In the last interlude, an attempt was made by the author to impress upon the reader the tangled mess that magical politics was. The reasons, too, were explained, albeit to a very small degree. Of course, the true extent of the fact is to defy expectations. Magical politics is… different from any other. There are subtleties involved, intrigue and deceit on a truly monumental level, indeed, on a level beyond the author's meager talents can display.
That was the reason, why the last interlude was derailed so, in flowered words and useless platitudes, trying to explain everything and in the end managing to explain hardly anything at all.
So this is another attempt. Here, once more, the author attempts to impart the details of what he has created for this world, the vast, shadowy web of hidden interests and conflicting motives, a gigantic machine that takes wealth and power as its fuel and blood as the oil for its cogs, which passes for politics and diplomacy in this world.
To avoid the pitfalls of the last interlude, we will abandon entirely the style of narrating and describing everything, and focus instead only on the raw facts and details.
And one last thing: the only countries covered here will be the major ones, that is, the nations who have at least three primary leylines.
Warning: As is unavoidable, there will be quite a few bits of redundant and already-explained information. The author will try to keep it to a minimum, but, well, some of that is going to happen, even within the scope of this single interlude.
And so, we start, with just one last thing to be said. The thing said above, the 'gigantic machine' bit? Not true.
That is how things should be. That is how they once were. But, for the better or the worse, they are not. Everyone in power has been so for a long time, growing fat and corrupt, weak and venal, fattening on too long and too indulgent a diet of wealth and power. This is something that should always be kept in mind, being as it is the chief reason why the energetic, charismatic Harry Potter rose as far as he did.
And now, the facts:
First, a basic description of the world, going into some geopolitical detail.
First: The families
Blood is, as the reader will have by now realized very well, a vital thing in the magical world of The Chronicles. This blood propagates, naturally, via families, and so families and clans are of vital importance. They are the means by which powerful gifts of Old Magic are retained and propagated, and therefore, the element that the most power, political and economic, lies in.
There are many, many families in the world, but for the sake of feasibility, we restrain ourselves to the most important ones.
The Eldritch Families
These are the oldest recognizable families in the world, and, without exception, the most powerful. All of these families date back to the Atlantean Age, when they ruled the whole planet without question or compromise.
They originate from the First Gods of the Universe, back when the entities had descended to the Earth to provide a ruling class for the Earth. The families have, over the ages, had many names, but for the sake of expediency we'll look only at the current ones, and moreover, only at the current states of these families.
Xiaung- The Xiaung family is the current ruling clan of the Celestial Empire of China, and have been since it was founded. They specialize in alchemy, and , through that art, in the manipulation of human and animal bodies.
Ruling an empire of some ten million citizens, they have a vast army, comprised largely of were-creatures of many kinds, although other kinds also make a huge showing.
Chandravanshi- The 'Children of the Moon' are one of the two families who occupy the Indian peninsula, and, indeed, among the oldest in the world. Being an Eldritch family, they originate from the first gods of the universe, and as such have access to powers others can only dream of.
They have considerable talent in matters of the soul and the mind, and in necromancy to some extent. Over the course, of history, there have been men and women from this family, many, many of them, that have altered fate and transformed entire worlds. Not to mention the skill they possess at summoning, as skill which was displayed when a princess of theirs succeeded in summoning and seducing no less than five gods, with nothing more than a simple prayer-spell taught to her by an old sage.
Very, ancient, very wealthy, and very, very dangerous would be an apt way to describe this family.
Suryavanshi- The Suryavanshis, or the 'Sons of the Sun', are almost the mirror image of the Chandravanshis. Fierce, honourable and fiercely honourable, they have made superb kings, emperors and generals for as long as history can remember.
