DAILY PROPHET
SPECIAL EDITION
Vanishing Victory
By Gaerdir Tanthaldal, Special Correspondent
Valor. Pride. Chivalry. Daring.
All exceptional qualities of a true Gryffindor.
But nobody can be perfect. Everyone has a fault. When you have a lot of good qualities, you are almost honor-bound to have a bad one.
Take Harry Potter, for instance. I'm sure all of us "old people" remember him quite well. I only wish our children had the same respect for legends…
He embodies the traits of a true Gryffindor. He was single-handedly the bravest student in his graduating batch, and also the most powerful wizard the world has ever seen.
But he has a temper not dissimilar to a volcano.
He is a calamity waiting to erupt, slowly simmering and building with a vengeance for that final, glorious explosion of death and destruction.
Oh, and what a glorious sight it is! Take the word of someone who has seen it in person. Those of you who were at Hogwarts that night oh so many years ago, you will know exactly what I'm talking about.
He transforms from an unassuming young man to a veritable warrior, roaring with rage, ready to take on anyone displaying the slightest aggression, his golden aura becoming slightly visible. If he's pushed too far (as Voldemort found out the hard way), his very magic springs to life, swirling in angry whirlpools around his body. Unwary passerby and random objects get caught in unnatural wind, stumbling and getting hurled around. His very presence makes the warier people fall to their knees.
His skin appears to glow with an inner light. His unruly black hair seems to sway with an unfelt breeze. His crimson scar, that very famous symbol behind which hundreds rallied, glows golden, and his eyes are alight with power, his very gaze scanning your soul.
Harry Potter, in that one moment, seems to transcend the barriers of wizardkind, evolving to some sort of higher being, ready to pass judgment on us all.
Voldemort never stood a chance all those years ago when Potter was consumed by his rage.
The Blood War ended rather anti-climatically. Voldemort was killed off in the first few minutes of battle, and we defenders routed the invading army rather thoroughly. Harry Potter was a symbol of power in the first couple of years that followed the underwhelming victory. His friends found themselves quickly promoted to positions of power, and the Ministry began to restructure itself. Bills to halt the decay of our stagnating society were quickly pushed through by a frantic then-Hermione Granger, while her fiancé Ron Weasley took the reins of a crumbled government to become Britain's youngest ever Minister. Why? When he was so young? There simply was no other better candidate.
But the wizard that allowed all those miraculous events to happen?
He simply retired, staying as far away from public view as possible. He claimed to be someone who functioned well in war, not in peace. The only people who knew how to contact him were the Minister and his Undersecretary.
The years passed. Our society entered into a brand new period of development and growth. We had shut off all contact with foreign Ministries, citing internal affairs, and restructured the entire system. Hogwarts curriculum was overhauled, an elementary school (The Lily Potter Institute) was established for younger Muggleborn children, and magical creatures were given a minority representation in the government. Personal rights were redefined and the social order broken down and rewritten. Our country was being unmade and rebuilt.
The newly christened British Isle of Magic threw open its doors to the anxious Wizarding World ten years later, shocking and stunning the many foreign tourists who came rushing in. It was as if while the world waited, decades of years had passed within our borders, as we boasted of the highest end Muggle technology altered to run on magic. Our society had reached heights never seen before in the integration of Muggle and magical culture. We were the toast of the entire international community.
More years passed. Harry Potter became an elusive legend, the kind that our children listen to our tales about, but don't ever believe ("Why isn't he here, Papa? Why did he run away? He can't be too powerful if he ran away!"). Hermione Weasley eventually retired to help take care of her newborn grandchildren, and her husband followed shortly after, deciding that his role was completed after twenty five years of serving the country. He retired gracefully, regarded as the greatest Minister for Magic Britain had ever had.
But we know all this, Gaerdir! I can hear you say. Why are you telling us this?
My dear readers, you may also know that one of the first bills that Minister Weasley passed, as the Chief Warlock of the Wizengamot and Minister for Magic, was the Freedom of Press Act. The Daily Prophet was no longer obligated to act as the mouthpiece for the Ministry; it was free to do as it wished. The one stipulation in the bill was that a council of elected, highly powerful wizards and witches maintained executive control of the paper. The Headmaster/Headmistress of Hogwarts would act in joint authority with the Principal of the LPI in ensuring the autonomy of the council.
Also, most importantly, this particular bill could not be repealed after ten years in successful action. It has been twenty seven years, and not a single, viable complaint has entered the honorable doors of the Wizengamot. The bill is here to stay.
So far, I have summarized the most important part of our community's history. British Wizarding Society as it is today owes almost its entire existence to a single man. We were on the brink of destruction when said man removed the shroud of darkness, and his friends banished it forever. Now, the next generation has begun taking over the important roles in our society. The era of old war heroes is over.
I have also told you that the press is now autonomous. We are free to make our decisions, opinions and findings known to the general public. This all has been done to ensure you can appreciate the work done, and realize just how far Britain has come. It has also been done to assure you of the claims to come.
Those few, powerful wizards and witches, who form the council of the Daily Prophet, have decided that it is time for the public to know the truth.
The more astute of you might feel dread creeping in. You might already be guessing at the truth I will be revealing. Yes… it is as bad as you think it is.
It has been twenty eight long years since the defeat of the Pureblood Movement. The same victors of that short, violent war overhauled our complete society in a bid to rid us British wizards and witches of the plague that has claimed us since the birth of our corrupt culture. They were largely successful, eliminating the dogma of pureblood superiority from the legal parts of the society. They showed us what Muggle technology could do for us, and how regressive we were compared to the rest of the world. Perhaps we were the seat of Magic. Maybe we did boast of the world's most powerful wizards and witches. But that didn't excuse us from not progressing!
