Sunayna's Harry Potter Blog

In the wizarding world, students start attending magic school at age 11. When they cast spells, they say them out loud. It isn’t until their 6th year that they learn to produce spells without saying them. It is actually so difficult that a lot of students will whisper the spells.

But this could be an issue for kids who can’t talk. What if they had disabilities where they couldn’t develop speech, such as mutism or aphasia?

I don’t know if this is true, but I am assuming that J.K. Rowling wasn’t considering disabilities. Aside from how there is no special-ed class at Hogwarts that I’m aware of, a lot of things in the wizarding world aren’t disability-friendly.

For example, people in wheelchairs couldn’t go up any stairs. There was actually a time when Professor McGonagall was in a wheelchair. However, as far as I know, there was no explanation of how she could get around Hogwarts.

Another aspect that gets in the way is how the only place to study magic is at a boarding school. This would be a problem for children with cognitive limitations, such as intellectual disability–where their brains function with low maturity levels and are often unable to learn anything past a certain level. 

And for people who can’t talk, how can they cast spells? 

Suppose there was a student who was deaf and mute. I don’t know how or even if they could receive accommodations for producing spells without speaking.

I did ask J.K. Rowling on X (formerly Twitter) if there were deaf wizards in Harry Potter. But she didn’t answer (which I’m not surprised by).

So, I decided to come up with a couple of guesses. One is that maybe there is a magical artifact that speaks for someone to cast spells. Or maybe…there are no wizards who are born non-verbal or mute.

The only disability that seems to exist in the wizarding world is blindness. There actually was going to be a blind wizard. But he didn’t make it to the books.

Other than that, I don’t know if any other disabilities affect wizards and witches.

What do you think of this mystery? Let me know in the comments if you’d like.