I, along with the others who had been arrested at the Wizengamot meeting, were marched out of the chamber and along the corridor, down the stairs hidden behind a tapestry detailing the events of one of the Goblin Rebellions, until we reached the Ministry holding cells. The rows of cells were seemingly never ending, and the room was bone-chillingly cold. Soon I myself was shepherded into a cell. Barebones didn't begin to describe the contents of my new living space. Inside the metal encased enclosure was a single bed, with a mattress that looked lumpier than badly made porridge, a toilet, and a hard, cold concrete floor.

After I was shoved into my new home, I sat on the bed; shifting to try and find some semblance of comfort. My hands were still shackled together, but I knew that there was something I needed to do before the aurors came back. I awkwardly lifted my hands into the inside pocket of my robe and fumbled inside of it; rushing to try and grasp the serpent pendant that I always carried on my person. After searching blindly, I finally grabbed the pendant, placed it in my mouth and swallowed the magical artifact. I was counting on the lack of common sense that all wizards seem to possess; that they wouldn't think to check that I had hidden anything that may have been on my person. I was confident; they had just left me here after all.

After about a minute, I heard footsteps on the hard, stone floor approaching me. An auror who I did not recognise entered my cell and roughly turned me around and pinned me to the wall. I was about to quip the cliché about taking me to dinner first but thought better of it. He emptied all of my pockets and confiscated everything that was in them. He also ripped off my holster, taking my wand with it. All these things were put in a magically expandable bag before he uncuffed my hands and left again. "I want to see a lawyer." I shouted after him, but he didn't reply. I sighed and slid down onto the floor, wondering what to do.

Special Evening Edition: Mass Arrests at Wizengamot! Numerous Representatives Arrested!

By Barnabus Cuffe, Editor-in-Chief, further reporting by Layla Moorils, Political Correspondent

There was chaos at the Wizengamot meeting today when, just as the chamber was reconvening after a break for lunch to resume debate on the Department for Magical Law Enforcement's handling of the capturing of Death Eaters, aurors stormed the assembly, led by Head Auror Alastair Moody. The aurors then proceeded to arrest multiple members of the Wizengamot, as well as our own President, Oliver Bovin, on suspicion of being members of the Death Eater group.

Minister Crouch, who had been scheduled to speak in the debate and was present in the chamber, gave express permission for Head Auror Moody to carry out the arrests, over the protestations of Chief Warlock Trent, who demanded that the laws of sanctuary be respected. By law, no arrests can be made in the Wizengamot chamber, a reflection of the independence of the legislature.

Speaking to the Prophet, the Chief Warlock decried the arrests as "illegitimate", claiming that those detained should be freed immediately. "While the allegations should certainly be taken seriously, there is a way for the DMLE to carry out arrests, and trampling over the independence of the people's chamber is in no way the way to do so. Sanctuary has been a legal safeguard of the elected representatives for centuries." He told the Prophet.

The arrests may have something to do with a DMLE memo that was leaked to the Prophet just an hour before the chamber was stormed. The memo told of numerous members of the Wizengamot who were under auror surveillance. It is not entirely clear how Mr. Bovin is tied to the members arrested.

According to the Prophet's political correspondent, Layla Moorils who, as ever, was watching the Wizengamot proceedings, the Minister was initially surprised when the aurors entered the chamber. A sign that potentially the Minister had not given permission, or even been informed of the plan to make these arrests.

A spokesperson for the Progressive Wizarding Party, told the Prophet, "the PWP supports the capture of any remaining Death Eaters who are not already in the custody of the Ministry, however arrests should always be made in accordance to the law, and the independence of the Wizengamot is something that should be maintained at all costs."

Lord Black, Leader of the Traditionalist Wizarding Party, told the Prophet, "These arrests, which clearly show the Ministry's disregard for the will of the people, the sanctuary of the Wizengamot, and the sanctity of the nobility of Wizarding Britain, spit in the face of everything that this country stands for. Not satisfied with tarnishing the reputation of the TWP, the Ministry has now turned to politically motivated arrests. I, and my party, demand that the Ministry treat those currently held in their cells with the proper respect and fairness they deserve.

It is true that the majority of those arrested were Representatives from the Wizarding Traditionalist Party, with over twenty of their members arrested, while three independents and one Progressive was detained. There is no evidence as of yet that there was any political motivation for the arrests. Equally however, the DMLE has yet to release the evidence that led to the arrests yesterday, and none of those arrested have officially been charged with any crime.

The Prophet will keep you updated.

Lord Arcturus Black was furious. Unlike many members of the Wizengamot, those ennobled and otherwise, Arcturus loved the monotony of the endless traditions and procedures of the legislature. He had made them his wheelhouse over his decades in the chamber; he thrived in them. He liked the boringness of lawmaking that put of so many of the wizarding population off politics. When it was boring, it was under his control, he could manipulate events so that they would benefit him. He despised exciting days in politics, because nine times out of ten, it meant bad news. Yesterday was no exception. The day had started off as boring as ever, with debate continuing over a motion proposed by a Progressive representative that would remove the powers of the Ministry to edit the list of dangerous beasts. He had actually been in support of the idea, though a few amendments were needed for the bill (a simple majority was far too low a standard to edit a list that had such an effect on the wizarding population, a supermajority was a more sensible idea, besides, a simple majority made the nightmarish idea of giving such creatures as vampires or werewolves equal status with proper wizards a more frightening potential reality if the Progressives won control of the Wizengamot) before he gave the go-ahead for his party to vote for the motion. The gears of the Wizengamot were grinding as slowly as ever; the bill had been in its third day of debate, and the session had just reconvened, when things had gone and gotten exciting, and the blasted aurors had stormed the place.