Our leaders found a vaccine, and applied it effectively on our community. Since most of the population was either young and impressionable, or old and weary, the method had an almost perfect record. There were a few dangerous elements to society that, through one of Hermione Weasley's ground breaking bills, could be punished and isolated if enough incriminating evidence was found. What about the enemies who were the same age as our leaders? We thought them muzzled, and that society was safe from the more dangerous internal influences.
We underestimated our enemy's cunning. Have you readers ever heard the saying "An animal is far more dangerous when backed into a corner. It will fight viciously, and to the death."? The erstwhile leaders of the Pureblood Movement moved into the darkness of our society, where not even the tenacious Weasleys could reach. And from there, they began to plot the eventual destruction of the new regime.
But any man would be hard-pressed to deny the respect that has been bestowed upon the British Isle of Magic, not only for its place at the pinnacle of magic-muggle integration, but also for the open mind present in almost all of its denizens. Slowly, the goals of our foes began to change. They sought power, not destruction. And where else to find it, but at the seat of our government? If they managed to put one of their own into power, then they could enjoy all the benefits of being the controlling power of the greatest magical superpower.
Their long term goal? Infiltrating foreign governments and slowly condition the world into accepting pureblood superiority. If they had to suffer the luxurious comforts of Muggle inventions, so be it.
The puppeteers themselves didn't dare take stage in the dastardly plot. If they showed their faces, they knew that the game would be up. Their children, grandchildren, nephews, wards, nieces, anyone they could turn to their side played the part of their pawns. They rooted themselves deeply into the Ministry network, serving as an important constituent of the still-growing Ministry. They slowly gained influence and began to control the Wizengamot. Their organization had a presence from the grassroots. It had evolved into a gargantuan monster, hidden thinly by the dark, dark shadows of our world.
They planted suggestive evidence of embezzlement of funds in the Ministry's books, which they then prepared to unveil to the Wizengamot very publicly. A member of their own council quickly voiced reservations, believing that the public support of the "accused" would be a major obstacle. Quickly agreeing, other members directed their men to strong-arm Undersecretary Hermione Weasley into resigning and keeping her silence. A single witch with no actual political power could not do much against such odds, even if she had public support and the intelligence of ten of her opponents. Regardless, on being threatened with the health and safety of her family, she caved.
And so, the first of the truths hidden from you has been revealed.
After this successful step in their master plan, the organization next targeted the biggest scalp of all: Minister Ronald Weasley. This plan was much simpler, and wouldn't need much coaxing. One of their esteemed members was the disciple, and marked successor, to the Minister himself. Weasley had already revealed to the man that he was going to retire soon, seeing that his wife had left office. A small push in the Wizengamot, and a motion was passed to replace Ronald Weasley. In a last passionate speech on the dais, never to be published for the public, Minister Weasley made a winning case for his student, who was then elected the next Minister, and then he promptly left the office, packing up quite cheerily. He told the press that he retired, to save face for his student, and then left to live a quiet life, ignorant of the underhanded machinations in the shadows he couldn't see.
That's right, my readers, Harold Longbottom is not the man you think he is.
The organization in question had successfully infiltrated the highest order of establishment in our country three years ago. They began to send out members to become citizens of other countries, ready to spread the poison. It was a plan that would take decades to complete. And it was a plan they were willing to go through with.
Yes, that's all well and good Gaerdir, but you haven't explained how you know all this! You are probably thinking. Explain that, instead of all these secrets!
The council of the Daily Prophet used to go by another name… The Order of the Phoenix.
You probably recognize this name. It was the vigilante group led by the late Albus Dumbledore which counterattacked Voldemort in the older Terror War, and provided a brief respite in the Blood War. Harry Potter didn't retire as soon as he came back from the end of the Blood War. He knew the dangers that still existed in our world, and tried to create failsafe measures against the possibility of a regression. We are but one of them. He restarted the organization and reestablished parameters and goals.
The council was created with the sole purpose of monitoring society. That is why we are never in danger of being infiltrated. We know exactly who votes for whom, and how our members are elected. We are probably the first every magical spy organization. We have tabs on every suspicious element in society. We watch prospective troublemakers, and we make it our business to know what is going on. You do not know who we are, what we are, or where we are. There is no risk in revealing our existence. We know all and we see all. That's what makes us the best exterminators for the pests that have returned. We are now ready to make our final move.
Potter was prepared for this outcome 28 years ago. He has more aces up his sleeve waiting to get the jump on an unsuspecting enemy. The organization, the Magus Illuminati, obviously still considers him a threat. Even now, there are whispers in the Ministry about a restraining order on Potter for "being a dangerous element to society, and threatening the well-being and lifestyle of its members". His infamous, volcanic temper has been reported more often recently, and the damage caused by his rampant magic is allowing strings to be pulled.
My readers, prepare for a war of the sort you have never seen before. A war full of subterfuge, deceit, infiltration and secrets. There will be no full out battle, no flashy clashes. It will be going on, right underneath your feet. These people are threatening the very peace that we have worked hard for, and it is our job to snatch back our vanishing victory!
Harry Potter, I was told that you would understand these phrases:
Situation Zero has been recognized, Code Alpha has been issued.
In Hogsmeade, Sirius looked on as the full moon shone intermittently.
A phoenix has flashed away successfully.
The wizard has been disturbed.
The Order of Phoenix awaits your orders, Mister Potter! May your return be as victorious as your departure!
This is Gaerdir, Special Correspondent, signing off.
Tomorrow, Britain goes to war! Let the extermination, begin!
FIN