The Suryavanshis don't particularly specialize in one particular branch of magic to any very great extent, but if one had to name any at which they were best, it would be Invocation and enchantment, especially enchantments involving invocation. It was the Suryavanshis that first discovered the spectacular potential lying within the art of imbuing items, especially weaponry, with the power of gods, creating weapons like the Pashupatastra, or the Sudarshan Chakram. Fueled from divine essences, these weapons are called Daiviya Astras, and even the meanest of them is a Grade-1 army/fortress-killing Noble Phantasm.
It was their warriors who, back when the two clans were one, had used this knowledge, along with the Chandravanshis' own summoning tricks, managed to conquer most of the known world at the time.
Uzumaki- The Uzumaki are the ruling family of the Empire of the Whirlpool, until very recently known as the Whirlpool Shogunate. Although possessing the smallest lands among the eldritch families, they are currently the strongest family in the world, by virtue of having a living god among their midst, one young Uzumaki Naruto, latest bearer of the much fabled and much dreaded Rinnegan, The Eyes of The Samsara.
Although an infant right now, the young god has already proved invaluable, by quelling once and for all the internal rebellions that plagued his parents for most of their lives simply by the act of being born.
The Uzumaki are the ultimate examples of the Jacks of All trades, abandoning complete dedication to any subject by focusing themselves equally to all of them. They are expert healers, summoners, invocators, necromancers, alchemists, and anything else one might care to be. This practice, while obviously suffering from the weaknesses of lacking in the fine mastery of any subject, nevertheless has reaped unimaginable dividends for them.
Flamel- The Flamels of France are the de facto royal family of the French Magical Republic. There are many who would protest to this designation, including the Flamel family, as France is, de jure, a democracy, but nonetheless, that is how things are.
The biggest landowners in the country, their family roster comprises the wealthiest dozen people of the magical world, with their total worth being a fortune that is simply beyond the comprehension of anyone other than them.
There are many reasons for this, complex, varied and interconnected, but the most important, without any doubt, is the simple, small amber stone, the creation of which has been the pinnacle of alchemical prowess for as long as anyone cares to remember.
The Philosopher's Stone, crux of the Flamel family power, is among the most powerful Noble Phantasms to have ever existed, ranking right up there with the likes of the Sword of Rupture and The Buddha Medallion.
This is mainly due to its most public powers, those of the elixir and the gold. The elixir, obviously, gives them the power to rule the entire Pharmaceutical sector of the entire magical world, providing all the benefits of the finest possible alchemical treatments with virtually none of the side-effects. There is much a man will do to see a sick daughter or a dying father cured, and the power to save any witch or wizard and extend their lives indefinitely, irrespective of whatever their conditions might have been previously, lies within the gift of the Lord of Flamel.
As such, although they do face some competition here and there, and while most of the older families use their own healing means, or even allow themselves to fall sick and die for the express purpose of avoiding Flamel influence, no one other than the most resourceful people ever really argues with the Flamels when they want something.
And as for the other things, there is the gold. Unlike the muggle world, where too much production would reduce the shiny metal to just that, a shiny metal, the magical world has an unlimited demand.
Of course, that is in regards not to ordinary gold, but rather living gold, but then, that is what the Philosopher's stone produces.
Living gold is one of the alchemically purest materials in nature, and as such, is used with extraordinary frequency and in extraordinary quantities.
For example, in any reserve or farm involving reptiles, living gold, or L-gold, as it is called, is the primary source of energy. It has been proven repeatedly that a dragon that spends its life near a mass of gold grows somewhere between seven to nine times faster than one who spends it away from it. Apart from that, the fires are hotter, the bones are sturdier and more magically-enriched, the blood is richer, the flesh… in other words, the quality of the beast, i.e., one of the most valuable war-and-potion materials, is drastically improved.
And that is just dragons. Snakes that are bred on or near it are among the first to develop the priceless gems, the Nagmanis, to use Hindi,that are used in so many rituals across the world. Basilisk venom has been proven to grow about thirteen times more potent simply by pouring it through an L-gold filter.
All of these things yield massive levels of power and influence to the Flamels, and all of that is just from the stone. There exists a vast inventory of alchemical weaponry and items hoarded by the Flamels, and the day they use it would be a day rued by many.
