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By Bathilda Bagshott
Chapter One
Introduction to the Dark Arts
Magic is an imperfect science, imperfect meaning that it is unpredictable and its production relies solely on the level of understanding and personal power of the witch or wizard trying to use it. Since it is not something that can be measured by any normal means, it continues to be an area of guesswork and interpretation. There is no surefire way to tell which wizards and witches are born with greatness; nor should magic be the sole measure of that, as character and other attributes add so much more. What is important to know though is that each magical being is born with both light and dark magic within them and it is in this magic that intent is created.Light magic, or as some call it Good Magic, Benign Magic ,White Magic, or Friendly Magic, is fairly self-explanatory. This particular type of magic focuses on the positive energies of a person’s being and the world around them. While many wizards and witches hold light magic and dark magic close to equal amounts, very few have white magic in spades. It is the underlying belief in the wizarding world that only one wizard of the light can be alive at the same time that a wizard of the Dark is. When one dies, another is born, either literally, or the seeds that are already implanted in that person’s magical core activate.On the other hand, there is Dark Magic. It is also known as Evil Magic, Maligned Magic, and Black Magic. This particular form of magic focuses on the negative energies of a person’s being and the world that surrounds them. Dark Magic is at its most powerful when it is invoked through raw emotion. It is also nearly impossible to control at its peak, and as a result very few witches and wizards learn to manipulate emotion as to where they can use the magic at will. Dark magic is generally what is used when young children exhibit accidental magic. It is also important to point out that while accidental magic is a form of dark magic, the acts that are the result need not necessarily be considered so. To actually cause pain and harm would require the actual harnessing of the negative emotions and at such a young age, children just don’t seem to know how to do that without a wand. A prime example of the activation of the Magic within one’s core is that of Grindewald and Lord Voldemort. Grindewald was the darkest wizard of his time until his defeat in 1945 by the Light Sorcerer, Albus Dumbledore. It was around the death of this Dark Wizard that the final stirrings in the core of Lord Voldemort.awakened and helped him to find his calling in Dark Magic. It is important to point out that while he was already studying dark magic prior to Grindewald’s defeat, it was not until after the sorcerer had been killed that Tom Riddle made his final descent into Dark Magic when he killed his grandparents and father later that same year. It is with the murder of his family on his hands that sealed the seeds of black within him that had been awakened and forever claimed him to the darkness.Dark Magic generally employs one’s knowledge of herbs, potions, and spell work. At its worse, there are the three unforgiveable curses, each of which violate those who they are placed upon, or could possibly inflict death. Sacrifice, blood letting, and abnormal eating and sleeping habits are hallmarks of Dark Magic. Their common uses has misled many in the thought that those three areas constitute all there is to this art. As with everything else, it is a bit more complicated than that. Those three things are just a small part of the bigger world that Black Magic encompasses. The actual uses, types, and bands of wizards and witches that use Dark Magic is a subject best saved for students in their O.W.L. year or higher. This book will take a look at some of the more spectacular uses of Dark Magic and its impact throughout history.
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Chapter Three
Dark Magic Wizards
As is common as war and famine, Dark Wizards have had their fair share of history books devoted to them. From the earliest recorded evidence of the Dark Wizard Zimm to the notorious events of the Second War plaguing our front door steps, dark magic found a niche in the magical community that cannot be ignored. Dark magic offers individuals in want of something – power, love, money, or whatever else – their heart's desire. However, it must be noted, that nothing dealing with dark magic comes without a cost.
Levels of Magic
As with any society, the one of dark magic contains a hierarchical structure. In simpler terms, it has a system to with Dark Wizards are categorized by ability. It is possible for wizards and witches to ascend the power-caste system. The poorest of wizards could become the most powerful Dark Sorcerer – which has happened more than naught – and the most wealthy of witches can be on the bottom rung as a Dabbler.
