Also, this goes for Tiberius/Eleanor as well and Lucretia too, @Yanez and @ByzantineCaesar, in case you don't mind some personalized details in their relationship with Evelyn (if there's one beside being mere acquaintances or just fellow Hogwarts students, of course).
I'm admittedly a bit curious of how Eleanor might do in the Slug Club. She seema to have a few shades of Snape in that she seems to want to prove herself to the Pureblood students (though to what extent, I can't say).
For what concerns Tiberius, I am at a bit of an impasse, because while revising and expanding his old character sheet I started thinking that it would make more sense for him to be in seventh year like Hercules and Bérénice, but this would mean leaving the seventh year a bit too crowded and conversely the sixth year too empty. At the same time he can interact easily with Gryffindors from other years through the Quidditch team and with Evelyn in particular through the Ancient Studies class, as there would only be a small class, not divided by year.
In any case Tiberius and Evelyn have some similarities, as we noted before, and would probably like discussing about Transfiguration and especially ancient lore, but I think Tiberius would be quite wary around her because of her surname.
He is close to the French witch Bérénice Martin and she, as the daughter of a prominent Grindelwald opposer, would not have given him a rosy picture of Vinda Rosier (I am sorry for this dreadful pun).
One has to factor in the Slytherin-Gryffindor rivalry too, although I picture Tiberius as a pretty open-minded person who would have some interhouse friendships. His parents would also encourage friendships with members of sacred 28 families, as part of the whole McLaggen need to prove themselves as proper, if moderate, purebloods.
So not really friends, nor rivals, but aware of each other and sharing some narrow interests. (I can see them debating at length about Atlantis' location, but awkwardly shifting discoursce when it comes to more personal matters).
The relationship between Eleanor Colville and Evelyn Rosier: I don't think they would have had any significant interaction so far, given the difference in blood status, year and House. If you have any ideas about a closer relationship between them than vague acquaintance maybe PM me about it.
Now that Eleanor is a Prefect they might get to know each other better and maybe Evelyn could appreciate her academic results, while Eleanor might consider Evelyn a nice enough Pureblood because of her friendship with Susan. In a way Eleanor might envy the kind of family Evelyn has, with brothers, sisters and loving parents who can offer guidance in the world.
In this sense you are right that Colville wants to "prove herself to Purebloods": her experience of the muggle world is pretty limited and stifling and she really wants to belong in the wizarding society.
Now, if she were at least a half-blood, she would be at risk of more closely emulating Snape's footsteps, considering Tom's dangerous influence in her year, but as a muggleborn she has been sharply driven away by the more radical purebloods and instead has ended up getting to know people like Patricia Bones and others who gravitate around the mudclub. She also clearly lacks the whole romantic plot Snape had.
She is in Slugclub as Slughorn's second best Potion student (after Riddle of course) at the moment and certainly attending its meetings will cause an appropriate amount of awkwardness, but I see 5th year Eleanor as pretty adjusted to life at Hogwarts and able to shrug most of the casual meanness, while being shielded by her position as Prefect among other things from actual bullying. She remains not popular, but the difficult days of her third year are long behind her.
For what concerns Tiberius, I am at a bit of an impasse, because while revising and expanding his old character sheet I started thinking that it would make more sense for him to be in seventh year like Hercules and Bérénice, but this would mean leaving the seventh year a bit too crowded and conversely the sixth year too empty. At the same time he can interact easily with Gryffindors from other years through the Quidditch team and with Evelyn in particular through the Ancient Studies class, as there would only be a small class, not divided by year.
In any case Tiberius and Evelyn have some similarities, as we noted before, and would probably like discussing about Transfiguration and especially ancient lore, but I think Tiberius would be quite wary around her because of her surname.
He is close to the French witch Bérénice Martin and she, as the daughter of a prominent Grindelwald opposer, would not have given him a rosy picture of Vinda Rosier (I am sorry for this dreadful pun).
One has to factor in the Slytherin-Gryffindor rivalry too, although I picture Tiberius as a pretty open-minded person who would have some interhouse friendships. His parents would also encourage friendships with members of sacred 28 families, as part of the whole McLaggen need to prove themselves as proper, if moderate, purebloods.
So not really friends, nor rivals, but aware of each other and sharing some narrow interests. (I can see them debating at length about Atlantis' location, but awkwardly shifting discoursce when it comes to more personal matters).
The relationship between Eleanor Colville and Evelyn Rosier: I don't think they would have had any significant interaction so far, given the difference in blood status, year and House. If you have any ideas about a closer relationship between them than vague acquaintance maybe PM me about it.
Now that Eleanor is a Prefect they might get to know each other better and maybe Evelyn could appreciate her academic results, while Eleanor might consider Evelyn a nice enough Pureblood because of her friendship with Susan. In a way Eleanor might envy the kind of family Evelyn has, with brothers, sisters and loving parents who can offer guidance in the world.
In this sense you are right that Colville wants to "prove herself to Purebloods": her experience of the muggle world is pretty limited and stifling and she really wants to belong in the wizarding society.
Now, if she were at least a half-blood, she would be at risk of more closely emulating Snape's footsteps, considering Tom's dangerous influence in her year, but as a muggleborn she has been sharply driven away by the more radical purebloods and instead has ended up getting to know people like Patricia Bones and others who gravitate around the mudclub. She also clearly lacks the whole romantic plot Snape had.