Twenty of his people, twenty elected officials had been arrested on crazy charges. The sanctity of his beloved, boring Wizengamot had been violated; the protection it gave to its members had been defiled, just for political points. And all so the Ministry could be seen to be doing something with their Death Eater problem. Now, Lord Black wasn't stupid. He was well aware that many of those accused were Death Eaters, most of them quite willing ones, but he would bet his wand that the Ministry didn't know that, and they certainly didn't have enough evidence to arrest them! If the Prophet were to be believed, which Lucius was adamant it could be now -he and the owner had gotten particularly close, Arcturus had observed- then the arrests were based on people meeting each other! Meeting for Merlin's sake! As far as he was aware, the Wizengamot had never outlawed talking to one another. He would have these arrests quashed if it was the last thing he did. If the Ministry got away with this, then he would give his lordship to Sirius.

Thinking about his eldest grandchild made his heart clench. He still hadn't forgiven Orion and Walburga for their treatment of his grandchild. As much as they protested that it was all Sirius' fault that he had fled from them and sought refuge amongst the damned blood traitors, he knew differently; had told them differently. The way they had handled him having a different opinion on the blood issue had only entrenched his views. The Lord Black knew from his political experience that simply dismissing someone's views on an issue, and deriding them as a fool, a traitor, a disgrace, that they would shut you out forever more. All one would achieve by doing that is sending them further down that particular rabbit hole. It was why Arcturus preferred civil debate – if your position was correct, then you would succeed in changing your ideological foe's views on any particular issue, if they too were reasonable of course.

His offspring had failed to do that, and now Sirius was as far gone to Dumbledore's side that Arcturus could not even consider reasonably passing his lordship to him when the time came. Arcturus respected Dumbledore, but he was, on all the key issues, wrong. Sirius and Dumbledore were one and the same now, where politics was concerned, and so who would be Arcturus' heir was not a question with a definitive answer. Unless Arcturus named an heir, then by law (which followed male primogeniture), the heirship would pass to Lucius' eldest. The Black Lord would not be opposed to this, apart from the fact that a) the boy was a baby, and so his temperament was not yet known, and b) this would see the Malfoy and Black lordships would be held by one person, that was an arrangement that Arcturus would like to avoid if he could help it.

Alas, he was going nowhere yet, and all this contemplation would do nothing to see his compatriots released. With a sigh, the ageing wizard flooed to the Ministry; his attempts to secure their freedom began where the whole saga began: in the Wizengamot.

Just over five minutes later, the Black Lord walked into the Wizengamot chamber. The atmosphere was noticeably different, it was much more tentative, as if everyone was scared that aurors would storm through the door again. The Minister seemed unaffected by everyone else's uneasiness however, Arcturus spotted him chuckling at something the Head of the Department of Magical Transportation said. Arcturus growled, oh how he would relish in taking that man down.

Lord Black Attacks Aurors, Demands Release of 'Political Prisoners'

By Layla Moorils, Political Correspondent

The Head of the Traditionalist Wizengamot Faction yesterday lambasted the Ministry's treatment of those arrested Wizengamot members who are currently under the custody of the Ministry of Magic. Lord Black, whose party was disproportionately affected by the arrests took to the Wizengamot floor in yesterday's session to tell his fellow members of his struggle to communicate with those imprisoned in the Ministry's cells.

"Ladies and Gentlemen, Lords and Ladies, I visited the cells personally last night, to visit those political prisoners that the aurors took from us in yesterday's session and was turned away. Turned away from providing the prisoners their legal right! The Ministry have not only unlawfully arrested our colleagues, but they are denying them the right to visitors. I ask you to consider what else the Ministry are denying our friends. Counsel? Food? Drink? The Ministry must answer for the crimes they have committed, Minister Crouch, I remind you that you may control the Auror Department, but you do not control the Wizengamot!"

Unusually, the Leader of the Progressive Wizarding Party seemed to mostly agree with his Traditionalist counterpart, with Representative Dumbledore telling the chamber that "the rights of those arrested must be respected. The Ministry must follow all laws when prisoners are in their custody, and the Wizengamot's duty is to ensure this is done."

Speaking to the Prophet upon leaving the chamber, Mr. Dumbledore refused to be drawn to comment on the legality of the arrests, simply saying that "it is up to the courts to decide legal matters."

The Prophet can tell our readers that none of the letters sent by the Prophet to those arrested have been responded to.

The full list of those arrested can now be reported:

Matthew Beedle

Valeria Box

Sydney Candlenut

Sigrid Cribbe

Zikabe Dredge

Mica Ferret

Leo Filly

Richard Kain

Lord Malfoy

Clove Mistle

Lord Nott

Dean Partridge

Whetford Peele

Tyler Pegas

Elvera Phoenix

Mango Pinescrew

Lane Rook

Ruth Rook

Erica Rooks

Michael Scott

Lord Selwyn

Bernie Squabs

Leslie Stripes

Merton Twinkle

The Prophet will keep you updated.