"A names reading is a very symbolic yet highly meaningful act." –Paul Garver, United States Holocaust Museum
"It would be so easy just to think about the statistics—6 million. But what does "6 million" mean? I think it's something we can't really grasp." –Sara Bloomfield, United States Holocaust Museum
"[We read names] To remember these people as human beings, as individuals, who have a life story, who had a history" –Robert Hadley, Portland, Oregon
"All right, let's put together all the information we have on the table." Bill said, automatically taking charge. George supposed it was instinctive for him to command any gathering of Weasley siblings, after being the oldest for thirty years.
He looked out the window, checking that no one was eavesdropping. This was hardly top-secret, but it wasn't exactly Sunday lunch appropriate, either. They seemed to be clear: Angelina was chatting with Dad by the shed; Mum, Andromeda, and Hermione were gathered by the rose bush; and Audrey and Fleur were looking after the three little ones out on the grass. Charlie, Percy and Harry were all absent, although Harry and Percy had both promised to try to make it out of the Ministry eventually.
George handed Bill a dish to wash as Ron began.
"Harry and Percy are both swamped at work, but it doesn't involve Hermione's Department – so it's something to do with the Aurors and International Magical Cooperation, but not Magical Creatures."
"And it has something to do with the Americans," Ginny said firmly, taking the dish from Bill and drying it. "Harry's been frantically studying American magical politics all week, apparently it's quite mad."
George passed Bill a bowl as Ron put the first one back in the cupboard and frowned.
"Hang on, go back." He turned to Ron. "I thought you said Hermione was involved?" Ron shook his head.
"She knows what's going on, but she's not involved. She's been reading about it in the Muggle news."
"It's in the Muggle news?" Bill asked, irritated. "Then why can't we just read about what's going on? And why would Harry and Percy be bothering to keep it a secret?"
"Harry's not keeping it a secret, exactly. But I've been with away with the Harpies and he's been putting in fourteen hour days. We just havn't had enough time to talk." Ginny explained. "And even if Percy wasn't in the same situation, let's be fair – haven't we told him enough times that we don't want to hear him talk about work?"
"Well, usually his work is boring." George grumbled, but it was half-hearted. He knew Ginny was right.
"Anyway," Ron interjected impatiently, "I know what happened. I just don't know why it's keeping Harry and Percy at work all the bloody time."
"Well then, Ron, would you mind enlightening the rest of us? So we can help you figure it out?" Ginny said acidly, shoving several clean forks at him rather carelessly.
"Watch it Gin!" he scowled, barely managing to catch them all.
"Children…" Bill scolded, scrubbing a pot. Ron and Ginny glared at him, but stopped bickering.
"So what happened?" George prompted Ron.
"Oh, yeah. One of those aeroplane things flew into a Muggle building in New York City and knocked it down. And then another plane flew into another building and it fell down too, so they know it was on purpose. And they were really important buildings with a lot of people in them. The Twin Towers, they were called, I think – although people keep calling them the "World Trade Center" also, and I don't know what that's about." Bill nearly dropped the pot, and Ginny gasped softly. But Ron wasn't done.
"Oh, and there were two more planes. One crashed in the middle of nowhere –apparently the passengers figured out what was going on and fought back against whoever had control – but the other hit the building where the American Muggles have all their weapons. Which is really bad because the American Muggles have enough weapons to blow up the whole world, or something. So half the time the news is going on about whether the Americans are going to attack someone, and half the time its going on about all the people who died." George wasn't sure he had quite understood Ron's explanation, but Bill and Ginny reacted right away.
" 'All the people who died'? Was it very many?" Ginny asked anxiously.
"The American Muggles might blow up the world?" Bill demanded at the same time.
Ginny and Bill rounded on each other, and George knew they were on the verge of an pointless argument about sensitivity to loss versus pragmatism, about an event which none of them knew much of about. Normally, George was all for promoting pointless arguments, but he thought he could play peacemaker for the sake of gathering more information – also a worthy endeavor.
"So this is troubling for a variety of reasons, some more important than others." he interjected. "What the bloody hell does that have to do with Percy and Harry?"
"There's got to be more to it than that, Ron," Bill decided, nodding in agreement. "What else do you know?"
Ron frowned.
"Well,it was a lot of people who died. I think maybe a couple thousand. That's why it's a big deal in the Muggle world. Also, the aeroplanes that flew into the buildings were taken over by these criminals who call themselves suicide bombers and say they want to destroy America, and now all the Muggles are scared to fly."
"Maybe it's causing problems for wizards who want to use Muggle transportation?" Bill suggested.
"Or maybe the American wizards had something hidden in the buildings that fell. They do that sometimes, right?" Ginny turned to Bill for confirmation. He nodded.
"Yeah, Salem is hidden at a Muggle college, and all the entrances are college buildings, and their government is hidden beneath the Muggle government buildings in Washington DC. But I don't think there are any important wizarding sites in New York City."
