Wizengamot Passes Law to Free Representatives!

By Vernice Catts, Political Correspondent and Richard Pewter, Justice Correspondent

The Wizengamot, in the early hours of the morning, after a marathon 17-hour session, passed a law that would render the arrests of those 23 politicians, and our very own Oliver Bovin illegal.

The bill, entitled 'The Sanctity of the Wizengamot Act' would make the long-held convention of Wizengamot sanctuary law, and would apply retroactively, meaning that the arrests of anyone within the Wizengamot chambers would be quashed.

The measure clearly had the support of Chief Warlock, Uwuckle Trent, who not only granted a rare urgent debate on the bill but even refused to adjourn the Wizengamot until the debate had come to a close – resulting in the Wizengamot working long into the night and early morning; some members were even spotted sleeping on the benches. Wizengamot historians say that it is one of the longest sessions in recorded history.

The bill's sponsor, Lord Arcturus Black, leader of the Traditional Wizarding Party had this to say as he was leaving the chamber, "the Wizengamot has allowed the Ministry to trample over its authority for far too long. Today, we stood up for ourselves, and stood up for our colleagues".

The bill now heads to the Minister's desk.


Minister Vetoes Sanctity of the Wizengamot Act

By Vernice Catts, Political Correspondent

Two days after the Wizengamot passed The Sanctity of the Wizengamot Act, the Minister officially vetoed the bill, leaving it in legislative limbo.

In his veto message to the Wizengamot, the Minister decried the bill as "a sacrilegious attempt to prevent justice being carried out" and "an attempt to abuse the power of the Wizengamot in order to defend those who's power has allowed them to escape consequences for far too long".

The tone of the veto message highlights just how much of a clash point the so-called 'Malfoy case' has become. With the Minister sticking to his guns, and fighting every attempt to free those arrested just over a month ago.

The bill was passed by the Wizengamot via voice vote, and has the Chief Warlock's support, yet the chances of the veto being overridden are uncertain. Lord Crouch was elected on a platform of rounding up the Death Eaters who had escaped the aurors' grasp, and it is unclear if this is a battle that the Wizengamot wants to have with the still-popular Minister.

That being said, in a poll carried out by the Prophet soon after the arrests of the 24, 61% said that the sanctity of the Wizengamot should be respected. Whether capturing Death Eaters trumps that is unknown.

The Prophet will keep you updated.

Albus Dumbledore sighed as he placed his copy of the Daily Prophet down on his desk in the Headmaster's Office at Hogwarts. School had started up again after the Christmas break and he found his attention once again split between Ministry and students. The Headmaster's time hadn't been fully focussed on his students since he was elected to the Wizengamot shortly after his defeat of Grindenwald, and the amount of effort he could dedicate to the school had slowly dwindled ever since. Once he became Chief Warlock, and with the war, he regretted that most of the actual running of the school was done by Minerva, but the war was now over, and he was no longer Chief Warlock, so he was hopeful that he could once again dedicate his time and effort back to Hogwarts.

Annoyingly, politics was getting in the way again, with this blasted Malfoy case. Dumbledore was in two minds about the whole thing. On the one hand, he was well aware that those who had been arrested were Death Eaters, he'd personally duelled with a few of them. But the idea of throwing out the rulebook, as unofficial as it may be, did not settle well with him. After all, wouldn't it make them just as bad as the Death Eaters they were fighting against?

He frowned at the article he had just finished reading. The Minister had gone and vetoed the bill. This put him in a tricky scenario. He had no doubt that the Wizengamot would vote on overturning the veto. Lord Black and the Chief Warlock were too passionately behind the bill to just let it die out. This meant his vote would be recorded. Overturning a veto means needing a two-thirds majority – you can't figure that out by voice vote. He pinched the bridge of his nose. He was getting too old for this.

Just as he was reaching for his go-to comfort sweet, the perfectly sour lemon drop, he heard a tapping at the window. He popped the sweet into his mouth before he went over to the window and opened it just enough to let the owl in. He hurriedly shut the window; the cold January chill more of a nuisance than it used to be. The owl flew over to Fawkes' currently empty perch, and he frowned at the owl's impertinence.

The owl had dropped the letter he was carrying on Albus' desk, so he sat back down and flipped it over, frowning when he saw the Black seal.

Grabbing a letter opener out of his draw, he popped open the seal and removed the parchment contained within:

Dear Albus Dumbledore, Order of Merlin, First Class; Grand Sorcerer; Supreme Mugwump, International Confederation of Wizards; Headmaster of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry; Leader of the Progressive Wizarding Party,

I humbly request an audience with you, in order to discuss the current political climate, and how we can work together in these times.

Please respond with when you would be available.

