Muggle Studies

"Professor Burbage taught the children of witches and wizards all about Muggles...how they are not so different from us..."

- Lord Voldemort's scorn for Muggle Studies

Muggle Studies is a class at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. It is exactly what the name implies - the study of the daily lives of Muggles and how they cope with not being magical. This class aims specifically to acquaint witches and wizards who do not have direct contact with Muggles with the way they live; one known essay topic was "Why Muggles Need Electricity". It is an optional subject, taught from the third year to the seventh.

Muggle Studies is considered by some to be a soft option, but others, such as Percy Weasley, think it is important for magical people to have an understanding of the non-magical community, especially if they work closely with Muggles, such as in the Ministry of Magic; his father being a case in point.

Before 1990
Quirinus Quirrell taught Muggle Studies at Hogwarts until 1990, when he took a year-long sabbatical and spent time abroad before returning to Hogwarts and becoming the professor of Defence Against the Dark Arts. The position was taken over by Charity Burbage.

1994
Hermione Granger took Muggle Studies, as well as every other class, in her third year, despite being Muggle-born. She wanted to study Muggles from the wizards' point of view, and excelled in the class, but dropped it in her fourth year when she found her schedule too demanding.

1997
In 1997, Professor Burbage was captured by Death Eaters and brought to Malfoy Manor, where Lord Voldemort murdered her with the Killing Curse because she wrote a positive piece about Muggles and Muggle-borns for the Daily Prophet. Her corpse was then consumed by Nagini. Voldemort took over the Ministry of Magic soon afterwards, and Death Eater Alecto Carrow was appointed professor of Muggle Studies. The subject was made compulsory, and instead of teaching students accurate facts about the non-magical community and encouraging understanding and tolerance, Carrow taught that Muggles were "like animals, stupid and dirty" and that they drove "wizards into hiding by being vicious toward them".

Post-War
After Voldemort's defeat and the end of the Second Wizarding War, Carrow was presumably imprisoned and Muggle Studies restored to accurate and unbiased teaching.

Known O.W.L.s

 * Percy Weasley
 * Bill Weasley
 * Barty Crouch Jr

Known Professors

 * Quirinus Quirrell (?-1990)
 * Charity Burbage (1990-1997)
 * Alecto Carrow (1997-1998)

Notes and references
Étude des Moldus