The dark magic hierarchy scale is as follows, starting from the lowest position and ending at the highest. Each position has a brief description as to better facilitate your understanding of their differences:
1) Dabblers: Wizards and witches that, as the name suggests, dabble with dark magic. The people at this level generally do basic dark magic spells on occasion. The type of spells include bewitching objects to cause harm to a person, usually via a doll (hence the fundamental beginnings of voodoo dolls); brewing love potions that have been banned by the Ministry of Magic; and/or participating in the selling and cultivation of Dark Creatures and crops without direct approval and license from the Ministry of Magic.
2) Pages: These people are generally referred to as Dark Wizards in Training. There is some aspect of dark magic in their everyday life. They typically join some sort of affiliation, usually in hopes to learn more. The dark magic used by a Page is similar to that of a Dabbler, as they are learning to do more. However, as it was mentioned, dark magic is performed on a daily basis.
3) Prominents: Wizards and witches at this level are greatly steeped in dark magic. The spells that they use are more destructive in nature, bringing harm and bad luck on entire houses; they regularly participate in sacrificial rituals; and may participate in the collection and selling of Dark Magical Objects and Ingredients.
4) Elitists: This particular group of wizards are at the top of the social scale. They generally hold high positions within their organisations and religious affiliations, if any. Necromancers fall into this category, as do High Priests and Shaman across the globe that are part of a dark magic religious group. This band of wizards and witches have dedicated their lives to the continuation of study and practise of dark magic. They may be responsible for the continued development of new Dark Curses and Spells. 1 They are looked up to by the lower groups and may serve under the guidance or rule of the Sorcerer, which is the penultimate rung on the Dark Wizards hierarchical ladder.
5) Sorcerer: The Dark Sorcerer defines dark magic during his or her lifetime, each trying to outdo their predecessor. They are feared and revered by all of the lower levels and exist almost as if in deity form. As it has already been discussed, only one Dark Sorcerer may exist to his or her full potential at a time.2 The Dark Sorcerer usually has their own army, a band of loyal followers compromised of Elitists, who manage the group, and Prominents, who make up the core. Sometimes Pages are allowed to join, but it is a rarity and they must demonstrate great allegiance early on through ritualistic ceremonies.
Famous Dark Sorcerers:
Throughout the course of magical history, the world has seen the rise and fall of many Dark Sorcerers. Some have left a considerable impact on society; others have merely been cast to the wayside. Below is a list, albeit incomplete, of some of the more important Dark Sorcerers and their accomplishments that have made them notorious.
1) Zimm - Sorcerer from Mesopotamia who rose to power during one of the many civil wars that claimed the area. His belief in Magical superiority is legend; under his rule, over 250,000 Muggles were massacred. He was responsible for the complete annihilation of several Muggle villages. Zimm was eventually brought down by a collective army of both magical and Muggle persons, led by the great Sorcerer Shilah. Whilst the Magical world still learns about this blood-thirtsty wizard, Muggles have managed to erase him from their history books. Speculation on how this was possible continues still to this day.
2) Menites - Greek Dark Sorcerer who is credited with the creation of some of the darker Magical Creatures. While Greek Mythology credits many of its Gods and Goddesses with this task, not all of it is entirely accurate. Menites was the first to create a Gryffin and Chimeara and the only known wizard to keep these creatures as pets. He used to instruct his followers to abduct Muggles and would then watch as he turned them lose on his estate and his pets hunted them before eating them.
3) Rena - Sorcerer from India who was at one time revered by both the Magical and Muggle worlds as a Goddess. Originally, Rena began on the side of the Light, however, with the knowledge that she has a power unmatched by any other in her part of the world, she became hungry for more as well as control. She had an unmatched power steeped in the natural environment that has yet to be matched by another Dark Sorcerer. She was known to manipulate the weather and the landscape of the earth to do her evil bidding, causing great earthquakes, fires, and storms to lash out at those who displeased her. So far reaching was her power that she was able to create destruction clear on the other side of the world. While the Light Sorcerer Klaus von Whetting had tried his hand at subduing Rena, her death would ultimately be by her own hand, after being struck by thirty consecutive bolts of lightning during one of her most perilous storms.
