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Harry Potter’s Optional Hogwarts Class Creates A Perplexing Wizarding World Problem No One Talks About

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Harry Potter’s Optional Hogwarts Class Creates A Perplexing Wizarding World Problem No One Talks About

Harry Potter‘s Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry offers much in the way of classes for its students, ranging from Transfiguration and Potions to Magical Creatures and Ancient Runes. While many of these classes are an educational requirement, there’s one optional elective course that should have been made mandatory for all students. Given Harry Potter‘s Wizarding World is merely a secret society hidden amidst the real world — or the muggle world— it’s curious that Muggle Studies would be made one of Hogwarts’ optional courses.

As students will still need to operate in the real world to some degree after graduating from Hogwarts, it’s surprising the muggle world remains such a mystery to many witches and wizards. Not only does their knowledge surrounding the muggle culture and technology seem lacking, but the series never explains whether the students continue their previous “muggle” education throughout their classes at Hogwarts. Classes such as Mathematics, English, and Science would prove to be valuable even at a wizarding school, but the series never confirms whether the students continue to learn these skills once they transfer to Harry Potter‘s Hogwarts at age 11.

Hogwarts’ Optional Muggle Studies Class Raises A Wizarding World Question With No Clear Answer

There Are Several Skills Wizards Would Need In The Muggle World

Custom Image by Ana Nieves

The fact that Muggle Studies remains an optional course for the students at Hogwarts is perplexing —especially when compared to the Harry Potter books‘ persistence in keeping the Wizarding World a secret. Not only would students need to learn how to operate and blend in well with a completely different society, but it’s possible they would require an extended education from what they received before attending Hogwarts. We know from the Harry Potter books that Harry did attend a muggle school before Hogwarts, and it’s likely other characters did as well.

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Given an elementary education barely scratches the surface of most subjects, it’s contradictory that the Harry Potter series never mentions them again. It’s apparent that basic mathematical, scientific, and even writing skills would all be applicable to the course load at Hogwarts, but the curriculum described in the books focuses solely on magical elements. This odd detail is neither denied nor confirmed to exist within Harry Potter‘s lore, and it’s likely J. K. Rowling never highlighted its significance to keep readers engrossed within the stories’ more fantastical elements over real-world teachings.

The Harry Potter Books Don’t Handle Wizard & Muggle Relations Very Well

The Muggle World Is Often Treated As An Afterthought

The wizard and muggle world’s relations are somewhat strained throughout the Harry Potter series, and this element may be a symptom of the wizarding school system’s lack of focus on Muggle Studies. The two worlds are made out to exist totally separate, except in the aspect of local government, and it isn’t until late in the books that Rowling explores this dynamic. It becomes clear from the short interaction between the Minister of Magic and the muggle Prime Minister in Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince that there is a significant lack of communication between the two societies.

While it’s understood the Wizarding World separates itself from muggle society to keep itself a secret, these scenarios could have benefited from some training had wizards seen it prudent to study and prepare.

In this instance, the muggle prime minister has just taken office, and it isn’t until this point that he discovers the realities of magic and wizards. The conversation showcases how little thought the Minister of Magic puts into his own introduction and doesn’t seem to pick up on social cues or understand the impossibility of the situation from a muggle’s point of view. While it’s understood the Wizarding World separates itself from muggle society to keep itself a secret, these scenarios could have benefited from some training had wizards seen it prudent to study and prepare.

Harry Potter’s Remake Should Make Muggle Studies Mandatory (Or Address The Series’ Plot Holes)

Hopefully HBO Will Build Upon This Perplexing Scenario Of Harry Potter

HBO’s Harry Potter TV series is currently in development, and it would be nice to see the studio approach the matter of Muggle Studies differently from its source material or original movies. The new adaptation has the opportunity to build upon some of the books’ more perplexing plot holes, and hopefully can faithfully address the issue without veering too far outside the main narrative. The Harry Potter books make it known that the muggle world is seen as somewhat of an enigma to witches and wizards, but perhaps a look into the Muggle Studies classroom can help bridge the gap.

The Harry Potter TV series is currently in development with HBO and is expected to debut on Max in 2026.

Knowing the Wizarding World has to operate within the muggle world in some capacity from time to time, the HBO adaptation needs to acknowledge the series’ minor inconsistencies. Obviously, the world of Harry Potter is meant to be a fantastical escape from the real world, but that doesn’t mean it needs to completely shut out a large part of its narrative. Additionally, several characters in the series are muggle-born and their previous experiences should play a larger role in the Harry Potter series’ storytelling as a whole.

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