She is in Slugclub as Slughorn's second best Potion student (after Riddle of course) at the moment and certainly attending its meetings will cause an appropriate amount of awkwardness, but I see 5th year Eleanor as pretty adjusted to life at Hogwarts and able to shrug most of the casual meanness, while being shielded by her position as Prefect among other things from actual bullying. She remains not popular, but the difficult days of her third year are long behind her.
Very informative, thanks for sharing! Yeah, my reasoning for making Evelyn a Sixth year was that the last year was crowded with PCs and fifth year Slytherin had most of the known DE and Purebloods so I decided to go for the year in between that was more or less empty when compared to them.
It's true we had discussed a bit about the kind of relationship Evelyn and Tiberius could have before and from what you say, I think they have more potential to be friends than Evelyn does with Hercules (for example) since Evelyn could go at length over ancient history if not stopped and Tiberius wouldn't be much different, I gather.
Especially since Evelyn doesn't really take House rivalries all that seriously (more like she doesn't really care about antagonizing people most of the time) and thinks the House cup thing is something of a joke all in all even if she does go along with it for tradition's sake.
Of course, Evelyn's family and Vinda - damn that pun - are the big problem in a friendship and Berenice's suspicion, while warranted, is another issue. In fact, I'm planning on Evelyn being really conflicted on the matter: she loves Vinda (who loves her back, even if she's manipulating Evelyn somewhat) and she really doesn't want to turn her back on family, especially close family that has helped raise her. On the other hand, she doesn't care at all for the war. She intellectually appreciates Grindelwald's major selling point of not hiding anymore like scurrying rats, but not the idea of being the masters of anyone or killing muggles just because they don't have magic. In her mind, even if they are quite useless and dull, she doesn't really want them killed and The Greater Good sounds like a good deal of fanaticism that leaves her uncomfortable.
This is something she struggles with often in her mind, but it will be especially strong if someone actually confronts her openly about it, since on some level she really doesn't want to be forced to choose.
As for Eleanor, yeah the Slug Club might be the most interesting and fastest way for them to interact with each other. Since she's a fifth year, she wouldn't have been in the Slug Club before, so I'll probably put her as a simple acquaintance that Evelyn knows about thanks to Barnabas' rumour network.
The, quite informative, discussion on the relation between Evelyn does pose the question of how we will handle Vinda in the reboot. On one hand, most of the time I like to let have a good deal of control, if not absolute, on what happen to their characters relatives in the wider wizarding world (usually showing them through letters and the like) but on the other hand Vinda is, cannonically, one of Grindelwald main servants and as such her future is necessarely linked with the general course of the war itself, which is obviously under the perview of the moderation.
The, quite informative, discussion on the relation between Evelyn does pose the question of how we will handle Vinda in the reboot. On one hand, most of the time I like to let have a good deal of control, if not absolute, on what happen to their characters relatives in the wider wizarding world (usually showing them through letters and the like) but on the other hand Vinda is, cannonically, one of Grindelwald main servants and as such her future is necessarely linked with the general course of the war itself, which is obviously under the perview of the moderation.
Well, you guys are the moderation, I don't see why you shouldn't be able to take control of Vinda when needed, seeing as she's a NPC. I'm ok with that. I don't know how long the RP will stretch but if it ever goes beyond the war and things go according to canon, Vinda will either be killed or imprisoned in Numengard or some other prison anyway. Regardless, I still would like to have some degree of control with her should I ever want to interact with Vinda or contact her for now.
I write things so sensitive war stuff is not really brought up beyond Vinda's efforts in trying to subtly influence Evelyn to throw her support in Grindelwald's camp.
EDIT: Have you given thought to the blank professor slots in the staff, phil? Especially for the Ancient Studies, Ancient Runes, Arithmancy and Charms slots, since they're some of Evelyn's more prominent fields.
Edit: The list only has characters that are either cannonical, mod-created NPC's, mod characters and characters players of the old game already gave us the go ahead to use wheter they come back or not. You only need to post your characters to confirm you are playing and they will be added to the list
WIP, just an idea I had while working on the game I mod right now that probably won't go anywhere but that I wanted preserved somewhere
The Aftermath
The year is 1998 and the month is september, the shadow who had threatened Wizarding Britain for more then a half a century has at last been lifted. Tom Riddle is dead, having been defeated in single combat by the Boy Who Lived, while his army was torn ashunder as a result of the climatic battle who had preceded the final duel. Those of his servants who have escaped death or capture are now either relentlessly pursued by the ministry or desperately trying to get out of Britain, even if the aurors of their own countries await them. The very ideal who had animated his cause, Blood Purity, had been shown for the lie it was by the very atrocity he and his lackeys had commited. Under its newly-named Minister for Magic Kingsley Shackelbolth Wizarding Britain seek to heal the wounds of the war and hopefully build a fairer and more just future.
Nowhere is the task harder then in Hogwarts, the beating heart of Wizarding Britain where not even the glory and joy of the final victory against the Dark Lord can wipe away the battlescars shown by the castle and the memories of the aurors and pains experimented during and before the final showndown. Headmistress Minerva McGonnagal and Deputy Headmaster Fillius Flitwick, both splendid professors and celebrated war heroes in their own rights, will have to carry a great burden as Hogwarts tries to return to some semblance of normalcy...
