January 1, 1612 AD
An ongoing argument in the Wizengamot seems to be what to do about the Muggles.
I ask, have they bothered us in recent memory? It is not as though they do not know we exist, for the current Monarch is well aware. It is, after all, in the agreement that dates back to the dawn of Hogwarts. So, given their knowledge of our presence, and their subsequent inaction, I say we should not feel threatened by them any more than they feel threatened by us.
We are living in relative peace, except when inane arguments are brought up time and time again, no matter how often we come to a conclusion - and each revisitation results in a different conclusion.
Well, soon we will run out of possible outcomes; already I grow tired of this debate. It my fellow Lords are not careful, they may find themselves with a homicidal wizard on their hands.
And I will come backed by the Goblin race.
February 4, 1612 AD
Aisling told me today that Elijah spoke to her in Parseltongue. Given Aisling's family, I am not surprised; Gaunts have been Parselmouths for centuries.
Now that I know my son is a Parselmouth, I will be on the lookout for snake parts for his wand, though I do not have to worry about that for several more years. I will however put some effort into finding books about Parselmagic, and possibly a familiar for him; if the creature I find remains unhatched, I will store it and the books in his trust vault until he is older.
March 1, 1612 AD
We had another Wizengamot meeting today. The topic of interest was once again about the Muggles.
I understand their worries; I do. We have all heard the horror stories about the witch burnings, and while I certainly do not condone burning our people, I would like to point out that many of these confrontations and subsequent burnings have occurred because wixen were performing magic in front of the Muggles.
There are two problems with this; first is that when the Founders first negotiated with the King, he requested that we not demonstrate our magic for Muggles. Second is that, like everything in this world, Muggles fear what they do not understand. Magic is something that they do not understand, so they fear it, and - like all things - they react to their fear with violence.
Again, I do not condone their reactions, but I understand where they are coming from. In this situation, we are the ones in the wrong just as much as they are.
I do not know why the others cannot understand this.
April 1, 1612 AD
Yet another Wizengamot meeting. Some of the Lords have suggested war against the Muggles. I suggested that they were idiots. They did not appreciate my suggestion.
I also suggested avoidance; perhaps we should hide our world from them, with the only link between our worlds being the Muggle king. This way we will be protected from the violence of the Muggles' fear, and they will be protected from their lack of knowledge.
This, too, was shot down, though some of the Lords appeared to be interested in the concept. For once, I hope to revisit this topic; we can protect the world like this.
May 1, 1612 AD
What if we could separate our world from the Muggles. There would be bridges in certain areas, of course, so that we could come and go between the worlds, but the separation would protect us from each other. It would protect us from ourselves.
I plan to further develop this concept before introducing it to the Wizengamot. I only fear that I will not be fast enough to dissuade the Lords from declaring war on the Muggles.
They can capture us and take us down with fire. What will they be able to do with actual weapons? War is not a sensible course of action - we will not come out on top if it ever comes to such a conflict.
May 20, 1612 AD
I have made plans to meet with the Goblins and the Veela to discuss possible methods of separation. Ragnok suggested that I invite the Centaurs to the meeting as well, and they agreed.
The meeting is set for tomorrow, and I hope to make progress in my plan. If all goes well, I will request an audience with Nicolas Flamel, who has been living in an in-between state for centuries. Somehow, the Muggles suspect nothing despite his seemingly eternal presence amongst them.
If I am able to conceive a viable plan to protect Muggles and wizards from each other, I will request a meeting with the Muggle king, so that I may introduce him to the idea. With his agreement, I will introduce it to the Wizengamot.
May 21, 1612 AD
Ragnok and I met the Veela queen and one of the Centaurs of the Forest at Gringotts. I outlined the vague hopes I had for the future, and together we brainstormed spells and wards and enchantments that might create such a veil.
The queen - Amalina - encouraged me to choose points for the bridges between the Muggle and magical worlds, where Muggle-borns might enter and exit.
I have chosen a pub that sits in the shadows of a London street. With the right wards, it will only appear to those with magic. This will be the first entry point; entering the pub will not show any outward signs of magic, but exiting through the back will lead one to a brick wall. A certain combination will cause the wall to open into Diagon Alley, right in front of Gringotts.
The second entrance to the world is at the Battle Bridge over the River Fleet. Again, it pertains only to those with magic. If a witch or wizard were to cross the bridge, they would find themselves admiring a ship that sets sail for Hogwarts on the first of September.
If a Muggle were to cross the bridge, they would simply make it to the other side of the river without any complications.
