Speculated Attack on the British Ministry of Magic...
Aug 1, 2015 19:13:16 GMT -6
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Post by Coach Thomas Raines on Aug 1, 2015 19:13:16 GMT -6
Gregory Raines was being deceived, but he was unaware of this. He was a quiet man with high moral standings. A man of integrity and wisdom in his sixty-three years. Everyone in his department at the Ministry looked up to Gregory even though he was not the department head. His office was located in the Department of Creation and Regulation of Spells & Charms. His job in fact was the Regulation part. He would spend hours at his desk from day to day reviewing the paperwork that every witch and wizard would have to submit in order to get a newly created spell or charm registered. He was also in charge of keeping those created charms and spells that were not safe to register. He had personally locked away the spell that the famous Severus Snape had created in his childhood days and had since been found and performed by none other than The Harry Potter. His job tended to be very exciting simply because they had to test every single spell.
Gregory worked with twelve other witches and wizards. They worked in pairs and Gregory would assign them stacks of spells and charms to be tested. If they were performed and deemed unsafe or questionable by any of the six pairs then Gregory would test them himself and make the final decision. There was a reward given to the creator of all spells and charms which is why there was always work to be done. There was always more spells and charms moving through the process of acceptance to registration. Sadly most of them submitted never saw the light of day again. The Hall of Rejected Spells & Charms was huge. So big in fact that in 2005 the Minister approved an expansion of the Department wing which was relocated to Gregory's own homeland, New Zealand, which made the commute better. Gregory was able to use the new Hall and then through a couple of doors he was at his office in the heart of London, home base for the Ministry. Magic was a wonderful thing and it was a spell that was registered through his office that allowed travel through doorways to other parts of the country or countries which make up the British Ministry of Magic.
It had been a chance meeting when Gregory had made the acquaintance of a Miss Ganelda Sweeting. It was a random fire drill that the offices held once a month. Gregory had taken a wrong doorway and had ended up on the floor with the Department of Mysteries. The bell ringing as the fire drill sounded, he was then met, as if from out of nowhere, several black robbed witches and wizards. He'd never seen any of them because his department doesn't directly deal with the Department of Mysteries. Fascinated, though, Gregory stuck around through the end of the drill asking questions which were mostly ignored or met with, "If I told you, then I'd have to Obliviate you." That silly and old joke had always made Gregory laugh because how would you know not to ask again once you'd had your memory restructured? It was a never-ending scenario. So after three or four people reverting to that statement with bored expressions as they headed back into their department, Gregory was left in the hallway with one lovely woman. She'd been more than willing to explain some things to Gregory and answering almost all of his questions. Of course she'd expected answers to her own questions in exchange, but he hadn't seen any harm in telling her about his department. Not when she was facing severe charges if anyone found out that she was divulging secrets from her department.
Gregory's curiosity of what Ganelda could tell him despite the consequences is what motivated him into arranging chance meetings. Sharing a table in the cafe where they ate their lunch. Meeting up at the Leaky Cauldron after work. Taking her to dinner when he knew damn well that his wonderful wife of thirty-six years would have dinner waiting on him when he got home despite his false excuse of working late. It evolved into a very unhealthy obsession and yes, as wise as Gregory was in his years and his love of his wife, he knew that what he was doing with this much younger blonde woman was wrong. Ganelda understood his curiosity and views of the world in whole. His adoration for Muggles and the fact that they were only clueless because the magical world had evolved so much further than they had. It was shortcuts and magic. Unfair. She understood that he could no longer talk openly and honestly with his wife, Constance who'd been raised in a Pureblood Purist household. Most importantly, Ganelda understood that Gregory had felt guilty all his marriage for letting his wife settle for him. He should have taken the money that Constance's father had offered him to disappear. The trust that was gained between the two was deep and profound, at least that's what Gregory thought.
Eventually the ideas started that the Ministry was infested with Voldemort Loyalists. Ganelda would talk long into the night and every time she would see him that certain people could not be trusted. Gregory listened to it all. Believed it all.
Was Gregory under the Imperius Curse? No one knows for sure.
