Minerva McGonagall
After two weeks of constant protests, Minerva found herself at her wit's end.
She frankly couldn't fathom why these students were still protesting. They didn't seem to have any concrete demands, they weren't trying to force her to do anything... it was as though they weren't even fighting for anything specific, instead rebelling for the sake of rebelling. It was really infuriating.
And the worst part was that, as callous as it sounded, they didn't even behave violently. Both groups were surprisingly calm, peacefully chanting their slogans and waving their banners. If they had at least broken something, McGonagall would have had an excuse to disperse them, as reluctant as she was to do so, but since they were so peaceful, she couldn't bring herself to take any action.
As she couldn't force herself to quell the peaceful protests, she had no choice but to let it happen for the time being. At first she hoped that the students would eventually get bored and give up, but instead more and more people began to join the protests, lured by the catchy but empty slogans of the protesters.
And if it had ended there, it would have been fine. Well, not okay, but acceptable, albeit uncomfortable. But it didn't end there, as for some incomprehensible reason one of her students, a Gryffindor first-year known as Colin Creevey, decided to publish an article about the protests in the Quibbler.
Quibbler. The irrelevant and completely illogical magazine about far-fetched conspiracy theories and non-existent creatures! And for some reason, people suddenly started reading it, despite its previous total lack of popularity! Somehow this suddenly popular pulp magazine made the story of the ongoing protests a point of interest for all of wizarding Britain!
Everyone seemed to be fascinated by the story, and everyone had their own opinions about the protests and the school's lack of response. Muggle-born wizards and witches were mostly sympathetic to the Muggle students' protests, agreeing that the change was needed, even if the action taken was somewhat controversial. Nobles were in favor of suppressing the muggle protest, but eagerly supported the pureblood protest, somehow reaching the conclusion that the pureblood students were merely trying to preserve ancient traditions with their actions. In addition, no small part of the younger readers were captivated by the tale of two lovers who found themselves on opposite sides of the conflict.
All this did nothing but draw unnecessary attention to the childish act of rebellion taking place in front of the great hall. More often than not, it was the attention of the wrong people.
Like Lucius Malfoy.
The head of House Malfoy was currently sitting across from her in Albus' office, clenching his teeth and scowling loudly, clearly furious. Next to him sat Cornelius, who looked at the man worriedly, clearly feeling quite uncomfortable about the whole situation. She couldn't blame him; this was only his second year as Minister of Magic, so the public drama unfolding at Hogwarts was not something he wanted.
"Is there any reason why you didn't suppress this protest, Minerva? If I remember correctly, there is a criminal prowling around the school, petrifying the students! I made it clear that catching him is the priority, something Dubledore has already failed to do!" Lucius stated scathingly, causing Minerva to furrow her brow. While he wasn't entirely wrong, it wasn't like catching the heir would be easy. If Albus wasn't able to do it, it certainly wouldn't be easy for her. "Just expel all those mud...muggle-born protesters! They are actively sabotaging the school with their actions, we can't let that continue!"
"Lucius, let's not do anything rash. Many muggle-born wizards are currently sympathetic to the protesters. Expelling the students without a good reason would be... unwise. It would certainly cause quite an outrage. I assume none of us want that, right?" Cornelius replied hesitantly, apparently fearing that Lucius would do something foolish. Once she would have thought he was being paranoid, but with Lucius' increasing emotional instability, it was a legitimate concern. Minerva was also quite pleased that he was trying to protect muggle-born students, although she would have preferred that he didn't do it only because of the political consequences.
I would also like to remind you that it is not only muggle-born students who are protesting. Many pureblood students are also doing it. It would be irresponsible to put all the blame on one group" Minerva reminded them, though her words only made Lucius scoff.
"You can't seriously consider punishing all those young men and women who are trying to obtain the protection to which they are entitled. Especially since their protest was merely a response to the unprovoked and irresponsible actions of that muggle-born bunch," he said, looking at Minerva with his characteristic contempt, "In fact, you should reward them for their initiative"
"That's not how Hogwarts works, Lucius," Minerva said coldly, looking at the man with clear disdain, "Especially since that would only reinforce the protesters' beliefs about the inequality between muggle-borns and purebloods. Is this really something you want to cause?"
"And why, pray tell, should we care about their beliefs? They are basically terrorists, trying to force the school to change through fear," Lucius sneered, and Minerva had to bite her tongue to restrain herself from calling him a hypocrite "It is now clear that you are no more suited to solve this problem than Dumbledore was to deal with the monster. My son and his friends were petrified, and yet you do nothing, instead preferring to indulge a bunch of brats. If you don't do something about the situation, I will."
"And what are you going to do? As a school governor, you have no authority to interfere in Hogwarts affairs like this" Minerva replied harshly, no longer bothering to placate the man. She may have only been a replacement headmistress, but she would not allow Lucius to act unchallenged.
