J.K. Rowling reveals why American wizards are forced to live in hiding
Tech Insider/Skye Gould
This week, J.K. Rowling is releasing four short stories about the magical history of North America on her fan site Pottermore.
Rowling is using the stories to set the stage for the next "Harry Potter" movie, "Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them," which takes place in New York City in 1926.
Her first two stories covered early Native American wizards and the hardships of life during the Salem Witch Trials.
Thursday, Rowling released her newest story, "Rappaport's Law," which explains why the magical community in North America lives in hiding from their non-magical, or No-Maj, counterparts. The story is named for a rule created in 1790 by the 15th president of the Magical Congress of the United States of America (MACUSA), Emily Rappaport. According to Rappaport's Law, the wizarding community is to remain completely separate and secret from the No-Maj community in the United States.
The law was instated after Dorcus Twelvetrees, the daughter of a high-ranking MACUSA official, was tricked into exposing the wizarding world to a No-Maj man, Bartholomew Barebone, who sought to destroy it. Barebone came from a family line of Scourers, a corrupt vigilante justice group that was put on trial in the 1600s for some serious crimes against the wizarding world. The Scourer's hatred of all things magical was passed down to Barebone.
Using his affections, Barebone tricked Twelvetrees into telling him confidential wizarding information, like the location of the American school for wizards, Ilvermorny, and the address of MACUSA. He even stole her wand. With the information Twelvetrees had given him, Barebone printed leaflets with and gave them out to anybody, including the No-Maj government, who might help him in his crusade against wizards.
It almost worked, too. Fortunately, Barebone's spite brought about his own end. After unsuccessfully shooting at a group of innocent N0-Majs who Barebone thought were wizards, he was sent to prison by the No-Maj government.
Even with Barebone locked away, the effects of the breach were still very serious to the wizarding world. To ensure nothing like this could happen again, President Rappaport instated the new law, which forbade wizards from marrying, or even befriending, No-Maj. While the Minister of Magic and the Prime Minister in England interact from time to time (which you might remember from the "Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince"), the No-Maj government operates without any knowledge that MACUSA exists. From 1790 on, the wizarding world in America was officially a secret one.