Knights of Walpurgis

The talk of the town these days has been the panic and uncertainty
many witches and wizards have felt since they heard of the unspeakable
tragedy of an innocent wizard who had been brutally murdered by his
muggle spouse who confessed to the crime. "The damage's been done,"
one lovely women outside of Flourish and Blotts exclaimed today, "the
revolt is going to be strong and everyone should prepare themselves:
know what side you're on!" Though a little batty, these words can be
nothing but the truth. As a humble and faithful servant to the public,
it has been my continued job to have your best interests in mind. At
this very moment, I can tell the public with increasing certainty that
there are strong groups at both sides of the argument ready to make
bold and daring moves if it means securing their beliefs. You can be
sure I, Demetrius Greensmith, will continue to do my utmost to detect
and uncover all rumors and secrets in the hopes that it will protect
the lives of you and your family.

Be warned that there seems to be plans in the works by anti-muggle
organizations, strongholded by a leader not yet known to the public,
that may have dire and horrific consequences. "I dun' know who 'e is,
but I can betch'a he's a right foul git of a man. Try'n ta' rid the
earth of those poor little creatures." One charming gentleman
professed to me under the cover of a fraying sun hat. I cannot help
but agree. Whoever he is, this man must be determined; already there
have been suspicious deaths close to many muggle/wizarding borders.
None of these can be linked back to our own kind, but the timing is
impeccable. One can only hope he will release an official statement of
his organization's intentions before he is accused of murder.

Also in the news today, spells holding important magical barriers in
place flickered today, leading to a few sightings of the Ministry of
Magic by muggles, as well as a a few wizarding homes in the lower
United States of America were revealed to an unsuspecting family
walking their dog. Obliviators have been dispatched and the problem
has been temporarily cleared up, while Ministry officials are
scampering to find the cause of the disturbance. "It was so quick-
just a blip in time!" One exhausted Obliviator explains, eager to
return home to his family. "All I can say is it left some damage that
needed to be fixed. What could have cause it? We don't know". The man
then hurriedly rushed off, deeming rattled and shaken by the strange
occurrence. Perhaps it's related to these anti-muggle groups we're
hearing about? Whatever the cause: you can be sure we'll have more for
you on the subject tomorrow.

Reporting for the Daily Prophet, Demetrius Greensmith.

For the latest Quiddich scores, including The Cannon's greatest
failure yet!, turn to page 3b.

For a lengthy read, flip to page 17 for Doris Robinson's essay on the
Occurances of Life-Long Curses and their Effects on the Wizarding
World.

Weather today: Warm and sunny during the morning and afternoon: expect
some light showers before dinner!

OOC Note: Since the Modlies are at Anime North, they knew there would be a possibility that they would either not have internet access, or might be otherwise preoccupied by happenings with the gathering. And so, being wonderful fore-thinkers they are, sent me the profit article to post for them if they were unable to. The deadline they sent me has passed, so I am posting it now. ^^ Yes, this means a new game day.

This morning at nine am, muggle, Ruth Ellis, 28, is to be hanged for the murder of her wizarding lover, David Drummond Moffat Blakely,25.

This verdict has brought much debate to both the muggle and wizarding world as to whether the death penalty should be retired. It has also sparked much debate as to where the woman should have been tried. The Ministry is facing much criticism for not stepping in to intervene. Currently wizarding law does not allow for intervention in cases involving muggle defendants.

Ms. Ellis, mother of two, emptied her gun (a muggle weapon) into Mr. Blakely on the evening of 10th April, 1955, killing him, and injuring one witness.

Her trial opened on 20th June 1955 in the Old Bailey’s No. 1 court, preceded by Mr. Justice Havers. The prosecution was led by Mr. Christmas Humphries, and the Defense by Mr. Melford Stevenson. Ms. Ellis was eerily calm through the whole of the trial, and while she plead not guilty when questioned as to what she intended to do when she fired the gun at close range she replied, “It was obvious that when I shot him I intended to kill him.”

Ruth was declared guilty after the jury deliberating for only 23 minutes. No other verdict could have been reached with her admission of pre meditation, and under current law a person found guilty of murder and not manslaughter must be put to death.

She has been quoted as saying, “I am now completely composed. I know that I am going to die, and I’m ready to do so. You won’t hear anything from me that says I didn’t kill David. I did kill him. And whatever the circumstances you as a lawyer will appreciate that it’s a life for a life. Isn't that just?”

Governor at Holloway was forced to call for police reinforcements because of a crowd of more than 500 who had gathered outside the prison's gates singing and chanting for Ruth for several hours. Some of them broke through the police cordon to bang on the prison gates, calling for Ruth to pray with them

There is call for the laws to be changed, either abolishing the death penalty all together or giving greater lenience for case by case judging, which would allow a person to be convicted of murder and sentenced to life in prison instead of the now mandatory death.

This has brought much attention to our own penal system over the past few months. As of now our law mirrors the muggle, with a sentence of the kiss delivered to all convicted of murder. Many activist groups are now calling for this to be abolished, with a rally outside the Ministry of magic planned for this morning in support of changing these long held laws. Similar rallies have been held over the past few weeks from opposing groups, who would see Ms. Ellis tried (and set to death) here. The Ministry had not yet issued a comment, but seems hesitant to re-evaluate our current system.