Enemies of the Heir (![]() ![]() @ 2013-01-05 17:37:00 |
![]() |
|||
![]() |
|
![]() |
|
![]() |
ROSEMARY: Good afternoon, everyone. Thank you for tuning into the Wireless Club's Debate. Today's topic is magical Britain's involvement in the war against Grindelwald and the Muggle war. I'm Rosemary Toke, and with me is my always honourable co-host, Caradoc Dearborn. CARADOC: Hellooooooo Hogwarts! ROSEMARY: We've got several interested students here to share their opinions, beginning with Hufflepuff prefect Rufus Scrimgeour. Rufus? RUFUS: Before anybody gets the wrong idea, I do think the Muggle war is important and we have to win it and defeat Hitler. But I think we could help the Muggles more if the Ministry stayed out and focused just on Grindelwald. We don't have the resources to fight two wars. Muggles don't even know Grindelwald exists and can't fight him anyway, but we can. So it's our duty to fight and kill Grindelwald so the Muggles don't have to worry about him too. And the Muggles seem to be doing more than fine without us. They do their duty and we do ours, and we'll win both wars. But if the Ministry said we had to fight in the Muggle war too, I'd do it. CARADOC: Thank you, Rufus. We would expect nothing less! And while that's one voice on why it'd be beneficial to keep the Grindelwald and Hitler wars separate for as long as possible, we here at the Wireless Club want to present you with as many sides to the story as possible. Here with his reasoning behind why he believes it could help having wizards join into the war with the muggles is another prefect up from downstairs, Hufflepuff Wilhelm Wigworthy. WILHELM: I, personally, can only see the benefit of having the Wizarding World join the war. Could you imagine if we had Aurors fighting alongside our men on the front line? With magic on our side, the Germans and Japanese wouldn't know what hit them! I think that if the Wizarding World was so concerned about the world, and not just their world...they'd help fight this war. We're all part of the same country, whether magical or not. We speak the same language, have the same customs (besides a few different ones here and there)... I think the Wizarding World should join the war. Regardless of magical or non-magical, we're British, and we're fighting against cruelty and world domination. People honestly cannot think that just because we live separate from Muggles, that German and Japanese troops won't still find a way to invade the Wizarding World as well and affect our way of living. So many innocent people are casualties of this war. There are parents of students here fighting, as well as brothers, sisters, cousins, and friends. How can we say this doesn't matter? How can we possibly pretend this doesn't exist? And where has our sense of patriotism gone? ROSEMARY: All very good points, Wilhelm, thank you. In rebuttal, here's Slytherin seventh year Walburga Black. WALBURGA: I don't believe we should get involved in any Muggle matters. Whoever this Hitler Muggle is, he should be allowed to wipe certain races off the planet as he so chooses. Why SHOULD we get involved? It doesn't affect us, the only ones it affects are the M[BEEP]S and I don't personally view them as active members of our society anyway. Perhaps Hitler's work will prove to be less work for wizards in the future. He's really doing us a favor, killing his own kind. Perhaps we can then come out of hiding once and for all and reclaim the land we know was ours from the start. CARADOC: Hey Wally, look at the time, yours is up. Unless you'd like to tell us a little on how you feel about Grindelwald, I feel like we can move along to-- WALBURGA: The foreigner has it wrong. Yes, I believe that he's on the right track by pioneering an attempt to get wizards out of hiding, but to preserve M[BEEP]S? No, not all magic is sacred, especially not from disgusting magic-stealers. They're FILTH. If Grindelwald is out to "purify the world" he should truly purify it. Until then, I will not stand by his endeavours, nor will I support his war. ROSEMARY: Thank you, Walburga. Now, we here at the Wireless Club don't condone that sort of offensive word choice, but we acknowledge that this particular topic can get people rather heated. Here, and hopefully with a calmer head, is Rufus Scrimgeour once more. RUFUS: I DO have a calmer head. ANYWAY, Grindelwald is a dark wizard killing thousands, if not millions of people. Most of them can't even fight back. It's our DUTY to do the right thing and fight him. The best defence is a good offence, and we should strike first instead of sitting on our arses waiting for him to come here. But even if he didn't care for Britain, it's still our duty to put him down for the good of everyone else. Injustice and dark magic are not to be tolerated. CARADOC: Cheers, Scrimgeour. And now for some perspective on the Ministry staying out of the war with Grindelwald is Ravenclaw prefect Millicent Bagnold! How is it that we ended up interviewing all these Prefects and then Hogwart's biggest bi-- ROSEMARY: Millicent? MILLICENT: Please be advised that this is for the sake of offering a different point of view in this debate, and it in no way reflects my opinion on the wars. I would also appreciate it if it isn't sent to the Ministry. The Ministry should stay out of the war against Grindelwald. For those who believe we should act before