Rebelling Against The Greater Good: A New Dawn for The Daily Prophet

After the murder of Susan Bones, ex-Editor of the Daily Prophet and renowned public worker, took the Wizarding World by storm; the Prophet has long been without a name or face to spearhead it. Regardless, it has gone on as it always had, armed with scathing quill and fiery opinions, with just the right dash of journalistic creative liberty. However, with the new Ministry decrees sending a wave of shock and indignation running through the minds of the Wizarding populace, the need has been felt for a new voice to give us the real opinion of the common witch and wizard. And the Prophet has always prided itself on fulfilling every need that our society has ever projected.

When I first stepped into the modest, sparsely furnished flat of one Albus Severus Potter, I was under the illusion that I had merely been sent to interview a society recluse, whose only claim to fame was being the youngest son of immortal war hero Harry Potter. I was soon disabused of this notion, and curtly informed that I was here to collect the article of the latest and newest Special Correspondent to the Daily Prophet. Regardless to say I was skeptical, and informed him right back that Raiden Prince was to be out correspondent, in response to which all I got was an amused smile.

That’s right, ladies and gentlemen. While the name Raiden Prince may be unfamiliar to most witches and wizards, all those concerned with the discerning art of politics, bureaucrats and Wizengamot giants alike, are well acquainted with the name who scandalized politicians all over by his controversial debut novel Verba Non Facta (Words, Not Deeds). The book, professing to be an account of erstwhile European governments, was a deliberately ill-hidden, satirical commentary on the present British Ministry, its generous contempt sparing none. And now to know that the assumed neutral Albus Potter is author of said notorious work……..well, maybe the Potter name isn’t so much on the decline after all. With matrimony, werewolf legislations and new loyalties looming on the horizon, I’d say it is a new dawn for the Wizarding World after all.






The First Wizarding War waged against Gellert Grindelwald is not forgotten by any of us.

Unique in the history of relatively recent wars, the first Wizarding War involved both Muggle and Wizarding warfare (World War II in Muggle history books). Innumerable people were killed, crippled, maimed; but what persisted were the mental and emotional scars. East Europe in particular at the time was a dark place, Semitic races and Muggleborns being slaughtered like sheep, Vampires, Veela and Werewolves being named ‘Dark creatures’ and in the name, being hunted down like rats, women treated like nothing but breeding machines.

All this sound familiar to you?

It should. It does to me. It should to every citizen of Magical Britain , every boy and girl above sixteen being forced into commitment, every werewolf being forced to relive the old days when they were treated little worse than rabid dogs. These are signs, warning signs, signs which could escalate into something more. All for the greater good.

Ah, but one should make sacrifices for the ‘progress’ of our nation, right?

Tell that to every girl who dreamt of entering Auror or Healer training, or exploring the world, but instead is being coerced into motherhood at sixteen. Yes, the Ministry may very well say  that having a child within months of marriage is not compulsory, but this is a legal move to increase the Wizarding populace. How long before an Article 204 comes into action? Tell that to every boy who has barely scraped manhood, only to be entrusted with the responsibility of a family while still in school. Tell that to every gay and lesbian couple, whose futures and happiness are being destroyed before their eyes. Our basic human right, the Right to Freedom is being violated by the Ministry presuming to decide our future partners and personal lives. Tell that to every werewolf who shall be humiliated, branded like a petty criminal for being the way he is. And this move by a Ministry headed by the ‘Lupins.’ Ironic, that descendants/ relatives of one Remus John Lupin, war hero AND pure werewolf, the upstanding example of a man who didn’t let his destiny and blood control who he was, should now hunt down all lycanthropes in this manner.

This is not a mere article of complaint, to be printed and then forgotten. This is a call to every citizen of Magical Britain to remember that in us, the people, is vested the power to raise and fell the Ministry, should we so wish. This is a call to the basic decency of every human being, imploring them not to forget it in fear of recourse or punishment. Our preceding generations laid down their lives for a better, happier world. Is this the return for the blood voluntarily shed? Is this the world we want?

To all who think, even faintly, that there is a fraction of truth in my words, I await your reply, your opinion. The cynic in me tells me that I dream of an impossibility. But to live, one has to hope that there is a drop of humanity left in this world, and that is what I’m counting on.

Ms. Jones and "Special Correspondent",

Personally, I do wish you would stop touting slanted wizarding history for your own ends. Some of us have lived through that and don't remember it with quite the romanticized verve and fervor that you are trying to create.

It was a dark and bloodthirsty time with a great deal of pointlessness to it, and, if you recall our history a tad, it was not due to the Ministry but due to a madman named Voldemort.  Feel free to go check your Magical History books, if you've forgotten.

