In Harry Potter, why didn't the Order call the muggle PM for help?

Question

When V was attacking Hogwarts etc, and the muggles had as much to lose as the wizards, why didn't the Minister of Magic/Order whomever contact the muggle PM and ask for help? There might have been various protocols in place - break them, things have never been so serious.

They could have sent the Special Air Service to Hogwarts to fortify the location. The death eaters would have walked up into a heavy machine gun crossfire, possibly with artillery support.

I am not just talking about non-muggle equipment etc, just communication. They warned the Prime Minister when Sirius escaped, and this is far more important. I am sure there is a reason for this but I am not sure what it is. Anyone know?

Answer 1

1. Communication between the Wizarding and Muggle worlds is done by the current Minister of Magic and the current Muggle Prime Minister. I don't think that any wizard at all is allowed to contact the PM, or that they'd even know how to do so. Receiving assistance from the Muggle military would mean revealing the existence of the Wizarding world to a much larger number of people, and therefore be a pretty huge breach of the International Statute of Secrecy.

2. Hogwarts is affected by a number of anti-Muggle charms and spells, including (I believe) being unplottable. It would almost certainly be impossible for any Muggles to get near the school. And, even if they could, the high concentration of magical energy would render any electronic devices (such as those used for communication) useless, therefore making them considerably less effective.

3. The Ministry of Magic was under the control of Voldemort at that time. Assuming that only the Ministry is capable of contacting the Muggle PM, it would be nearly impossible to do so without Voldemort knowing about it.

4. They didn't have much warning. They barely managed to organise resistance within the school after learning that Voldemort was on his way. There was already a presence of Death Eaters in Hogsmeade, and some within the school itself. It would have been impossible for any Muggle assistance to arrive before Voldemort's forces.

Answer 2

In addition to the previous answer (of only the Minister or their chosen representative being allowed to contact the PM), how would SAS or other military people be able to help?

1. Muggles can't see Hogwarts--it's just a ruin. (GOF Chapter 11)
2. Muggle devices don't work around Hogwarts. That means SAS can't use their fancy radios or bombs or really anything more modern than the nineteenth century (GOF Chapter 24)
3. If you can't see a place, even if your gun works, how are you going to aim?
4. The Defenders of Hogwarts and the Death Eaters aren't wearing distinctive uniforms (from a Muggle standpoint, that is). It would be very dangerous to introduce Muggle soldiers who can't tell good from bad into the situation

Answer 3

They simply didn't want to force the Muggles to die in a wizarding war. That would have been unfair to ask. The wizards also don't secretly help in Muggle wars, do they?

Answer 4

Given they destroy the millennium bridge, and have a dragon flying over London, and at least use phones etc sometimes, MI5 MI6 and GCHQ would likely know about them. The UK government is famous for the extent of its contingency plans (it has one called Thunderchild that is about countering alien invasion) its likely one would be in place if magic every became a threat.

So Hogwarts would likely get hit by an airstrike, and Voldemort, Potter etc would be killed in their sleep or shot by a sniper.

It make an interesting story if the British government started rounding up magic users, potential magic users and their families in response to the threat, like they did with Catholics during the troubles in Northern Ireland.