"Well, maybe people are just worried about wizards who happened to be there when it got attacked," Ginny replied defensively. Bill looked ready to poke holes in that argument as well, but the kitchen fire interrupted them by flaring green. Harry tumbled out, barely managing to stay on his feet.
"Oh, I hate floo…" he mumbled weakly, cleaning his glasses. He looked up at the Weasley siblings blearily, and George noted with concern that Harry looked as if he hadn't slept all week.
"Is Percy coming, too?" Bill asked, handing Ginny the last dish to be cleaned. Ron pulled one of the plates Mum had left for Harry and Percy out of the cupboard and set it at the table in front of Harry. Harry sat down and began to eat rather absent-mindedly.
"No, I don't think he'll make it," he replied through a mouthful of sandwich. "The Americans have gone mad, his whole Department is going to be stuck there until they calm down."
"Can you tell us what's going on?" George asked hopefully. Ginny promptly smacked him.
"Let him eat!" she scolded.
"He can eat and talk at the same time!" Ron protested. "And we've been trying to work out what's going on for an hour!"
"Ron!" Ginny shrieked, making to hit him as well.
Harry reached out and caught her hand.
"S'all right, Gin." he mumbled. "I can talk about it. What do you want to know?"
"Well – we just don't get why something that happened in the Muggle world affects us, mostly." Ron explained awkwardly. Harry sighed deeply.
"Yeah, you and the rest of the Ministry. It's only the Muggleborns who really understand where the Americans are coming from. Look – do you know what happened?"
Bill outlined their discussion while Harry ate his dinner.
"Is it true that the American Muggles could blow up the world?" he asked when he had finished. Harry nodded.
"Yes, they can. So can the Russians, and there's a bunch of other countries that can do an awful lot of damage," he said grimly. George opened his mouth to ask a question, but Bill got there first.
"But we should be able to protect ourselves, if we know about it," he asserted confidently. Harry raised an eyebrow.
"Because people who are knowledgeable about Muggles have had so much opportunity to develop effective policies, right?" he asked sarcastically, "We haven't allowed our Muggleborns to teach us what we need to know about Muggles or advise us on how to deal with them. The war – both wars – show that we couldn't be further away from it, actually. The Americans are much better about it. They, unlike us, understand that Wizards live in a Muggle world. That's why they're panicking now."
George was unsettled by Harry's comments, but decided to think about them more later, and ask a more relevant question now. "You're saying that we can't protect ourselves from Muggle weapons?" he asked quietly. Bill and Ron looked disbelieving and Ginny thoughtful as they all turned to Harry for an answer.
"I don't know," he admitted wearily, putting down his fork and standing. He took his late to the sink and washed it, then wandered over to the window, gazing out at Teddy, Victoire, and Dominique playing in the garden. "The Americans say that while they can keep more planes from hitting wizarding buildings, they can't prevent anything from being damaged by a nuclear bomb, or any powerful bomb really. Those are the Muggles' strongest weapons," he added over his shoulder, "If the Americans think that, it's probably true – we certainly couldn't protect our buildings in London when it was being bombed during the Grindelwald war, and that was sixty years ago. Muggle weapons have advanced a lot since then."
George did not like the sound of that at all. He vaguely remembered that during Grindelwald war, Wizarding London had been badly damaged, but he had thought that the damage was done by Wizards. The truth was unnerving.
"So – what happens now? What are you busy doing?" Ginny finally asked, reaching out for Harry. He tucked her into his side and sighed.
"Well, mostly, we're trying to keep the Americans from doing anything really dangerous. They were talking about revealing themselves so they could help the Muggles, at first, and then they were talking about helping the Muggles secretly, which also would have been a bad idea, seeing as they think the Muggles might go to war over it. And some of us who think there need to be some changes in the way our Ministry handles Muggle relations are trying to develop a good relationship with our American counterparts. Which is not easy, mind you. The American Ministry is mad on a good day, and right now they're all hysterical.
"But we're done, now, I think." Harry said quietly. "There's nothing more we can do to help, and we don't think the Americans will do anything really stupid, now." The kitchen was quiet, although George could hear the children shrieking with laughter outside. George thought he might like to talk to Harry about 'wizards in a Muggle World' later, but now it didn't seem quite appropriate.
"Maybe you'd like to take a day off tomorrow, then." Ron suggested tentatively. "You look knackered, mate." Harry snorted.
"You have no idea…Anyway, I'm already taking tomorrow off. All of the Muggleborns and Half-bloods involved are, we're going to have a memorial service."
"Well, that's nice, Harry," Ginny said, "what are you going to do?"
Harry hesitated and smiled sadly. "I think we're going to read names aloud. We don't have a complete list of casualties yet, but we want to acknowledge that it happened, that even though we didn't know them, they matter to us."
/2005/06/the_names_