he attacks, he has yet to attack us after all these years of fear-mongering, and he most certainly will if we enter war against him. Attacking first is in no means a decisive action; it requires continual effort and resources that we do not have. There are also those concerned for the welfare of Muggles, his primary targets. Consider extending that concern to those in Britain. Our Muggle population already has to fend for itself against Hitler. While they're making progress in their war effort, it is unfair and absurd to place extra burden on them at this time, especially a magical one they cannot counter. For us to protect them, which I believe we're morally obligated to do if we drag them into the war, we might very well play into Grindelwald's hands in ignoring the Statute of Secrecy, and we would divide our resources in fighting him. We simply do not have enough resources to adequately combat Grindelwald. Those fully trained and ready are Hitwizards. The numbers are not enough to fight army and dark creatures Grindelwald has at his disposal. While citizens of Britain have bravely volunteered to aid where they can, we -- the school -- have experienced the limits of volunteers in December's "air raid". The land has been relentlessly exhausted for resources, and we still need to find more and give more every year. We don't know how the crops will fare in the coming year. Grindelwald has executed Muggleborns and those who oppose him in the past; many have died as a result of the war, and many are imprisoned in Nurmengard. The International Confederation of Wizards has strong evidence that Nurmengard is continually expanding in size and population. Further action could provoke him into executing more political enemies indiscriminately. The airwaves are filled with stories of those who oppose him and their efforts. Still, we must remember that the Magical European Republic was originally founded upon agreement from Germany and Austria. There are plenty of people who fight for him, and there are plenty of people who support him out there. History has taught us that true change needs to come from within a population. History has also taught us that those with more power need to help implement the change, but foreign intervention is will not necessarily give the results we expect. We study the fallout of various foreign interventions in History of Magic. We should not and -- because of our limited resources -- cannot interfere. This war has only recently come closer; it has been predominantly fought in the centre of Europe. All the while, we have a more immediate threat at hand. We are currently placed under a rationing system. Our resources have been extracted, and still, we require more. Although we have grown more prepared and our structures are safer and stronger, the Muggle war machine still threatens wizarding Britain. Contrary to belief, we aren't necessarily aiding Muggles through intervention, and we are currently in a crisis at home. We are already providing Obliviators and supplies, and the Ministry has implemented a program to make it easier for those who wish to fight. There is no need to drag in the entire population when the entire population hasn't decided, and many of us are putting in plenty of effort already. Foreign intervention does not necessarily give the results desired. And in taking a more proactive role in the war effort in the war against Grindelwald, we're playing into his hands. I'm Millicent Bagnold, and in actuality, I believe our country should be more proactive against Grindelwald. ROSEMARY: Thank you, Millicent, for providing that interesting perspective. Well, we've heard quite a few impassioned ideas today on the Wireless, but we do have one more to share, this time from Ravenclaw sixth-year Myles Montgomery. MYLES: I want to begin by saying that I'm not naive; I understand that strength only responds to strength. ROSEMARY: Speak up, please, into the microphone a little more directly. MYLES: [clears throat] I do not advocate sitting entirely by the sidelines and waiting for the war to come to us--because it likely will. Instead, I propose another solution altogether. At this moment, there are two power-hungry dictators battling and killing for control of the same lands and the same people. I believe it's time to consider abolishing the Statue of Secrecy entirely. I understand why it was created and I understand why it has been upheld, but I believe at this time that the needs of Wizards and Muggles alike would be better served if we could come together to fight off our common enemies. Or better yet, let them fight each other. When one has been defeated--whichever side it is--we should come into the fray to fight the newly-weakened force and help rebuild those areas already damaged and destroyed by war. Whatever happens, we cannot leave the clean-up and recovery solely to those nations attacked and overtaken. We must step up with aide and manpower to help rebuild when the time comes. CARADOC: Thanks, Myles, for providing a view of things that I don't think gets brought up often enough in these debates. And I believe that that's all the time we have for tonight, although as always we encourage our healthy and lively debates continuing off the air as well. With that said, thank you for joining us. I'm Caradoc Dearborn. ROSEMARY: And I'm Rosemary Toke. Goodnight, Hogwarts! |