Alright, something new I've had churning for a bit and I can't help myself. I want to try a new spin on the marriage law trope. This first chapter is shorter, but it sets the stage. I'm going to try for a couple of posts a month. All pairings will be non-canon, because I want to do something different. I have a color coded table of everyone with their blood status mapped and pairings are decided already. That took at least an hour or two to map and plan and color. I can be organized when I choose :-) Anyway, please let me know what you think. I know this has been done, but I think this take is unique.
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Chapter 1 – The Marriage Law of 1998
Everyone staying at Grimmauld Place woke shortly before eight and gathered at the trestle table in the kitchen for breakfast as usual. Unlike usual they didn't hurry through breakfast to be off to Hogwarts for another day of rebuilding. Instead the entire group of friends was huddled around Hermione and Neville, the two who received copies of the Daily Prophet. The Ministry had made announcements in previous Prophets, as well as on the wireless, for the past week warning that this issue would contain monumental news impacting all of wizarding Britain for generations to come. The Minister had even forewarned Minerva and she had called off rebuilding efforts for the day, apparently thinking the news would distract everyone too much once they had read it. Now, as the details of a new law came to light, it was obvious just how correct she had been:
MARRIAGE LAW OF 1998 INSTATED TO RESTORE MAGICAL BRITAIN FROM BRINK OF EXTINCTON
Effective last night, July 1st, 1998, Minster of Magic Kingsley Shacklebolt has ratified a new law passed by a majority of the Wizengamot after contentious debate behind closed doors. While marriage laws in the past have been met with ridicule and derision due to their mandatory nature and the fact that partners have been foisted upon individuals, this time the Ministry seeks a new way of meeting its goals. With this in mind, the Minister has crafted an entirely new marriage law with unique rules and incentives. Many of these incentives are largely funded with the proceeds gained from the seized assets of recently convicted or deceased Death Eaters.
Firstly, the reason for the law is two-fold. Magical Britain has seen a number of deaths due to the fighting in the war and seeks to regain its numbers. Also, prior to the war, births of magical children were dwindling in no small part due to some of the ideas espoused as part of the pureblood agenda that led to the war.
In seeking to recover these losses, the Ministry has been in communication with specialists at the ICW about current and ongoing research into the development of magical power in newborns, including the manifestation of power in newbloods, the term the ICW uses for muggleborns. The research indicates that close breeding of similar family lines eventually will stunt the growth of magic within a line, increasing the frequency of squibs, as well as decreasing magical power overall.
With this research in mind, the Ministry wishes to discourage the common practices of purebloods breeding within their lines. As a first step, the Ministry is hereby nullifying all British betrothal contracts.
The second half of this law is to encourage the partnering of mixed bloodlines as quickly as possible. Within the next two years, the Ministry aims for all wizards between the ages of 17 and 50, and all witches between the ages of 17 and 40, to diligently seek a partner. Furthermore, purebloods should seek out muggleborns first and halfbloods second and vice versa.
To encourage the populace to be diligent in this endeavor, the Ministry is putting in place a ranking system by which those who participate will see themselves rewarded accordingly. There will be a new department within the Ministry called the Marriage and Family Registration and Tracking Office. They will be responsible for assigning all witches and wizards a designation by number that will determine their placement for rewards, including future jobs. To simplify the process, every magical citizen within Britain will be assigned a number as follows:
0 – ineligible for the program (married prior to the law, too old, sterile, other medical issue)
1 – pureblood/muggleborn pairing
2 – pureblood or muggleborn/halfblood pairing
3 – halfblood/halfblood pairing
4 – pureblood/pureblood pairing
5 – magical/muggle pairing
6 – unmarried (non-participating)
Within the next two years, all Ministry departments will begin to change their hiring practices as the numbering systems become fully utilized. One of the first rewards of helping to rebuild magical Britain will see an advantage when seeking jobs within the Ministry. Job applicants with a category 1 rating will receive a 20% greater advantage over other applicants, although it is understood that category 0 will most likely be older outstanding Ministry employees. Category 2 individuals will receive a 10% advantage, while category 3 receives a 5% advantage. Categories 4-6 will receive a 20% disadvantage when being considered for a job with the Ministry in the future.
In addition, these categories will also be encouraged to be used with private businesses, although it is acknowledged that this will take longer to implement. It is planned that within two years private businesses working with the Ministry will be able to show what percentage of their employees are registered in each category. A higher percentage in categories 1 and 2 will see a business receiving preferential treatment when applying for licenses and patents with the Ministry in the future.
