An Ill Wind - Mod Journal (illwindmod) wrote in an_ill_wind, @ 2009-03-22 00:07:00 |
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FOUR REPORTED MISSING IN LONDON AREA
Ashwyn Tripplehorn - DP London
LONDON - Four half-blood witches and wizards have been reported missing in the last week in London and the surrounding area, bringing the total of missing and un-recovered persons up to ten since Minister for Magic, Otis Wilde, announced his retirement from office at the end of February.
A number of threats have been made against the ministry, Albus Dumbledore, and former Department of Magical Law Enforcement head Millicent Bagnold according to ministry spokes-witch Helga Dobbins. She says that the ministry is taking each and every one of these personal threats seriously (many of which have contained deadly hexes and curses). According to Dobbins, Dumbledore has received the brunt of the criticism, stating that, "Dumbledore has made his unwavering support of Bagnold's campaign for Ministry of Magic very public. A surprising percentage of the wizarding community have reacted poorly, deeming Bagnold a 'destroyer of magical tradition and legacy' referring of course to her consistent support--as MLE head--of muggleborn and half-blood rights despite her own pureblood status."
Bagnold comes from six generations of upstanding pureblood aristocracy, and is not the first Bagnold to vy for the top position. Her great-grandfather, Chadwick Bagnold, was Minister of Magic from 1897 to 1908, and continued to donate to the Society for the Preservation of Pureblood Society until his death in 1924. Bagnold has stated in the past that she does not and will not follow family conventions.
Of the recent reports of missing members of the wizarding community, Bagnold expressed her distress, stating that, "It is becoming far too uncomfortably common to open the paper or turn on the wireless network and come across news of more innocent people being abducted for something as inane as the 'purity' of their blood. The state of our government needs to change. It needs to provide the community with better means to protect themselves from the threat of persecution, and it needs to start taking this war seriously."
Wilde's office was not available for comment, but the Daily Prophet was able to learn that--despite only having two weeks left with control of the ministry--Wilde has given the go ahead to a Wizengamot vote on a recent bill drafted by his senior undersecretary, Lyle Marchwood. The bill proposes that muggleborn wizards and witches documented at birth in the Hogwarts registry will also have to be registered with the ministry, ultimately giving the ministry the right to admit or reject potential students from the school, breaking ancient tradition.
Of the bill, Dumbledore (current Headmaster of Hogwarts), stated, "This is an example of why muggle politics and religion are claimed to be a disastrous mixture. What is good for one is absolutely not what is best for the entire society. Prejudice and propaganda service no one. Surely there have been enough senseless deaths in the last eight years to effectively emphasize this."