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In the books, it's indicated that Muggles are in the vast majority, and many wizarding families had reduced considerably due to purebloods marrying their own cousins.

This majority of Muggles must mean that they need to have some control over the wizards, like incarceration (jail), border control, property/land sale and purchase, etc.

Does such control exist, and if so, how is it exercised? Surely governments need to have some control, otherwise there'll be mass panic due to the natural superiority of the wizard.

Note that by control in this case, making a wizard appear to a Muggle as a Muggle.

Edit: Judging from the mixed reactions of people, some seem to think this is a stupid question and that the answer is pretty obvious. I don't think so, really. Some wizards' lack of knowledge of basic Muggle ways of life also doesn't tally up, when its always shown that they live as Muggles in midst of other Muggles, keeping their magic hidden.

cst1992
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    Muggles dont know wizards exist and pose no threat towards wizards even if they did – Himarm Jan 29 '16 at 12:48
  • How can that be, when wizards marry Muggles regularly? – cst1992 Jan 29 '16 at 12:49
  • As we know from the books some muggles dont know their spouse is magical, ans thoughs that do would have had to have had a magical person reveal themself – Himarm Jan 29 '16 at 12:50
  • I'm curious about your reasoning: wouldn't Muggles being in the majority by itself be a significant form of control over the wizard world? It's a common aspect of the "Masquerade" trope that supernatural beings are terrified of revealing themselves to mortals just due to their sheer overwheling numbers. – KutuluMike Jan 30 '16 at 15:44
  • @MikeEdenfield My thinking is similar to yours. It's in the third book that the Weasleys had been to Egypt. If someone asked them for their passport, what would they produce? Knowing Arthur, he wouldn't even know what a passport is. I honestly think JKR went a little overboard with his lack of knowledge. – cst1992 Jan 30 '16 at 17:34
  • I recall reading somewhere that J.K. Rowling wrote that Muggles could completely demolish Wizards if push comes to shove. Magic is all well and good, but being shot rapidfire from a machine-gun or carpet bombed by a jet can take down most any magical barrier. – Salmononius2 Jan 31 '16 at 02:37

4 Answers4

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Muggles have absolutely no control over witches and wizards (the Wizarding World).

The Ministry of Magic oversees members of the Wizarding World in Great Britain, including - and especially - ensuring that they comply with the International Statute of Secrecy, which among other things prohibits the use of magic in front of a Muggle. There are other similar organisations elsewhere globally.

The Wizarding World goes to great lengths to keep their existence from Muggles a secret, including going as far as modifying the memories of Muggles who learn the truth (and don't have a need to retain that knowledge, such as the parents of Muggle-born magical children). Only those at the very highest level of the Muggle British government (the Prime Minister) are told, and as Minister for Magic Cornelius Fudge makes a point of, they're not going to tell anybody.

Anthony Grist
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Absolutely none.

The Muggles have no knowledge of the Wizarding world. In the case of wizard-marry-Muggle, often the spouse is not told about the other's magic. They may be told later, but we see that sometimes they have no idea about the powers of their spouse. (Of course, if the kid is magical, they will almost certainly be told.)

Also, the parents of Muggle-borns are told, obviously.

There's one other person (that we know of) who knows about the Wizarding world: The Prime Minister. Presumably this means that the head of the government is briefed on the subject, but he still has no control over the Wizarding world.

Mithical
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  • I dont agree with this, as there is explicit mention made of the Muggle PM being kept in the loop, so there is some aspects of the Muggle community which know of both the existence and the extent of the wizarding world. – Moo Jan 29 '16 at 14:24
  • @Moo You're right, i forgot about him. I'll edit it in. – Mithical Jan 29 '16 at 14:44
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The ministry of magic executes control over mages, and although it's not explained directly in the canon, there are enough cases during the books where some type of "partnership" or cooperative work should exist between magic administration and muggle government.

Quite interesting on this points are the comments to this response Muggle Borns and Social Workers

So... probably there are no direct control of muggle government into magic affairs, but some type of administrative cooperation should exist between both worlds to make things work smoothly.

Community
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Bardo
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One possible answer is that there is no control of Muggles over wizarding folk, and Muggles are always kept in total ignorance of the existence of magic. All laws are handled by the Ministry.

cst1992
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