4) Jezebelle de Whimsie - English Dark Sorcerer who is thought to have created the Selkie* to terrorize the Irish. She is credited with creating a werewolf army that was used to raid countryside villages and towns. Her original plans were to overtake the Muggle monarchy and make Muggles the subjects and servants of the Wizarding class. It took a strong resistance from the Magical world to finally stop her, however, 30,000 Muggles had been killed by the time of her downfall.
5) Grindewald and Voldemort - Both the most famous of recent Dark Sorcerers. Their history is discussed in later chapters.
1) It should be noted that both Randolf Hecht and Thyra are considered Dabblers despite the fact that they created two of the Unforgiveable Curses. Neither were associated with Dark Magic beforehand, and as such, this is the reason for their status as Dabblers. However, Grel Spenz, who created the Cruciatus Curse, was considered to be an Elitist, as he had practised Dark Arts his entire life, despite the fact that he served a Muggle king.
2) It should be noted that regardless of gender, the Dark Sorcerer should be referenced as just that; the word Sorceress has been a Muggle concoction that inappropriately defines a female Sorcerer. For all intents and purposes, the word sorcerer is non-gender specific in the wizarding realm.
*Selkie are a form of Dark Creatures who come ashore, shed their seal skins, and take the form of a human. In their new disguise, they enchant Muggles and lure them into the sea, where the others would patiently wait to drown them. |
Chapter Four
Home of the Incarcerated
Throughout the course of history, many governments and cultures have undergone changes, sometimes for the better, others for the worst. One of the outcomes of these changing governments is the evolution of Wizarding Prisons.
The Labyrinth, Island of Crete, Ancient Greece
Figure 1 -- Map of Crete and Labyrinth Designs
Greek Mythology tells us that the Labyrinth was built by a skilled Athenian artificer, Daedaulus, on the tiny island of Crete. The Labyrinth was an elaborate maze designed to house a minotaur, a creature which had the head of a bull and the body of a man. Seven youths and seven girls were sent to the labyrinth as an annual tribute by Athens. Eventually, Theseus, one of the seven youths selected for sacrifice -- slayed the minotaur and found his way out by following thread from a spool that King Mino's daughter, Ariadne, had given him.
In reality, the Labyrinth was in fact one of the first wizard prisons ever built. The Labyrinth was made of stone, with walls twenty-feet tall, but charmed to look more like eighty. Many dangerous creatures were housed there, including the infamous minotaur, as well as Chimeras, Griffen, and Manticores. Wizards were brought over in large ships pulled by Hippocampi, where, once they reached land, they would be unloaded and blindfolded. A guard would magically chain them all together and lead them into the Labyrinth. Once in far enough, the guard would then cast a body-binding hex on them, remove the blindfolds and chains, then seal off the entrance. After the hex had worn off, prisoners ambled throughout the Labyrinth. If they were quick enough, they would find certain dead ends that held food and drink; others would meet their end at the claws of a creature. It has been estimated that over a quarter of a million witches and wizards from throughout Europe were sent to their deaths before an earthquake rumbled across the island, leveling the Great Labyrinth.
Tullianum, The Black Forest, Germany
Figure 2 -- Tullianum Fortress
The Tullianum Fortress was built by German Wizard Klaus Detweiller, after being personally asked to do so by the International Confederation of Wizards in 1555. The location for this particular prison was to to be as far away as possible from society. The Black Forest, rich in foilage and rough terrain, was ultimately chosen as the permiere spot for the new prison. Detweiller worked with a team of superb German and French builders who worked tireslessly to bring the fortress to life in an amazing 3 months. Tullianum had its own city for those who worked there, complete with small supplies stores, restaurants, and homes. After Tullianum's completion, a select group of wizards and witches were chosen to cast enchantments and protective wards on the fortress and surrounding grounds. The casting process took another four months and also included anti-Apparition Wards. Within a week's time, Tullianum was home to more than 475 prisoners from over twenty different countries.