If you have gotten a letter from the Ministry, then do please cite to us whose signatures are on the letter. You might want to consider perhaps if there is any reason to investigate the person or persons who sent the letters and/or those carrying out the law itself.  

Please recall when, in the course of events the law was passed, as compared to when the Minister himself was attacked. You appear to have your facts reversed.  (Check your timeline, Milady, before you indirectly accuse anyone.) The Minister's attack, happened before the law was created, as reported by your own paper.  Point your bow and arrows in the proper direction. You seem to be a little off the mark.

If you intend on inciting a rebellion against the government, do try to remember that expressing an opinion is legal. Creating insurgency and insurrection is against the law. You might be wise to decide whether or not you wish to try to keep your opinions within some sort legal standard and whether you wish to be responsible for encouraging others to commit, perhaps, treason.  They have been warming up cells in Azkaban for that, actually, for many generations.

There are appropriate channels to protest against laws you do not wish for. Perhaps you ought to encourage your readers to follow them as a first option.  And--perhaps you ought to get your facts straight before you create any sort of a spin on things.

Ms. Macmillan, my dear, we all feel the loss of your beloved mother. Many of us knew her, and we'll be happy to do our part to continue to extend our condolences. Please produce, though, your evidence that the Ministry has any connection now with the Daily Prophet. It indeed used to, but that is also ancient history. Those ties were severed long ago, but if the Prophet is being used to start a war, then it seems to me that the sensible thing to do might be to just stop reading the rag itself.  

Speaking up does have its place politically, but do please decide what you're going to rebel against and who is actually responsible, if you intend to do it. If its the law you dislike, as many others do, then you might wish to try to focus.  One generally hits the target best if one first knows what it looks like.  

Just one man's humble opinion.
Michael Tremaine

To Miss Macmillan and the humble Mr. Tremaine,

First of all, I thank you heartily for taking up the time to pick up a quill and parchment for the purpose of responding to this article. That in itself, showcases that perhaps the effort has not gone wasted after all, if it manages to pique the minds of the people, which was its intention in the first place.

I do hope you will permit me to suggest that it is not the ‘Prophet’ and its staff in need of Historical lessons, rather the addressee in this case in requirement of a few grammatical classes. The ‘slanting wizarding history’ as you so call it, is fact. First of all, the history being referenced was that of the First War, the word first being emphasized here, in the times of Albus Dumbledore and preceding Voldemort’s rise to power. The times of Hitler and the initial rise of Grindelwald, if you will. Anyone who attempts to defend the decisions of the government in those times will find himself fighting a losing battle indeed, I think you agree. Voldemort was nowhere mentioned.

Regardless, if you do wish to raise questions about him, then so be it. Need I remind you of the countless months the Ministry spent, quite vehemently denying the obvious return of the Dark Lord? Need I remind you of the countless lives lost, and the countless lives that could have been saved if the Ministry and Cornelius Fudge had so not been bent on assigning all blame to Dumbledore, and rather taken severe and serious action? Or better yet, when Voldemort actually rose to power, what about Delores Umbridge and the Muggle-Born Registration Commission, whose sole purpose was to rob the Muggleborns of their wands and sentence them to Azkaban? What about the countless heroes of the war, labeled as ‘Undesirables’ and quite viciously hunted down by the Ministry? What about the then Minister of Magic, Pius Thicknesse, found with a Dark Mark emblazoned on his arm?

Apparently, the Ministry has had ‘no part to play’ in all of these at all.

Even forgetting the influences that various Dark Lords have had on our government, what of the werewolves? Discrimination against them was status quo for decades, being stripped of education and jobs and proper human rights. Deprivation of such things is quite serious, Mr Tremaine, so you will forgive us for being overdramatic and ah…’romanticizing’ it. It was only post the War that they began getting a semblance of rights, only for all of it to be stripped again because of the actions of a few. It is hardly right to deprive an entire race for the deeds of a group.

As for the signatures on the letters, well, the Ministry is not an abstract concept. It is composed of its people. Investigating all of its high-ranking officials is as good as investigating the entire organization itself.
As far as the entire illegality portion is concerned, we have not slandered anyone, or libeled or taken names…..yet. But regarding your concerns, I strive to assure you that everything here is being said and printed with a fair amount of thought. Yes sir, thought and complete awareness of consequences. So the people may take that as they will.

As for Miss Macmillan, I wish you to know that your mother was greatly respected by all, not in the least me, for her wisdom as well as her courage to project her own opinions. Though her unfortunate end may seem discouraging to some, but as is well said by you, change does not come overnight. It comes slowly, and only starts if people have the tenacity to make the first step, regardless of what comes after. Maybe everything is as impossible as you project it to be, but one can hardly know unless one tries.

Addendum: The target seems quite apparent by the title of the article, sir.

A.S.Potter