41

If a Witch or a Wizard is Muggle-born they most certainly exist in a legal sense as Muggle citizens (i.e. they have birth records, school records, national insurance number, IDs and so on).

It is also not impossible that at least some half-bloods (the ones with one Muggle parent) have this kind of dual identity.

But what about pure-bloods and Wizard-borns in general? They are presumably born at St. Mungo's so that means no (Muggle) birth certificate, no citizenship and no ID (it also means no taxes now that I think about it :D). So, they are for all intents and purposes illegal immigrants.

I realize that most wizards have little to no contact with Muggle world if they can help it, but at least some of them (Arabella Figg - yes, she's a Squib but still an outsider) live there.

So what happens if a wizard (say upon entering the King's Cross) is stopped by a Police Officer and asked for an ID? Not everybody knows how to cast Obliviate or to Disapparate.

Improve this question
10
  • 6
    There's no legal requirement to carry ID on you in most situations, so simply saying "I don't have any on me." would be sufficient if you were stopped.
    – Anthony Grist
    Jun 7, 2013 at 17:14
  • 1
    Ok. But my main question was if "wizard-borns" exist as citizens of Muggle UK as well or just as members of Wizarding Britain?
    – Fen1ks
    Jun 7, 2013 at 17:44
  • 2
    I fail to see why being born at St. Mungo's would preclude non-magical documentation of birth in the first place. Wizards can fill out paperwork better than Muggles can, after all.
    – jwodder
    Jun 8, 2013 at 21:01
  • 4
    @DVK Look up Ch2 of HBP "Spinner's End" : "Side by side they stood looking across the road at the rows and rows of dilapidated brick houses, their windows dull and blind in the darkness. “He lives here?” asked Bella in a voice of contempt. “Here? In this Muggle dunghill? We must be the first of our kind ever to set foot —”" as well as "... saw Narcissa darting through an alley between the houses into a second, almost identical street. Some of the streetlamps were broken;"
    – Fen1ks
    Feb 20, 2014 at 19:06
  • 3
    There's also the little matter of Ron getting a driving license in the epilogue of Deathly Hallows. That's tough to do without proof of age.
    – Stan Rogers
    Sep 21, 2014 at 8:50

2 Answers 2

Reset to default
39

There's really no explicit canon answer I'm aware of (in books/interviews), but all the clues point to the fact that this is at best, extremely rare, aside from the times when it's preferable to do so for practical necessities.

  • One example when it was likely done would be Kingsley's muggle position as secretary to PM; it may have required some documents etc..., and it would probably be easier to trick Muggles to issue them than to struggle with payroll systems ADP-magic. COBOL is like Hagrid, very magic resistant.

  • Another one would be, as you pointed out, Squibs - they wouldn't be able to survive in Muggle world otherwise.

This is why Ministry of Magic has people set to deal with Muggles, post-factum, who will MIB-style flashy-thingy everyone via obliviate, conofound etc...

Improve this answer
3
  • Ok, that makes sense. I mean, there just /has/ to be some sort of service that helps Wizards/Squibs to "blend in". Probably that Muggle Relations job mentioned in OotP...
    – Fen1ks
    Jun 8, 2013 at 13:41
  • 3
    But as SEEN IN THE FILMS, Ministry people like Mr. Weasley operate poorly in common muggle situations, like the underground or understanding the function of a rubber duck. Muggle studies at Hogwarts or at the Ministry indicates to me that witches and wizards are muggle-clueless. Most don't try to pass or interact in our world even though the PM does get involved on occasion.
    – Ihor Sypko
    Jan 24, 2014 at 19:26
  • Another example would be to pay taxes; as you yourself have summed that they may need to: scifi.stackexchange.com/questions/54038/…
    – Möoz
    May 1, 2014 at 2:57
4

The Muggle Prime minister (their newspapers, in fact) acknowledges the deaths of Madam Amelia Bones and Emmeline Vance as those of "a middle-aged woman who lived alone" and one who "lived in the backyards of the ministry" respectively, and the latter in particular, seem to presuppose a Muggle identity. This may have even been typical of well employed (in the magical world) wizards and witches to live with Muggle identities in Muggle surroundings, but as lone retired people. But there seems to be no canon evidence as to whether Bones and Vance were pure-bloods or not.

Improve this answer
1
  • 1
    I would assume that many Squibs live in the Muggle world.
    – user35971
    Dec 26, 2014 at 2:53

Your Answer

By clicking “Post Your Answer”, you agree to our terms of service and acknowledge that you have read and understand our privacy policy and code of conduct.

Not the answer you're looking for? Browse other questions tagged or ask your own question.