Yours Sincerely,

Lord Arcturus Black III, Lord of the Noble and Ancient House of Black; Order of Merlin, First Class; Leader of the Wizarding Traditionalist Party

Dumbledore snorted. Why couldn't people just get to the point? It was as clear as a demiguise in hiding what Lord Black was talking about. He grabbed a quill and scribbled that he would be available in his Wizengamot office tomorrow at noon and then sent the owl off again.

He sighed. Nothing was ever easy. With that depressing thought in his head, he reached for another lemon drop and returned to reviewing the behavioural reports. At least now he was able to do some of the things the headmaster should.


The next day, Dumbledore flooed to the Ministry and made his way up to his office. Every Representative had one, though he rarely used his. The headmaster's office at Hogwarts was much nicer, and came with much less chance of interruption. He only had to wait for a few minutes before there was a knock at the door.

"Come in." He shouted.

The door opened, and his chief political rival crossed the threshold into his office. He and Lord Black had faced off over many issues, from what magic should be legal, to the rights of magical creatures. Lord Black had even gotten him ousted as Chief Warlock. Yet they had also worked together on issues on which they shared common ground, and arguably, were both more powerful than the Minister for Magic. Now, they met again, in a stuffy office, to decide whether or not they would exercise their power to override the will of the Ministry.

"Mr Dumbledore." Arcturus bowed his head.

"Lord Black." Albus did the same.

"It is good to see you again, Albus. I hope you know that that whole Chief Warlock business wasn't personal."

The Hogwarts headmaster chuckled, "I know you too well to believe it was anything other than business. Would you like to take a seat?"

The Black lord took the seat that he was offered and steepled his fingers. "I won't beat around the bush, Albus. We both know why I asked to see you. The fact of the matter is that without your support, there won't be enough votes to override Crouch's veto."

He nodded. "But why should I support you in this matter?"

Arcturus Black stared at him unnervingly. "Don't play a fool; it doesn't suit you. You cannot pretend that what the Minister is doing is moral."

"Perhaps not, but you cannot pretend that these men are not Death Eaters."

Black barked a sharp laugh. "Touché, but for one thing, I do not think all of them are, and if there were any proof, they'd have been charged by now."

"I have personally duelled most of them, that is all the proof I need."

"Oh, for Merlin's sake, go and speak to the Aurors then! It doesn't change the fact that the arrests shouldn't have happened. Anywhere else! Those arrests could have been made anywhere else! Crouch was sending a message I don't like. We've chopped kings' heads off for less."

"You raise an interesting point about them not being charged."

His adversary nodded. "It does make one wonder."

Dumbledore sighed. "I am inclined to agree with you. But I will need something to take back to my party."

"What do you want?"

"We've been trying to introduce anti-discrimination laws for a while now, for muggleborns that is. When it comes up for a vote, abstain."

The head of the most blood-conscious house in Magical Britain looked like he'd just bitten into an especially sour lemon. "My party wouldn't stand for it!"

Dumbledore grinned a wicked grin. "If they don't want to rot in Azkaban then they'll have to."

Lord Black growled. "If I agree, then you must keep your duels with these men to yourself."

Dumbledore considered this for a moment. "Fine."

Black stood up quickly, and offered his hand. The Headmaster of Hogwarts took it, and they shook to seal the deal. Lord Black leaned in.

"Know this, Albus, if you ever try to blackmail members of my party again, I will take great pleasure in ripping you to shreds." There was a dangerous glint in the man's eyes.

"I would expect nothing less, Arcturus." Dumbledore said with more cheer than he felt.

Arcturus Black nodded sharply. "Have a good day, Mr Dumbledore."


Wizengamot Overrides Veto – Sanctity of Wizengamot Act Becomes Law!

By Vernice Catts, Political Correspondent

Yesterday (January 29th) the Wizengamot, with a vote of 92-29, voted to override the Ministerial veto of Minister Crouch, meaning that the Sanctity of the Wizengamot Act has become law, without the Minister's signature. The vote, which easily surpassed the two-third majority needed to force the bill into law, was a rare showing of bipartisanship, with all but eight PWP representatives joining the WTP in voting in favour of overriding the veto. All of the Ministry seats and four independents voted against the override.

Albus Dumbledore, the Leader of the Progressive Wizarding Party, told the Prophet, "At the end of the day, it was an easy decision. These arrests were a breach of natural justice, and it was the right thing for the Wizengamot to defend the rights of the people's representatives."

Party insiders said that a deal had been struck between the leaders of the two parties, but the Prophet could not verify these reports.

The Minister called the veto override "a disgrace", and accused Mr Dumbledore of "duplicity", saying that the Progressive leader had promised to support the Crouch Administration in the Wizengamot. In response, a PWP spokeswoman told the Prophet, "Mr Dumbledore did promise that the PWP would support the Minister, but it goes without saying that this support only extends to lawful acts."

With the law passed, it means that the arrests of the 24 men and women at the Wizengamot last month have been nullified, though the Ministry have yet to say when they will be released.

The Prophet will keep you updated.