DAILY PROPHET, SPECIAL REPORT
CHAOS AT THE QUIDDITCH CUP
by Rita Skeeter
The 442nd Quidditch cup was the scene of many things. It was a scene of joy and heartbreak, of tragedy and triumph, and finally one of chaos. After the legendary game, of which Ireland won even though Bulgaria caught the Snitch, a mob of riotous rabble-rousers descended on the celebrating masses, striking terror into the hearts of many.
The muggle administrator of Camp Ground C, which was the closest to the Cornelius Fudge Quidditch Stadium, was suspended in the air above the riot along with his entire family. This included the 3-year-old Timothy Roberts, a terrible sight indeed.
However, not all was lost. Unbeknownst to the spectators, the Ministry of Magic had planted a team of muggle special soldiers among the party goers, members of the infamous Task Force Ansible. These muggle soldiers sprang into action to stop this crime that the Ministry failed to prevent, subduing seven of the rioters in quick order. Of the seven arrested by Department of Magical Law Enforcement Officers, five were suspected of being Death Eaters during the dark times of You-Know-Who.
Though it is unclear why the DMLE was ill-prepared to handle such a demonstration, at least one thing is certain: without the presence of these muggle soldier to supplement the Ministry response, thetragedy would have been much greater.
THE ARRESTED
Amycus Carrow
Liam Goyle
Stephan Crabbe
Gerry Slwyn
Montgomery Rosiere
Natt O'Hare
Leslie O'Hare
The DMLE is taking steps to prosecute all involved to the fullest extent allowed by the law. For more information on the controversial Task Force Ansible, see my previous article:
TASK FORCE ANSIBLE, MACUSA MADNESS OR MAGICAL MARVEL?
Minister of Magic Cornelius Fudge looked at himself in the mirror for the last time, tugging at the edges of his robes until they looked just right. It had been difficult at first to contain his fury at the arrogance of MACUSA. Deploying those abominable troops without authority! it was astonishing. He knew that after this meeting, however, the Americans would finally be put in their place.
He couldn't fathom what President Harris had been thinking in the first place, bringing muggles into the fold. The citizens of magical America had been reduced to living in something akin to a third world country since the whole Salem situation. In fact, during his whole term as Minister, Fudge hadn't really though much about MACUSA at all.
The formation of Task Force Ansible had sent ripples through the international magical community. It was a monstrous betrayal of trust from a fellow magical government, to bring so many muggles into the fold, and the Americans had been paying for it ever since.
There was already precious little trade occurring between America and the much more powerful European powers, being that there was little of value within the United States and much of that was dominated by the gangs of dark creatures.
That lifeline of trade ended abruptly as MACUSA was barred from the International Confederation of Wizards. It was more of a symbolic gesture as MACUSA didn't have a lot of authority in the ICW to begin with. American witches and wizards were also completely barred from international travel. No sports events, no vacations, no schooling. That was the one that hurt.
Yet, not only did President Harris continue the relationship with the muggle military, he expanded it. Fudge's operatives observing the US had reported that the top American Aurors were assigned to teams of muggle special operations soldiers and that they were very rapidly stamping out the remaining gangs with brutal efficiency.
Fudge's only real stake in that particular fight was the fact that these teams had proven effective enough at their jobs that there had been an influx of dark creatures among the European powers as they fled the crackdown. American vampires had been migrating to Romania over the last several months and Fudge was hearing reports that werewolf and giant populations in England had nearly doubled. Troubling indeed.
None of that, however, approached the apoplectic fury he felt toward President Harris and his damnable secret police over sending a team to the Quidditch Cup! It was unbelievable and he was still trying to wrap his mind around it. How could that smug, sorry excuse for a leader send soldiers undercover to England, to an international event of all things?!
It was the subject of the emergency meeting he'd called, one that would start in the next few minutes. He'd sent out notice to the participating governments of the ICW right away as required by the international charter. He didn't even include a subject. In his experience it was easier to get an audience with a mystery and he was certain that the international community would be shocked when they heard.
General Raymond Thomas walked in unison with Colonel Sumner down the polished floors of the British Ministry of Magic. It was an unusual sight that turned many heads as they made their way to the upper floor meeting area.
Word of the riot had been passed rapidly, first of course through the expeditious wizarding channels. General Thomas received a phone call just after news broke out about the riot at the Quidditch Cup. Within the hour he was holding a photograph of The Daily Prophet, staring at the two stoic special operators in front of an outlandish tent, smoke billowing in the background.
It was natural to assume that the British Ministry would be upset but he wasn't quite prepared for how quickly an emergency meeting had been called. It was almost midnight, the very night of the riot, when he received the summons directing Colonel Sumner and himself to the British Ministry Headquarters for an emergency meeting, of which they were the subject. It probably wasn't going to be pretty.
If the rumors were accurate there would be several international representatives present. He'd heard France for sure, as head of the ICW, would be attending. Most of the major players would be there as well; Bulgaria, Germany, Italy, Brazil...it was definitely looking gloomy for the fate of their experimental task force.
