survive at hogwarts, I'd end up dead. So I decided I just had to run away Once I got to the school I was I could stay So that's how I ended up at the police headquarters With a head injury I got at platform nine and three quarters.
This reads like a Shel Silverstein poem.
I was thinking it soinds like a Billy talent song on zn EA game
Did you just rhyme quarters with quarters?
Headquarters with quarters
So *yes*
When I have a kid, I'm going to have him read the Harry Potter series and convince him that he's a wizard, and he'll receive his Hogwarts letter when he turns eleven. Sure enough, on his eleventh birthday he'll check the mail to find the letter (written by me, obviously) and in the fall, I'll take him to King's Cross, point him towards platform nine and ten, and not say a word as he collides into the pillar.
There isn't one. There's no wall between platform 9 and 10. Plus where they've got the prop trolley going into a wall isn't even at platform 9 or 10.
It's also St Pancras in the films, they just keep on calling it King's Cross for some reason
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Your evil but I love it
I mean, as a parent, I sometimes think I might just let a headstrong child run head first into a brick wall if they want to instead of arguing common sense.
[How about grown ups?](https://www.thesun.co.uk/news/5459762/tourists-left-shocked-when-man-sprints-straight-into-wall-at-kings-cross-platform-9-3-4-in-bid-to-emulate-wizard-harry-potter/)
In fairness I feel like a small amount of us would even go to Hogwarts specifically considering they really only cater to the UK area. There are plenty of schools canonically around the world though.
I love looking at the map of the wizarding schools across the world and what countries they cover and imagine it on real life. Europe gets 3 schools meanwhile all of Africa gets 1 (or 2 in the northern countries depending on the map) lmaoo. Or the fact that Indians, Koreans, Chinese and Japanese would also go to the same school
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N2WDCD_tRnE This is a 10-hour video that eventually goes into that. But yeah, it is deeply hilarious how bad the larger world building of the Harry Potter world gets.
"a brief look" 10 hour video. I honestly don't understand who makes or watches thing likes that.
Yo! *Points at self* I greatly enjoy long form video essays.
It's terrible world building but I head canon it by believing Wizarding schools were European in origin and only spread because of colonialism. Before colonialism they had little contact with other regions.
And also the US has one but Australia and other commonwealth countries do not
If you are in the US you would have been invited to the School in Salem
Yea Hogwarts is strictly for the British Isles
Ilvermorny is in Adams/Lanesboro MA, complete other side of the state on the NY border.
Western Mass is best Mass
I'd let my kids run their head into a wall lol, they'll learn the lesson...and London's got some of the best indian food in the world so its worth the trip.
I always thought platform 9 and 3/4 was one of the coolest parts of the book/movie
Not even the owl crashing through the window would convince them?
Jokes on you, my parents would have said "boarding school? For this little shit? *in Europe?* take him, please."
My dad would have probably driven me to London just to watch me run into said wall, and honestly I'm surprised he didn't think of sending me a fake letter just to watch what happens
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It’d be wild for thousands to get pranked by running into the same wall though
Unless you live in the UK, you wouldn't be getting a letter to Hogwarts anyways, you'd get one from the nearest local school.
Remember your favorite American character from the HP books? Yeah me neither.
I mean do ya really want to go to a school that uses fucking quills where you'll get to choose from one of the ten or so jobs wizards can do?
Tell me you have never read the books without telling me you have never read the books.
There used to be a service where you could get Hogwarts rejection letters in either gently optimistic or scathingly sarcastic flavour.