Hey everyone,
Welcome to another installment of Harry Potter Theory.
Today we’re going to be discussing Magical LAW.
That’s right, just like the muggle society, witches and wizards are confined to behaving
within the framework of law and order.
We saw a little bit of this in the films- like when Harry had a disciplinary hearing
before the Wizengamot.
In this instance, Harry had performed underage magic (a Patronus Charm) in order to ward
off Dementors attacking him and his cousin Dudley.
"Disciplinary hearing of the twelfth of August, into offences committed under the Decree for
the Reasonable Restriction of Underage Sorcery and the International Statute of Secrecy by
Harry James Potter, resident at number four, Privet Drive, Little Whinging, Surrey.”
Fortunately for Harry, Dumbledore stepped in and protected him- which resulted in Harry
walking away with no charges.
However, underage magic is just ONE ‘law’ in a wizarding society that actually has a
lot more laws than you may have thought.
Today we’re going to be uncovering them- at least, all of the ones we have information
on.
I should also add that I won’t be conflating ‘Law’ in the sense of legislation with
‘Law’ in the sense of a set of principles or scientific axioms.
I.e.
the ‘Law’ for underage magic is a piece of legislation prohibiting the use of underage
magic and GAMP’S LAW is a set of scientific principles.
Let’s dive in.
International Statute of Wizarding Secrecy
Starting with the BIGGEST and arguably most IMPORTANT wizarding law- we have the International
Statute of Wizarding Secrecy.
This Statute or wizarding law was implemented in 1692 in order to hide the existence of
witches and wizards from muggles.
Wizarding World (formerly Pottermore) had this to say:
“Wizarding society wasn’t always so hidden: not systemically, anyway.
During the Medieval period, wizards were persecuted brutally by Muggles, who were afraid of magic
but not very good at recognising it.
This caused many wizards to operate in self-imposed secrecy.
Extremist wizards wanted war against Muggles, but the wider community instead opted for
secrecy: an international law enforced by each country’s Ministry of Magic, which
was responsible for concealing societies, controlling magical beasts, beings and spirits,
and making sure wizards don’t blow everyone’s cover.”
The introduction of the law, however, was certainly not devoid of controversy:
“The International Statute of Wizarding Secrecy has been the source of a contentious
debate in wizarding society, namely because people have asked whether wizards should be
the ones living underground.
“
This is one of the largest and most important wizarding laws as it’s directly responsible
for the line separating muggle from magical.
Breaches of this wizarding law are taken particularly seriously (perhaps more seriously than anything
else) and punishments CAN be severe.
Muggle Protection Act
Seguing from the last statute which was (predominantly) created to save lives on BOTH sides, we have
the Muggle Protection Act- a law put in place that was designed to protect Muggles from
potentially harmful magical objects.
This law was partially written by Arthur Weasley, Head of the Misuse of Muggle Artifacts office
at the Ministry.
The Muggle Protection Act was one of the reasons that the Ministry of Magic would (and had
the power to) conduct raids, searching the homes of many Pure-bloods (who hated Muggles)
for all kinds of dark objects.
This law forced people like Lucius Malfoy to go to Borgin and Burkes and sell off family
items.
Decree for Justifiable Confiscation
Seguing once again from the law mentioned above, we have the Decree for Justifiable
Confiscation, which allowed the Ministry of Magic to confiscate any items that they suspected
were ‘illegal’.
The ministry was then allowed to keep the possessions for investigation for a period
of 31 days.
Rufus Scrimgeour leveraged this law in order to investigate the items left to the trio
by Dumbledore, including the Sword of Gryffindor.
Registry of Proscribed Charmable Objects
Once again in the realm of magical objects and artifacts we have the Registry of Proscribed
Charmable Objects, which dictates what objects ARE and ARE NOT able to be used in a magical
way.
Essentially, it’s a list of all the items that wizards and witches are legally forbidden
to modify with magic.
Ban on Experimental Breeding
Next up we have the Ban on Experimental Breeding, a law that I’m sure Magizoologist Newt Scamander
will be aware of…Because he introduced it!
This law forbade the creation of new, dangerous magical creatures in Britain and was passed
in 1965.
This law left the creation of new breeds to the confines of the Department for the Regulation
and Control of Magical Creatures, who conducted these experiments under a watchful (and more
importantly, regulated) eye.
Newt regarded the implementation of this law as his single greatest achievement.
A great example of this law being BREACHED was when Harry and Arthur Weasley encountered
a ministry employee with a cardboard box containing a fire-breathing chicken.
I can’t imagine that this creature was NOT the product of experimental breeding.
Werewolf Code of Conduct AND Registry
The Werewolf Code of Conduct refers to an unsuccessful legislative framework that asked
Werewolves to register themselves with their respective Wizarding government and adhere
to a particular set of instructions every month.
“A Werewolf Code of Conduct was developed in 1637, which werewolves were supposed to
sign, promising not to attack anyone but to lock themselves up securely every month.
Unsurprisingly, nobody signed the Code, as nobody was prepared to walk into the Ministry
and admit to being a werewolf, a problem from which the later Werewolf Registry also suffered.
For years, this Werewolf Registry, on which every werewolf was supposed to enter their
name and personal details, has remained incomplete and unreliable, because so many of the newly-bitten
sought to conceal their condition and escape the inevitable shame and exile.”
Animagus Registry
An Animagus refers to a witch or wizard who is able to transform in to an animal form
at will.
This is an exceptional ability achieved by very few, but with the knowledge of this unique
ability comes the responsibility of registering your Animagus ‘status’ with the Ministry
of Magic.