KNOWN HOGWARTS STAFF:
Headmistress: Minerva McGonnagal
Transfiguration Professor:
Potions Master: Horace Slughorn (Head of Slytherin) (1)
Herbology Professor: Pomona Sprout (Head of Hufflepuff)
Defense Against the Dark Arts Professor:
Muggle Studies:
History of Magic Professor: The Ghost of Cutberth Binns
Astronomy Professor: Aurora Sinistra
Charms Professor: Fillius Flitwick (Head of Ravenclaw and Deputy Headmaster) (2)
Divination Professor: Sybil Trelawney
Arithmancy Professor: Septima Vector
Ancient Runes Professor: Bathsheda Babbling
Care for the Magical Creatures Professor: Rubeus Hagrid (Head of Gryffindor) (3)
Flying Instructor: Madam Rolanda Hooch
Librarians: Madame Pynce
Gamekeeper:
Caretaker: Poppey Pomfresh
Janitor: Argus Filch
KNOWN HOGWARTS STUDENTS:
(Names in Italic are canonical characters)
1st Year (1986-87)
2nd Year (1985)
Gryffindor:
Slytherin:
Ravenclaw:
Hufflepuff:
3rd Year (1984)
Gryffindor:
Slytherin:
Ravenclaw:
Hufflepuff:
4th year (1983)
Gryffindor:
Slytherin:
Ravenclaw:
Hufflepuff:
5th year (1982)
Gryffindor:
Slytherin:
Ravenclaw:
Hufflepuff:
6th year (1981)
Gryffindor:
Slytherin:
Ravenclaw:
Hufflepuff:
7th year (1980)
Gryffindor:
Slytherin:
Ravenclaw:
Hufflepuff:
Character Application: character creation is free, i.e. you can make up OCs at will and put them in any school year of your choice, or pick canon characters. For now, characters will be limited to Hogwarts students and staff (the only exception are Professors Dippet and Dumbeldore). Claims will always be open. Players are encouraged to sign up at least two characters initially, although it's not a requirement. If there is interest, the scope of this RP may eventually be widened to include other parts of the Wizarding World.
CHARACTER SHEET:
Name: Your character's full name Nickname: How your character is known Gender: self-explanatory Age: self-explanatory Looks (picture if possible): physical description, and/or a picture at the header Nationality: probably either English, Welsh, Scottish or Irish, with few exceptions Blood & Economic Status: Pure-blood/Half-blood/Muggleborn and Broke/Poor/Regular/Wealthy/Very Wealthy Hogwarts House & Year: self-explanatory, muggleborns are simply not shorted in Slytherin in this era but, appart from that, any student might be in any house. Wand: wood and core, length and stiffness are optional Other Possessions: a broom? A pet? You tell me, be reasonable Clubs (Optional):
Political Leanings (Optional):
Bio: short background for your characters. Skills may be included here (again, be reasonable), as well as the classes you are taking if you're in the third year or after
Things to keep in mind for character creations (No need to post them);
Basic Need – what drives your character's day to day actions?
Greatest Strength – when they become the hero triumphant, what trait is it that motivated your character to overcome the odds?
Fatal Flaw – when your character reaches their lowest point, what trait dragged them there?
A note on modding: The moderation style of this RP, inspired by Byzantine style of moderation, can be summed up by the maxim "laissez faire, ne laissez pas passer". In other words, the story and game development is mostly up to the players and player-to-player interaction. i.e. mod-enforced events will be sparce and mostly used to mark the passage of time and/or get the ball rolling in term of interactions (unless I'm modding a conflict between multiple players).
Players-created plotlines are not allowed but encouraged! However, we like plausibility and we like HP canon, so we will step in and intervene if something becomes too outlandish for our standarts. Some minor divergences are acceptable though (e.g. altering a few birth years).
A note on Cursed Child: The cannonicity of the play has proven to be the subject of much debates among Potter fans, many of which related to their opinions of their plot points. Without necessarely entering said debate (suffice it to be said that I tend to side with those who don't have a high opinion of the play) I will have to discard it as far as this RP is concerned for thematic and gameplay reason: as indicated by its very name, The Aftermath will explore the state of Wizardin Britain and the consequences of the demise of both Voldemort and everything he stood for. Having time-turners able to change the past and/or an heiress who could serve as a point of ralliement for his partisans simply won't do. Some smaller plot points of the play might appear/be alluded too but matters would be decided on a case per case basis in that regard.
Consequences of the war on Hogwarts Curriculum and Student bodie: As a general rule every student and professor who wasn't explicitely named dead, or least grievously wounded, is alive. Appart from the obvious gameplay reasons motivating such a choice (the more characters with canon-characterisation the better) it also make sense from in-universe POV as well: the relief army who saved Hogwarts having been particularly massive by wizarding standart and the last phase of the battle especially hard-fought ods are most of the Fallen Fifty only joined the battle at dawn.
