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[prophetonpaper.livejournal.com]

DEMENTORS BREACH DIAGON ALLEY
Werewolf found responsible
20/09/1980 – Early yesterday morning at least a dozen Dementors gained access to Diagon Alley, catching the first wave of the morning rush. The creatures were held at bay and eventually forced to retreat by several skilled witches and wizards, without whom the death toll could have been devastating. However, despite these valiant efforts, five casualties have been reported. Additionally, at least three people required treatment at St. Mungos and many more had to be attended to on-site by mediwizards. The identities of the victims are being withheld from print at this time.

Officials have confirmed that the Dementors could not have gotten inside the shopping district on their own. Complex safeguards protect the majority of wizarding territory from all class-five magical creatures. However, early investigation has determined Diagon Alley’s protective charms were crudely bypassed, clearly indicating wand-based treachery.

Remarkably, however, an arrest has already been made. The attack has been linked to a werewolf transient who recently found part-time work in the area. He was found fleeing the scene an hour after the danger had abated and was brought in for questioning. Aurors have no doubt they have caught the perpetrator.

The werewolf in question, forty-two year old Joseph Kimball – though he has self-styled himself as “Balder” – allegedly has connections with infamous cannibal and fugitive Fenrir Greyback. Though Mr. Kimball refuses to speak on his motives, a representative for the DRCMC has speculated that lycanthrope packs have struck up alliances with other dark creatures and are working with them to break down Ministry defences. With the majority of registered werewolves in Britain wand-carriers, officials fear this incident will not remain isolated.

In spite of this tragic occurrence, spokesman for Bartemius Crouch urge the public not to panic and that all the necessary, significant measures will be taken to prevent further breaches of protective wards.

LETTERS TO THE PROPHET RE: As Discrimination Divides As a young women myself, looking towards the day I have my own children to nurse - I too give pause to reflect on the state of our world. Even under the strains of war it is a remarkable and vibrant place, this livelihood, however, is only due to our continued, ceaseless efforts to keep ourselves safe. Every day, around the world, our people are working to keep ourselves apart from our less fortunate counterparts. Our culture and community has thrived in our private corners and flourished across the guarded fringes we inhabit. Our survival depends on our separation – our elevation – from the muggle populace. Indeed, so thoroughly have we set ourselves apart that we are indifferent to the pandemics that sweep across the non-magical world - in numbers that would erase our civilization from the map. My grandparents have told me stories of 1918, when not a single wizard fell ill or much less succumbed to the so called “Spanish Flu”. Yet – when I read Mrs. Potter’s letter, when I think of her half-blood son, I realize this could all change in an instant. I feel it is much more likely that her child’s muggle parentage will have him crawling to St. Mungos before any so-called “prejudiced” establishment. Even further, what indeed would happen if he was encouraged and raised to marry, as many liberal families have now come to do, outside the constrains of our community? The more we allow the edges of our world to bleed into the next, the more perforated the membrane between us and them will become. Mrs. Potter and those like her, though earnest people, are actively putting our entire civilization in peril. Our tolerance has begun to wear away at our very substance and magic and it has finally superseded our separatism. If muggle-borns find themselves unwelcome, they do so because the sensible fear for the safety of themselves and their children - the safety of their very world. A new mother like Mrs. Potter should surely understand. -Victoria Higgs

Blaming Parents is Insensitive My heart goes out to the Hoopers, whose son Donovan is still in critical condition at St. Mungo's after his fall from the balcony during last weekend's Quidditch match (Ballycastle Bats vs Puddlemere United). However, although his injuries were tragic and preventable, I just have to question the tone of the Prophet's article covering the event. To me it seemed to be suggesting that the baby's fall was the direct result of poor parenting, and that is an implication that seems to be hurting much more than it is helping. As a mother of three and a grandmother of five I know just how easy it is for young ones to get out of sight, even if just for a moment, and how terrifying it can be if they get hurt in that little time you were preoccupied by something else. All children wander, and I find it awful that the parents of poor Donovan Hooper are being blamed for their son's accident. On top of all the worry, publicising them as neglectful seems far below the standards I have come to expect from such a time-honoured and respected newspaper as the Prophet. I am personally inclined to look into just how safe and secure the stadium is these days. It is an old building, I remember going there when I was a just a small girl, and I wonder if there have been any measures taken to keeping it a safe place for family events. Watching Quidditch is a family pastime, and though parents should always make sure their children are safe, they should not be punished for an accident before other things are considered. Let us send our wishes to their family, not make guesses at how they could be at fault. -Erma Lockwood

Keep your spells off our lawn! My next door neighbour has a filthy habit! Three sometimes four days a week I hear her using the crudest of charms to clean her house and discipline her children. They are legal but we do not approve of her methods and don't want to get her spellwork into our minds. My wife and I have a teenaged son, and none of us take kindly to her vulgarity happening right before our eyes. There are laws against everything from A to Z, but no one will stop my neighbour from using unfriendly spells in plain sight and earshot of my family. We have tried talking to the authorities and turning up the wireless to block out the noise, but we are fed up. Is there any organisation we can talk to about encouraging people to use only polite magic when others might see them? -Basil and Lisa Duff