"Here we go," Colonel Sumner muttered, interrupting the General's introspection as he opened the doors in front of them. Inside sat the heads of almost every state in the European magical community, along with several from outside Europe.
"General, Colonel," Minister Fudge greeted them tightly from his podium, indicating a pair of empty seats in the front row. "Please, have a seat." General Thomas sat in a chair and noticed Headmaster Dumbledore was also present, though across the room from them.
Fudge watched them take their seats and then turned his attention to the general assembly, a look of satisfaction on his face. After a moment's pause, he had just opened his mouth to speak when the quiet of the room was disturbed by the scraping of a chair, somewhere behind the General.
"Pardon me for eenterrupting," a female voice with a thick French accent echoed though the hall. "I wanted to say somezing, if zat is okay." General Thomas looked back at her. She was a tall brunette, about his age, in a nice business suit. Undoubtedly the French Minister of Magic.
"Er, of course," Fudge said, deferring to her. Thomas could only assume that it was because France currently held the leadership position in the International Confederation of Wizards. If she noticed that Fudge didn't appreciate the interruption, she ignored it.
It was a few moments before she made it to the front podium, her heels clicking loudly on the polished marble floors. She greeted Minister Fudge warmly behind podium, whispering something inaudible that caused both of them to laugh lightly. Fudge flanked her as she took the podium, looking out at everyone.
"'Ello," she greeted them with a smile. "For z'ose of you o'o are not familiar, I am Nathalie Dufoix, ze French Minister. I wanted to take a momen' to commend ze British Ministry, along wiz ze Americans, for z'eir foresight and 'aving such 'ighly trained men in place for ze Quidditch Cup."
Holy shit, General Thomas thought as she spoke, watching Fudge's face grow increasingly red as he tried to contain himself. The General knew for a fact that they'd had no permission to be in place from the British. In fact, that was the cause of this whole meeting. President Harris had mentioned to him that Fudge didn't include that information in the request to attend in the generic summons. It seemed that the French Minister and head of the ICW was under the mistaken impression that Minister Fudge had planted the team intentionally.
"I, along wiz ozers, 'ad my doubts about ze British security at ze field." Fudge's pursed his lips as she spoke about his lax security. "Trouble wiz z'ese purists 'as long been a concern. I am also 'appy to see I was wrong about zis Ansible program and I commend Minister Fudge for zis clear demonstration of z'eir capability. We should all be zo lucky as to 'ave such men as General Thomas looking out for us." She gave him a nod of appreciation as she stepped down from the podium.
General Thomas stole a glance, first at Colonel Sumner, then President Harris. Both wore similar looks of confusion. Minister Dufoix had been the one who signed the order disallowing the American witches and wizards from travel, direct punishment for the formation of the Ansible program. To hear such a polar shift was incredible and it hilariously undermined Minister Fudge.
The whole purpose of this meeting, General Thomas was certain, was to shame MACUSA and the TFA program. After that speech, any attempt to do so now would be a direct contradiction to Minister Dufoix, a political suicide at this point, as she was very popular and many would follow her view simply for that fact.
"Well, thank you, Minister Dufoix, for your kind words," Fudge said tightly, struggling to gain control of his facilities. He took a deep breath and let it out, audible in the microphone. "Well," he laughed uncomfortably, unsure of what to say next. He paused a moment and pointed into the crowd with a look of relief. General Thomas looked over and saw Minister Koch of Germany standing.
"Yes, I had a question for you, Minister Fudge." The German had a flawless English accent and General Thomas wondered if he'd spent time in England or just had a great tutor.
"Of course," Fudge replied.
"After such vehemence against the creation of this American task force, what caused you to change your tune and support them?" It was a valid question and one that General Thomas was curious to hear the answer to. It was strange to him, listening to the diplomats be so...diplomatic. For everyone to remain so civil and impartial was counter to his experience with regular diplomats.
"I, er...right, so," Fudge bumbled a little bit, glancing at Dumbledore. The Headmaster nodded his head subtly and a flash of anger crossed the Minister's eyes before he regained control of his voice. "Well, I'd been contacted by the Headmaster of our esteemed school, suggesting that we supplement our security with the muggle soldiers. He had many good things to say after the ordeal with Mr. Black, of course."
Wow, General Thomas thought, that must have been a tough pill to swallow. Fudge had taken it as a personal insult that Dumbledore would not allow the Ministry to place dementors at his school the previous year to catch Sirius Black. Adding to that their apprehension of the notorious criminal and his subsuquent exoneration...it had been an embarrassing ordeal for the Ministry. For Fudge to praise it so convincingly was unnerving and much more in line with the typical politicians that General Thomas encountered on a regular basis.