Academically speaking, the Ministry as well as the school staff as decided to simply erase the past year and make all those desiring or needing to continue their education take back the year they either where in or would have been in throughout the 1997-1998 school year. Between Hogwarts being ruin, four professors having to be replaced, a very large fraction of the school students having had to spend the last year in hiding and the fact that at least two classes where twisted beyond recognition and others where probably affected as well (I can't see History of Magic having been left alone, for one) they're was simply too many issues to be adressed for Kingsley and Hogwarts to take a different approach.
Start of the Game: We'll all start at King's Cross Station on September 1st, 1998.
(1) Riddle final defeat and his role in the Battle of Hogwarts have allowed the Potion Master to finally make peace with his past mistakes and move on.
(2) If one would count his first tenure as Potion Master Slughorn would have more seniority but in the climate of fall 1998 they're is simply no way then a Slytherin Headmaster or Deputy Headmaster could be widely accepted. Appart from rewarding the good services a war hero who was more then qualified for the job Flitwick promotion also has the merit of being an olive branch extended to the Goblins.
(3) McGonnagal was rather hesitant at the idea but her own promotion to the Headmistress Office as well as Charity Burbage tragic death have created something of shortage of Gryffindor professors. The evident emotion showed by the half-giant (demonstrated by the bone crushing hugh received by the new headmistress) and his determination to prove himself up to the task have reconcilied her with her decision, partly at least...
As an addendum, why Flitwick instead of Sprout? She's of an age with McGonagall, so she should be as senior as her in the Hogwarts staff overall. Plus they are pretty close. Is it the goblin thing?
As an addendum, why Flitwick instead of Sprout? She's of an age with McGonagall, so she should be as senior as her in the Hogwarts staff overall. Plus they are pretty close. Is it the goblin thing?
Partly, they're is allot to repair in the ministry relationship with them, and Flitwick promotion make for a nice goodwill gesture. Besside, naming a half-breed at a position of authority do fit with Kingsley program aniway.
They're is something to it beyond that however: at this point war hero creds matter a great deal, especially when it come to moral authority (which is obviously precious for an Hogwarts teacher considering how lopsided the student-staff ratio is) and while they both contributed significantly to the victory by their actions, and are even more respected for it then before, the fact remain that Pomona didn't do anything as spectacular, especially on a symbolic level, as defeating Antonin Dolohov. Unjust? Yes, but probably inevitable in the circumstances.
Mind you, peoples would have accepted Pomona without problem too but a choice had to be made and Flitwick got the nood.
1998 to 1999 has many interesting possibilities to it, and I already have ideas percolating for Students or Professors. Along with the inevitable clean up of Hogwarts after the nasty business. How would you deal with returning students finishing their 7th year?
1998 to 1999 has many interesting possibilities to it, and I already have ideas percolating for Students or Professors. Along with the inevitable clean up of Hogwarts after the nasty business. How would you deal with returning students finishing their 7th year?
To be clear, this is definitely not a ''Coming Soon'', its merely something that came to my mind and that I liked enough to think that it would be great to put it down in writing for some possible future use at some point down the line. Once I'm done working on it I might even let somebody else borrow it from me if they want to give it a go...
As to the matter at hand, I know allot of fanfic's have students be able to pass their exams during the summer but I simply don't see it. Hogwarts is in ruin, four professors have to be replaced, a huge chunk of the school students had to spend the year in hiding and we know that at least two classes where twisted beyond recognition and others where probably affected as well (I can't see History of Magic having been left alone, for one) so I decided to simply have the last year behind wiped out academically-speaking as far as Hogwarts is concern and everyone continuing their education have to repeat the year they where in or that they would have been supposed to be in. Harry and Ron are connanically stated to have received special dispensations from their NEWT's by Kingsley in order to be allowed as auror so they won't be there. Neville was stated to have done so as well but I have a somewhat hard time seeing Hogwarts hire a professor who hasn't gotten his NEWT's for the class he would teach, especially one that seem pretty academic like Herbology, so I am conflicted and for now inclined to find a way around it by having him be an auror for a short time to help with the immediate post-war stabilisation but eventually choosing to complete his education and go on another route.
Most of the rest of the students should come back, however, tough they're would probably be a few former students in Azkaban due to siding with Voldemort in the battle.
Here is the, for the moment at least, final version
The Aftermath
The year is 1998 and the month is september, the shadow who had threatened Wizarding Britain for more then a half a century has at last been lifted. Tom Riddle is dead, having been defeated in single combat by the Boy Who Lived, while his army was torn ashunder as a result of the climatic battle who had preceded the final duel. Those of his servants who have escaped death or capture are now either relentlessly pursued by the ministry or desperately trying to get out of Britain, even if the aurors of their own countries await them. The very ideal who had animated his cause, Blood Purity, had been shown for the lie it was by the very atrocities and his lackeys had commited. Under its newly-named Minister for Magic Kingsley Shackelbolth Wizarding Britain seek to heal the wounds of the war and hopefully build a fairer and more just future.
Nowhere is the task harder then in Hogwarts, the beating heart of Wizarding Britain where not even the glory and joy of the final victory against the Dark Lord can wipe away the battlescars shown by the castle and the memories of the horors and pains experimented during and before the final showndown. Headmistress Minerva McGonnagal and Deputy Headmaster Fillius Flitwick, both splendid professors and celebrated war heroes in their own rights, will have to carry a great burden as Hogwarts tries to return to some semblance of normalcy...
