Carter remembered flipping through the children's book briefly in Diagon Alley. He raised his hand. "Those stories show the danger of greedy people. Especially Babbity Rabbity where the muggle king becomes so obsessed he goes on a witch hunt." he said hoping he got his story straight.

Tori sat thinking about the story and just what she would have faced as a young witch if the statute of secrecy wasn't established.

Whit wrote down her notes while listening to the professor speak. Everything he was saying was shocking but it more or less reminded her of something her mother had told her about once. She rose her hand and asked, "Are those like the witch trials?" She had never heard of this Kind and Queen but she knew that those trials were extremely unfair.

She then heard Professor Truebridge bring up The Tale of Beedle the Bard. She knew a couple of the tales but she couldn't remember enough about them to answer his question. Everything that came to mind was only half a thought, so she simply sat there and listened to other student's answers, still writing down notes.

Tibi frowned. It sounded like some people were blaming Muggles for everything; he thought about how helpful his mum was about getting him to school and how proud she was of him. He raised his hand, "But, aren't they fairy tales? So... I mean, I'm not saying that some muggle didn't do terrible things... aren't they exaggerated to convince people not to tell? or to teach a lesson?" Tibi shrugged. "I mean, there are definitely wizards who did terrible things to Muggles, right? So it's not all on one-side?" He'd definitely read about that.

Magenta looked over at the boy who'd just spoken, trying unsuccessfully not to scowl. He had to be a muggle born, or at the very least a half blood. "Sure, these examples are fairytales but there is plenty of truth behind them. The reasons for our having to go into hiding to protect ourselves from muggles, far out weighs the reasons for having to protect muggles from us". She hoped that made sense.

In all honesty, she only really knew a one sided account of the last wizarding war but she was convinced she was right. "Besides, wizards reacted centuries later, muggles started it because they were afraid of anything that was different that they couldn't control" she finished, glancing around the classroom yet again to view the reaction.

"All sorts of people do nasty things," Arrick said finitely. "All sorts, odd or not. Y'just have to be different enough from 'em for nastiness to happen."

Tiberius felt his bottom lip tremble. The girl had shot him a look that gave him chills. He quickly reasoned that she was in the group of students he'd been warned about that didn't like kids from muggle families. He bit his lip.

"I... I didn't say that there wasn't truth to them..." He paused. "But... didn't you say," he looked to Professor Truebridge, "that the people most hurt during witch hunts were muggles, because we could protect ourselves from them?" He scrunched his face some more. "So... it's easier for us to protect ourselves from them, than it is from them to protect themselves from us?" It was more of a question than a statement, but Tibi believed it.

Satine listened to the other students' ideas and then finally decided to join in. She waited her turn and then raised her hand. "Well, personally I don't think that our history comes down to us vs them and them vs us. Our history is there for all creatures, magical and not, human and animal to be able to coexist together by learning from our mistakes in the past. Every culture has had to overcome rebellions over something whether they be magical or not." she pause for a minute to let her words sink in. "Ultimately, I don't think that this is a class to point fingers one way or another...this class is a class for us to learn from our pasts and...well...pretty much move on from our prejudices toward either magical or non magical creatures."

She glanced around to make sure that her words had sunk in. She was worried if this was how the first class was going to start.

"Well we wouldn't have to protect ourselves if they hadn't tried anything against us in the first place..." Evelyn muttered stubbornly to herself, crossing her arms.

Another student started to speak. 'One of those peacekeepers.' she thought, staring at the other girl, raising an eyebrow. 'If we're learning so much from our mistakes, than why are we still in hiding than?' Life wasn't fair sometimes.

"Indeed. But it also shows that muggles fundamentally do not understand what is possible with magic. The Muggle King in the story of Babbity Rabbity wanted to be given the ability to be magical himself. Muggles tend to look upon magic as a limitless thing. Imagination and Magic, to them are almost the same thing."

"They did. And that is why the statute of secrecy also ties in to the laws against underage magic." Truebridge mentioned.

"They will indeed. And that goes for wizardkind too. Many of our people are prejudiced in some way or another. Against muggles, against other witches and wizards who they think are less 'pure', against squibs, against beasts and beings... against werewolves... " Ethan paused, "It is important to learn to stop and think about where prejudice comes from. The usual answer to that question is fear. Sometimes the fear is irrational, we can't always explain it. Sometimes it is taught to us by our family or by society, and sometimes it comes from us directly experiencing something bad."

"Right. The King was greedy. By nature, people covet things. Magic is coveted by muggles. It is impossible to make muggles magical, and that is one of the reasons that the statute is necessary; muggles demanded magic of their own."