To further reward those who subscribe to this new law, the Ministry has seized a large amount of funds from Death Eater families and wishes to use those funds to provide wedding gifts for these marriages. The gifts will be as follows:
Pureblood/muggleborn – 1000 galleons
Pureblood or muggleborn/halfblood – 500 galleons
Halfblood/halfblood – 200 galleons
Beyond marriages of course, the goal is to rebuild the population of magical Britain. In the past, the Ministry has put mandatory stipulations on conceiving children. This administration is trying to change the way this law works and is again trying for a more voluntary approach. There will be no timelines for producing offspring, but for the next ten years the Ministry will be using the seized Death Eater funds to provide baby gifts for each child depending on the type of union as follows:
Child of pureblood/muggleborn union– 500 galleons (per child)
Child of pureblood or muggleborn/halfblood union– 200 galleons (per child)
Child of halfblood/halfblood union– 100 galleons (per child)
Finally, the Ministry has seized a large number of properties from Death Eaters and will be making these available for sale at a discounted price to those individuals participating in the program in categories 1-3. Once couples have their first child, the properties will be available for selection and purchase, with the idea that the properties be used for respectable family homes for their growing families.
In total, the Ministry hopes that these measures will provide the encouragement for young and middle age magicals who have not yet married to take the initiative to find their match and help to rebuild magical Britain into the bastion of magical strength that it once was.
*full details of the law, including all clauses are available from the Ministry upon request
As everyone around the breakfast table finished hovering over the article the room was silent, stunned at the what they had read as each had a flurry of thoughts about what this would mean for them personally. The first person to break the silence was Hermione.
"I can't believe this! The government is intruding on our personal lives. How is this allowed? This is legal?"
"It was passed by the Wizengamot and signed by the Minister, so yes. Actually Hermione, you should read about Marriage Law of 1944. It was passed after Grindelwald's defeat and was also meant to help rebuild the magical population. It only applied to purebloods whose lines were 'guilty' of producing squibs in the last two generations, but the solution was to introduce new blood into the lines. In those cases, the Ministry hired a seer matchmaker to assign muggleborns to purebloods. In many cases, the couples only met each other days before they were actually married. And as part of the law they were required to produce children within a year, or produce medical proof why they could not. And that was not the first marriage law in the history of Magical Britain. In comparison, Kingsley has forged a very temperate path here, allowing everyone a good deal of personal choice and time to make that choice."
Hermione looked at Ginny in even more shock, then she looked around the table and saw Neville nod in agreement.
"Alright, so obviously as purebloods you know this history. Why does Professor Binns talk forever about goblin wars and never tell us about this?"
"Well Hermione, you know my opinion on Binns' class."
Hermione looked at Harry and snorted in disgust. As far as he was concerned, History of Magic might as well have been called 'naptime'.
"Anyway, what are we going to do, anything?"
"I don't know that we have much choice Ron. At least not if we want to have a future. With the way this law is written, it will be hard to find a job in the magical world in the future if you don't follow this law. I guess we all get busy dating, but we have to be careful about who we fall for."
"Well, even if I can't get a job at the Ministry if I don't marry someone soon, maybe I can play for the Cannons?"
"And the Cannons are licensed through the Department of Magical Games and Sports. I bet they will want to show that as many of their players as possible are either exempt due to category 0 or fall into categories 1-3. If you don't fit in those, I bet they won't recruit you. They'll want to keep the DMGS happy."
"Damn, it all comes back to the Ministry."
"Ultimately, most everything in Magical Britain does. Unless you leave the country, you better start dating."
"And don't look at me Ron, we already decided we were better off staying as friends."
Ron deflated and gave a bare nod at Hermione. Then the room's focus shifted to Harry and Ginny. They had gotten together briefly right after the last battle, despite the fact that Ginny had been on and off dating Neville during the school year. Now though the relationship had fizzled and they had broken up officially about a week and a half ago.
"What about you two? Are you going to try again? You'd be a category 2."
"I don't think so Dean. Gin, you know I'll always care for you, but we agreed that we'd grown apart too much in the last year. Anyway, as a halfblood I'm actually less desirable now with the way the law is written."
Ginny snorted at that.
"Yeah right. Like you will ever be less desirable. Just walking into any pub or club will disprove that. Dean, I know we dated a couple of years ago, but are you hinting? We're all trying to give you your space. Do you even know what you're officially categorized as?"
"I honestly don't know if I was hinting or not Gin. What Shay and I had was special, but you know that I go both ways. This law doesn't even give the option to be gay. I think the Ministry considers me muggleborn since mum has no proof if my father was a wizard or not."
Everyone was quiet for a moment, remembering too many friends that had been lost in the war. For Dean it was his friend and lover, Seamus. They had kept their relationship a secret until the end of the battle when Dean had collapsed across Shay's body, sobbing and kissing his face. It was now eight weeks post battle and he was just starting to come out of his shell a bit. The silence was finally broken by Luna.
"Actually Dean, the Ministry may want a lineage test. You can go to Gringotts, or the Ministry might do it themselves in the new department. With a bit of blood, they can tell you if your father was muggle or a wizard. If your father was magical, they can trace your bloodline back generations."
"But would you want to know?"
"Would they give me a choice?"
"Well, we have a bit of time, we can think on it. Let's not all rush to start pairing off. We don't want to cause problems with our friendships. We need each other right now."
"Very true. I guess since we have the day off we might as well use it. I have to run to Flourish and Blotts. Anyone else want to come to Diagon with me?"
A couple of others agreed and the group dispersed to more normal activities while the implications of the law were still foremost in their minds.