Professional Documents
Culture Documents
Beyond
By J.K. Rowling
As No-Maj Europeans began to emigrate to the New
World, more witches and wizards of European origin
also came to settle in America. Like their No-Maj
counterparts, they had a variety of reasons for leaving
their countries of origin. Some were driven by a sense
of adventure, but most were running away: sometimes
from persecution by No-Majs, sometimes from a fellow
witch or wizard, but also from the wizarding authorities.
The latter sought to blend in among the increasing tide
of No-Majs, or hide among the Native American
wizarding population, who were generally welcoming
and protective of their European brethren.
From the first, however, it was clear that the New World
was to be a harsher environment for witches and
wizards than the Old World. There were three main
reasons for this.