When Albus Dumbledore left Harry on the Dursleys doorstep, he was a little child. At this moment Harry´s life in the normal Muggle world begins. The Dursleys know about the wizarding world and that his parents were a wizard and a witch but they keep him from all magic influence. Still ten years later a wizard named Hagrid comes to him and tells him the truth, that he is not a Muggle.

Harry´s life with the Muggles is not easy for him. He must sleep in a cupboard and the Dursleys treat him like a unwanted son because his parents were magicians. And they think that a son of magicians can´t have  a good influence on their real son Dudley.

Harry and Dudley are always in trouble. Dudley has a gang and Harry is often their victim because he is not very strong and hasn´t many friends. So after ten years Muggle-life he is very happy that there exists a Non-Muggle lifestyle, that seems to be very interesting.

The Muggle world in Harry Potter is like the normal world we know. The Muggles have no idea that any other “world” exists at all. When they recognise anything strange, they would never think that it has to do with magic. They all have their normal daily life. But there are also wizards and witches in their world, who have a strictly organised life. No Muggle really knows that they exist because they have rules (for example not to do magic in the Muggle world). The magicians are also well organised in buying things like in the Diagon Alley, which has a secret entrance, and Hogwarts, the magic school. Because of this organisation the wizards and witches have also their normal life which seems to us like reality. They also have their little problems like the Muggles. The only difference is :They can do magic.

Existence of the wizarding world

In the Harry Potter books J. K. Rowling created a wizarding world that exists next to the muggle world. A wizarding world none of the muggles had ever heard of. A world where the magic people are able to learn and to improve their abilities, where they can become someone because of their special knowledge about witchcraft and wizarding. The muggles, the non-magic people in general, aren’t allowed to enter this world in any way apart from a few exceptions. Sometimes children of muggle families  are invited to enter the school of witchcraft and wizardy because of their special talent. But the wizards have to be very careful to keep their world secret. The ministry of magic is there to look after all the witches and wizards that they don’t behave strangely in the muggle- world. It is their main job to keep it from the muggles that there are still witches and wizards in the country. (“´But what does the ministry of magic do?` ´Well, their main job is to keep it from the muggles that there’s still witches an’ wizards up an’ down the country.’ Page 75)

J. K: Rowling created the wizarding world with similar institutions that exist in the muggle world. There is a street, Diagon Alley, where witches and wizards can buy everything they need for their life as witches and wizards: witchcraft books, animals like owls or rats, ingredients for potions, magic wands, robes...  .This street is in London next to the muggle streets but there are special ways to come there, only magic people know.  Harry and Hagrid take the Underground to come to the Leaky Cauldron, a tiny, grubby-looking pub. They walk through the pub into a small courtyard. By tapping a special point above a dustbin a hole appears to let the two into Diagon Alley. (page 79 to 81).

The wizards have their own money to pay with: gold coins, that are called Galleons, silver coins, that are called Sickles and bronze knuts. This money of the wizards and Witches is kept safely at Gringotts, the bank of the magic people. Gringotts is run by Goblins and according to Hagrid, it is the safest place in the world, expect maybe Hogwarts. (see Page 73).

Hogwarts is the best school for wizards and witches in the magic world. Only the best ones go to this school of witchcraft and wizardry. The pupils there have an ordinary schedule like pupils have in muggle schools but they have very different classes, like: potions, transfiguration, herbology, history of magic, defence against dark arts and flying lessons. Not only pupils from wizard families but also from muggle families can study there. When the pupils come to Hogwarts the first year, they are chosen to one of the four houses of Hogwarts: Gryffindor, where there are only the best, Slytherin, where the most dark wizards come from, Huffelpuff and Ravenclaw. Every pupil has to put a sorting hat on his head and this hat chooses the house where the pupils will be for the rest of there time at Hogwarts. To Harry the sorting hat shouts “ ’Well, if you ‘re sure- better be GRYFFINDOR’ ” (page 133).

At the school the pupils are able to play in one of their  Quidditch teams. Quidditch is the the sport in the wizarding world, like for example football in the muggle world. Quidditch is played witch seven players on each side. Three of them are called Chasers, one is the Keeper, two are Beaters and one is called Seeker. There are four balls in the game. “The chasers throw the Quaffle to each other to try to get it through one of the hoops to score a goal“ (page 182). The keeper flys around to stop the other team from scoring. Two of the balls are called Bludgers. These balls tries to knock the players off their brooms. The Beaters try to protect their side from the Bludgers. The smallest ball is the Snitch and when this ball is caught the game is over. The team that catches the snitch  gets extra hundred and fifty points and nearly always wins (page 182-184).

The pupils that finish at Hogwarts are able to study at one of the universities for wizards and witches.

Everything named before is right similar like the muggle world, but J.K. Rowling also put absolutly new aspects in the wizarding world. Persons in pictures can smile at you, but they can also vanish to visit persons in other pictures. You can’t expect from the persons in the pictures that they look at you all the time.  The wizards don’t know about telephone or regular post-offices in any way. To send information they send owls that carry their information. There are house ghosts living at school. Nearly Headless Nick is the house ghost of Gryffindor and The Bloody Baron is the house ghost of Slytherin. And there is Peeves, the Poltergeist (“ ‘ Peeves’, Percy whispered to the first- years’ – A poltergeist!’” page 141). In the forest next to the school the strangest animals are living: werewolves, unicorns and centaurus. All that would sound very strange but because of the way it is described by J.K. Rowling it becomes absolutely believable. There are a lot of smaller aspects that fit together to give a complete picture. Things are translated from the muggle world into the wizarding world and changed in a way that a picture of a fantastic new world develops in your mind, while you are reading. The way every detail is described you can picture yourself in the wizarding world.

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