InsaneJournal

So here's what is on my mind: vigilantism as a response.

During my tenure at Hogwarts a group of students came together to supplement a year in which our Defense class offered little to no practical applications. The late Harry Potter was at the head of this group - either called the Defense Association or Dumbledore's Army depending on who you asked. I'm sure it would be easy to say that my participation in this group that year was purely academic, but maybe it was about rebellion too. However, those are the sort of things expected of fifteen year olds.

Two years later, a subset of this 'Dumbledore's Army' came together again when Severus Snape served as Headmaster at Hogwarts. That year, anyone would be hard pressed to say it was simply teenage rebellion, but something truly about a vigilante revolution. Looking back all sorts of views can be applied to the tenacity and determination of those children, but anyone who was at the school that year knows that the actions of this army even with the best intentions resulted in people getting hurt and things made worse for the student body as a whole.

Now, it has come to my attention that a group with the same initials is meeting again. Presumably many of the same people are involved. The difference now is that many of them hold considerable positions within the Ministry of Magic like Ron Weasley, Ernie Macmillan, or even Anthony Goldstein and Hermione Granger.

It seems a rather strange thing that a group focused on fighting against the system in their youth has come together once more when many of them are the system. Rather than work within official, regulated parameters a group of adults are turning to vigilantism once more. If their aims truly do have the public's best interest at heart, then why the secrecy? Given our history of secret organizations, I can be only weary about any such groups whose existence undermines the actions of the Ministry of Magic. And can't help but wonder where this might lead us all moving forward.