On Friday, 13 January 1956, the Ministry of Magic released the following statement, received by most citizens with their morning paper:
“While the whole of the Ministry and the country still mourns the loss of our leader, Willhemina Tuft, her untimely passing has left a void which we know must be filled. A special session was called this week, within the Wizengamot, to appoint a new Minister, Pro Tem, ahead of this year’s scheduled election.
The Court have selected Ignatius Tuft, son of his predecessor, who has agreed to finish out his mother’s last elected term for the sake of continuity, after which, come the May election, he may choose to run, himself, for office or remove his name from the ballot.
Further, Minister Wilhemina Tuft’s death is an active investigation. Details of the case will not be released to the public until such time that definitive answers can be given. As of this time, it is the Ministry’s belief that the Minister’s death is NOT tied to the recent grave disturbances, nor should any weight be given to alleged reports that an Auror is missing. All Law Enforcement personnel are accounted for and present, and are working diligently to bring all open cases to a close.
It is the Ministry’s wish that the truth will be discovered, and justice delivered swiftly. In keeping with this wish, the Ministry reminds all citizens that if you have knowledge of the cases at hand, or information you believe would be of use, to contact the Department of Magical Law Enforcement immediately.”
Approved for immediate release by: Ignatius Tuft, Minister Pro Tem; Griselda Marchbanks, Wizengamot; Elphinstone Urquart, Head - DMLE
Well, some things never change, do they?
That’s alright, though. The Ministry always promises that details won’t come out.....but we all know that the truth has a way of letting itself be known. And with two papers, both chock full of dedicated writers, researchers, and great connections, we’re bound to know plenty soon.
So let’s go over what we do know, and give it a little thought:
The Ministry is denying that an Auror is missing – so it might be a while before we find out if the disappearance of Adrianne Moody is tied to the Minister’s death or the grave disturbances
Winter Macnair is still missing - though we suspect his absence was reported to the authorities, no one knows for certain. If his absence was reported, who was assigned to the case? Was it Aurors? Hit Wix? Who can we look to for updates in this case? We better hope it wasn’t Auror Moody. Either of them.
The grave disturbances - Hepzibah Smith and Myrtle Warren are buried, surprisingly, in the same cemetery, though there’s quite a bit of distance between them. Why were the graves disturbed? How was it discovered? How are they linked? Are they? And why were graves in two other cemeteries disturbed? Is someone searching for something .... or were they just seizing on an opportunity to cause a little chaos? And if they were .... how did they know to strike when they did?
Ignatius Tuft - He’s the son of our late minister, and he’s agreed to a temporary position so it’s pretty likely that he’ll keep his name on the ballot this summer as the sitting incumbent ..... but why would the Court select the Minister’s son? Were there no other candidates? Was she working on something that needed to be seen through? Why did the Wizengamot hold a special session without telling anyone about it?
The Daily Prophet - The DMLE still hasn’t given us satisfying answers, or any at all, about what happened just before Halloween. We know who attacked the paper’s offices, but we don’t have names, and we do know that Mercutio Crouch, who had recently taken up his father’s post has also cleared the coop. No one is sure where the Editor in Chief has gone, and whispers have begun to spread in the office. Was Mercutio part of the plot against the Prophet? Was the stress, combined with his grief, simply too much to bear? Will his brother, Duncan, be taking over? And when are we ever going to get an update on what happened to Arabella Greengrass? Maybe we don’t need help understanding why she was targeted .... but it might be nice to know how she even found herself attached to that story to begin with. And how did she know about the Horcruxes?
Hmmmmm ..... Seems to Summer that we have a few puzzles that need solving. But things will probably work out, right? Guess we’ll just have to wait and see!
It’s been such a crazy month (year) that I nearly forgot we can’t simply bookend a holiday month with events .... and skip the actual holiday! Oops.
I’m sure you’ve noticed that December, in game, has gone on a bit longer than the months previous - part of this is because a lot of us are busy, part of it is because there’s soooo much to do in December that it seems a waste to let it rush past us. We started the month with a longer event, and we’ll end it the same way, but never fear, friends, because Christmas ... is here.
I want you to consider this as Christmas time, officially. The days before, the day of, and even the few days after. So get your last minute shopping done, make plans to see your friends and family, survive the last work parties of the season, and hey, maybe you could even try and make a few plans for New Year’s ...
After all, 1956 is just around the corner, and you never know exactly what the new year has in store for you.
It’s a magical time, in a magical world .... or, it’s supposed to be, anyway.
It’s still a little weird that the Daily Prophet offices got blown up ... and that the Ministry still hasn’t given anyone anything even close to a satisfying answer about it. But we all know exactly who did it, because Arabella Greengrass told us, didn’t she? And Victor Crouch knew exactly what she was putting in his newspaper ..... and the Ministry
... is the Ministry.
They have no leads for us, but, leaks within the Ministry’s own walls seem to give a little more weight to the rumors that Albion Mulciber and Edward Nott have both been invited back several times to see Auror Moody .. but so far, we haven’t heard much else.
But with the holidays fast approaching, the Minister and his entire staff are hoping you’ll forget that. And why shouldn’t you? You’ll have so much to do you won’t even have time to remember that things have been a little strange, lately.
SO HERE’S WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW!
You voted, I decided - we will be having TWO events this month. One will be a New Year’s party, and the other will be a Christmas party ... but not the one you’re expecting.
In the meantime, though, please remember that whatever you and your characters get up to is largely up to you! There would be (reasonably) plenty of Ministry / office parties, “official” holiday parties, pureblood parties and events, anti-pureblood parties and events, village and alley festivities - please feel free to make things up and run with them for the sake of threads and things to fill up your December with - the sky’s the limit.
Exciting news friends, we have TWO new wanted connections in our inbox! I will also be unleashing a new friend today. But this here is just a little note I wanted to drop to keep you all in the loop:
The graphics are coming, but it’s going to be a few days. Things are a little hectic at the moment, and as some of you may have noticed, some of the graphics have already changed to make them easier for all of us to read.
I only ask for a little patience the next few days, and of course, if anyone is willing or wanting to have things posted without official graphics attached, let me know, and i’ll be more than happy to do that for you.