The walls of Tullianum saw much bloodshed and torture. Prisoners lived in small rooms, usually in threes, where the lucky ones would end up with a small window. They were never allowed to to leave their rooms. Food, if at all given, was pushed in through a little door and usually consisted of nothing more than cornmeal and rancid meat. Water was only offered three times a day, six ounces at a time. Most prisoners would die from either starvation, food poisoning, or dehydration. Those who somehow mananged to stay alive, were often taken down to one of the "Inquisition Rooms" where they would be tortured by almost any means, mostly Muggle . . . such as the rack and dripping scalding oil in non-rhythmic drops on a persons head, back, and arms. Lashings were also used, but not really tolerated. Ironically, the International Confederation of Wizards thought that lashings were "too brutal and violent." At the height of its fame, Tullianum held more than 1200 prisoners, most of whom perished within its walls.
The fortress that was once thought impenetrable fell in 1780 after inmate sympathizers infiltrated the prison and freed over 420 prisoners, supplying them with wands and weapons. A riot broke out and for six days, Tullianum was a war zone. When all was said and done, 125 guards, 472 inmates (out of the total 604), 45 sympathizers, and over 200 civilians, including children, were dead. The disaster at Tullianum left a huge black mark on the International Confederation of Wizards reputation of being humane.
Azkaban Fortress, North of the North Sea
Figure 3 -- Azkaban Fortress
Azkaban Fortress, or simply known as Azkaban, is our current prison and the Ministry of Magic keeps most of Azkaban's facts to themselves. We know that it was built toward the end of the 18th century, although it is not clear who was commissioned to design it; what company, if there was one, built it; and who was involved in the enchantments and protection wards used on it. Some believe that not disclosing this information is a form of protection in itself. We do know, however, that besides the usual enchantments, the prison is built on a rock out north of the North Sea. The Department of Magical Law Enforcement oversees its upkeep and operations. We also know that Dementors guard the prison. Dementors are large, gruesome creatures that feed on positive emotions. The effects of Dementors are particularly strong; wizards and witches will feel an immense cold come upon them and are forced to relive the most frightening and awful times of their lives in their head. Muggles and squibs, suffer the same effects, the only difference being that they cannot see these horrible creatures. It is perfectly safe to believe that the surrounding environment at Azkaban is dreadful. The Dementors can perform their Kiss on someone should the need arise. To do this, the Dementor lowers its hood, and with a hole where its mouth should be, clamps its jaws over the victims mouth and sucks out their soul. This leaves the person's body alive, but there is no soul, no more essence. Simply put, they are no more.
The use of Dementors has caused some serious disagreements in current years. With the first rise of Voldemort, Dementors had allied themselves with him. Now that he has risen again, the public opinion is torn. Some feel that the Dementors should be relieved of their duties at Azkaban and a new guard system put into place; others believe that the Dementors should stay exactly where they are, that they feel safer knowing that they are there, guarding the prison. However, with two publicized jailbreaks -- Sirius Black and the multiple DeathEater jailbreak -- one has to consider if Dementors truly are the best answer. Should the Dementors return to Voldemort's side again, it would leave the prison in complete chaos. This is one of those topics where only time will tell.
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no chapter 6!
Chapter Seven
Evil in the Making: The First Rise of Voldemort
Tom Riddle (1929 -??); Childhood
Voldemort was born Tom Riddle to a woman whose husband had left her when he had found out that she was a witch. Tom was named after his father before his mother died minutes later after childbirth. He spent his childhood growing up in a Muggle orphanage. His father’s abandonment plagued Tom throughout his childhood, creating a deep resentment and hatred in him. Tom was accepted into Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry when he was eleven, where he was sorted into Slytherin. He was a brilliant student who took the art of magic very seriously. He immersed himself in his studies; unfortunately, this also included the study of Dark Magic.
In his fifth year, he became fascinated with power and immortality. It took him five years to get enough information about and locate the Chamber of Secrets. Being a descendent of Salazar Slytherin, he was able to open the Chamber and in his sixth year, he terrorized the school by setting a Basilisk on the Muggle-borns. He managed to convince the Head Master that one of the third years was responsible for the killings. Only Transfiguration Professor Albus Dumbledore thought otherwise.
