Prologue
An article from The Daily Prophet, August 6th 1992.
DEATH OF MINISTRY OFFICIAL
By Rowena Drake
Wealthy politician Leopold Blake passed away last night in his sleep. In a brief statement given in the early hours of this morning, healers from St Mungo's announced that after extensive testing they could state that Blake had died of natural causes. "We had expected it for quite some time," one exhausted healer told The Daily Prophet. "He was a very, very old man."
Blake's death has brought the Ministry of Magic close to the brink of chaos. The Blake family has acted as an intermediary between the muggle royal family and the Ministry for centuries, and with the passing away of the family patriarch there is wide-spread fear that muggle-wizard relations will deteriorate. Taking up Blake's role of politician and diplomat is his sole daughter and heir, Claudia, who will return to England within the week to begin her ancestral duties. However, news of the return of the sole survivor of the Blake family has done very little to ease the fears of the Ministry.
Claudia fled the country in the midst of gossip and scandal fourteen years ago. On the eve of her wedding her fiancé, wealthy muggle aristocrat Luther Belvoir, plunged to his death from her bedroom window. As the only witness under highly suspicious circumstances, Claudia was accused of his murder and held in Azkaban for a period of several weeks before being found innocent and released. Despite being cleared of all charges, rumours of her guilt persisted and eventually drove her from the country.
Since leaving Britain, Claudia has led a rootless existence, travelling through the world before finally settling down in South America a year ago. Ministry officials have refused to comment on Ms. Blake's return, but they are undoubtedly concerned about whether a woman dogged with rumours and with no real training can be trusted with such a crucial job.
For more on the life of Leopold Blake turn to page 4
For more on the Blake scandal of 1979 turn to pages 5 and 6