The Wizards versus the "Muggles"

[DarthTom]

The Harry Potter films got me to thinking how inept the "muggles," are depicted in the books and films. Not only do they seem completely incompetent and oblivious to wizardry they also seem inept at dealing with it.

In a hypothetical war against the wizards would the 'muggles' aka regular human beings be at a total loss to fight the wizards? Would all of our technology be completely useless in combating them?

 

[Yminale]

The Harry Potter films got me to thinking how inept the "muggles," are depicted in the books and films. Not only do they seem completely incompetent and oblivious to wizardry they also seem inept at dealing with it.

In a hypothetical war against the wizards would the 'muggles' aka regular human beings be at a total loss to fight the wizards? Would all of our technology be completely useless in combating them?

I think JK Rowling herself mentioned that a war would be disastrous for wizards because muggles out number them which is why they take great pains to hide themselves. Plus the wizards don't seem to have anything like our modern weaponry like machine guns, high explosive, chemical and biological weapons, high speed communications, computer networks etc.

Let's remember the real world is a much much more crueler place than Harry's world.

 

[DarthTom]

I think JK Rowling herself mentioned that a war would be disastrous for wizards because muggles out number them which is why they take great pains to hide themselves. Plus the wizards don't seem to have anything like our modern weaponry like machine guns, high explosive, chemical and biological weapons, high speed communications, computer networks etc.

Let's remember the real world is a much much more crueler place than Harry's world.

In Deathly Hallows pt 1 during the motorcycle chase scene the wizards to escape Valdemont's capture and Harry sepcifically seem to cause chaos and knock out the electrical grid in a part of the town where Harry was staying with the muggles. So it seems as though our high tech can be disrupted by the the wizards.

But you're right - we'd out number them by about what appears as 5 billion to 1.

 

[Deckerd]

Valdemont?

 

[DarthTom]

Valdemont?

excuse me, typo. Voldemort

 

[Deckerd]

Phew. I had a shivery feeling you were going to start talking about Dumblydore.

 

[Robert Maxwell]

What about that Professor Snipe? He's evil, right?

 

[iguana_tonante]

No, just sarcastic.

 

[DarthTom]

What about that Professor Snipe? He's evil, right?

You're both very clever and very transparent. Moving right along.

Anything to contribute to the thread? Likely the wizards could destroy your programming. So computers likely would be a useless tool against them.

 

[Robert Maxwell]

What about that Professor Snipe? He's evil, right?

You're both very clever and very transparent. Moving right along.

Anything to contribute to the thread? Likely the wizards could destroy your programming. So computers likely would be a useless tool against them.

But I bet they can't dodge nukes.

 

[Samurai8472]

I would think the wizard's magic has about ten times the power of anything the muggles can create. The wizard's could probably turn a tank into a dog.

Voldermort could probably deflect bullets aswell.

 

[Mike Farley]

How many wizards would even understand what a computer was, much less how to disrupt it? The impression I get from the books is that they've have really isolated themselves from the larger world. Sure Harry and Herminone would understand, but no-one ever listens to them until it's almost too late.

 

[DarthTom]

But I bet they can't dodge nukes.

In the latest film some sort of shielding is deployed to protect the school from wand attacks so it would be pure speculation on how much energy Valdemorts wand has to take it down.

But you're right under normal circumstances I'm doubting that nuclear weapons could be repelled by the wizards.

They do however seem to have the ability to teleport themselves at will so as soon as a nuke was detonated I'd guess they would use that to escape the blast.

 

[Yminale]

I would think the wizard's magic has about ten times the power of anything the muggles can create. The wizard's could probably turn a tank into a dog.

Yes but a modern tank has a range of 1+ km and a speed of 60+ kph which illustrates the problem. Wizards except for some spells need a visual line of sight. Most modern weapons have huge standoff ranges.

Voldermort could probably deflect bullets aswell.

Yeah but that's ONE wizard.

 

[Mike Farley]

The real problem with using nukes against wizards, is that outside of the schools, most of the wizarding world seems to be hidden alongside (and inside) our world. Can't nuke the center (centre?) of the English magical government because it's right in the heart of London.

 

[Yminale]

In the latest film some sort of shielding is deployed to protect the school from wand attacks so it would be pure speculation on how much energy Valdemorts wand has to take it down.

Well the problem with the movies is that they show the wizards being more powerful than in the book. Visually they seem to project as much power as an average hand grenade. Unfortunately the modern soldier has bigger guns than a hand grenade.

But you're right under normal circumstances I'm doubting that nuclear weapons could be repelled by the wizards.

Wizards would make nasty insurgents but that's all they could do. Remember not only do they have low number but it takes 7+ years to train a wizard. It takes 7 months to train a decent infantryman.

 

[Robert Maxwell]

The real problem with using nukes against wizards, is that outside of the schools, most of the wizarding world seems to be hidden alongside (and inside) our world. Can't nuke the center (centre?) of the English magical government because it's right in the heart of London.

Interdimensional nukes?

 

[Yminale]

The real problem with using nukes against wizards, is that outside of the schools, most of the wizarding world seems to be hidden alongside (and inside) our world. Can't nuke the center (centre?) of the English magical government because it's right in the heart of London.

Who said you can't nuke London? If people were freaked out enough, London will become a crater.

 

[DarthTom]

The real problem with using nukes against wizards, is that outside of the schools, most of the wizarding world seems to be hidden alongside (and inside) our world. Can't nuke the center (centre?) of the English magical government because it's right in the heart of London.

Yea, their world seems to be hidden outside of our dimension. The obvious solution would be to take weapons of mass destruction into theirs by recruiting a 'muggle friendly,' accomplice.

The films have illustrated several wizards who are motivated by financial gain so I'd imagine that if 'muggles,' or us humans bribed the right one they'd be able to smuggle a weapon into the wizard world.

 

[Mike Farley]

Another question is "would wizards unite with muggles to fight off a zombie/robot apocalypse?"