Hufflepuff-The Hufflepuffs are among the six Eldritch families present in the Magical Realm of Great Britain. Their specialization is in the art of Nature Magic, producing druids and beast-speakers aplenty in the past.
The family has been dormant for almost eight hundred years, and as such, is the least powerful, by far, or the eldritch families, a condition worsened by the pitiful representation it possessed, until very recently, at the school that it helped found.
And then, of course, there is the fact that all magical links between this family and the school have been removed completely by the reigning Lord of Castle Hogwarts, which only makes things worse.
Ravenclaw-One of the most influential families of all time, the Ravenclaws are currently in the same boat as the Hufflepuffs, being dormant. The specialty of the line is divination, the art of gathering information.
With its representative house at Hogwarts possessing an image as very smart and studious, the Ravenclaws have a somewhat higher degree of credibility and influence to call upon if and when they return.
Once again, all links between this family and Hogwarts school have been uprooted a long time ago.
This concludes the briefing on nine of the thirteen eldritch families. As for the last four, they are the bloodlines possessed by Harry, and the reader has already been fed enough about them.
(A.N: Or, if you want a dossier on them, then tell me via PM or review.)
Now at this point one need to note that there are other entities in the world with political power than just families, and, obviously, countries. There are unofficial organizations, secret societies, intergovernmental cabals, all seeking to enhance their own power at the cost of everyone else's. the Demon Hunting organizations, and guilds that control most of the education sector, the healing cults that hold monopolies in medical services in several parts of the world, et al. to detail them all would be more effort consuming and tedious than is bearable, and therefore the author will not.
That is why, without any more delay, we move on to the various nations of the Magical World.
Britain
Official Name: The Magical Realm of Great Britain
Political Condition: De Jure Democracy, De Facto Oligarchy
Current Head of State: Cornelius Oswald Fudge, Minister for Magic.
Current Head of Government: Harry James Potter, under the guise of Albus Dumbledore, Chief Warlock of the Wizengamot.
As home to the current largest cluster of primary leylines, Britain is magically the most powerful nation on Earth, although this status often fails to translate into real, everyday execution of power, due to the extreme, debilitating level of corruption seen within its ruling bodies, which are:
The Ministry:
The Ministry of Magic is the bureaucracy and the executive arm of the government of Britain. It has several divisions, all of which have near-complete independence in the execution of their respective duties, unless overruled by either the Minister for Magic or, in the case of his/her absence or incapacitation, a majority vote of the Ministerial Cabinet of Directors.
The position of Minister is elected by direct vote, carried out all over the nation by the old magics operated and regulated by the completely independent Office of Elections.
Once elected, the Minister has the right to appoint any person of his/her choosing to any position they feel like, subject only to a few minor provisos.
In the case of impeachment, resignation or death of the Minister while in office, a line of succession exists for the rights and responsibilities of the position to pass via. It is as follows:
Director, DMLE
Director, DIMC
Chief Warlock of the Wizengamot
Director, DMF
Head, Auror Office
Head, Office of International Law
Due to its efficient structure, the ministry is capable of rapid actions and initiatives, allowing them to provide suitable and capable administration to the nation, without overdue complexity.
Yeeeaaah Right.
The Wizengamot:
Given as the wizengamot was one of the things that the last interlude managed to explain to any decent extent, not much remains to be said. The wizengamot is the 300 member Legislative arm of the British Magical Government, out of which 100 are 'Warlock' seats, elected, and the other 200 are inherited 'Lordship' seats.
To explain further, the 100 warlock seats are elected only from the 'common' areas, regions and provinces that do not belong to any of the noble houses. The Warlocks of the wizengamot serve as the representatives of these districts, in more-or-less the same capacity as the MPs of the Muggle parliaments.
The other seats, however, are a different story.