KNOWN HOGWARTS STAFF:
Headmistress: Minerva McGonnagal
Transfiguration Professor:
Potions Master: Horace Slughorn (Head of Slytherin) (1)
Herbology Professor: Pomona Sprout (Head of Hufflepuff)
Defense Against the Dark Arts Professor:
Muggle Studies:
History of Magic Professor: The Ghost of Cutberth Binns
Astronomy Professor: Aurora Sinistra
Charms Professor: Fillius Flitwick (Head of Ravenclaw and Deputy Headmaster) (2)
Divination Professor: Sybil Trelawney
Arithmancy Professor: Septima Vector
Ancient Runes Professor: Bathsheda Babbling
Care for the Magical Creatures Professor: Rubeus Hagrid (Head of Gryffindor) (3)
Flying Instructor: Madam Rolanda Hooch
Librarians: Madame Pynce
Gamekeeper:
Caretaker: Poppey Pomfresh
Janitor: Argus Filch
KNOWN HOGWARTS STUDENTS:
1st Year (1986-87)
2nd Year (1985)
Gryffindor:
Slytherin:
Ravenclaw:
Hufflepuff:
3rd Year (1984)
Gryffindor: Euan Abercrombie
Slytherin:
Ravenclaw:
Hufflepuff: Rose Zeller
4th year (1983)
Gryffindor: Dennis Creevey (DA), Natalie McDonald, Jimmy Peakes, Nigel Wolpert (DA),
Slytherin: Malcolm Baddock, Graham Pritchard
Ravenclaw: Stewart Ackerley, Emma Dobbs, Orla Quirke,
Hufflepuff: Eleanor Branstone, Laura Madley, Owen Cauldwell, Kevin Whitby
Ravenclaw: Cho-Chang (DA), Stephen Cornfoot, Kevin Entwhistle, Morag MacDougal, Roger Malone, Oliver Rivers, Terry Boot (DA), Mandy Brocklehurst, Michael Corner, Antony Goldstein (DA, Prefect), Sue Li, Padma Patil (DA), Lisa Turpin,
Hufflepuff: Lily Moon, Alice Tolipant (DA), Sally-Anne Perks, Sally Smith, Hannah Abbott (DA, Prefect), Susan Bones (DA), Justin Flint-Fletchley (DA), Wayne Hopkins, Megan Jones, Leanne Winston, Ernest MacMillan (DA, Head Boy)(9),
Character Application: character creation is free, i.e. you can make up OCs at will and put them in any school year of your choice, or pick canon characters. For now, characters will be limited to Hogwarts students and staff (the only exception is Headmistress McGonagall). Claims will always be open. Players are encouraged to sign up at least two characters initially, although it's not a requirement. If there is interest, the scope of this RP may eventually be widened to include other parts of the Wizarding World.
CHARACTER SHEET:
Name: Your character's full name Nickname: How your character is known Gender: self-explanatory Age: self-explanatory Looks (picture if possible): physical description, and/or a picture at the header Nationality: probably either English, Welsh, Scottish or Irish, with few exceptions Blood & Economic Status: Pure-blood/Half-blood/Muggleborn and Broke/Poor/Regular/Wealthy/Very Wealthy Hogwarts House & Year: self-explanatory, muggleborns are simply not shorted in Slytherin in this era but, appart from that, any student might be in any house. Wand: wood and core, length and stiffness are optional Other Possessions: a broom? A pet? You tell me, be reasonable Clubs (Optional):
Political Leanings (Optional): Bio: short background for your characters. Skills may be included here (again, be reasonable), as well as the classes you are taking if you're in the third year or after
Things to keep in mind for character creations (No need to post them);
Basic Need – what drives your character's day to day actions?
Greatest Strength – when they become the hero triumphant, what trait is it that motivated your character to overcome the odds?
Fatal Flaw – when your character reaches their lowest point, what trait dragged them there?
A note on modding: The moderation style of this RP, inspired by Byzantine style of moderation, can be summed up by the maxim "laissez faire, ne laissez pas passer". In other words, the story and game development is mostly up to the players and player-to-player interaction. i.e. mod-enforced events will be sparce and mostly used to mark the passage of time and/or get the ball rolling in term of interactions (unless I'm modding a conflict between multiple players).
Players-created plotlines are not allowed but encouraged! However, we like plausibility and we like HP canon, so we will step in and intervene if something becomes too outlandish for our standarts. Some minor divergences are acceptable though (e.g. altering a few birth years).
A note on Cursed Child: The cannonicity of the play has proven to be the subject of much debates among Potter fans, many of which related to their opinions of their plot points. Without necessarely entering said debate (suffice it to be said that I tend to side with those who don't have a high opinion of the play) I will have to discard it as far as this RP is concerned for thematic and gameplay reason: as indicated by its very name, The Aftermath will explore the state of Wizardin Britain and the consequences of the demise of both Voldemort and everything he stood for. Having time-turners able to change the past and/or an heiress who could serve as a point of ralliement for his partisans simply won't do. Some smaller plot points of the play might appear/be alluded too but matters would be decided on a case per case basis in that regard.
