National Sticker Day with The Protego Foundation

Happy National Sticker Day, friends!

Easily one of the most underrated but downright joyful “national” days, this is the perfect day to let loose with your love for stickers! 

Whether they’re pasted onto reusable water bottles, slapped onto a phone case, or adorn a laptop cover, stickers are a fantastic way to express what we believe in. They are a perfect way to show off what inspires us and draw attention to various causes and movements close to our heart—like shedding light on the fight for animal rights.

No matter what size they are or what material they’re printed on, every sticker has a story. 

The trio of stickers in the first official Protego Foundation sticker pack all have special significance.

Let’s peer behind the veil and see what meaning we can unlock from these colorful stickers and how they can translate to the fight for animal (and creature) rights in the magical and Muggle world. ​

“Throughout the history of the Harry Potter fandom and the wizarding world lore, we are given quick nods and references to different magical creature rights movements,” says Tylor Starr, President and Cofounder of The Protego Foundation.
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“So it only makes sense that our first sticker sheet pay[s] homage to those activists who led these movements to help magical creatures such as Snidgets, Trolls, and Goblins.”

Troll Rights Movement

​We wouldn’t blame you if your thoughts about trolls in the wizarding world are colored by the violent altercation between Hermione, Ron, and Harry and the mountain troll in the girls’ bathroom in Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s / Sorcerer’s Stone. 

According to Newt Scamander, Trolls are “less intelligent than the dullest unicorn and possess no magical powers in their own right except for their prodigious and unnatural strength.” They’re able to be “taught a few simple words” but are ultimately known for their violence and unpredictability. 

Trolls are so defined by their brutishness and dim-wittedness that they’re even used in the wizarding world education system to mark failing grades. Earning a “Troll” in the O.W.L.s or N.E.W.T.s is the worst possible failure. 

But is that all there is to Trolls?

Starr says there’s more to the much-maligned creatures. “We are taught in the Potter-series that trolls are dumb monsters who aren’t deserving of consideration.”

Starr continues, ​

“The Troll Rights Movement is an opportunity for The Protego Foundation to live up to our mission. To show that every beast and creature, regardless of species, size, and magical ability is worthy of protection, consideration, and care.”

Goblin Liberation Front Member 
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Even if you ended up dozing off in dreamland during Professor Binn’s notoriously dull History of Magic lessons, the one topic all Hogwarts students have at least some basic knowledge of are the various incidents of Goblin rebellions in the wizarding world.

We’ll spare you any droning lectures by sharing the gist of how Goblins fit into the wizarding world: Goblins have always faced discrimination and prejudice. 

Although they are highly intelligent beings and single-handedly run the wizarding world’s economy, Goblins are still considered inferior by many wizards and witches. They’re banned from owning wands and are denied many fundamental rights. 

Instead of accepting their lot in life, Goblins are well known for banding together to riot against injustice, even if their rebellions are never entirely successful. 

The Brotherhood of Goblins, or B.O.G., was the first to propose the Bill of Goblin Rights to the Ministry of Magic. Still, it’s the Goblin Liberation Front that has the largest claim to fame, or, er... more likely, notoriety. 

A secretive and “extremist” group of Goblins and wizards, The Goblin Liberation Front advocated for Goblin rights mainly in the 1870s. In ways, it could be seen as similar to the “radical” groups in the Muggle world that had a hand in the very early days in the fight for animal rights, like PETA. 

And to bridge off of that concept, Goblins are a lot like chickens. 

Before you go thinking we’ve been blasted with a confundus charm, let us explain.

Our feathered fowl friends have a lot more in common with Goblins than you might think. 

Like chickens, farmed animals are also denied fundamental rights and protection, despite their importance to the Muggle world—namely in the animal agriculture industry. Chickens are often subject to the worst mistreatment and face horrifying abuse and neglect despite Muggle’s reliance on them for their eggs and meat. 

As with Goblins, chickens are glaringly omitted from protective laws and are denied rights. Chickens have no federal legal protection. They’re actually excluded from the Humane Slaughter Act. All 9 billion, 300 million of them. 

Like Goblins, chickens (often along with turkeys and ducks) are primarily considered unintelligent and lesser than other animals. 

Flashing your Goblin Liberation Front sticker is a way to show you stand with creatures and animals who face unprecedented discrimination and abuse and to demand change. 

Ban Snidget Hunting 
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The story behind this sticker is the most straightforward. It all starts with the Snidgets themselves. No ifs, and’s, or knuts about it; there’s hardly a more textbook fantastic beast than the Golden Snidget. 

These brilliantly golden, feathered birds are pure magic from beak to talon. As such, they were nearly entirely wiped out by wizards and witches. A large chunk of the Snidget population was captured to be used in Quidditch matches, as a sort of living golden snitch. In contrast, the ones left in the wild were nearly hunted to extinction for their highly prized feathers and eyes. 

Fortunately, as Newt Scamander reflects in his illustrious Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them, “the danger” of forever losing Snidgets “was recognized in time.” The gravity of the situation was so undeniable that Snidget sanctuaries exist throughout the wizarding world—making them, along with dragons, one of the most widely protected magical creatures.

The meaning behind this sticker translates to our thoughts on ending the mass poaching of exotic animals in the Muggle world. Namely, that of tigers. 

Tigers, like Snidgets, are also in danger of extinction. These big majestic cats face endangerment from a combination of habitat loss due to the spread of farming, animal agriculture (or factory farming), and poaching. 

Just as the Golden Snidget was hunted for their feathers and eyes, parts of tigers are so highly prized that poaching has practically decimated the species. The WWF puts it bluntly: “poaching is the most immediate threat to wild tigers. Every part of the tiger—from whisker to tail—has been found in illegal wildlife markets.” 

This is especially the case in some countries like China, where tigers are slaughtered for their eyes, brains, skin, organs, bones, and other bodily parts to be used in folk medicine and sold on the black market. 

And although it’s not the same as Quidditch, tigers are also exploited to be used in the “entertainment” industry. Over 5,000 tigers are held captive in the US alone. These privately “owned” tigers outnumber the approximately 3,900 left in the wild worldwide. They are most often imprisoned in roadside attractions and backyard zoos, many of them offering tiger cub petting and photo “experiences.” 

While there aren’t nearly as many tiger-specific sanctuaries in the Muggle world as golden Snidget sanctuaries in the wizarding world, reputable exotic animal sanctuaries exist. They’re doing remarkable work taking in abused, neglected, and exploited tigers and big cats. The Wild Animal Sanctuary in Colorado is the closest Muggle equivalent to Snidget sanctuaries! 

This Ban Snidget Hunting sticker is a way to express that speaking up for exotic animals and advocating for their protection is everyone’s responsibility. 


What is your favorite Protego Foundation sticker from this set? What wizarding world to Muggle world reference means the most to you? Share it with us on social! 

Written by Victoria Tomis

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