Although quite a bit of the Aristocratic Wizengamot is comprised of individual, independent houses, the vast majority are bound in one form or the other, to houses either similar to them in stature and power, or to any of the 'Great Fifteen' families.
To quote some facts, out of the Two hundred 'Noble' seats, roughly 90 are directly under the control of the Fifteen, while another forty to fifty are held by their vassal houses, bound to them through a myriad of means, from simple debt, or indenture, to generations-spanning bondage.
This allows the families incomparable power, and is among the chief reasons why Magical Britain is actually an Oligarchy, just purporting to be a democracy.
It is a requirement in Magical Law that the Minister, and all members of the Ministerial Cabinet, must be Wizengamot members, along with all of the senior HODs and other uppermost-echelon office holders.
Apart from this, there exist a spate of commercial laws, mandating that the first right on any government contracts, business privileges or incentives should go to nominees chosen by members of the wizengamot, something that helplessly binds almost the entire business community of the nation to the Wizengamot's will utterly and absolutely.
Apart from these, there are many, many little laws and regulations in place, binding the nation to the families, some subtle, others overt.
While this allows the collective Wizengamot final overall say in the laws and indeed, traditions and thoughts of the nation, most day-to-day operations are simply too long and complex for this. As such, the whole body is split in an amalgamation of committees and subcommittees, all working closely with their respective 'analogues' in the Ministry. This allows the bulk of legislative work to pass through quickly and efficiently, and so keep the work of government running smoothly.
In Theory
In actuality, the Ministry and the Wizengamot are among the most sickeningly corrupt political institutions in the whole world, muggles included. Personal bias, divided interests, extreme greed, and an utter lack of basic morality have shackled this country, crippling its potential and heaping oppression upon its people.
The 5 most powerful people in the nation:
Hadrian James Potter
Harry Potter is the most powerful man in the country, controlling exactly one hundred and twenty-three wizengamot votes, three members of the Ministerial Cabinet, and over five hundred other members of the Ministry through a variety of means.
Under his aliases, he is the Duke and Chief Warden of Azkaban, Chairman of more than five world-level companies, and controls, in total, wealth amounting to more than twenty billion galleons.
He himself is a full Auror, authorized and licensed to basically act however he damn pleases, and if that were not enough, he holds two other positions in the Ministry.
He is a Senior Administrator of the Appointments Division of the Office of International Law, along with being a Level One officer in the Central Taxation Commission, one of the most powerful organs of the Dept. of Magical Finance. In the wizengamot also, he is the Deputy Chairman of the Committee of Educational Affairs, owing to his position as Lord of Hogwarts, not to mention the Primary Executive Officer of the newly renamed Mysteries and Espionage committee, the analogue, and controlling institution, of the Department of Mysteries.
Apart from this, Potter controls ten seats on the Council of Fifteen, the supreme lawmaking authority in the land, which means that he can, at will, pass practically any law he feels like, as long as it does not violate certain unalterable bits of the British magical constitution.
Despite all of this, Harry Potter's greatest source of power was, and remains, the phenomenal quantity, as well as quality, of raw magical power that he possesses. He is an Arch- Level Wielder of no less than a dozen branches of Arcane Magic, and a Grand- Level wielder of Necromancy, as well as being the youngest Immortal in the history of magic, and is well on his way to acquiring full-fledged godhood.
Julius Morrigan
Julius Morrigan is the leader of the anti-Potter faction in the Wizengamot and the Ministry, a position that has granted him considerable power and influence, although it comes with a certified death warrant. When he took this position, Julius was unaware of the last, a situation that has been changed now, much to his chagrin.
Living dead or not, Morrigan controls over forty seats in the wizengamot, and more than that, he has near-complete control of the British courts, not to mention the influence he wields in The DMLE, thanks to having Amelia Bones as an ally.
Being the Lord of the Noble House of Morrigan and Earl of Shrewsbury, Julius controls a seat on the Council of Fifteen, while possessing the allegiance of a further two through the Bones and Smith families.
