In J.K. Rowling’s Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets (1998), Harry Potter learns that antagonism towards Muggles, (non-magic people), emerges in various contexts. Harry hears about the history of Muggle marginalization from several adults. He sees how his own Muggle-born friend, Hermione Granger, sustains slurs, threats, and violence, and how even his own friends make ignorant comments.

Anti-Muggle History at Hogwarts

Anti-Muggle sentiments are nothing new at Hogwarts. Professor Binns explains to Harry the long history of discrimination against Muggles at the school. Around one thousand years ago, Professor Binns discloses:

Slytherin wished to be more selective about the students admitted to Hogwarts. He believed that magical learning should be kept within all-magic families…The story goes that Slytherin had built a hidden chamber in the castle…the heir alone would be able to unseal the Chamber of Secrets, unleash the horror within, and use it to purge the school of all who were unworthy to study magic. (p. 159)

Salazar Slytherin, one of the four founders of Hogwarts, weaves discrimination against Muggles into the school’s foundation when he creates the Chamber of Secrets. He sets a precedent for the value of all-magic families above others. Slytherin’s magic - the promise that only his heir can exploit the Chamber of Secrets - tries to convince people of the importance of lineage. Centuries later, Lord Voldemort resents Muggles so much that he changes his name in an endeavor to erase his Muggle father. Voldemort confesses to Harry, “You think I was going to use my filthy Muggle father’s name for ever? I, in whose veins runs the blood of Salazar Slytherin himself, through my mother’s side?” (p. 331). Voldemort, one of the most powerful wizards in the world, wishes to break all ties with his Muggle father. He values only his mother’s side of the family as they are the descendants of Slytherin. Lucious Malfoy follows Slytherin and Voldemort in the effort to marginalize Muggles. Lucious Malfoy believes that his magical ancestry holds value; he claims, “The name Malfoy still commands a certain respect…” He says to his son Draco, “I would have thought you’d be ashamed that a girl of no wizard family beat you in every exam” (p. 54). Lucious Malfoy’s words reveal that he feels Muggles and Muggle-born witches and wizards occupy a lesser status than pure-blood witches and wizards - those that come from wizarding families without any Muggles. Lucious Malfoy disparages Hermione because both of her parents are Muggles. He communicates that a Muggle-born’s success should make a pure-blood wizard feel shame. In contrast to his feelings towards Muggles, exists Lucious Malfoy’s appreciation for the historic privileges of his own wizarding family name. Harry learns that powerful figures throughout the history of the wizarding community such as Salazar Slytherin, Lord Voldemort, and Lucious Malfoy, support the hatred of Muggles and the supremacy of all-magic families.

Discrimination Against Hermione

At school, Harry witnesses anti-Muggle discrimination against his friend Hermione Granger. Although Hermione is a witch, Draco Malfoy criticizes Hermione because her parents are Muggles. Before a group of students, Draco says to Hermione, “No one asked your opinion, you filthy little Mudblood” (p. 117). Draco claims that no one wants to hear what Hermione says, and suggests that the other students have the same feelings against her that he does. Draco calls Hermione dirty, small, and refers to Hermione’s parentage in an attempt to silence and humiliate her. Ron Weasley explains to Harry and Hermione what the slur means: “Mudblood’s a really foul name for someone who was Muggle-born - you know, non-magic parents. There are some wizards…who think they’re better than everyone else because they’re what people call pure-blood” (p. 121). Hermione suffers more than derogatory names. Unknown powers at the school, and her own classmate, threaten her life. Harry, Ron, and Hermione find a seemingly dead cat, along with a message on the wall that tells them the Chamber of Secrets is open. Draco shouts, “Enemies of the heir, beware! You’ll be next, Mudbloods!” (p. 147). Draco implies that the enemies of Salazar Slytherin’s heir have reason to worry. He exclaims that Muggle-born students (like Hermione) are bound to suffer the same fate as the cat. Underlying his insults and threats, seems Draco’s sincere wish for harm upon Hermione. Ron and Harry overhear Draco say, “…last time the Chamber of Secrets was opened, a Mudblood died. So I bet it’s only a matter of time before one of them’s killed this time…I hope it’s Granger…[Father] says the school needs ridding of all the Mudblood filth…” (p. 237). Draco knows the history of the Chamber of Secrets, and he knows that the monster within the Chamber is capable of murder. Draco adopts his father’s beliefs that only pure-blood students deserve to study at Hogwarts. After the slurs, threats, and genuine ill-will towards Hermione, her abuse culminates when she becomes one of the physically assaulted victims of the monster.

Ron and Hagrid Make Mistakes

Despite the terrible consequences of discrimination that Harry and his friends observe, they are guilty of problematic comments as well. Harry’s best friend, Ron, makes disparaging comments about Hogwarts staff member Mr. Filch, when he learns that Mr. Filch is a Squib - a man who comes from a wizarding family, but possesses no magical powers of his own. Upon this discovery, Ron tries not to laugh. He says, “Well - it’s not funny really - but as it’s Filch…It would explain a lot. Like why he hates students so much…He’s bitter” (p. 154). As a Squib, Mr. Filch is someone Voldemort and his followers want to eliminate from the school. Ron laughs about Mr. Filch, even though Mr. Filch’s life is in danger. Ron also unfairly reasons that Mr. Filch’s magical status makes him hate the student wizards and witches. Like Ron, Hagrid wrongly equates the actions of individuals with entire groups of people. Harry tells Hagrid about his aunt, uncle, and cousin’s behavior towards him over the summer holidays. As always, the Dursleys treat Harry terribly. Hagrid says, “Ruddy Muggles…If I’d’ve known - ” (p. 58). Hagrid doesn’t curse Vernon, Petunia, and Dudley Dursley by name, instead he refers to their Muggle identity. Vernon, Petunia, and Dudley, specifically, rather than Muggles as a whole, deserve Hagrid’s scorn. Hagrid’s word choice, whether intentional or not, suggests a bias against non-magic people. Hagrid also makes a dangerous suggestion when he talks about the Malfoys. After Lucious Malfoy insults Arthur Weasley at a bookstore, Hagrid tries to cheer Mr. Weasley. Hagrid assures Mr. Weasley that the Malfoys are “Rotten ter the core, the whole family, everyone knows that. No Malfoy’s worth listenin’ ter. Bad blood, that’s what it is” (pp. 66-67). Although in this instance, Hagrid criticizes a wizarding family, the meaning he attaches to a bloodline is harmful for everyone. He says that all the Malfoys are rotten to the core, as if there is something inherently, or irreparably wrong with anyone born into that family. Hagrid claims the family has “Bad blood,” which problematically reinforces the idea that ancestry dictates the quality of the individual. Several times, Ron and Hagrid associate the actions of individuals with larger groups of people, when in reality, individuals do not reflect entire groups.

During Harry’s second year at Hogwarts, the prevalence of anti-Muggle discrimination at the school is past and present, conscious and unconscious. Adults and children display discriminatory behavior, and both adults and children are targets of discrimination. The challenge for Harry is to continue to learn about the origins of discrimination in the wizarding world, recognize discrimination, and resist injustice where he is able.

References

Rowling, J.K. (1998). Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets. Bloomsbury.