InsaneJournal

November 13, 1978
London
Ben Fenwick
The Daily Prophet

Yesterday in a landmark press conference, the Ministry made mandatory the curfew which they have voluntarily promoted since late September, a security measure the likes of which Wizarding Britain has not seen since the secured "safe zones" of the later stages of the Grindelwald crisis. While keeping a curfew was one of many measures suggested in advisory security pamphlets circulated earlier this fall, it has up to this point been fully voluntary. However, Minister Lestrange has now given the public one week's notice, and starting on Thursday, November 20th, every witch and wizard in Britain not given personal exemption from the Ministry of Magic will be expected to keep indoors from dusk til dawn.

Exceptions are being made for those citizens whose occupations require them to be outdoors at night, such as Mediwizards, Aurors, and some other Ministry employees. Those who are not given a letter of permission from the Ministry by the 20th may apply for special permission through the Department of Magical Law Enforcement, but Minister Lestrange advised the Prophet that few exceptions would be made.

"This is a strong measure, but it is being taken wholly in the spirit of protecting the citizens of Wizarding Britain. For months, a joint cooperative between the Department of Magical Law Enforcement and the Department of Mysteries has been working together to gauge risk factors in everyday life, and their results have shown us that risk to citizens is exponentially increased after dark," Minister Lestrange said, citing the increased strength of werewolves and the nocturnal preferences of many Dark creatures, along with the greater cover lent to Death Eaters and their allies at night in response to remarks that this curfew may be viewed as too oppressive. "With time and cooperation, we will succeed in reducing risk in other ways that interfere less with daily life, but for now, we beg your cooperation. The Ministry does not want to see any more innocent people dying."

The Ministry will be announcing official sunrise and sunset times daily through The Prophet and the WWN. You can find curfew hours on the front page of The Prophet today, although curfew will not go into effect until next Thursday. Punishments for breaking curfew range from a 10 Galleon fine to imprisonment, based on the nature of the breach.