The attack started with an explosion on the Department of Creation and Regulation of Spells & Charms door. The department head, Smythe was killed instantly with the sheer force of the reducto spell used. Hooded figures flooded the floor. It was a mostly a silent assault as red lights arced through the air and bodies dropped. No one had had time to prepare or defend themselves. Everyone within the department was slaughtered. Had the attack stopped at the Hall of Rejected Spells & Charms, there still would have been over fifty casualties. The Hall was raided and then destroyed (or so they thought) so that no one would know which spells and charms had been liberated. Then the figures headed through doorways to end up in the hallway outside the Department of Mysteries. Unfortunately or maybe fortunately, no one could figure out the safety measures set into the Department of Mysteries doorway. One has to wonder how a group of students from Hogwarts, the leaders being just 15 years old, were able to crack it, but then that had been a different time. Several spells were hurled at the doorway just to be hurled right back into the caster's face. The door to the Department of Mysteries did not stay closed though, someone in a hood opened the door from the inside and the fight continued. By that time the Ministry had rallied and had sent Aurors to handle the invasion.
How did this affect Thomas Raines, Gregory's son?
Thomas Raines, four years ago, was having his heartstrings tugged on while teaching Care of Magical Creatures at Aurora. His mother Constance sends him an owl about his father's odd behavior. Thomas is a huge family man and had had his mind on starting his own family soon. So of course he asked the Headmaster for leave to help with his family. His travels to New Zealand was uneventful but while there he got more than enough drama and danger.
Constance was convinced after months of odd behavior that Gregory was having an affair. Thomas' mother was a prim and proper woman of a time when housewives were a common career and it agreed with her. She was helping Thomas' single sister Skye raise her one year old daughter, Carrigan. Thomas came in on his white horse determined to prove to his mother that his father was still very truly devoted to her. Honor was high in the Raines household so he did the right thing and just came right out with it to Gregory.
Gregory denied an affair because never saw it as such. There were no feelings that took away from his love for Constance, but there was that hunger and curiosity of all that Ganelda knew. It was way too late for Thomas to help his father see the error of his ways. Not only that but that was when Gregory had started on convincing Thomas' mother about the Ministry. Even though Thomas knew something was wrong, he wasn't as smooth as his father on convincing his mother. She eventually stopped worrying about whether her husband was cheating and started worrying about his safety at work with all the Loyalists still there.
She eventually encouraged Gregory to join the good side of things. Thomas still was not convinced, especially the day he was at the Raines' home with his mother and sister when a familiar patronus bounded into the family room. A floppy eared hare who belonged to Garrett, one of his father's co-workers. The message the hare related chilled Thomas to the bones:
Galvanized, Thomas and his sister Skye raced off to help their father. They had not expected to find him on the hooded side of the attack. Garrett was killed by their father. Thomas was not able to save his sister from a nasty curse that landed her in St. Mungoes permanently. Thomas lost everything that day and the Ministry refused to let the news of the attack out for fear of what the wizarding world would do. Several of the Loyalists were captured and sent to Azkaban, but Gregory Raines got away.
Gregory worked with twelve other witches and wizards. They worked in pairs and Gregory would assign them stacks of spells and charms to be tested. If they were performed and deemed unsafe or questionable by any of the six pairs then Gregory would test them himself and make the final decision. There was a reward given to the creator of all spells and charms which is why there was always work to be done. There was always more spells and charms moving through the process of acceptance to registration. Sadly most of them submitted never saw the light of day again. The Hall of Rejected Spells & Charms was huge. So big in fact that in 2005 the Minister approved an expansion of the Department wing which was relocated to Gregory's own homeland, New Zealand, which made the commute better. Gregory was able to use the new Hall and then through a couple of doors he was at his office in the heart of London, home base for the Ministry. Magic was a wonderful thing and it was a spell that was registered through his office that allowed travel through doorways to other parts of the country or countries which make up the British Ministry of Magic.
It had been a chance meeting when Gregory had made the acquaintance of a Miss Ganelda Sweeting. It was a random fire drill that the offices held once a month. Gregory had taken a wrong doorway and had ended up on the floor with the Department of Mysteries. The bell ringing as the fire drill sounded, he was then met, as if from out of nowhere, several black robbed witches and wizards. He'd never seen any of them because his department doesn't directly deal with the Department of Mysteries. Fascinated, though, Gregory stuck around through the end of the drill asking questions which were mostly ignored or met with, "If I told you, then I'd have to Obliviate you." That silly and old joke had always made Gregory laugh because how would you know not to ask again once you'd had your memory restructured? It was a never-ending scenario. So after three or four people reverting to that statement with bored expressions as they headed back into their department, Gregory was left in the hallway with one lovely woman. She'd been more than willing to explain some things to Gregory and answering almost all of his questions. Of course she'd expected answers to her own questions in exchange, but he hadn't seen any harm in telling her about his department. Not when she was facing severe charges if anyone found out that she was divulging secrets from her department.