During the last several months, Morrigan and Potter have been in a shadow war that has cost Morrigan grievously, while being a 'significant concern' for Potter. Most of Morrigan's influence has been stripped away from him, partly when a large number of his allies perished at their initial meeting, and through sustained executions of large-scale economic and violent attacks on his and his allies' businesses and estates.
However, he has not been without his victories, having succeeded in taking over the Judicial Committee of the Wizengamot, as well as having established an alliance with the Goblin Nation, who are also wary of too much power concentrating in the hands of a single wizard, and are also just about proud and stupid enough not to be able to read the writing on the wall.
Lucius Malfoy
As one of the seniormost members of the Alliance of the Ouroboros, Lucius has nearly unfettered access to the wealth and power that the organization has amassed thanks, which places him at one of the uppermost echelons of power in the British nation, although that only endures at Harry Potter's discretion.
As head of the family Malfoy, he has a large number of votes in the wizengamot, along with a seat on the Council of Fifteen, but with him having sworn vassalage to the House of Slytherin both personally and on behalf of House Malfoy, it doesn't count for much.
Lucius Malfoy is also one of the richest men in the world, with a fortune that goes well into the billions, although, once again, all of that is dependant as Harry Potter's pleasure, him being Lucius's feudal lord.
Albus Dumbledore
As the Chief Warlock of the Wizengamot, Albus Dumbledore is technically one of the most powerful people in the realm, but given as he is dead, all of his power belongs to Harry Potter.
Cornelius Fudge
Cornelius Fudge is the Minister for Magic, technically the leader of the British people. However, he is utterly and completely toothless, owing his power solely to his situation as a compromise candidate between Potter and Morrigan.
Finally:
Something to take note of is that although Modern Magical Britain is not in the least imperial, their power remains considerable due to the fact that they also control huge swathes of land and large numbers of people in places far away from them. These are remnants of their millennium-gone imperial days. The lands are all technically just protectorates, but in fact they are all dictatorships administered by Lord Protectors appointed by the Ministry, so in fact part of the Magical Realm of Great Britain.
Note: Given as no other country is as central to the story as Britain, the details about them will be greatly limited.
Persia:
Official name: The Magical Empire of Persia
Political Condition: Hereditary Absolute Monarchy
Current Head of State: God-Emperor Faisal VII
Current Head of Government: God-Emperor Faisal VII
Stretching from the Arabian Sea to the Southern Atlantic Ocean, and controlling a cluster of seven primary leylines, Persia is technically the second most powerful state in the world. In actuality, it is somewhere around the fourth or the fifth, having slipped from its place as The most powerful state in the wake of the assassination of Emperor Osman and most of his family.
A steep rate of recovery is expected, however, given as Faisal is currently host to the Chaos God Angara Mainyu/Ahriman. The first, in fact, since Xerxes.
The empire, although it controls a huge quantity of land and most of its leylines directly, is predominantly a tributary empire. The lands across which it spans, consisting of Arabia, western Asia and Northern Africa, are mostly broken up in small sultanates, emirates and kingdoms, the rulers of which all pay tributes and taxes to the Imperial Throne.
To understand this properly, one has to look at the matter in some detail. As said before, deep, intricately detailed understanding of this country is not a priority in this story, and so it will not be done. Still, some understanding has to be ironed out.
As mentioned above, the empire is largely tributary. Now, to explain what this means, we have to looks at the breakup of its span. Although the whole thing is rife with military-governed provinces, territories bestowed to religious sects, and dynastic permutations complicated enough to make anyone's head spin, three categories can, nonetheless, be identified.
The first is the direct Imperial Demesne. This is land that belongs completely to the throne, with all the inherent rights and privileges, and therefore has the least complications, serving as the primary s powerbase of the throne in the empire. As mentioned, it is by far the smallest part of the empire, spanning somewhat 25-30 percent of the total territory.
