5§ • Pertinent News for the Discerning Wizard • Thursday, 30 November 1999
BIL HEARING MOVED BY MUGGLEBORNS IN PINK
By: Margaret Urquhart
Attendees expected Tuesday's hearings for the BIL proposal to quash the 1997-1998 season to be another round of Ministry officials and owners discussing obscure questions of contract law. Instead, an unexpected group of Muggleborn quidditchers, past and present, took the stand to read their grievances into the record. Though they were superficially divided on the outcome they wanted, their presence and the common bond of the shocking pink accessories they wore, showed a group standing united.
Jason King of the Montrose Magpies began by speaking against the proposal on the grounds that striking the record of the year would be a way of erasing the crimes of the Thicknesse Ministry. He deferred questions about what sort of record should be kept of the season until all his group had spoken.
In support of the motion, Dawn Withey of the Wimbourne Wasps, Monte Cameron of the Falmouth Falcons, and Isla Cameron, formerly of the Pride of Portree all spoke of the personal heartbreak and professional costs of a two-year gap and, for some, prison terms. In the case of Miss Withey, who was spectacularly dragged from the pitch during a match, her passionate and profane speech left several onlookers dumbfounded.
Aiden Lynch of the Kenmare Kestrels laid out points neither in support or opposition to the motion, but in a sincere speech laid out the broad points of agreement for members of the muggleborn coalition: that playing the season was wrong and demonstrated the ways in which wizarding society had far to go to bring muggleborn wizards into social equality with wizardborn folk. The proposal was, he felt, a first step, and only meaningful if followed up with additional measures.
While a number of Ministry figures were in attendance, none of them offered any testimony nor were they questioned by any of the Muggleborns in attendance, though Aidan Lynch was seen talking to Dunbar Oglethorpe of QUABBLE.
For more on the BIL hearings and other Quidditch news, read the Daily Prophet every morning.