The rest of the meeting was strange for the Americans present. It more or less evolved into a question and answer session about details of the Task Force Ansible program. The fruits of their labor in regard to hybridizing technology with magic, their success in driving off the large gangs that had once dominated the United States, the steps that they were taking to uphold that statute of secrecy, and other such things. Nothing overt or top secret and it was much better than the previous stone silence that MACUSA had been receiving.
General Thomas, having answered some of the questions directly, did his best to answer them without going into much detail. It was always worrisome to give operational details to politicians. Many good men died because the higher ups couldn't keep their mouth shut. Finally, however, the meeting was adjourned. The two military officers met President Harris outside the main hall.
"Well, that was something," President Harris remarked.
"That it was," General Thomas replied, "I still can't believe Fudge went along with it."
"He really didn't have a choice," Harris said with a half-smile. "He couldn't go bashing the head of the ICW. We're lucky she misinterpreted the details."
"I guess everyone assumed we had permission to be here," Sumner said. They were silent a moment before an aide walked up to the group.
"Minister Fudge wishes to meet with you in his private chambers," the aide said, gesturing the way. The officers exchanged looks of worry before starting on their way. It was a silent, awkward walk as the three Americans headed for what was sure to be an uncomfortable meeting.
When they entered the private chambers of Minister Fudge, however, they were not having a private meeting like they'd assumed. Fudge was seated at a small round table, flanked by Minister Dufoix and an Eastern European looking man with an unpleasant expression.
"Welcome," Minister Fudge smiled warmly as they entered. It made the General uneasy. "Please, have a seat." The three men did so. "Minister Dufoix had some…questions." He turned to her, allowing her to proceed.
"Zank you for meeting us," she said. Her smile was much more genuine. "I wonder, 'ow ready do you stand to deploy more of your men?"
General Thomas squinted suspiciously at her. It was a direct question about readiness, not something military officials often discussed with the heads of another state. He pursed his lips, trying to come up with a diplomatic answer when she broadened her smile and continued.
"You 'ave a suspicious mind, for zis I cannot blame you," she said, pouting her lips slightly in thought as she paused. "You see, we are 'aving another international event zis year, 'eld at 'ogwarts no less."
"I see," General Thomas responded, though he really didn't. Was she asking him to commit troops to this event?
"We will be sending many of our students to 'ogwarts for ze year, along with students from Durmsdrang." She indicated with a gesture that the students from Durmsdrang would be charges of the brooding man that had yet to open his mouth. "Eet is only natural zat I worry about z'eir safety."
"Ma'am," General Thomas started, "are you asking me to deploy troops to the school?"
"Oui," she smiled again. "Eet is very clear your men know what zey are doing, first wiz Black and zen again at ze Cup. I am willing to admit when I 'ave poor judgement."
"Are you offering to allow us back into the International Confederation?" President Harris interjected. It could be a big win for MACUSA, which had been completely cut off in trade and travel since the inception of TFA. With reelection coming up soon, this could really help his chances.
"Oui, and we would like to begin our own, similar program eventually. Your assistance would be most 'elpful."
"I think we can arrange that," President Harris smiled as well.
The next two hours were spent going over the details of the Triwizard Cup and the security needs presented by it. Originally President Harris and the Minister began negotiating for only half of one company. The problem with that was that they were asking for full security, a tall order for such a small number.
General Thomas finally had to interrupt and point out that such a force was too small. When asked for his honest opinion, he gave it. Given the lessening tempo in domestic operations he had more units he could commit. Sending 3rd and 4th platoons of Alpha Company along with 1st and 2nd Platoons of Bravo Company would bring them to nearly a hundred infantrymen. Add a headquarters element, a logistics platoon, a team of Spartans and 1st and 3rd Air Wings to compliment them and you had a force to be reckoned with. Most of that force could provide support to the school from a Forward Operating Base in a field just north of Hogsmeade.
It was an easy plan to come up with as he'd already done the legwork last year. It always paid to have contingency plans in place and, if they'd needed a significant force, this had been the plan.
The politicians, of course, had to tweak things. There was a different field a little nearer to the school that they liked better even though the terrain was less suitable for defensive operations. Instead of the AH-64 Apache gunships of 1st Air Wing, they wanted 3rd Wing and their special operations variants of the Blackhawk to provide any close air support needs. The 4th Air Wing could provide any necessary transport with CH-43's. They also completely removed the Bradley Infantry Fighting Vehicles from the deployment, preferring instead to use Humvees due to the intimidation factor of IFVs.
After a long and trying process, a proposal was drafted and signed. Task Force Ansible would again be deploying to Hogwarts. With the set-up of an FOB, the deployment was officially slated as indefinite. Fudge looked as though he had to struggle to keep his mouth shut, but he managed to simply nod along with the suggestions by Minister Dufoix.
The soldiers left the meeting with much to do. Colonel Sumner had less than four weeks to get the troops and material overseas and then set up Forward Operating Base Phoenix, a process he would oversee personally. It was a bittersweet order as it came with a caveat; Colonel Sumner would temporarily relinquish command of Task Force Ansible in order to personally command the Triwizard Security Force.