Could Muggles Win a Fight Against Wizards?
In the World of Harry Potter, Could Muggles Defeat Wizards in a Fight?
Magic is very powerful in the Harry Potter universe. The Harry Potter books heavily imply that the wizards could easily beat muggles in a fight. However, this may not be the case. Muggles could win a fight against wizards if they surprise the wizards and have some luck. So to the question of who would win in a muggles vs wizards fight, I think muggles stand a chance.
Could a Muggle Find Hogwarts?
This appears to be something that muggles cannot do. Hogwarts is full of muggle repelling charms as well as being unplottable. The muggle repelling charms are not well defined in the books. Instead, they are loosely described as a charm that makes all muggles in an area remember forgotten appointments, encouraging them to leave. We do not know how long it takes to cast this spell, nor how long it lasts, nor how much land it can cover, nor even if it can be broken. Because of this, we must assume that the fight will take place on some neutral ground. For the sake of argument, let’s say a field with a few trees in the middle of nowhere.
Assumptions
Because of the variety that could happen in a fight like this, we must make assumptions. These assumptions are to narrow down the discussion so that an argument will be made. So, we will assume:
1: That this is in America because in Britain there are strict gun control laws and really, a gun is the only way the muggles will win.
2: That there are two wizards and 2 muggles
3: That the muggles initiated the attack and caught the wizards off guard. However, the wizards saw he muggles and had time to prepare
4: The muggles will both have semi-automatic pistols which are the most common guns in America
5: The wizards will be ‘average wizards’ so, they won’t be as powerful as Dumbledore or Voldemort, they won’t use unforgivable curses, and they will know the spells taught at Hogwarts.
Could the Wizards fight offensively?
The wizard’s most powerful offensive spell is the Avada Kedavra. However, we can assume that this spell will not be used during the fight. This spell is an unforgivable curse that our average wizard will not know, and will not use. So, the following is a list of the main spells that may be useful in a fight.
Expelliarmus, (disarming charm)
Rictumsempra (Tickling charm)
Titilando (dancing spell)
Trip jinx
Stinging hex
Stupify (stunning spell)
Reducto (breaks objects)
Aguamenti (water spell)
(this is not meant to be a full list of offensive spells)
For this post, we will ignore the majority of these spells as functionally redundant. This is because the goal of most of these spells is to incapacitate the opponent in some way. Expelliarmus, Rictumsempra, Titilando, trip jinx, stinging hex; these all incapacitate the opponent. So we will focus on Stupify as it is the stunning spell. Reducto is useful for the wizards because it can make cover ineffective. I included Aguamenti to show how powerful wizards can be when they are creative. It can be extremely versatile if you use your head. For example, the wizards could use Aguamenti to muddy the grass, making the terrain difficult to navigate. However, though this is just one of the spells that can be used creatively, it’s unlikely that it will be useful in a straight fight. If the muggles were running away, chasing someone, or preparing a battlefield, then it would be useful.
The Muggles
The muggles’ only reliable form of offense will be their guns. They will hold semi-automatic pistols. This means that the cartridge of bullets will need to be manually loaded. After that, the gun will load each bullet itself. These guns hold 7 bullets so the muggles will each have seven shots. Also, since the muggles initiate this attack, they will have their guns loaded. They will probably be able to act first.
The Wizards Defense – how good is Protego
The main spell that wizards can use for defense is protego. This is a shield charm and it blocks incoming magic and physical attacks. Bullets obviously are physical projectiles. This means that protego can also deflect bullets. However, I could not find any information on whether or not wizards could fire from behind a shield charm (let me know if you find any). If they can’t, the wizards are doomed. After all, the books make clear that the majority of wizards in the Ministry of Magic cannot cast decent shield charms. This means that the charm should break after a few shots.
Conclusion
The muggles would win a fight if they could hit the wizards in the first few shots. Due to the speed of the bullets, the wizards would probably be unable to cast a shield charm in time. However, it is highly likely that one or both of our pair of muggles will miss. This means at least one of the wizards is shielded and the muggle is out in the open. If the wizard can still cast spells then the muggles are most likely doomed. The muggles wouldn’t even be able to use cover because of the reducto curse. But, if the wizards couldn’t cast spells from behind a shield charm then the muggles could wear down their defenses. So, yes the muggles could defeat the wizards, but they would need to act quickly and be accurate. The wizards are, overall, more powerful.
But, how would things turn out in a muggle-wizard war? Who would win in an all out fight waged between wizards and muggles? If you liked this, leave a comment and I may do a post on the outcome of a muggle wizard war. Also, write a comment if you think there is anything I overlooked or if you want to add to the discussion.
Resources I used:
https://science.howstuffworks.com/5-most-popular-guns.htm
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/M1911_pistol#Current_users_in_the_U.S.
If you want a story that includes wizards in a gunfight, check out The Fame, The Magic, because there should be more stories with fantasy gunfights. If you want a story about a different type of wizard and a girl’s confrontation with him, read A King Apart.
If you want to read reasons about why sci-fi and fantasy are cool, you can read 5 Reasons to Love Science Fiction and Fantasy.
