Looking at what had happened throughout history, wizards had gone from living alongside Muggles to establishing the International Statute of Wizarding Secrecy and concealing the magical world. That step could not be called a mistake. On the contrary, it had been an exceedingly wise and necessary one.
Wizards could use magic; Muggles could not. Given the complexity of human nature, there would always be Muggles who envied wizards, feared wizards, and wanted to persecute them.
Wizards were vastly outnumbered by Muggles. Even if only a small fraction of Muggles wished to harm wizards, that number would still be astronomical to the wizarding population.
Moreover, without magic to protect them, even powerful wizards were as vulnerable as Muggles.
Wizards could grow sleepy, lose focus, be deceived, or fail to react in time. Without a wand, it was generally difficult to cast magic. If they were stabbed, struck by rocks, or fell from a building... they could still be injured or killed.
Therefore, as long as wizards and Muggles lived together, Muggles persecuting wizards was unavoidable.
There truly had been large-scale incidents of Muggles persecuting wizards in history. It was precisely because of that dark period that the International Statute of Wizarding Secrecy emerged in 1692.
Some might ask why wizards were such cowards. When persecuted, why had they thought only of hiding? They were powerful people who wielded magic. Could they not strike back at Muggles, or even wipe them all out?
In truth, Muggles had persecuted wizards, but wizards had never stopped harming Muggles throughout the ages either.
From ancient times to the present, there had been countless cruel Black Wizards who used Muggles as experimental subjects, spellcasting materials, or simply killed Muggles to vent their rage and amuse themselves.
In modern times, whether it was Grindelwald and the Saints