"Witch trials were directly linked to witchburnings. Sometimes it was drowning rather than burning but in all cases, if you were accused of witchcraft and survived the trials then you were a witch. If you died, then you were innocent. Innocent and dead. Naturally, it was the muggles that died."


"Fairy tales indeed." Ethan nodded. "And in muggle fairy tales there exists many dark witches and wizards that were cruel and used their magic in negative ways against muggles. There are still wizards that do terrible things to muggles. We are now more protected than they are."


"Indeed. Satine has summed up precisely the attitude I want all of you to aim for while in my classes. I do not mind you sharing your opinions, and for those of you who have been brought up in a prejudiced environment, I certainly do not blame you for holding certain opinions. I just ask that you keep your mind open and listen to what others have to say. And decide whether it is your opinion in truth or just something that you have been taught. You are all bright and able to make your own decisions on things. Learning to think, to identify, to listen and to understand are what I hope you will get from my class."

"And against themselves. Do not forget that muggles hurt themselves in their attempts to harness magic and drive it out as something they did not understand."


Truebridge looked around the room, pleased with the answers he was getting.

"So, of course there are occassions where the statute is breached. Does anyone know of any particular breaches?"

Carter's jaw dropped as the discussion turned in to an argument. Like most of the students, he could understand both side, seeing as his parents are muggle and he wasn't. At least not anymore. There wasn't anything wrong with it. It's just that some people couldn't handle there being a magical world. And it was pretty obvious that some wizards (or witches in this particular case) couldn't handle there being a muggle world.

Aaron raised his hand remembering the history his dad told him. "While Voldemort was at large, didn't Death Eaters attack muggles and destroy buildings and such?" Then another thought popped into his head. "And my dad said he heard a rumor at the ministry that every new Minister of Magic meets the Muggle Prime minister. Would that count as well?"

Carter raised his hand. "Well, the most obvious would be parents or siblings related to a witch or a wizard." he said thinking of his own parents.

"The muggles killed other muggles only because they thought they were killing us" Magenta replied hastily. The boys growing discomfor was evident. Perhaps it was a good idea to back off a little for now.

A ravenclaw raised her hand and spoke in turn, something she didn't seem to be able to adhere to. Her small speech resulted in an embarrassed Magenta sliding down in her seat. She didn't feel she was wrong, she simply realised she was speaking her mind a litte to freely at an inappropriate time. She rolled her eyes and screwed up her nose a little, looking towards the girl who'd laughed at her last indiscrepancy. At least they were on the same level.

Tavelon's hand shot up "The 1994 Quidditch World Cup, Muggles were attacked" he said. Tavelon had been reading about the cup when he found out it was going to be held in England that year.

Arrick frowned, digesting what Professor Truebridge had said. Strangely enough, it was the one thing that made sense out of everything he'd seen and learned at Hogwarts and the wizarding world thus far.

He scrawled 'fear' messily in the margins of his textbook in pen as he thought, half-listening as the class continued.

Herminny instantly raised her and said, "Clause 73 which puts each individual wizarding governing body in charge of control of magical creatures has been breached repeatedly, with the countries of Scotland and Tibet among the worst offenders. Scotland is home to the world's largest kelpie, which is known to the Muggle world as the Loch Ness Monster, and is the subject of repeated sightings. In Tibet, the number of Yeti sightings has prompted the International Confederation of Wizards to station an International Task Force in the mountains on a permanent basis.
Other breaches of Clause 73 include the Ilfracombe Incident in 1932 which is basically where a welsh grren dragon attacked a group of sunbathers. Pretty horrible stuff.".

"Wooow..." Evelyn stared blankly at the girl who spoke. "Where do you get all this information?" she asked, pulling out her book and staring at it intensely as if all the answers would reveal themselves on the front cover.

Magenta never thought she was from a prejudiced family, just a superior one but it was clear she'd have to comply to the views held by nearly everyone else in the class. She'd lost her train of thought though she thought she'd heard the professor ask for examples of breaches of the statute. Listening to the classes responses, that was deffinately what he'd said.

"Does it count as a breach if the muggles don't realise that magic is that cause of what they're seeing?" she asked, trying to put constructive input into the class. "The second wizarding war for example, they thought they were witnessing natural disasters but were infact witnessing the work of death eaters" she finished, hoping this wasn't touching too much on the seemingly taboo subject again.

Satine thought about the statute and then had a question, so she raised her hand and asked, "Professor, is the reason it's such a huge issue for students to use magic outside of Hogwarts/school because it has something to do with the statute? I mean it's not like a war or something that would break it, but would the statue be a contributing factor to that rule...."