In essence, our world is to become a sort of pocket world; there are two points of entry, but only certain people will be able to enter. The others will simply pass by, remaining none the wiser. We will be a world within a world; we will be untouchable by the Muggles unless we bring magic into the Muggle world.
As a pocket world, we will be unable to meddle in Muggle affairs unintentionally, and we will be protected from each other without the threat of war.
The Centaur - Magorian - seemed pleased with my suggestions, and suggested that the bricks of the wall into Diagon be individually Enchanted, just as the stones of Hogwarts are. Centaurs are cryptic as a rule, so I am uncertain as to why such a thing might be advisable, but it would be the height of stupidity to turn down the free advice of a Centaur. It would be especially idiotic to refuse the advice of a Centaur as old as Magorian - whether it was free or not.
August 3, 1612 AD
I finally met with Nicolas Flamel today. His time is in high demand, and I am not as well known nor as intelligent as some of his other acquaintances, so I am glad that he was able to find the time to include me in his schedule.
I discussed the plans I have developed with the help of Ragnok, Amalina and Magorian with Nicolas, and he went over them in silence for a few moments. He offered several suggestions, pointing out that I had not taken the Muggle world's ever changing nature into account. He told me that it was likely that the bridge would change at some point in the future, and that the streets would grow and develop with the world they house.
The wizarding world may change at cripplingly slow rates, but the Muggle world is always changing. They constantly experience metamorphosis, as though they are constantly a caterpillar becoming a butterfly in a never-ending cycle, each time becoming more exotic and advanced and beautiful than before.
In contrast, the wizarding world is like an earthworm. It seems as though we never really change. We remain fixated on the same things for centuries, and whenever something is removed from our minds, it is replaced seamlessly by something else, as if it were never gone at all. We regrow and regenerate, but we never move forward. We remain stuck in the ground, and the Muggles fly away, leaving us in the dirt that we refuse to leave.
Nicolas offered some helpful information that will allow the enchantments to shift in response to the changes of the Muggle world. It is something I had not considered, but I see the value. Imagine the Fleet being filled in to become a street. If the bridge were removed and the enchantment did not shift, it might result in a Muggle walking along a particular part of the street and suddenly finding themselves staring over a river that has supposedly been filled in.
After all, a great deal of the spell-work that will create the pocket world where wixen live is illusionary. It is meant to show the Muggles what they expect to see, but it will not if it doesn't change when their world does.
Nicolas congratulated me on my diplomatic mind; he seemed pleased that I refuse to choose war as a viable option to deal with the Muggles. It is only common sense; there are more of them than there are of us, and though we have magic, Muggles have guns. If it came to war between our two races, the Muggles would surely win.
January 1, 1613 AD
These past months have been spent putting the final touches on the spell-work that makes up the barrier between our world and that of the Muggles.
Aisling has offered her assistance in the casting process. In some aspects, Parselmagic is more powerful than magic not influenced by the words of snakes. Enchanting and warding are two of the areas in which Parselmagic is more effective than it may be otherwise.
For one, the quality of the magic is more finely bound - the strands of it bound together in a way that does not fray easily. For another, Parselmagic is a rare branch of magic, and its obscurity lends to its effectiveness. There are few Parselmages, and so few have the ability to unravel the spells cast in Parseltongue.
With these final touches in place, I plan to request an audience with the king so that I may prevent war between our people.
April 5, 1613 AD
I presented my solution to the king today, and after much deliberation he agreed that it was a reasonable idea. He agreed to the two bridges, and expressed his desire that I make my plan work so that a war will not occur between our people.
Despite my family history, despite the antagonistic traits that Potters are known for, I do not wish for war. Peace is a far more pleasant option, and if that means hiding from the world, I will make sure that we are erased from the minds of those who wish us gone.
May 1, 1613 AD
The Lords of the Wizengamot are absolute imbeciles. I have offered them a peaceful solution to the ever growing tensions. I have gained support from those Lords who recognize that the king's agreement is really his way of giving us an order.
The other Lords still desire war. Violence has stirred in their veins for too long, and they are unable to think past their desires.
They have agreed - begrudgingly - to consider my plan. We have designs to return to the issue at the next meeting.
June 1, 1613 AD
The Lords seem to have realised that their desires are of the utmost stupidity; they have agreed to my plan, and have agreed to implement it the day after tomorrow.
I am glad that they have finally seen sense, and that they have remembered who their loyalty is meant to belong to.
Merlin curse idiotic wizards.
September 1, 1613 AD
The barriers seem to be doing their job admirably. The new students - Muggle-born and half-blood and Pure-blood alike - have made their way to Diagon and Hogwarts without any difficulties.