Consequences of the war on Hogwarts Curriculum and Student bodie: As a general rule every student and professor who wasn't explicitely named dead, or least grievously wounded, is alive. Appart from the obvious gameplay reasons motivating such a choice (the more characters with canon-characterisation the better) it also make sense from in-universe POV as well: the relief army who saved Hogwarts having been particularly massive by wizarding standart and the last phase of the battle especially hard-fought ods are most of the Fallen Fifty only joined the battle at dawn.
Academically speaking, the Ministry as well as the school staff as decided to simply erase the past year and make all those desiring or needing to continue their education take back the year they either where in or would have been in throughout the 1997-1998 school year. Between Hogwarts being ruin, four professors having to be replaced, a very large fraction of the school students having had to spend the last year in hiding and the fact that at least two classes where twisted beyond recognition and others where probably affected as well (I can't see History of Magic having been left alone, for one) they're was simply too many issues to be adressed for Kingsley and Hogwarts to take a different approach.
Start of the Game: We'll all start at King's Cross Station on September 1st, 1998.
(1) Riddle final defeat and his role in the Battle of Hogwarts have allowed the Potion Master to finally make peace with his past mistakes and move on.
(2) If one would count his first tenure as Potion Master Slughorn would have more seniority but in the climate of fall 1998 they're is simply no way then a Slytherin Headmaster or Deputy Headmaster could be widely accepted. Appart from rewarding the good services a war hero who was more then qualified for the job Flitwick promotion also has the merit of being an olive branch extended to the Goblins.
(3) McGonnagal was rather hesitant at the idea but her own promotion to the Headmistress Office as well as Charity Burbage tragic death have created something of shortage of Gryffindor professors. The evident emotion showed by the half-giant (demonstrated by the bone crushing hugh received by the new headmistress) and his determination to prove himself up to the task have reconcilied her with her decision, partly at least...
(4) ''Can we stop pretending we ever believed anybody else had a bloody shot?'' Ron Weasley
(5) Briefly became an auror alongside Harry and Ron out of a sense of duty to help the cleanup but was visibly ill at ease at the tought of making it a career. A conversation with Kingsley convinced him they're was no shame in deciding to finish his education rather then stay past august.
(6) Unsurprisingly considering her conduct immediately before the battle, McGonnagal chooses to take Pansy's badge away.
(7) Originally chosen by Dumbledore to replace Draco upon his resignation Theodore was made Head Boy during his seventh year because of his familly ties with the Death Eaters. To the surprise of many, however, he used his new powers to sabotage the Death Eaters-aligned administration of the school as much as he could and managed, tough not without facing great danger, to avoid being branded with the Dark Mark. While Headmistress McGonnagal deemed the decisions taken during the last year, and therefore Theodore nomination as Head Boy, null and void but his conduct during the Year of Darkness, as well as his role in gathering and fighting among the relief army who saved the defender of the school, where more then enough to ensure that he would be free of any suspicions of Death Eater sympathies and got to keep his prefect badge.
(8) For most of her school years Milicent was seen by her peers as girl troll, in looks, manners, and intelligence. Very few indeed were those who saw past that image, even if her school results proved to be surprisingly exemplar and even if some of the worse Death Eaters supporters in her house wound up falling in unpleasant mishaps when she was around in later years...
Only when Slughorn began to call on some of his students to gather wizards and witches from all across Britain and Ireland did the mask fall, revealing a witch of quick mind and of steely temperament who had merely played the troll to escape the notice of her most unpleasant housemates for years on end. In the hours which would follow she would play a significant role in gathering reinforcement for the school and fight with considerable talent to save it.
For these deeds she is now Pansy's successor as prefect, both hated and feared by her housemates who would have rather seen the Death Eaters triumph.
(9) With Hermione as Head Girl and McGonagall in charge the school was keen to recognise the deeds of other houses as well. A leader among badgers since his first year, an early and influential supporter of the DA and the relative of some significant political figures on the right side of the war Ernie wound up being considered an obvious choice for Head Boy.
The Great War is over. After four years of slaughters that could have scarcely been imagined beforehand the leaders of the principal allied powers are about to convene in Paris to bring peace to a scarred world. From the german colonies in the pacific to the distrubtion of the territories of the defunct Austro-Hungarian territories and from Wilson project of League of Nations to German Reperations the decisions taken in Paris are bound to affect profoundly the future trajectory of humankind.
Outside of the calm and civilities Conference rooms of Paris and the castles of Île de France, however, canon fire often still rule the day. Troughout the west, communist parties seeking to capitalise in the momentum given to them by the victories of the Bolsheviks and of the Hungarian communists of Bela Kun are readying themselves for action. In Russia herself, however, the new communist government and his red army have to defend themselves against the assaults of the White armies seeking to restore tsarism, while many of the numerous peoples who formed the Russian Empire are seeing in the confusion the perfect opportunity to immitate the Poles and win their independance. In the former Ottoman Empire the Turks are seeking to salvage something of the defeats while the Arabs and Armenians seek to realise dreams of nationhood and the Greeks their old Megali Idea. In Germany the newly established center-left government is trying desperately to hold on to power and confront the chaos caused by revolutions while in China and Mexico hopes of seeing such a chaos put to and end can at last be seen in the horizon, tough wheter the Kuomintang and the Caranza governement are gonna remain united long enough to do so remain to be seen.
