So, said PA council (minus AJ because I don't know where you were) already had one discussion on plot. This is what we came up with.
Big Brother totalitarian government. I KNOW I suggested it last time, but with their ideas I think we really got it nailed down.
This Poster Child type politician shows up. What the wizarding community doesn't know is s/he has 1-3 people with equal power. (I'm going to say he in a neutral tone, k?) He wows the world by saying he will rid the world of evil, and suddenly, crime drops. (The reason being his team has been inflating the rate of crime and they now stop, and they also 'forcefully remove' criminals, i.e. assassinate.) He rises to the role of Minister (Khaat, I think we can think of some really good IC reasons why, perhaps Robert steps down because his energies are desperately needed at Mungo's) and at first everything is great. The Ministry is booming, crime is going down, etcetera.
The reason crime is going down though, is this little alliance in charge is taking criminals in without warrants or arrests, refusing them trial, and torturing them and whatnot. They also list both the Order and Death Eaters as vigilante groups, naming the members as public enemies. Before the groups can react, this alliance begins taking family and supporters of these factions.
What we get is 3 levels of citizens, really. Those who are oblivious to these goings on (those are pretty much the members who never get involved in the plots); the citizens that are suspicious but scared; and those like the Order and DE starting to form a band of rebels trying to get into the Ministry.
As for the factions, I suggested moles. i.e. The Order has a spy in the DEs, and the DEs have a spy in the Order. This gives each faction two goals: 1) protect their spy and 2) Figure out who is spying on them.
Now, I KNOW this is an overdone plot. But it WORKS. It's simple, but effective. Jack was offered up as a potential spy, but I really don't think it matters WHO it is, so long as each faction has an active spy amongst them.
The main thing is to give members a chance to take roles. I know admins take roles out of need, but with all these old members returning, and new members getting more active each day, a withdrawal of admins from power roles are sure to encourage members to step up. The PA Council was chosen because we jump as opportunities to help. But I know we're not the only ones that would out there.
I'm sure I missed something. Matt and Chase can remind me if I did. And I'm sure your inquiries will help. But that's a skeleton of what we discussed.