This registration includes revealing one's animal form and one's distinguishing markings.
The primary reason for registration is to ensure the Animagi do not abuse their abilities,
as the Ministry is able to keep track of them.
Code of Wand Use
The Code of Wand Use is exactly what it sounds like - a wizarding law that regulated the
use of wands.
It’s precursor was the Wand Ban of 1631.
The law is anything but progressive and outlines that "no non-human creature is permitted to
carry or use a wand".
This law excluded other magical beings like Goblins and Elves from being able to carry
wands, something which the Goblins vehemently fought against.
This law is particularly unjust, as there is no reason for Goblins (a cornerstone of
Wizarding Society) to be denied the right to use a wand.
Decree for the Reasonable Restriction of Underage Sorcery
This law, introduced in 1875, forbade the use of underage magic outside of school.
‘Underage’ refers to witches and wizards UNDER the age of 17 upon whom the wizarding
‘Trace’ is still in effect.
This law, enforced by the Improper Use of Magic Office, was the one that Harry went
to trial for beaching.
The only silver lining to this law was that warnings WERE issued in advance of action
being taken.
However, subsequent offences were met with serious consequences such as expulsion from
Hogwarts and their wands being snapped.
Under clause 7, in the event that a student could prove they were in a life or death situation,
a pardon could be made.
It’s also worth mentioning that VERY YOUNG witches and wizards were exempt from this
rule as they had almost no control over the magic that they produced.
An example of this was when Harry inadvertently made the glass in the Reptile House disappear.
International Ban on Duelling
The information on this document, the International Ban on Duelling, is a little unclear.
From the sources available to me, it’s unclear if this document refers to the sport-variety
of duelling, or the higher-stakes, more LETHAL variety of duelling.
It’s also unclear whether or not this document actually has PASSED, and if so, what year
it passed- likely either 1994 or 1995.
Reportedly, in 1994 or 1995, the British Ministry tried to get countries across the world to
agree on this International Ban on Duelling.
Percy Weasley was working hard to get the Transylvanians on board.
Rappaport's Law
Rappaport’s Law was a law introduced in 1790 by Emily Rappaport, the 15th President
of MACUSA- the Magical Congress for the United States of America.
The law was put in place to further segregate No-Maj (muggle) communities and magical ones.
If you thought the International Statute of Secrecy was bad, Rappaport’s Law will SHOCK
you.
Under this law, Witches and Wizards were entirely prohibited from marrying and even BEFRIENDING
No-Maj’s.
This is the law that prohibited Jacob from marrying Queenie in Fantastic Beasts.
Only surface level interactions pertaining to ‘everyday activities’ were allowed
under this law.
Fortunately, this law was repealed in 1965.
Guidelines for the Treatment of Non-Wizard Part-Humans
The Guidelines for the Treatment of Non-Wizard Part-Humans were a set of rules and regulations
(published at an unknown date) governing the treatment of magical beings who couldn’t
QUITE be considered human.
This included creatures/beings like Vampires and Hags.
The function of this piece of legislation was to prevent further discrimination and
prejudice against these ‘part-humans’, who were often cast away / stigmatized by
the rest of wizarding society.
Wizengamot Charter of Rights
The Wizengamot Charter of Rights was a list of rights pertaining to the Wizengamot- Britain's
high court of law and parliament.
The Charter of Rights referred to the rights of the accused, the interrogator and the Wizengamot
as a whole.
One such right was that "the accused has the right to present witnesses for his or her
case".
This Right is what helped Harry during his trial.
Unforgivable Curses
Using one of the Unforgivable Curses- Avada Kedavra (The Killing Curse), Crucio (The Torture
Curse) or Imperio (The Imperius Curse), would likely result in a life sentence to Azkaban
Prison.
This law was occasionally lifted, like during the first wizarding war, when Aurors were
permitted to use the curses to capture Dark Wizards who were still on the loose.
Veritaserum
Veritaserum is a powerful truth serum that forced the drinker to answer any questions
put to them truthfully.
The use of this potion is strictly controlled by the British Ministry of Magic, and even
if you are able to produce it, it doesn’t necessarily mean that you are able to use
it..At least LEGALLY.
Conjuration
Conjuration is an advanced form of Transfiguration where witches and wizards produced objects
from 'thin air'.
There is wizarding legislation in place surrounding the limitations of this form of magic- effectively
outlining what can and cannot be ‘conjured’.
Apparition
Apparition, which is effectively the ability to ‘teleport’ was a wizarding skill subject
to Legislation from the Ministry of Magic.
In order to be able to Apparate freely, one would have to acquire an apparition License.
In order to obtain said License, one would have to get it from the Department of Magical
Transportation.
Crups
Crups are a wizarding breed of dog resembling a Jack Russell Terrier.
The main difference between mundane Jack Russell Terriers and Crups is that Crups have a forked
tail.
Wizarding Law states that one must clip the distinctive forked tail of a crup in order
to hide it from Muggle notice.
Residence
All witches and wizards of school age or older are tracked on a register which lists their
place of residence.
It’s unclear if witches and wizards are legally bound to report their current place
of residence to the Ministry.
And that’s it for this video!
Hopefully that should cover every (listed) Wizarding Law from the series.
I’d be willing to bet that there are also many other laws that simply didn’t make
it in to the story.
If I missed any, please leave a comment down below.
Also, if you enjoy the content please be sure to LIKE the video and SUBSCRIBE to the channel.
Until next time
Remember
It does not do to dwell on dreams and forget to live