Tom Riddle, circa 1946
Also during his sixth year, young Tom was already making astounding progress with his obsession; he created a journal that preserved an image of his sixteen-year-old self. He had began calling himself Lord Voldemort within a tight circle of friends; and the summer after graduating Hogwarts, he returned to Little Hangleton, to the Riddle family house, where he murdered his father and grandparents. The family’s caretaker was believed by the Muggle police to be responsible for their deaths, but upon closer inspection, they could not find any evidence to convict him.
Young Adulthood
Upon entering the fifties and sixties, Voldemort devoted much of his time to potion making and spellwork. His obsession with immortality ate away at him. Many of the potions and spells he looked up and used were Ancient Magic, things that have not been used in hundreds of years because of what they can do to a person. It is during this time that Tom Riddle underwent a metamorphosis from the handsome, black-haired boy that he was in Hogwarts to the snake-like creature with glowing red eyes that we now know him to be. He used this downtime to establish himself in the pureblood community and recruit followers. His enigmatic ways and passion-driven speeches about the importance of keeping Wizarding Blood pure struck a chord with the most prejudiced of pureblood families. He started out slowly, gaining the trust and allegiance of one person at a time; by the end of the sixties, Voldemort had a small army of loyal supporters called Death Eaters. He used fear and promises of material gains to keep them under his control.
Dark Lord Rising
The first documented attack ordered by Lord Voldemort happened on the evening of July 13, 1972. A family of five that were travelling home from a visit at their in laws had gotten lost just south of Bath. They were attacked by twelve Death Eaters after entering a Wizarding pub by accident (the owner had not taken the necessary precautions to ward Muggles away from the establishment). Needless to say, the family was tortured and murdered. The Death Eaters shouted out a message as the customers scrambled to leave. "Lord Voldemort will overcome! Death to Muggles and Mudbloods!"
With all the publicity about the attack, Lord Voldemort found it easier to drum up more supporters. Some donated money; others joined his ranks. Feeling confident, he ordered more attacks, this time not limiting it to just Muggles. Muggle-borns and half-blood families found themselves running scared for their lives. Eventually, attacks occurred almost daily; the Dark Mark was created as a sort of calling card and hovered above the homes of the victims; and it had appeared that Voldemort had finally achieved his goal in reaching immortality, as he boasted about it. Even with the Resistance’s efforts, the Dark Lord seemed unstoppable.
The First Undoing
The Dark Lord's rise to power came to a cataclysmic halt the night of October 31, 1981. Upon hearing of a prophecy that foretold his eventual downfall, Lord Voldemort made it his task to find this person and kill him. With the little that he had to go on from the prophecy, it took him over a year to find the one that threatened his plans for total power.
As far as our records show, Voldemort approached the Potters house in Godric’s Hollow after finding out where they were hiding. He killed James Potter in the entrance way, after blasting the door open; he then moved upstairs to where Lily Potter had barricaded herself and her infant son in the nursery. As he made to kill the baby, Lily stepped in the way of the Killing Curse. With no one left to stop him, Voldemort attempted the killing curse one last time. However, the curse rebounded and hit him. The house crumpled to the ground, leaving young Harry Potter amongst its rubble, with a lightning shaped scar upon his forehead.
Godric's Hollow, 31 October 1981
For eleven years it was believed that the Dark Lord had been vanquished. However, as we will learn in the next chapter, he was far from being gone for good.
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Chapter Eight
A Dark Lord’s Return
Barely Surviving |
After Voldemort’s attempt to murder Harry Potter, something happened that wizarding historians and magical theorists alike have yet to understand. The Killing Curse that Voldemort had used on the infant rebounded and ripped the Dark Lord’s soul from his body. His soul fled the rubble in Godric’s Hollow and headed for the dark forests in hiding. Lord Voldemort believed that one of his many faithful Death Eaters would come searching for him and help restore him to power. None did.
