Summer of no magic: how to deal with the Decree for the Reasonable Restriction of Underage Sorcery
by Timocleia Gwilym
Third Year
Gryffindor
Summer is coming! Yay! We get months without tests, without detentions, without being kept in the castle all the time. We get to go outside whenever we want! We get to travel! We get to try out these valuable magical skills we are learning here at Hogwarts in the real world and cast spells!
Huh? What? You say we can’t do that after all? Because…
Summer is coming! Boo! The Decree for the Reasonable Restriction of Underage Sorcery tells us that we can not use magic outside of Hogwarts until we turn 17. No spellcasting! No transfigurations! No charms! No spells practice, even! How awful!
Or is it?
How can we cope with the Decree for the Reasonable Restriction of Underage Sorcery? It turns out, we have some options.
First: do something, anything, else. To take your mind off of spellcasting, try other things. Play Quidditch with your friends! As long as you are not Muggle-born and have to stay in a Muggle place. Go looking for magical creatures! If you are close enough to a magical forest, that is, and do not live in a Muggle area. You could play other sports, of course; you could go for hikes (I expect to be doing a lot of that this Summer), or go to the beach.
Still, asking us not to do magic while away from school seems a very difficult thing. So let us talk about the Decree for the Reasonable Restriction of Underage Sorcery and how it is enforced.
The Decree for the Reasonable Restriction of Underage Sorcery was made in 1875. So it is relatively recent in Wizarding history. For most of our history, kids could use magic wherever they liked, as long as they did not break other Wizarding laws, the same as any witch or wizard. Lucky us.
How the Decree works, how it is enforced, and its limitations
The Decree is a British law. It does not apply to non-British kids outside of the UK. It is not clear whether it applies to British kids outside of the UK, for instance if they are on a trip somewhere. Nor is it clear whether it applies to non-British kids who are visiting the UK. But it is reasonable to assume that it might well apply in both cases.
Enforcement of the Decree is done through a spell called the Trace. Every Wizarding kid in the UK has the Trace placed upon them prior to entering Hogwarts. It dissolves when the kid reaches their 17th birthday. For most of us, this is years from now! And so it is quite annoying. But the Trace does have its limitations. The Trace can not say whether a kid has cast a spell. It can only say whether a spell was cast close to the kid. If an adult casts a spell near a kid, the adult will activate the Trace.
For this reason, in principle if a kid is amongst adults, then any use of magic by the kid might not be pursued even if the Trace is activated: there will not be enough information to determine whether the kid cast the spell. For this reason, allow me to suggest another way of coping with the Decree for the Reasonable Restriction of Underage Sorcery: keep your spellcasting to magical areas where there are plenty of adults! Make sure you are close enough to adults that you have a wonderful thing I discovered in looking through books in English: it is a thing called ‘plausible deniability.’ As long as you have plausible deniability, no one can punish you or expel you.
Now, there are still some important restrictions, even if you are amongst adults, that you must obey or you can get into serious trouble. Chief among these: Paragraph C of the Decree says that it is a crime to use magic in Muggle-inhabited areas or to use magic on a Muggle. But there are also some exceptions. Clause 7 allows a kid to use magic, even in front of Muggles, if the life of the kid is threatened, or if others are in danger, whether they are Wixen or Muggles.
Also, not all magic is forbidden! Spells are forbidden: charms and transfigurations. But using an enchanted item is not forbidden, though you do have to always act within the Statute of Secrecy and Paragraph C of the Decree. Accidental magic is also not forbidden.
What happens if I use magic outside of school?
A variety of things might happen. If the magic is minor, then you will probably get a letter of warning from the Ministry. If you violate Paragraph C of the Decree, and your life is not in danger, then it can get much more serious. You might end up in a real trial in front of the Wizengamot, and you could be expelled from school. Then they break your wand and you do not get to do magic anymore at all.
But if you are amongst other Wixen, in a Magical place (particularly when there are no Muggles), then even though the Trace may detect a spell happening near you, there will be no warning. Of course, the adults near you need to be okay with you casting spells. So either get their permission first (if your parents are annoying, find a favourite uncle, aunt or grandparent?), or make sure nobody knows you are casting spells even though they are close. Perhaps do spells practice just outside your parents’ bedroom, for instance. Or make it look like an accident. Not that I am suggesting breaking the law, of course! Certainly not!
Because we do not break the law here at Hogwarts, definitely not!
Good luck out there and happy spellcasting this summer. Or, uh… Happy being-around-others-casting-spells. Right, that is the thing.
Remember: plausible deniability.
[The Owl Post would like to make a statement that they, in no way, condone the use of illegal underage magic, regardless of locality or permission]