They looked into each other's eyes for a moment, neither party willing to relent. Finally Lucius looked away, giving her a scoff.
"Fine, I won't do anything drastic. I will, however, talk to this bunch and explain that the next headmaster won't be as unforgiving as you are" Lucius said menacingly, rising from his chair and heading for the door, "If they don't disperse after hearing this... well, their fate will be their own fault, no?"
With these words, Lucius left the office, most likely going straight to the great hall to talk to the protesters. Minerva and Cornelius exchanged glances.
This... probably wouldn't end well.
Michael Brown
So, apparently there was currently a riot taking place at Hogwarts?
After two weeks of wisely avoiding the protests, I decided to take a little risk and see it with my own eyes to understand what was really going on. I knew it had to be part of someone's machinations, but without a closer look I wouldn't have been able to find out more. That was why me and Luna, who had already scouted the place, went to the Great Hall to observe the protesters in their natural habitat. However, before I could find out anything interesting, a wild Lucius Malfoy appeared out of nowhere and began verbally attacking the muggle-born protesters.
He was basically threatening them with expulsion, saying that they were a disgrace to every wizard and witch in Britain and should all frankly just crawl into some ditch and die. Well, he said it in finer words, but the message was the same.
After that, everything kind of unraveled quickly. It went more or less like this:
1. Lucius insults the protesters
2. Protesters get angry and start chanting their slogans, complaining about pureblood privileges
3. Pureblood protesters get angry too and start chanting their own slogans, complaining about insufficient protection
4. Lucius gets even angrier hearing the muggle-born protesters and starts insulting them even more harshly
5. The muggle-born leader has enough and says that Lucius' son deserved to be petrified, if only because his father is such an asshole
6. Lucius pulls out his wand and sends the leader flying
7. Another protester breaks his banner on Lucius' nose
8. Pureblood protesters rush to avenge Lucius
9. Muggle-born protesters rush to protect the attacked student
10. Riot
To be entirely honest, I didn't quite know what happened next, as Luna and I decided to leave, not wanting to be caught up in the chaos. While it might have been fun to watch the magical mayhem, it probably would have been too risky for two first-years to stay there. Well, three first-years. During our strategic retreat, we bumped into Marcus, who was also evacuating from the building. He probably didn't expect his late dinner to turn into such a mess, did he? Nevertheless, we decided to travel together to safety, figuring it would be wiser than traveling alone.
At the beginning of our journey we were passed by teachers rushing to deal with the riot, but eventually we were alone, slowly making our way toward the astronomy tower with no one around. It was honestly a little boring, so I decided to start a conversation.
"I wonder why this happened?" I mused, trying to break the silence. It may not have been the most original topic, but it was better than nothing. Marcus, who had been walking in silence so far, looked at me with serious eyes.
"It's probably your fault, somehow" he replied simply, then turned away, apparently not willing to elaborate. How rude.
"Why?" I asked surprised. It didn't seem like something I would do... Well, maybe it was, but I was innocent in this case.
"Just a hunch," replied Marcus, shrugging his shoulders. I was already about to reply, but stopped when we turned around the corner and saw something completely shocking.
In the corridor in front of us stood Gilderoy Lockhart, our DADA teacher, although he looked completely different than usual. The man was standing in front of a huge wall, slowly moving his hand across its surface, apparently writing some kind of message on it. The message wasn't finished yet, so I wasn't able to read it, but I could see that the writing was blood red, the material used to write it clearly visible upon seeing Lockhart's hands.
Both of his arms were covered in blood, with various lacerations visible on his skin. His blood was slowly dripping onto the floor, though Lockhart seemed not to notice this, completely focused on his 'art'. The man looked deathly pale, with his eyes clouded and unfocused, seemingly in some sort of trance. He was smearing a message on the wall with impeccable precision, his hand moving swiftly and decisively despite Lockhart's miserable state.
"What the..." Marcus exclaimed in a trembling voice, clearly shocked by the gruesome display in front of us. Lockhart's body twitched upon hearing his words, as if he had returned to reality after a long sleep. He turned abruptly in our direction, his eyes widening in surprise.
"Oh shit!" exclaimed Lockhart, clearly not expecting anyone to see him. Luna and Marcus looked horrified, most likely still not understanding what was going on. I was the only calm person in the corridor, mostly because I already knew what it all meant. Unaware of my thoughts, Lockhart hurriedly took out his wand and pointed it at us "Obliviate!"
As we all hurriedly jumped to the sides to avoid the green beam flying at us and hid behind the pillars arranged around the corridor, I couldn't help but smile.
I finally found Tom!
I had a free day, so here's another update from me. Also, it seems we are slowly finally reaching the finale!