As time moved forward, he survived by possessing animals, mainly snakes, until one day, ten years later, a young man who happened upon him and offered Voldemort a second chance. The man was the Defense Against the Dark Arts Professor here at Hogwarts – Professor Quirrel. Voldemort charmed him, used Quirrel’s body as a host, and used the man to help him regain his original body once again by stealing the Philosopher’s Stone (also known among some circles as the Sorcerer’s Stone) which creates a powerful serum called the Elixir of Life. The same foe that had cost him his body once again kept him from the precious stone. Harry Potter, aided by his friends, learned of the plot to steal the stone and stopped Voldemort in his tracks. Bodyless once more, Voldemort returned to the forests, angry and hopeless. Well, almost hopeless.
The Servant Returns
Two years after his failed attempt to gain possession of the Philosopher’s Stone, one of Voldemort’s Death Eaters finally returned to him. From the interview Harry Potter gave to The Quibbler, we know that Peter Pettigrew, a wizard whom the community had longed believed to be dead, returned to his master after he had been forced to reveal himself to Harry and his friends (he was an unregistered Animagus rat) and subsequently managed to escape death and imprisonment, only to flee to Albania. Finally finding his master, Pettigrew aided Voldemort’s transformation back into his human form with the use of many different potions and elixirs.
A series of events over the course of 1994-1995 led to Voldemort’s eventual rebirth: The Dark Mark was cast in the night after the World Cup match while Death Eaters tortured the Muggle families who managed the camping areas that the wizards were staying in; Barty Crouch, head of the Department of International Magical Cooperation, had been under the Imperius Curse and was later killed; and his son, Barty Crouch Jr., polyjuiced himself into Alastor Moody, who was hired by Headmaster Dumbledore to teach Defense Against the Dark Arts and managed to turn the Triwizard Cup into a portkey, which was used to transport Harry Potter and Cedric Diggory to a graveyard to witness and take part in a ceremony that would guarantee Voldemort’s return. Cedric was murdered upon arrival.
Cedric Diggory
Hogwarts Champion, circa 1996
The spell used by Voldemort, according to Harry Potter’s first-hand account, was an ancient dark spell that required a potion that would grant Voldemort his body. It called for bone of the father, blood of the enemy, and sacrifice of the servant. Bone from Voldemort’s father, Tom Riddle Senior, was used, as was Harry Potter’s blood and Pettigrew’s right hand. Voldemort, devoid of skin and roughly the size of an infant, was thrown into the potion and emerged some seconds later fully grown and in his own body.
Voldemort, circa 1995
Once again, Harry Potter would slip out of Voldemort’s grasp and return to the safety of Hogwarts.
The Calm Before the Storm
Following his rebirth and revelling in the Ministry’s ignorance, Voldemort spent the following year re-establishing himself as the Supreme Dark Lord. He spent the better part of the year low-key, allowing the public’s mistrust of Dumbledore and Potter to grow. Eager to build his forces, he sent envoys to many dark creatures and wizards that had previously sided with him in his first rise to power. Voldemort also used his powers of persuasion to initiate a mass break-out of captured Death Eaters from the wizard prison Azkaban.
He enlisted the help of his followers in his quest to remove a Prophecy from the Department of Mysteries at the Ministry of Magic. Voldemort was under the assumption that the key to Potter’s downfall was revealed in the Prophecy. As fate would have it once more, Potter and Voldemort would have another showdown. The Dark Lord lured young Potter to the Ministry and sent his Death Eaters to retrieve the Prophecy from the teenager. However, the Prophecy was broken in battle, Voldemort duelled with Headmaster Dumbledore, and his return was witnessed by many Aurors and the Minister of Magic, Cornelius Fudge. His secret was out and the rest of the wizarding world was finally alerted to the truth: Lord Voldemort had returned.
Through the use of the papers, articles were published, information and tips on how to protect oneself and family in the now uncertain times was shared, and reports of Voldemort sightings were reported almost daily. However, the information never led to any captures and Voldemort remained quiet throughout the summer of 1996. He used the time to finish forging new alliances and establishing old ties with past. The strength of Voldemort and his supporters was felt in wizarding communities around the world when he ordered an attack at a peace summit in Wales on October 31. Over 150 people and magical beings were killed, including the Minister of Magic, Cornelius Fudge. The next day, Madam Amelia Bones was named Interim Minister of Magic until emergency elections were held the following January.