As such an uncertain future becon the world only one thing can truly be certain: for the time being the peace so many have praiyed for, and for so long, is bound to be bloody indeed.
-Canada
-Australia
-South Africa
-Portugal
-Belgium
-Yugoslavia
-Bulgaria
And many others available on demand
Mechanics:
-To properly simulate both the way the Paris Peace Conference worked and the timeframe she needed to conduct her business I'm gonna put special rules in application for it.
-The Big Three are gonna be the only actually sitting at the conference full time and will decide when they will receive delegates from other entities, and allow them to make their cases, and when they send them back out. Once they are satisfied they write the treaties and folks have the choice to either accept them or live with the consequences.
-The Conference Thread will essentially be an RPG thread simulating the activites of the building where the three most powerfull mens in the world are doing business. Peoples didn't get to come and go there without invitations and other players won't either. DO NOT barge into the thread.
-The Beiyan government (the internationaly recognised government of China at the time) itself will be an NPC and would be threated as more of an asset that Warlords will seek to have under their influences then an autonomous actor. A player who has control of a warlord or a clique of warlords and who has enough success could eventually get to a point where he and said government end up fusioning toguether.
-Generally speaking most of the playable entities in China are gonna be cliques, regroupment of warlords based on personnal loyalties and shared interests. Loyalties to cliques where especially volatiles, to the point where prisoners often simply shifted sides. Such a situation cut both ways: its gonna be easy to integrate the personnels of defeated foes but it also mean that whatever power you accumulate can easily prove ephemeral.
-Sun Yat Sen government in Ghanzou is an exception to both rules as it seek to replace and not control the Beiyan government and has enough of an ideological base to have a core of truly dedicated followers. As a consequence, however, it will also have a harder time integrating former warlord foes and the warlords who fail into whatever sphere of influence it manage to create would be treated more like vassal states. If any other organisation in China manage to acquire enough of an ideological specificity (like the communists in OTL) they may shed the mechanics for the warlords and began to function like the Ghanzou government.
-The confused situation in Russia and her surroundings, as well as in China mean't that they're is a multitude or smaller, more or less organised, factions going around. Appart from the fact that those listed above are obviously playable they're is no uniform rules as to what's playable and what's not. Things will be decided on a case per case basis so if you are interested in one of those factions then send me a PM.
Rules:
-Three claims, as usual. I reserve myself the right to give you your second or third claim if I deem it better so be ready to play any of your choice. Claims by proxy are acceptable.
-Be polite to your fellow players and the mods OOC.
-We are gonna reply to every diplo to NPC's in 24 hours max
-Until the Paris Peace Conference is over each turn is gonna be six months long, once that's done we will change to the standart year per turn until if and when the post war conflicts are winding down. Then we will move on to two years a turn until further notice.
-Generally, each turn will last for 5 RL days but it may and probably will change depending on the in-game events.
-Appeals to mod have to wait 24 hours after the reports is given and will need to contain the specific aspects with whom the player disagree as well as a decently detailled reasoning for each of them.
-Last but the most important: enjoy yourselves
The Reckonings Map is from 1600, I would need help to make the modifications needed to make it fit 1610
1610, the world is a powder keg. In Eastern Europe a mighty army has ghatered under the banner of the white eagle, seeking to drive a stake in the hearth of the old rival of the Commonwealth once and for all. In the middle-east, Persia and the Ottoman Empire are clashing once more as Shah Abbas I seek to regain Mesopotamia and the Caucasus for the Safavids. Accross the Atlantic, french settlers of the Saint-Lawrence valley, alongside their Huron allies, and English ones from Virginia have taken arms against the Iroquois and the Powatanies, marking the beguining of the wars between the indigenous peoples of North America and the european settlers having made their new homes in the continents as well as their descendants. Finally, in Western Europe the disputed succession of the duchies of Cleves and Julliers threaten to end the fragile peace having established herself at the beguining of the century, as Henri IV of France has come to see in the crisis the occasion of finally bringuing his old Hapsburg ennemies low and bring an end to the religious wars between protestant and catholics on France terms. What would come of these wars none truly know, appart for the fact that they will set the world afflame!
OOC: Basically the first mod event of this game would have Henri IV survive his OTL assasination, allowing him to lead his coalition of anti-Hapsburgs Catholics and Protestants on an offensive war to break Spain power, as he planned to do before he died, and most likely start an ITTL version of the Thirty Years War.
-Three claims, as usual. I reserve myself the right to give you your second or third claim if I deem it better so be ready to play any of your choice. Claims by proxy are acceptable.
-Be polite to your fellow players and the mods OOC.
-We are gonna reply to every diplo to NPC's in 24 hours max
-Generally, each turn will last for 5 RL days but it may and probably will change depending on the in-game events.
-Appeals to mod have to wait 24 hours after the reports is given and will need to contain the specific aspects with whom the player disagree as well as a decently detailled reasoning for each of them.
-Last but the most important: enjoy yourselves
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The Return of the Shadow (Middle-Earth Worldbuilding)
An old idea based on Tolkien unfinished story the ''New Shadow'' and a Rome Total War mod exploring similar ideas. Either a concept for an NG or a story
- The conspiracy described in The New shadow fail but the cult keep growing during Eldarion reign, despite his best efforts, witch is a long time since with him they pretty much restart at Elros. The son of Eldarion his weak and under his reign the cult grow in followers like never before and even start to build support among some some key figures of the realm, without much opposition despite being still outlawed. Crucially, those secret followers at court include the second son of (insert Eldarion successor name).
