February 1985

Dumbledore heard the shouts as soon as he arrived at The Ministry of Magic, appariting into a room filled with chaos. Wizards and witches carried signs and shot sparks out of the ends of their wands. Dumbledore walked forward through shouts for blood purity and calls for the execution of muggle-born witches and wizards. The sparks in the air coalesced into symbols; nooses around unsuspecting necks, prison bars, and a circle around a cut palm, the primary sign for those who supported a return to blood purity. There were others who yelled for acceptance and a stronger wizarding world through unity, but Dumbledore felt as though their cries were softer, even if only in his mind.

He didn't stop walking. He waved his hand to clear words of protest and support for the Muggle-Born Registration Commission Act that drifted in the air around him.

Return to Blood Purity. This time the witches will do the hunting. Burn muggle-borns at the stake. The only good muggle-born is a dead one. VXmort was half muggle.

Unity or death. Save the muggle-borns. Stop the hate. The Death Eaters supported blood purity, too. Don't be on the wrong side of history.

A witch carrying a VXmort was half muggle sign lunged at a wizard who shot peace symbol sparks at her face. Two Ministry security agents pulled them apart and took them away while the crowd cheered and others threw trashed copies of The Daily Prophet at their backs.

The first hearing started in ten minutes.

Dumbledore headed for the basement. He walked through the corridors, losing the crowds. He felt the presence of wards and knew they were the only things holding the protestors and supporters back. He entered the dungeon-like room where Millicent Bagnold, the Minister for Magic, stood before the rest of the Wizengamot. Dumbledore took his assigned seat at the end of an aisle in front of Millicent.

"We will now start the first hearing pertaining to the Muggle-Born Registration Commission Act. If made law, the act would call for the creation of a commission to register and monitor muggle-born witches and wizards. The act also calls for the commission to be allowed to capture, detain, and execute muggle-born witches and wizards should circumstances ever call for it," Millicent said. "The court will first hear from Marcus Carrow, the primary author of the proposed act."

Millicent stepped down and Marcus stepped up to the podium. "Thank you, Minister. Members of the Wizengamot sitting before me, you know why you are here. You've seen the protests in our halls and streets. While it is true that the Dark Lord is dead, we remain living in dangerous times. For centuries, magic was passed through generations of pure blood witches and wizards, down to the last of the sacred twenty-eight families, including my own. When the blood lines were pure, we were strong and able to ward off outside interference. However, over the last several decades, our lines have weakened. We have lost the strength critical to keeping our way of life intact. This truth was revealed in all of its horror during the Wizarding War, and with Lord Voldemort's rise to power. Lord Voldemort himself was a tainted half-blood, filled with the twisted veins of his muggle father. This condition made him feel inferior, as it should have, and caused him to rebel against the wizarding world at large. Instead of being strong and standing against him, we found ourselves fragmented because of the breakdown in blood purity encouraged by this very court. If we had taken control of the blood lines before the rise of Voldemort, I believe he would not have had as many followers. Many pure-blood wizards were swayed by his call for a new order and his own hatred of his muggle-born father, because we failed to show them that we have the ability to enact true power. If we want to prevent another Voldemort, we need to be stronger against the infiltration of muggle-borns into our world, as it is causing a divide we cannot survive. I wrote the act, not to kill all muggle-born witches and wizards, as has been the rumor, but to monitor and control them should the need arise."

The Minister of Magic spoke, "You understand, Mister Carrow, over half of the witches and wizards you see before you are half-blood themselves. Others are married to muggles."

"Yes, Minister, I do," Carrow said, "but none of them, to my knowledge, are muggle-born. I am not calling for a return to complete separation of ourselves from muggles, I would never suggest a return to the days when we could not even inter-marry, but I do believe we should register and monitor all muggle-born witches and wizards. Because, the truth of it is that we don't know who these people we are bringing into our world are. Many of them enter knowing nothing about us or our customs. This makes them easy targets for recruitment to the likes of the Death Eaters, or worse, if we are blindly accepting of them, makes true witches and wizards lose their faith in us and look for security elsewhere. There must be a process for controlling and regulating muggle-borns, and the commission would be the answer."

Dumbledore had heard enough. "Your act won't strengthen anything about our world, it will tear it apart from the inside. You say we have been weakened by the inclusion of muggle-born witches and wizards and that we must separate ourselves from them. This is not, and has never been, something that is possible or desirable. The time of keeping our world separate from the world of muggles passed long ago. At one time or another, back to the age of Merlin, all of our ancestors were born as the first witch or wizard in their line. The ones that survived did so because they learned how to use and control magic, with or without help from a community such as the one we are fortunate to find ourselves in. If you go back far enough, we are all muggle-born, Mister Carrow."

"I disagree, Dumbledore. Those of us in this room are the result of hundreds, in some cases thousands, of years of select magical heritage. We must remain the caretakers of these gifts. We can't afford to go into the future unaware of if the witch or wizard sitting next to us knows anything about our history or how to even use magic."

"I don't think I have to remind you that schools, such as Hogwarts, exist for the very purpose of training children, both muggle-born and wizard-born, to use and control magic. Our way of life is taught. The children are trained. It would be more dangerous to round up magically-gifted muggle-born children and imprison them, leave them to their own devices, or to ignore their existence entirely."

"I'm not calling for that at this time, I am only calling for a commission to ensure that they are registered and monitored," Carrow said. "And I don't think I have to remind you that even Hogwarts is not perfect. I have it on good faith that not all of your muggle-born students can even use magic. So, what, may I ask, are they even doing there? Why did you bring them into our world?"

"We are getting off topic," The Minister for Magic said. "That is enough for now, Mister Carrow."

Carrow took his seat.

"I know you have all had time to read through the legislation. This is the first of multiple hearings that will take place until the facts are in order and a vote can be made. You have now heard from the primary author of the act and the main reasons for why we are considering making it law. We will meet again in April, at which time I would like all members of the Wizengamot to prepare comments assuming the act becomes law. What difficulties do we perceive going forward? What are your best cases against the act? Please keep in mind the events of recent years, and the delicate nature of handling muggle-born witches and wizards in our world." Millicent said. She picked up the parchments on the podium. "Until April."

"Until April," the rest of the Wizengamot responded.

Dumbledore didn't wait to speak with the others or argue in the hallways. He walked out of the dungeon without saying a word.