Thanks for keeping me honest, but I don’t have the book available to me now either. If you can quote from a different language edition (especially German), that would help.
Without the book to review, what I relied on in my comment[^1] was this: When I first read it, I came away with the impression that there was no secret. I remember reading about Petunia’s letter and concluding that the Evanses knew all about Witches and Wizards. (The differing reactions to them are like the attitudes towards Mutants in Marvel comics.)
[^1]: That, and checking the Wikia for first mentions.
Perhaps, primed by this, I missed later references to secrecy. (But that doesn’t help with any comments by McGonagall in the prologue.) I do remember being disappointed (but understanding) with the secrecy in book 2.
Regarding Azkaban: No mention in book 1, yes, but it is mentioned in book 2, before it started to play a major role in book 3.
Yes, certainly. In fact, I always thought that Hagrid’s trip to Azkaban in book 2 was set up so that we’d know what the title of book 3 meant. (I knew that title before I read book 2.)
Verärgert schnaubte Professor McGonagall durch die Nase.
»O Ja, alle Welt feiert, sehr schön«, sagte sie ungeduldig.
»Man sollte meinen, sie könnten ein bisschen vorsichtiger sein,
aber nein - selbst die Muggel haben bemerkt, dass etwas los ist.
Sie haben es in ihren Nachrichten gebracht.« Mit einem
Kopfrucken deutete sie auf das dunkle Wohnzimmerfenster der
Dursleys. »Ich habe es gehört. Ganze Schwärme von Eulen …
Sternschnuppen … Nun, ganz dumm sind sie auch wieder nicht.
Sie mussten einfach irgendetwas bemerken. Sternschnuppen
unten in Kent—ich wette, das war Dädalus Diggel. Der war noch
nie besonders vernünftig.«
My rough, not-a-native-German-speaker translation:
Professor McGonagall snorted angrily through her nose. “Oh yes, the whole world is celebrating, very nice” she said impatiently. “One might think they could be more careful, but no—even the Muggles have noticed that something is going on. It was in their newspapers.” With a jerk of her head, she indicated Dursley’s dark living room window. “I heard about it. Swarms of owls, meteorites...they aren’t all idiots. They must have noticed. Shooting stars over Kent—I bet that was Daedalus Diggle. He never was very sensible.”
I take from that that McGonagall doesn’t expect the Muggles to know what it means that there are suddenly a bunch of owls everywhere, but that wizards everywhere nevertheless have a duty to make sure that Muggles don’t see those sorts of things.
A few lines later, McGonagall states it even more explicitly:
»Das wäre eine schöne Bescherung, wenn ausgerechnet an dem Tag, da Du-weißt-schon-wer endlich verschwindet, die Muggel alles über uns herausfinden würden.«
(rough back-translation):
“That would be a big mess, if the muggles found out all about us, right on the same day when You-Know-Who finally disappeared.”
»Aber was tut ein Zaubereiministerium?« — »Nun, seine Hauptaufgabe ist, vor den Muggels geheim zu halten, dass es landauf, landab immer noch Hexen und Zauberer gibt.«
rough back-translation:
“But what does a Ministry of Magic do?” — “Well, its main task is to keep the muggles from learning that there are still witches and wizards all over the country.”
Thanks for keeping me honest, but I don’t have the book available to me now either. If you can quote from a different language edition (especially German), that would help.
Without the book to review, what I relied on in my comment[^1] was this: When I first read it, I came away with the impression that there was no secret. I remember reading about Petunia’s letter and concluding that the Evanses knew all about Witches and Wizards. (The differing reactions to them are like the attitudes towards Mutants in Marvel comics.)
[^1]: That, and checking the Wikia for first mentions.
Perhaps, primed by this, I missed later references to secrecy. (But that doesn’t help with any comments by McGonagall in the prologue.) I do remember being disappointed (but understanding) with the secrecy in book 2.
Yes, certainly. In fact, I always thought that Hagrid’s trip to Azkaban in book 2 was set up so that we’d know what the title of book 3 meant. (I knew that title before I read book 2.)
Here’s the passage from chapter 1:
My rough, not-a-native-German-speaker translation:
I take from that that McGonagall doesn’t expect the Muggles to know what it means that there are suddenly a bunch of owls everywhere, but that wizards everywhere nevertheless have a duty to make sure that Muggles don’t see those sorts of things.
Thanks! (The translation is fine, btw.)
A few lines later, McGonagall states it even more explicitly:
(rough back-translation):
Here’s the quote from chapter 5, too:
rough back-translation:
Thanks again, that is all very clear, in either language. I have edited my wrong comment.