Yeah. Basically, Harry Potter wizards can do mind control on an unsuspecting Muggle by pointing a stick at them and saying a word. They can alter their appearance with ease and prep time.Swindle1984 wrote:Somehow, I'm pretty certain the relative handful of magic users in the wizarding world would get their asses handed to them when they try to conquer the muggle world and discover they're fighting an army of millions with automatic weapons, artillery, armored vehicles, air support, satellite surveillance, chemical and biological weapons (how quickly can you cast a spell to protect yourself from VX nerve agent that kills in three seconds flat and is colorless, odorless, and tasteless? Particularly when 'instantly lethal and almost undetectable poison gas' isn't something you knew about in advance?), and friggin' nukes.
I'm not how useful turning a bird into a fancy goblet would be when a horde of screaming Chinamen charge at you, with a horde of tanks right behind them.
I'm guessing that at least some wizards are cognizant of this fact, and that's why the wizarding world is off in its own little dimension where muggles can't reach them. But given the superiority complex of the majority of wizards, and the near-complete ignorance of what muggles are capable of that their isolation has caused, I'm guessing the majority will be very surprised when they finally reveal their existence to the world at large and set forth to conquer... only to discover that a JDAM doesn't give a shit if you were nominated Potion Mixer of the Year.
Though clearly with all the mind control magic, date rape potions that are openly sold to school children, and shape-shifting potions, the wizards would have the advantage in infiltration and creating their own Manchurian Candidates.
They really, really do not need to worry about open, violent confrontation.
In such confrontation they'd lose- but it's unrealistic to imagine an army of Potterverse wizards going up against an organized army of Muggles who have tanks, artillery support, bombers ready and nerve gas (because of course you're just drooling to imagine the full range of modern weapons exploding the funny-dressed people with magic sticks).
For that matter, it's not clear that anyone involved in the wizard community actually wants to change the status quo and openly confront Muggles.