Muggles versus Wizards: Theories on Why J.K. Rowling Segregrated the Two

To those who read the Harry Potter books, the separation of the Muggle and the Wizarding worlds is evident from the beginning. But J.K. Rowling, author of the books, never really says why there is this segregation. I have a few theories, and I know that chances are people may disagree with me, but I hope that you will take a look at what I have to say before they discount it as utter nonsense.

First of all, let's take Vernon and Petunia for instance. Until the seventh book came out, we didn't know about Lily using magic on her sister. But even if that hadn't happened when they were young, there may have been a reason why Petunia and Vernon didn't like the wizarding world. Let's take a look at the facts:

1. People are afraid of people who are different

Just look at Vernon's reaction in the very first book to the way the people are dressed. It's quite apparent that he doesn't like anything or anyone that is different from what he perceives to be normal. So a big part of it is simply the fact of prejudice.

2. Most witches and wizards are spoken of in a unkind way in literature

I think the other reason that Vernon may not like the wizarding world is that if he read fairy tales as a child, or had them read to him, overwhelmingly the witches and wizards in there are evil. Snow White's stepmother tried to poison her, one of the fairies in Sleeping Beauty cast a spell on her, and the list goes on and on. Let's face it, in the Muggle world, with a few exceptions, the witches and wizards are people that should be feared.

I was watching the Sword in the Stone yesterday, and I was surprised at the parallels that I saw. Being a huge Harry Potter fan, I see things that relate to it even without trying. But Wart was an orphan, whose guardian treats him very much like Vernon treated Harry. And when Sir Ector meets Merlin for the first time, he reacts very much like Vernon does to Dumbledore.