It is governed by a bureaucratic system, by Provincial Subahdars and Mansabdars, who all directly report to the various Ministries, the heads of which form the Council of Ministers. This council is led by the Prime Minister, who reports to the Monarch.
The second category are the Noble lands. These are the lands held by the nobility and junior royalty of the empire. Here the rulers are by and large free to; mostly, at least, if not completely; make their own laws and traditions, as long as they obey certain irrevocable laws of the Emperor.
Much as the rest of the world, there are three predominant 'ranks' or 'tiers' of the nobility. In truth, of course, there are many more distinctions and ranks, but these are the three that matter. The highest tier of nobility, equivalent to the European titles of 'Grand Duke' or 'Archduke', are the Sultans, ruling vast lands, one or more secondary leylines, and the wealth afforded as such. They are acknowledged as lesser royalty, and have almost complete freedom not just lawmaking and internal affairs, but a great deal of external affairs as well. As a matter of fact the only laws they really need to obey are those of the Imperial Peace and the Imperial War, which state that they can't declare war on any state without Imperial permission, and can't make peace with any state that the empire is at war against.
By and large this title is granted only to families that have at least one god somewhere in their bloodline (generally at the origin), thereby classifying for the western classification of 'Most Ancient and Noble'.
The rank below these is that of the Nizam, equivalent to the plain old 'Duke' in European terms, again, the bearer of such a title has quite remarkable leeway in making his own laws regarding their own territories, and indeed, it is a much exercised leeway. Again, a Nizam/Beghum generally has total freedom regarding their own affairs, even including the matter of succession, at least in the matters where the lands are the lord's to pass on (in quite a few cases the lands are held from the Emperor as a lifelong grant, which has to be renewed with every generation. Such a lord cannot, of course, do anything other than recommend a successor.)
And below the Nizam is the Nawab, equivalent to the Earls and Counts of Europe. Despite the different ranks, there are not that many differences in the privileges enjoyed, which allows us to avoid going into detail in this matter.
At the very lowest level, parallel to the Barons, or the landed knights, are the Zamindars. These hold no leylines, and rarely, if ever, more land than a few villages. They aren't individual lords, subject without exception to Sultans or Nawabs or Nizams, who rule over them as overlords.
And then there are the last lands, the so-called 'vassalized' territories. They are the individual states that have bent to the Persian Empire's will through either conquest or dynastic marriage.
By far the most complicatedly administered of the territories, they don't have the organized bureaucracy of the Imperial demesne, or the (roughly) uniform aristocratic structure of the noble lands. In these cases all laws and regulations depend entirely on the treaties through which the states were brought into the empire, and these vary wildly, from some states being utter puppets to others that are tied only by tithe and levy, with absolute freedom in all other matters.
List of the most powerful Noble and Royal houses in the empire:
The House of Khan is the imperial house, having held the throne for centuries, since the great Genghis Khan tore down the old Kingdom and ground the shah into the dust.
The House of Hussain are the rulers of most of the Arabian region, tracing their lineage back to the ancient Sultan of Agrabah, Aladdin the Great, also known as The Builder of Baghdad ever since he built the mighty city in the course of a single night.
The House of Bashir are also one of the greatest families in the empire, although they actually have little in the way of land or territories. However, what they lack in land they more than make up through their gigantic wealth and immense influence at court, not to mention a series of businesses right across the world that have allowed them to cultivate an extensive network of contacts right across the planet. Their origins go back all the way to that greatest of sailors, Sindbad himself.
The House of Suri are another family without all that much in terms of land. However, once they controlled most of the Indus Valley, and their studies into the ancient civilization buried there, and the magical and technological secrets of that age, have granted upon them a level of magical mastery in a huge variety of subjects, resulting in a level of raw magical power very few can match.
There are, of course, other great families with great power, and stupendous wealth, but for our purposes these four shall more than suffice to illustrate the facts of life in the Magical Empire of Persia.
