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Our stepson, Harry Potter, only received love and respect from both my family and myself during his time at home. Nevertheless, we felt it was prudent to sent him to the best boarding school in the country to further his talents. He spent a total of six years at Hogwarts. Unbeknownst to us, the educational staff at said facility neglected their duty to protect their pupils from physical and emotional harm at several occasions. As a result he was forced to abort his education during his senior year. He required half a year of rehabilitation camping with two other students of his year.

As such we want to make sure that no other child has to suffer the same way. Would you mind listing legal actions the staff or affiliates of said school have to fear? Jurisdiction is either England or Scotland, I can't seem to find the castle on a map. It goes without saying that muggle law supersedes any of the "weird people" law.

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    Can you confirm that your stepson adhered to the rules and policies of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry during his time there, and include information about the medical body who recommended the camping trip as rehabilitation?
    – ItWasLikeThatWhenIGotHere
    Commented Aug 20, 2020 at 15:08
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    How far off canon are we supposed to go here? No muggle court would accept such an obviously frivolous case, even if you managed to get over the hurdle of proof of service. If you made a sufficient nuisance of yourself you might be declared a vexatious litigant (gov.uk/guidance/vexatious-litigants). Meanwhile the Wizengamot would simply laugh at you.
    – Paul Johnson
    Commented Aug 20, 2020 at 16:56
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    FWIW, the legal proceedings in the Harry Potter books are very unlike those of common law courts. They more closely resemble the jurisprudence and process of medieval Iceland, classical Greece, or a more democratic version of the European civil law system.
    – ohwilleke
    Commented Aug 20, 2020 at 19:26
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    @ItWasLikeThatWhenIGotHere. The camping trip was taking after consultation with with his life coach T. Riddle. He seemed to have taken a special interested in the boy even bevor the tragic accident of his parents.
    – magu_
    Commented Aug 21, 2020 at 7:56
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    @Seekinganswers There were a couple of criminal trials "on stage" and there were allusions to quite a few other criminal trials that happened "off stage". The nature of the proceedings is spelled out at length and one of the leading professional options for Hogwarts grads is basically a law enforcement job.
    – ohwilleke
    Commented Mar 7, 2023 at 20:27

3 Answers 3

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It goes without saying that muggle law supersedes any of the "weird people" law.

In Harry Potter's world, the Queen and the Prime Minister of the U.K. have expressly and knowingly delegated legislative authority over the Wizarding world in secret legislation to self-governance by its own authorities, and also maintain a mandatory rule of silence about that world's existence. So, there would be no remedy in the ordinary courts of the U.K. Any remedy would have to come from Wizarding world authorities.

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Leaving aside Vernon Dursley's gloss on his role, the opening chapters of The Philosopher's Stone describe harassment by Dumbledore followed by a number of crimes by Hagrid:

  • Breaking and entering the hut on the island.

  • Assault on Dudley, arguably using a deadly weapon (a wand). The pig tail might even be Grievous Bodily Harm given that it required hospital treatment to remove.

  • Child abduction: the Dursleys were Harry's legal guardians and did not want him taken by Hagrid. The fact that Harry went willingly is not relevant.

So there are a nice selection of criminal charges in the opening chapters.

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    It is not clear that the Dursleys were the owners (or at least legal renters) of the hut on the island. The Dursleys themselfs may be charged for breaking and entering as squatters. The legal guardian was the Godfather. Dumbledore hast taken over the guardianship after the death of the parents since the Godfather was not available and placed HP into the care if the next of kin (aunt). A school authority can be empowered to use force to ensure tgat a student attends school. Undo force was used against Dudley after he was caught red handed stealing HP property.
    – Mark Johnson
    Commented Aug 21, 2020 at 13:44
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Arguably, Genocide.

Throughout the series we see many people attempt to destroy, in whole, the Death Eaters. Because they all share a similar set of beliefs, a central leader (Voldemort), and periodically meet (technically a church meeting), they could be considered a religious group. These Death Eaters are simply trying to live forever (not a crime) and possibly kill one person, which probably wouldn't stand up in a Court of Law as a defense that this "Hogwarts" group, a school which knowingly let children attend despite a curse on the school, . The Death Eaters are continuously trying to protect their culture in self-defense.

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  • The Death Eaters are clearly modelled on fascist nationalist political groups, and have nothing close to a religion (as opposed to a cult of personality). Anybody arguing that e.g. opposing Nazis was equivalent to genocide would be quickly shown the door.
    – user4657
    Commented Apr 22, 2021 at 8:03
  • Genocide is a crime that can not be brought by individuals in their private capacity
    – Trish
    Commented Apr 22, 2021 at 10:22
  • "These Death Eaters are simply trying to live forever (not a crime) and possibly kill one person"- the Death Eaters as an organisation have been responsible for countless murders.
    – Comic Sans Seraphim
    Commented May 1, 2021 at 19:07

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