Gregory's curiosity of what Ganelda could tell him despite the consequences is what motivated him into arranging chance meetings. Sharing a table in the cafe where they ate their lunch. Meeting up at the Leaky Cauldron after work. Taking her to dinner when he knew damn well that his wonderful wife of thirty-six years would have dinner waiting on him when he got home despite his false excuse of working late. It evolved into a very unhealthy obsession and yes, as wise as Gregory was in his years and his love of his wife, he knew that what he was doing with this much younger blonde woman was wrong. Ganelda understood his curiosity and views of the world in whole. His adoration for Muggles and the fact that they were only clueless because the magical world had evolved so much further than they had. It was shortcuts and magic. Unfair. She understood that he could no longer talk openly and honestly with his wife, Constance who'd been raised in a Pureblood Purist household. Most importantly, Ganelda understood that Gregory had felt guilty all his marriage for letting his wife settle for him. He should have taken the money that Constance's father had offered him to disappear. The trust that was gained between the two was deep and profound, at least that's what Gregory thought.
Eventually the ideas started that the Ministry was infested with Voldemort Loyalists. Ganelda would talk long into the night and every time she would see him that certain people could not be trusted. Gregory listened to it all. Believed it all.
Was Gregory under the Imperius Curse? No one knows for sure.
The attack started with an explosion on the Department of Creation and Regulation of Spells & Charms door. The department head, Smythe was killed instantly with the sheer force of the reducto spell used. Hooded figures flooded the floor. It was a mostly a silent assault as red lights arced through the air and bodies dropped. No one had had time to prepare or defend themselves. Everyone within the department was slaughtered. Had the attack stopped at the Hall of Rejected Spells & Charms, there still would have been over fifty casualties. The Hall was raided and then destroyed (or so they thought) so that no one would know which spells and charms had been liberated. Then the figures headed through doorways to end up in the hallway outside the Department of Mysteries. Unfortunately or maybe fortunately, no one could figure out the safety measures set into the Department of Mysteries doorway. One has to wonder how a group of students from Hogwarts, the leaders being just 15 years old, were able to crack it, but then that had been a different time. Several spells were hurled at the doorway just to be hurled right back into the caster's face. The door to the Department of Mysteries did not stay closed though, someone in a hood opened the door from the inside and the fight continued. By that time the Ministry had rallied and had sent Aurors to handle the invasion.
How did this affect Thomas Raines, Gregory's son?
Thomas Raines, four years ago, was having his heartstrings tugged on while teaching Care of Magical Creatures at Aurora. His mother Constance sends him an owl about his father's odd behavior. Thomas is a huge family man and had had his mind on starting his own family soon. So of course he asked the Headmaster for leave to help with his family. His travels to New Zealand was uneventful but while there he got more than enough drama and danger.
Constance was convinced after months of odd behavior that Gregory was having an affair. Thomas' mother was a prim and proper woman of a time when housewives were a common career and it agreed with her. She was helping Thomas' single sister Skye raise her one year old daughter, Carrigan. Thomas came in on his white horse determined to prove to his mother that his father was still very truly devoted to her. Honor was high in the Raines household so he did the right thing and just came right out with it to Gregory.
Gregory denied an affair because never saw it as such. There were no feelings that took away from his love for Constance, but there was that hunger and curiosity of all that Ganelda knew. It was way too late for Thomas to help his father see the error of his ways. Not only that but that was when Gregory had started on convincing Thomas' mother about the Ministry. Even though Thomas knew something was wrong, he wasn't as smooth as his father on convincing his mother. She eventually stopped worrying about whether her husband was cheating and started worrying about his safety at work with all the Loyalists still there.
She eventually encouraged Gregory to join the good side of things. Thomas still was not convinced, especially the day he was at the Raines' home with his mother and sister when a familiar patronus bounded into the family room. A floppy eared hare who belonged to Garrett, one of his father's co-workers. The message the hare related chilled Thomas to the bones:
Come quick, attack on the Ministry... Thomas, Gregory is involved.
Galvanized, Thomas and his sister Skye raced off to help their father. They had not expected to find him on the hooded side of the attack. Garrett was killed by their father. Thomas was not able to save his sister from a nasty curse that landed her in St. Mungoes permanently. Thomas lost everything that day and the Ministry refused to let the news of the attack out for fear of what the wizarding world would do. Several of the Loyalists were captured and sent to Azkaban, but Gregory Raines got away.
