Muggle-born children and their parents

[LucillaJoanna]

One of the prompts in the Autumn Challenges which ended last month was all about a witch's or wizard's New Beginnings, that is, we should show how everything went when they first got their letter. I used Colin Creevey, and he and Dennis were able to see The Leaky Cauldron though their parents did not until they led their parents to and inside it. There are quite several other Muggleborn-centric entries, too, I think the categories are still there, maybe you can have a look at them to see what others did.

I imagine the Leaky Cauldron is the link between the Muggle and Wizarding worlds. Think about it, Britons are fairly used to pubs. The Leaky like the antechamber into the wonders of Diagon Alley, which is open to Muggleborns' parents and guardians because a child can't very well shop alone. Moreover, Diagon Alley is the ideal place to introduce and show the magical world to the Muggle parents/guardians, everything is there, after all.

And then the Platform, Mr and Mrs Evans got through, didn't they? So I'll agree that the Muggle repelling charms are probably nulled, when, say, a witch or wizard is holding on to the Muggle and leading them to the platform. Of course, perhaps telling them that they can get through is enough to null the charm, if they believe it. Of course, they'll believe it when they see their daughter doing it.

These are my thoughts, I hope I helped, too, Ana.

~Joanna

[star_sailor]

The way that the books detail muggles, it really shows that your average muggle is rather oblivious to the details around them. Think back to when Harry and Hagrid first went to Diagon Alley through The Leaky Cauldron. "If Hagrid hadn't pointed [The Leaky Cauldron] out, Harry wouldn't have noticed it was there." [Ch5 SS]

That was obviously a sign that the muggle-repelling charm was still working, even on Harry, who had already had a couple lectures about the wizarding world before reaching London. Muggles have to be TOLD about and/or SHOWN the magical things around them, or else they'll simply pass it off as trivial knowledge. I realize it's entirely non-canon, but the same scene in the Sorcerer's Stone movie shows Hagrid leading Harry toward the pub. At first, it just looks like a grubby old building. But the sign, which was originally blacked out, becomes visible, otherwise symbolizing Harry's realization that the Leaky Cauldron was there. All the other muggles would just see the ratty building. Like I said, non-canon, but a decent visual example. Just like Maia said,

It's not that they can't see it without a witch or wizard present, per se, it's that they won't notice it, and even if they do, which I'm sure has happened, they won't want to go in.

The muggle-reppellant charm seems to only work on muggles, but not those muggles who are knowledgeable about the wizarding world. I'm sure that the Grangers thought they left the keys in the car when they were being lead into the Leaky Cauldron for the first time. But it is my belief that once the wizarding world has been revealed to a muggle (no matter if a wizard or a muggle-wizard reveals it), and once the muggle in question produces an intellectual understanding of the information they are given, they develop an immunity to anti-muggle charms. Therefore, they can interact with the wizarding world as they please.

This would also explain why the Ministry would further need obliviators. Obviously some muggles are over-exposed, which could produce a panic (like the muggles who the Death Eaters harassed at the Quidditch World Cup). But if a muggle was accidentally told about the Leaky Cauldron, and figured out that there was something fishy about it, they might start building a tolerance to the muggle-repelling charm, and may start seeing other magical things, meaning the obliviators would have have to do their business, tearing out the magical info from the muggle's mind, and in effect, re-intensifying the anti-muggle spells.

Very good post. 5 points.