With one of the bloodiest attacks on British soil, Voldemort not only showed exactly what he was capable of, he also showed exactly how far he was willing to go to get it.
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Chapter Nine
The Second War Arrives
A Shaky New Order
After the attack at the peace summit, Voldemort left much of the wizarding world in complete chaos, which was exactly his goal. With a Ministry of Magic that was in complete disarray, he was able to terrorize the wizarding and Muggle world more easily than before, more fierce and ruthless than during his first rise to power. The Ministry of Magic struggled to find its bearings, with interim Minister Amelia Bones trying to keep things under control and somehow halt Voldemort’s continued terror. In January the following year, an emergency election was held. With the endorsement of Hogwarts Headmaster Albus Dumbledore and most of the ministry, Amelia Bones was sworn into office on January 28, 1997. One of her first acts as the Official Minister of Magic was the creation of a special unit task force who was responsible for creating/finding ways to improve Azkaban to work without the use of Dementors. She also held special meetings with many magical creatures originally deemed as beasts by previous decree and set about to create a new law that classified these beings as equals to wizards and witches. Minister Bones’s decision met mixed reviews and for a brief while, seemed to create more discord than trust in the Wizarding world.
Voldemort again capitalised on the shaky faith the wizarding population put in their new Minister and ended up recruiting a mass of more people who were disillusioned with the Ministry and its policies. While home attacks occurred almost daily, nothing could prepare the magical community for what would happen the morning of April 19. It was the day after accused Death Eater Lucius Malfoy was found innocent of all former charges brought against him based on a technicality. Three hundred Death Eaters, whom Malfoy is believed to have been a part of, Apparated into Diagon Alley during the early lunch rush. Shops were destroyed; buildings were levelled; and high-ranking officials were kidnapped or murdered. Aurors placed in the shopping area on security detail were brutally tortured in front of a mass of horrified onlookers. After a five hour siege on Diagon Alley, the Death Eaters Disapparated, leaving only a ghastly green figure hovering in the sky: the Dark Mark. Ninety percent of Diagon Alley was reduced to smoldering rubble, its dead hidden somewhere beneath it.
Diagon Alley, pre-April 1997 attack
It is estimated that there were around twelve hundred people who were in Diagon Alley at the time of the attack. Around two hundred of them were able to Disapparate to safety, while another hundred joined the Aurors and tried to fight off the attackers. Six hundred and fifty-four people died in that attack from curses, mania, or getting caught in the way of crumbling buildings. 172 were sent to St. Mungos with serious or life-threatening injuries. The handful left were the lucky ones, only coming out of the commotion with minor injuries, scrapes, and bruises. What was later revealed was that four other attacks around the world happened at the same exact time. Voldemort demonstrated for the world the scope of his reach. No where was safe anymore.
Rebuilding with Caution
Everyone in the wizarding world was affected by the simultaneous attacks. Negotiations between the Muggle and Magical community were sped up, the possibility of another attack of that scale at the front of everybody’s mind. The wizarding public were encouraged to turn over their House Elves to the Ministry for positioning at Azkaban, which the Dementors had deserted a few months back. The House Elves replaced the overworked and tired Aurors who had been guarding it during the Dementors absence. It was required that the House Elves continued to be enslaved and were to only listen to direct orders from the Minister of Magic, who was their new master. This was to prevent any outside influences from finding ways to break in. The House Elves were allowed to use their own magic to keep the prisoners in place, as well as being responsible for the prison’s upkeep.
