What is the law? How is it worded and what are the available loopholes?
No witch/wizard shall intentionally use magic, especially transfiguration, to deceive muggles for purposes of being perceived as a deity or divine being, for personal gain. except when: a.) The use of such magic amongst muggles is meant to undo the damage of a previous offender and 1.) Any personal gain from such use is strictly coincidental, and not exploited or 2.) The muggle witnesses’ memories of the event are safely erased b.) There are extreme circumstances that leave the witch/wizard with no alternative and 1.) Any personal gain from such use is strictly coincidental, and not exploited and 2.) The muggle witnesses’ memories of the event are safely erased
Loopholes: -The law does not specifically prohibit using magic to trick muggles into believing an alternate witch/wizard to be a deity or divine being. -The law does not specifically prohibit using magic to trick muggles into believing another muggle is a deity or divine being. -The law does not specifically prohibit using magic to trick muggles into believing an animal, or an object, is a deity or divine being. -The law does not adequately define “divine being.” -The law fails to take into account the possibility of masochistic witches/wizards who might use muggle followers for personal loss. -The law does not define extreme circumstances
What is the punishment for breaking this law? For crimes that result in loss of human life, magical or not: Life in Azkaban For crimes that result in discernably changing the trajectory of mankind: Life in Azkaban For crimes that create catastrophic damage: 1-25 years in Azkaban For crimes that cause minor damage: 200-900 hours of Muggle community service OR 10-100 days in Azkaban For crimes that cause little to no damage: 40-500 hours of Muggle community service
What is the history of this law? Why did it become law and how? Initially, muggles were naturally unperceptive of magical occurrences, due to a globally lain enchantment spell. ~5000 B.C. Lilith, a witch who used transfiguration to turn into a snake, convinced Eve, a muggle, to eat a charmed piece of fruit. When Eve ate the fruit, it permanently broke the universal enchantment spell. ~3000 B.C. Bastet, a witch used transfiguration to turn into a lioness in front of the ancient Egyptian people. Bastet once had an epic fight with a wizard, Apep, who, like Lilith, his sister, transfigured into a snake. Revering Bastet as a goddess, the Egyptian people passed down stories and worshipped her for thousands of years. Slaves were forced to erect insane monuments to appease Bastet, along with many other witches and wizards. ~1700 B.C. Shiva, who carried Apep in snakeform around her neck, inspired Hinduism. In this culture however, Apep became known as Vasuki, and his sister Lilith, became known as Manasa. The snake siblings (known then as nāga, or the feminine form, nāgī or nāgiṇī) became notorious for influencing religion in the muggle world. ~1500 B.C. A Wizard who called himself Moses used his bronze serpent staff to part the Red Sea in order to free the slaves from Egypt, and subsequently implement a set of rules for the muggles to follow. ~700 B.C. In Greece, a group of 12 sibling witches and wizards formed a group called the “Titans” with plans of world domination. While the Titans had muggles worshipping them with no problem, they were overthrown and killed by the children of the youngest Titan, Cronus. The next generation was out of control and mad with power, and were the first witches and wizards to create half-blood children muggles. ~7 B.C. Jesus Christ, after seeing muggles react to his spell that changed water to wine with praise and admiration, became addicted to glory. He started walking on water, healing blind muggles, performing all kinds of magic “tricks” including transfiguration, in front of muggles all willy-nilly. The only explanation for such sorcery to these muggles was that Jesus Christ was the Messiah promised in their religious texts, however, many muggles decided he was full of shit and crucified him. Other notable examples of witches/wizards, and the sects that resulted: 1375 B.C. Acamapichtli: Aztec Imperial Dynasty 570 A.D. Muhammad: Islam 1820 A.D. Joseph Smith: Mormonism 1954 A.D. L. Ron Hubbard: Scientology 1956 A.D. Jim Jones: The Peoples Temple 1977 A.D. George Lucas: The Force
This law was proposed by an American Wizard, John O’Brien, who lived in Southern California in the late 1960’s. O’Brien was studying muggle technology, automobiles in particular, for use in camouflaged witch/wizard travel. O’Brien was tired of the crazy, dirty hippies from the nearby ranch, who were constantly trespassing and stealing various automobiles and automobile parts from his property in order to construct their own “dune buggies.” The young men and women stealing from O’Brien’s property were carrying out the orders of another wizard, Charles Manson. Manson had used various potions and plants, along with divination, to recruit these young muggles into his “family,” who would ultimately consider him a god. One mind-controlling potion in particular (known to muggles as LSD), along with his accurate predictions of Beatles song titles and lyrics, were significant aids for Manson. While O’Brien waited for his proposal to make its way through the Ministry of Magic, he took advantage of the muggle laws in place in California. The majority of the young men and women living on the ranch, and Manson himself, were arrested for auto theft in 1969. What O’Brien did not know however, was that the group, dubbed “The Manson Family” had been up to much more sinister things. The arrests made for a relatively arbitrary thing would ultimately be a catalyst in solving the case of high-profile murders that had been occurring in the area.
O’Brien’s proposed law passed and went into effect in 1970. Charles Manson could not be prosecuted by the Ministry of Magic for leading a cult, as it was not illegal at the time, but in a muggle court of law, he was found guilty on several charges, and sentenced to death. Manson then, just for fun, used his magic to trick the California Supreme Court into temporarily abolishing the death penalty in the state of California, thus reducing Manson’s sentence to life in prison, an act that was already deemed illegal in the Ministry of Magic. Manson’s punishment was/is to finish his sentence in the muggle prison, which has been charmed, rendering Manson’s magic completely ineffective.
Describe a notable time the law was broken. What happened to the perpetrator? George Lucas was charged, but was ultimately found innocent as his resulting cult-like following and god-like status among muggles was found to be unintentional. Cult-leader Jim Jones used magic to trick numerous muggles into following him, both spiritually and literally. After isolating nearly 1,000 muggles by moving them to Jonestown, Guyana, he used the Imperius Curse to force any resisting muggles to drink a poisonous potion that led to their collective death in 1978. Muggles investigating the scene believed that Jones died from a self-inflicted gunshot wound to the head, but he was in fact alive and well. He was on the run for more than 10 years before he was caught by ministry authorities. He died in Azkaban in 2008, at age 77.