InsaneJournal

From the Edtiorial Pages of the Sunday Prophet, 22 February 1998
The events of Friday morning in the Wizengamot chambers have brought home to all of us an unfortunate but undeniable truth: war is upon us once again. The rescue of a convicted follower of Lady Noir from his trial and the attempted kidnapping of a barrister by masked vigilantes have made clear that even the Ministry itself cannot hold safe against the resurgent threat that has been covered in these pages since the poisonings in Godric's Hollow last fall. Since then, Albion has watched in horror as Hogwarts students have been poisoned, apparently by one of their fellows, and vicious murders have taken place in the embassy of one of Britain's oldest allies and in the heart of Diagon Alley.

The Ministry's response to these matters, embodied in the War Remembrance Night speech by Minister Black, has been to ignore the rising signs of conflict and to lull the populace into a false sense of security. This appalling negligence has led us to the moment when the Ministry itself has come under attack. Even the Aurors present in the Wizengamot could not prevent the vigilantes from achieving at least part of their goal.

Four months of increasing terrorism have elicited no significant response from the Ministry. Now it's clear that no one is safe. Our question is: what will the Ministry do now? Will Minister Black and Mr Shacklebolt continue to do nothing, letting terrorists and vigilantes run unchecked? Or will this travesty of justice finally inspire long-overdue action from the Minister and the DMLE to protect the people they are sworn to serve?

These times require a firm hand on the tiller of the ship of state. We can only hope Minister Black proves himself up to the task.