Aside from the king and the parents of the Muggle-borns, the Muggles are blissfully unaware of the existence of magic. Of course, this excludes the cases that show up every now and again, involving wixen intentionally antagonizing Muggles after exposing magic to them.
Overall, though, the statue seems to be working. I wanted to call the plan the Pocket World, but the name was vetoed. Instead our separation is known as the Statue of Secrecy.
The name is no matter. The plan works, we have avoided all out war, and I can rightfully say that I was right. And none of the Lords can refute my claim. All is well.
October 1, 1630 AD
The Lords are never satisfied. They always manage to find something new to complain about. I realize that I am no better, though my complaints are kept to the privacy of these pages and the patient ear of my wife.
Today, the Lords tried to complain that Muggle-borns do not belong in our world. For once, they were actually prepared to argue their point, so I was willing to hear them out.
They spoke of the differences in culture - Muggles are heavily influenced by Christianity, while wixen are not. Muggles celebrate Christmas and Easter and the like, while wizards celebrate Celtic holidays. In general, the Muggle-borns and Muggle-raised disapprove of our culture, and because of their disapproval, the Lords have decided that they should not be a part of our world.
What they didn't mention is that there is not a class at Hogwarts that teaches about the importance of the Celtic rituals and holidays, and so those who do not grow up in the wizarding world are at a distinct disadvantage. And then, they are blamed for their lack of knowledge about what they consider to be pagan holidays.
True, they should not disparage our culture, even if they do not understand the importance of it. However, we should make an effort to include them in our culture. We should explain why we do what we do. We should explain our beliefs and how they are integral to our culture.
We need to explain that we are like a different country. We have different money than Muggles, we have magic, we have a different religion. We are different, and they need to be informed of that. They can't come into our world expecting it to be the same as their own.
They look around them and they see how different our two worlds are, but for some reason that doesn't translate to everything else. We need a class in Hogwarts about wizarding culture - frankly, the history class doesn't cut it because it doesn't touch upon wizarding culture - and we need a class about Muggles. Both should be mandatory if a student is unaware of the cultural differences between the two. The entire point of Hogwarts is to learn, and we are doing the children a disservice by denying them information.
The Lords tried to say that barring entrance to our world would solve this problem, but - thankfully I was not the unfortunate sod who had to point this out - part of our agreement with the British monarch is that Muggle-borns are educated in magic. It was Greengrass who suggested a Wizarding Culture class. I followed up his suggestion with a Muggle Studies class. I know it will be unpopular, but it is important to understand how Muggles live.
November 1, 1630 AD
Even though it is not our area of expertise, the Lords spent the entirety of the meeting discussing the finer points of the new curriculum.
I am uncertain why this task has been designated to us, as Hogwarts has a board of governors that was created to regulate its affairs. The Wizengamot has never interfered in Hogwarts, something that was stipulated by Slytherin when Hogwarts was founded.
However, the Lords have drawn up a proposal that Greengrass plans to present to the boards. Within it is a list of mandatory classes, and a list of electives that can be taken beginning in third year.
The mandatory classes are as follows: Potions, Transfigurations, Charms, Defense Against the Dark Arts, Astronomy, Flying, Herbology, History of Magic, and Wizarding Culture or Muggle Studies, depending on the background of the student.
The possible electives compiled are: Arithmancy, Care of Magical Creatures, Ancient Runes, Divination, Alchemy, Magical Theory, Xylomancy, Occlumency and Legilimency, Enchanting, Warding, Battle Magic, Parselmagic, Elemental Magic, Wandlore, Spell Creation, Magical Languages, Non-Magical Languages, Self-Defence, Healing, Time Theory, Weaponry, Art, and Music.
We have also written in a clause that will allow classes to be added in the future if such a thing becomes necessary. I believe that more classes will be added as the Muggle world advances, but any pushback from the wizarding community would prevent progress. We are unfortunately too different for everything to move smoothly, though I hope we can grow with the Muggles rather than being trapped in their past.
March 12, 1652 AD
I have grown tired of the endless debates of the Wizengamot. Each month, someone brings something new to the table, and it takes months of deliberation to solve the issue.
Many of these issues are no more than petty squabbles; the only points of any meaning involve the continued witch hunts, and even these are unimpressive. Wixen have become proficient in the flame freezing charm, as well as apparition. Of those who are caught performing magic, many are able to escape by creating a simulacra of themselves that burns in their place.
This wouldn't be a problem in the first place if they could just cease antagonising the Muggles. The Statue of Secrecy was created for a reason.
I know that I will only grow more frustrated by the Lords, and so I have stepped down from the Wizengamot; Elijah has been old enough to take my place for quite some time, and I have done all the good I can. They will not collapse without my presence.