"Indeed. Deatheaters were responible for several statue breaches, though a large number of the muggles they exposed their magic to, were subsequently murdered, thereby getting past the law and not constituting a Statute breech, merely a different sort of crime. The relation between the Minister of Magic and the leadership of the muggle world is an exception as governed by a clause that was written in to the Statute upon its establishment."

"This is where the majority of small scale breaches occur, and most obliviator work is applied in these situations."

Ethan continued wandering around and paused next to the Slytherin girl with all the opinions. He did not have a problem with her input, but he was pleased to see her check herself so that she did not upset others. The fact was that there was nothing wrong with her opinion and it did the others good to hear something different, even if they did not agree with it morally. Ethan himself was not particularly pro-anything except perhaps pro-opinion and healthy debate.

Enlightenment was a good thing regardless of what your viewpoint was.

"Good example." Ethan nodded. "Indeed sporting events like Quidditch and Quodpot are directly effected by the statute. Disillusionment charms are put in place and locations are chosen carefully."

Ah, notetaking. Something Truebridge appreciated greatly. He walked past the young 'puff and nodded approvingly.

"That is a contributing factor, you are right. While you are learning you are far more likely to make mistakes and leave evidence of magic behind you. Learning control is the most important thing. This is something I'll have you all look into for homework. The connections between the Decree for the Reasonable Restriction of Underage Sorcery and the Statute of secrecy. If you wish to read more than what is provided in your textbook, there is a good book in the library called 'Muggles Who Notice'. The majority of the cases cited within that particular tome are examples of underage magic."

"Part of why they believed they were witnessing natural disasters is because the obliviators are very good at their jobs. Some memory charms change memories of events and, if the eye witnesses think they are seeing... say, a freak hurricane, their descriptions will subtly shift to support their perception. People don't like to be doubted and so any factual support for something 'unbelievable' will be latched on to and the story will change as a result. If the muggle doesn't know something fishy is going on and just accepts it straight up, then there is no breach, the statute remains intact." Ethan answered.

"The Loch Ness Monster, Yetis and indeed the Ilfracombe Incident are some of the biggest and well-known breaches." Ethan agreed as Herminny shared from the textbook again.

"Clause 73 states: 'Each wizarding governing body will be responsible for the concealment, care and control of all magical beasts, beings, and spirits dwelling within its territory's borders. Should any such creature cause harm to, or draw the notice of, the Muggle community, that nation's wizarding governing body will be subject to discipline by the International Confederation of Wizards' Can anyone tell me, with respect to breaches in Tibet in particular; who is responsible for enforcing clause 73 and how they do it?"

In other words, had they been listening to their classmates and did they know what methods kept things in check?

Tavelon raised his hand again "The Tibetian Government would have to control their magical creatures and use things such as disillusionment charms, muggle repelling spells and such."

Satine raised her hand, "Well like someone else mentioned...the Government there created a Task Force that permanently helps monitor the Yeti's appearances and such."

Herminny raised her hand for the umpteenth time for this class and responded to the current question saying, "Thats a rather intresting question cause although clause 73 was established in 1750 not much was done besides the International Confederation of Wizards inforcing punishment too anyone who violated it and thats all that upheld it for 60 somewhat years later even though from day 1 one when the statute was established it was the responsibility of the MOM to uphold it. In 1811, however, the Minister for Magic Grogan Stump hit on the most humane, if more complex, definition for a being: 'Any creature that has sufficient intelligence to understand the laws of the magical community and to bear part of the responsibility in shaping those laws,' ( FB xii). This soon evolved into three divisions within the Ministry's Department for the Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures, when the Spirit Division was added to the Beast and Being Divisions, to accommodate the ghosts.

Complications and controversies remain, of course. The classification of werewolves always poses a problem, as werewolves are undeniably bestial on a monthly basis—but completely human otherwise. Therefore, the Werewolf Support Office is located in the Being Division at the Ministry, and the Werewolf Registry and the Capture Unit are located in the Beast Division. Other potentially dangerous creatures such as hags and vampires are considered beings (the latter are more technically referred to as Non-Wizard Part-Humans), and in light of this the centaurs and then the merpeople rejected the opportunity to be classed as such. Officially the centaurs and merpeople have no classification now, but they are often treated as beasts and the Centaur Liaison Office has been consigned to the Beast Division of the Department for the Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures, located on the Fourth Level of the Ministry.".

"Sooo..." Evelyn started after the girls long speech. "The Ministry of Magic is responsible for enforcing clause 73?" she asked, starting to get confused.