France
Official Name: The French Magical Republic
Political Condition: De Jure democracy, de facto monarchy
Current Head of State: Pierre Lafayette, Minister for Magic
Current Head of Government: Louise Flamel, Archon of the Senate
Not much is there to be said about France. Having been among the first to secure their freedom from the old Kingdom of Camelot, France underwent a period of rather bad feudalism as the Grand Duchy of Gaul, before the royal house was deposed and replaced by the House of Flamel. They ruled for quite some time, but in recent times, sensing the way the wind blew, successfully enshrouded the fist of iron in various layers of silk, making their rule gentler and gentler.
The ruse mostly worked, until, eventually, the nice chain of sane, intelligent rulers broke. A madman came to power, and like all mad rulers, went about destroying everything his ancestors and built. Long story short, less than a century after Aloysius III was enthroned, France was on the verge of open rebellion.
Had things been normal, it would never have come to that, but that was the point. They were anything but normal. Most of the Flamels were dead, killed by the Grand Duke, leaving no one to take the throne who wasn't immediate progeny of the Grand Duke. Such children were, obviously, unacceptable, because for one thing no one in France would accept their rule, for another they all showed the same symptoms as the father.
And then, fate intervened. There was an heir of the untainted seed, loyal retainers of the family discovered. He was raised in secrecy, taught his place in life and how to go about getting it. Then, once he was of the proper age, he was given an identity as the son of some long-discarded servants with a grudge (magic knew the new ruler had made enough to those).
Possessing an excellent mind and skills, he inserted himself into the bellion forming against the ruling Grand Duke, and before anyone knew it, was calling all the shots.
Fast forward some years, and the Grand Duchy was replaced by the Republic, the dynamic young leader was its ruler, taking the rather esoteric title of Archon, and all the chains by which the Flamels had the French people bound had been made invisible and undetectable.
Nowadays the Flamels pass themselves off as businessmen and politicians, but no one worth anything doubts just whose word is law in the country. They have other families that are very powerful, of course, every country has, but what is different here is that unlike the other places, the families can enjoy a pretence at freedom. Not much, but it's something.
Spain
Official Name: The Republic of Magical Spain
Political Condition: De facto democracy de jure single-party dictatorship
Current Head of State: Diego Alvaro de Hermando Cala Barria, Minister for Magic
Current Head of Government: Esteban Camillio Perez, President of the Senate
Spain is, technically, a democracy. But like so many other examples, the key word is 'technically'. Ruled since the revolution by the secret society, all power in the country is tied up in the five top families.
Although, that might just change with the upcoming elections.
Italy
Official Name: The Christian Kingdom of Italy
Political Condition: Theocracy
Current Head of State: Pope Aurelius VI
Current Head of Government: Pope Aurelius VI
Italy is the one and only stronghold of the Christian religion in the magical world. With Vatican City as its capital and an elected Pope as the sole ruler, it is one of the most powerful states in Europe, and indeed, in the world.
Italy generally has a rather frosty relationship with the other states, because of its public detestation for the religious ambivalence of the general magical populace.
America
Official Name: The Magical States of America
Political Condition: Single-party dictatorship
Current Head of State: President Victor Boothe
Current Head of Government: President Victor Boothe
Covering most of the two American continents, the MSA is something of an anomaly. On one hand, the central government has been in the hands of the organization called the Council of Lincoln ever since the death of the legendary president. Its founders seized power at the time, with promises of bringing justice and punishment to the beloved leader's killers. A rather complicated task, to say the least, given as they'd been the ones to kill him, but that's politics for you.
Still, the anomaly is that while the central government is controlled entirely by a single party, the fact is that that central government doesn't not really wield anywhere close to the power they would like to. While it does control the areas where the majority of the population is white, the other states are all in the hands of their ancient tribal rulers, fiercely protected by their local armies and wards.
Basically a dog's breakfast of a country. A powerful one, though.
And that's where we end it. There are other countries, other organizations, but these are the powerful ones, and in any case, the others can be covered later.