Changes Wrought
1544 – 1998
When Death was a young man, magic was natural. Some people had it, some people didn’t in the same way that some people had brown hair and some had red. Naively, he thought it would always be that way.
But when humanity wants to understand something and they can’t, they have a tendency to turn violent.
For hundreds of years, Europe was subjected to a series of witch hunts. In Britain, these hunts reached a peak in the 16th and 17th century with the British Civil War and the Puritan Era.
The Wizengamot was established in 1544 and expanded in 1672.
In 1689, the International Statute of Wizarding Secrecy was signed. It went into effect in 1692.
This Statute was designed to protect wizards from violent muggles intent on hunting them down.
Magic was somewhat of a recessive gene in society; there were far fewer people with it than without it.
Wizards turned inward, establishing spaces with extensive anti-Muggle wards and separating themselves from general society.
At the time, it seemed the best solution.
But, as the years went on, this separation (and the reminder of the reason for the separation) made some wizards start to detest muggles while, at the same time, making no effort to understand them.
As a result, muggles became a very effective common enemy.
Muggleborn wixen were ostracized from wizarding society; never actually initiated and then condemned for not understanding, passed over for jobs in favor of purebloods, and outright victimized.
By not making any effort to understand muggles or advancements in their society, many wixen stick out like a sore thumb if they ever have to venture into the muggle world. They wear robes that wouldn’t look out of place in a Victorian fashion exhibit at a local museum, they have no understanding of technology, and they don’t take the threat of Muggle weapons seriously.
Now, this isn’t to say that the Statute of Secrecy should be abolished.
Humans seek to end that which they don’t understand.
If wizarding society was revealed now, it would mean the end of Magic.
But the biggest threat to the Statute of Secrecy isn’t muggles, it’s wizards themselves.
Death is rather looking forward to having a sitting Lord Peverell with whom to discuss his political opinions and ideas to protect Magic.