Chapter 90: First, Gag the Patient
"A massacre in the Great Lakes region?"
The three of them read the Daily Prophet's report carefully. The incident had actually occurred several days ago, but the Magical Congress of the United States of America (MACUSA) had managed to keep a lid on it until now. The story only broke because a British wizard, visiting a friend in a wizarding settlement in the Great Lakes area, discovered the horrific aftermath.
This wizard claimed that MACUSA had threatened him, ordering him not to speak of what he had seen. Upon his return to Britain, he went straight to the Daily Prophet. His furious statement was printed in full: "Is it now considered correct policy to first gag the patient before treating the disease? If you sew every mouth shut, does that make the tragedy disappear? Is the problem solved simply by silencing those who would speak out?"
He further claimed that, as a condition of his departure, MACUSA had forced him to sign a magical contract preventing him from revealing the exact location of the massacred settlement. He could only refer to it broadly as being in "the Great Lakes region." The incensed wizard concluded his article by declaring that if MACUSA dared to prosecute him for breaking the contract, he would fight their despicable actions to the very end.
Today's entire issue of the Daily Prophet was dedicated to the story. As the three young wizards read the projected articles from their communicators, a fire of indignation burned within them. The actions of both the perpetrators and MACUSA were utterly reprehensible.
"And they call themselves a Magical Congress?" Fred said, his brow furrowed. "I don't believe our Ministry would ever stoop to something like this." He felt a surge of patriotic pride; the very air in Britain seemed cleaner and sweeter than in America.
"You're wrong, Fred," Vaisey said with a wry smile. He knew the inner workings of the Ministry all too well. "Trust me, Fudge is perfectly capable of a cover-up like this. You wouldn't believe it, but the vast majority of Ministry employees can't even cast a proper Shield Charm."
"That's impossible!" the twins exclaimed, their eyes wide.
"Why is it impossible?" Vaisey countered with a shake of his head. "Aside from a few key department heads, most Ministry workers are just ordinary people who happen to be able to use a bit of magic." He didn't know whether to be disgusted by the Ministry's lax hiring standards or the employees' own apathy toward their magical abilities. "Right now, little Hermione from our club probably has a better grasp of spellwork than most of the staff at the Ministry."
The Weasley twins were speechless. They had never imagined the Ministry could be so… rotten. Hadn't it only been a decade since Voldemort's fall? Had they already let their guard down so completely?
"The Ministry… sigh. That's why none of us are interested in it," Vaisey said. "I suppose Percy is the only one with any political ambitions." He considered the club's resident bureaucrat-in-training. It was probably a good thing; the group couldn't all avoid working for the government. With several older members already in the Ministry and the rest of the club likely to join the Tower of Wonders after graduation, having Percy on the inside could be a huge asset. Perhaps, he mused, the shrewd Percy had seen that very advantage when he'd decided to join.
"Why doesn't Ryan want to work at the Ministry?" George asked.
"I always thought he was destined to be Minister for Magic," Fred added.
"Everyone has their own path," Vaisey said, recalling a conversation he'd had with Ryan. "He doesn't like it, so he won't do it. Ryan's philosophy is that might makes right, and power is the only truth."
"That sounds a bit like Voldemort's 'Magic is Might'!" said Fred.
"A little scary, isn't it?" said George.
"Men like them, though they walk different paths, often share certain similarities," Vaisey said, quoting a phrase the twins didn't recognize. "Just like the saying, 'For the Greater Good'…" He shut off his communicator and began brainstorming new business ventures, trying to envision the grand blueprint Ryan had for the future.
"For the Greater Good?" the twins muttered to each other. "Where have we heard that before?"
"Should we ask Dad?"
"Better to ask in the club. We're not likely to get an answer at home."
"George, Fred," Vaisey said, looking up from his thoughts. "Show me the procedure. I need to learn how to operate this."
"Coming!"
In Nicolas Flamel's cottage, Ryan poked his head out from behind a mountain of books. "I can accept being locked up in here to study," he said, "but Headmaster, don't you have a school to run?" Dumbledore was still chatting amiably with Flamel, and Ryan was beginning to think the Headmaster was neglecting his duties and should be forced into early retirement.
"Hogwarts is a school full of diligent students with a passion for learning," Dumbledore replied serenely. "It is also staffed by a full complement of dedicated and responsible teachers."
In other words, the school ran just fine without him. Ryan suspected Dumbledore was simply avoiding his paperwork.
Just then, an owl, specially approved by the Flamels, arrived with a newspaper. It was the Gargoyle's Roar, the French equivalent of the Daily Prophet. It had reprinted the Prophet's article and added its own scathing commentary on MACUSA's actions.
Dumbledore and Flamel exchanged a look. "A massacre?"
"It's hard to say," Flamel murmured. "We don't have all the facts."
"I suggest the two of you write to MACUSA in your official capacities and demand an explanation," Ryan said, pulling himself out of the book pile. He didn't even bother to look up from the paper. "I also suspect this might be related to the prophecies, but there's nothing of value in the official reports."
"Look at the tone of this MACUSA statement," Ryan scoffed, paraphrasing a quote from a book he'd once read. "Just sew everyone's mouths shut and pretend everything is fine! Why not just execute all the witnesses? The fact that people are complaining just means you haven't suppressed them hard enough! The moment someone raises a dissenting opinion, you must investigate, persecute, and crush them! This isn't a sign of strength; it's a sign of weakness, of a profound institutional neurosis!"
"It seems I do need to speak with some old friends," Dumbledore said, setting down the paper. "I had no idea MACUSA had fallen to such a state in just a few decades."
"With all due respect, Headmaster," Ryan said, hitting the nail on the head, "MACUSA was never a bastion of competence. If it were, a man like Percival Graves would never have risen so high, would he?"
~~~
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