Those who survived the Diagon Alley attack underwent the long and painful process of rebuilding. Where there was once doubt about Minister Bones’s new policies, a newfound support had grown for them. For the first time in centuries, magical beings and Muggles worked together on fighting the disease that is Voldemort. Special enchantments created by curse-breakers and charm experts were used to protect Diagon Alley. Anti-Appartition Wards went up without a fight from the locals. Other enchantments with special properties were used as well, but at this moment, being the general public, we are not at privilege to know what they are. The rebuilding process, which also helped in healing, was cut short when another attack happened, but this time it was outside of Diagon Alley and Voldemort himself made an appearance.
An Attempt at the Impossible
During a warm breezy day in early June of 1998, Voldemort made a move that shocked everyone. With Harry Potter’s graduation just days away, Voldemort attempted to bring the war straight to Hogwarts door. Bellatrix Lestrange led a march on the magical village of Hogsmeade. As the Aurors already on duty tried to squelch the problem early on, more Apparated in from areas around the country. However, they Apparated into a trap. Voldemort had managed to put up his own wards around the village to keep anyone from Disapparating. The villagers were trapped inside a war zone while Voldemort and a larger group of Death Eaters portkeyed their way onto the Hogwarts grounds. No one had really expected the Dark Lord to actually seek out his nemesis on his own turf however that is exactly what he did. Thankfully, an alert had reached Headmaster Dumbledore when the siege on Hogsmeade started. The students were rounded up and sent to their common rooms where the Head of Houses passed out portkeys to safehouses and allowed flooing to the students homes. Much of the student population was able to make it off the grounds before the attempted storming of the castle took place. Some of the older students who were of age stayed behind to help the staff members keep the Death Eaters at bay. Harry Potter was among those who stayed.
The magical enchantments and charms placed on the castle created a security seal around it, making it virtually impenetrable. However, it was not completely so. With the aid of Peter Pettigrew, Voldemort and a handful of Death Eaters retreated to the town of Hogsmeade. The remaining Death Eaters continued to try to break through the doors, successfully distracting its inhabitants. From inside the Honeydukes Sweet Shop, Pettigrew led his master and the others through a tunnel that opened up within the very walls that they had been trying so hard to break through. Once inside, they sought out those who remained behind, looking specifically for a young wizard with a scar on his forehead. The majority of the staff and remaining students waited in the Great Hall. Dumbledore remained in his office, Mr. Potter with him. While a deadly battle broke out in the Great Hall, Voldemort worked his way through the castle to Dumbledore’s office, where he used dark magic to break through the magical seal that it had used as a safety precaution, the object of his desire and vengeance just a few stairs away.
Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry
What exactly transpired after this is unclear, as Voldemort never gave an interview and Dumbledore flat out refused to speak about it. The only other person who truly knows what happened is Harry Potter, but he has been in protective hiding for the past few years since this attack. What is known (or is rumoured at this point) is that Pettigrew caught Potions Master Severus Snape sneaking off after Voldemort. Pettigrew was stunned by Ron Weasley before the Death Eater could kill Snape. Snape hurried off to the Headmasters office, where we can only guess he sacrificed himself (for reasons at this moment still unknown) for the safety of his headmaster. Somewhere in all of this, Potter left. Without Potter there to kill, Voldemort fled from the castle like an angry bat, summoning his loyal subjects to follow him.
Since the carnage that day, there has yet to be another attack of that magnitude and that boldness on the wizarding community. The flaws in Hogwarts protection wards have since been fixed. All secret passageways in and out of the castle have been blocked or destroyed. The Great Hall and some of the surrounding areas of the castle that were damaged in the battle have been repaired. In all, there were 13 deaths inside Hogwarts itself that day. The surrounding village of Hogsmeade saw the almost complete destruction of their town, but escaped with a relatively small amount of casualties – one-hundred-seven. The Death Eaters fared much better, only losing thirty of their own.
It is currently believed that Voldemort is caught up in his quest to kill Harry Potter and has spent the past few years in a manic search for the wizard who seems to be our only hope. The last known attack ordered by Voldemort (and not just done for fun by his Death Eaters) was earlier this year in February, when he ordered a group of Dementors to attack a Muggle School’s Valentine Day Dance in Liverpool, resulting in the deaths/soul-sucking of 44 Muggle children |
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