-At his death the cultist take over Minas Tiriths in a coup but a son of the legitimate king escape to Arnor, rallying the loyalists and getting Rohan support. The Second Kin Strife end up in victory for the righfull king but both Gondor and Rohan take huge loses and the cultits manage to retreat toward what was Mordor and start breeding Orcs to bulster their weakened armies. Through all this Herumor is the power behind the throne.
-During the mess Harad, the Wainriders and Umbar take back their independance. The cultist in Arnor take advantage of the departure of much of their ennemies to the south to establish a cultist principalty in Cam Dun and Rudhaur.
-Thanks to the losses Rohan took during the Second Kin-Strife the Dunlendings manage to successfully revolt and fortify Isengard as a good natural position against Rohan.
-In the north things are going better at first, the Woodland realms still prosper under Thranduil and the Dwarves are still at the Lonely Mountain, even if less present as Durin VII has lead a return to Moria. This is pretty much the best its gonna get for the Dwarves post-first age, tough, as their demographics are starting to bear on them, even if its doesnt weaken too much at the moment. When they aren't minning and crafting most of their time is occupied at warring against the increasingly desesparate Orcs of the Misty Mountains, who despite their weakness remain a danger as their high reproductive rate allow them to compensate, at least partly, large looses.
-Unfortunately, the Easterling soon began to launch raids of greater and greater strenght and frequencies as their tribes learned the lessons of the War of the Ring and grew more organised.
-In reaction more and more northmens realms and tribes of the area began to gather under the banner of Dale and the house of Girion. As our tale began the Raven Banner flows over all Northmens from the eastern border with Eriador to the Sea of Run and from the Misty Mountains to the Fields of Celebrants. Under their leadership the region has been emptied of raiders. The King of Dale, knows, however, that its only the calm before the storm as tales of a mighty Easterling warlord about to unify all of his people and march west have come to Dale more and more and more often as years passes. The mightiest independent kingdom created by mens without the blood of Numénor in their veins will need all of the strenght and courage of his king, lords and warriors in the years to come.
Morgoth might be still safely emprisoned beyond the Door of the Night and Sauron reduced to nothing more then a shade but the evil they stood for is once more on the march.
TBF, it that ever came into being it is definitely NOT gonna be now! Making it a work and preparing the worldbuilding for it would be a monumental undertaking
On the other hand I might be due for good old story writing tough...
TBF, it that ever came into being it is definitely NOT gonna be now! Making it a work and preparing the worldbuilding for it would be a monumental undertaking
On the other hand I might be due for good old story writing tough...
So, another entry to the ''ideas I want to keep around somewhere since they're is some chances I will do something with them latter''. @Oh I am slain! that one might be of interest to you since you mentionned a few time I should get into questing.
Every Four Years We Go to the Pols...
You, my dear questers will take control of a candidate to this greatest price of all in american politics: the presidency itself! Which party? In which year? Which candidate? You might ask and that, my dear questers, is the beauty of it: you get to choose! Will you seek to preserve american history or change it? Will you make it to the oval office or go down as one of the vainquished? Your decisions when confronted to unforseen events, your stance on issues and the way you will distribute the ressources your campaign will determine it.
Q&A:
Q: So what's this? A: ''This'' is my first quest concept, based inspired by my favourite webgame: The Campaign Trail.
Q: So, fancy talks asside, which candidates can we truly play?
A: All elections from 1832 onward are gonna be playable, appart from 2012 and 2016 as I'd rather avoid getting politicians who might be candidates in 2020 involved for obvious reasons, as it is arguably the first election where voting rights had been expanded enough to give rise to something looking like mass politics and where most states already had the ''winner takes all'' ethos when it come to the distribution of their electoral vote we are familiar with. When it come to the candidates they're will obviously be case per case as to whom might be playable but generally speaking any credible candidate or anyone who might have realistically ran with some chance of success will be playable, even third party candidates as long as they are significant enough. Candidates who didn't win their party nomination in OTL will have to go through a ''convention/primary'' phase before moving on to the general election should you emerge victorious, while a candidate who did win its party nomination in OTL would give the option to skip directly to the general election. Should you not manage to do so you will get to chose among those who who did make it through their conventions and lead one of them straight to November, and see how your actions changed the political scene, even in defeat...
Q: So how close to The Campaign Trail will this quest be?
A: Somewhat, as the format of the game is quite close to a quest to begin with. I also plan to retain the scale of positions for every issues given to every state as a general indication of their positions. I am of the NG school of historical RPG's, however, which mean that as far as I'm concern they're is nothing better to properly simulate history then the brain of the mod so the chance aspect of the game would be reduced to a minimum. Unlike in the game, the degree of information available will also vary depending on the era you decide to play in. A candidate in mid 19th century will obviously have less information at his disposal then one during the 21st century.
Q: And how will we decide when and who we will play exactly?
A: First they're will be a vote to decide which Party system we will play in, then have one on the specific election before finally choosing a candidate.
Q: And after the election is done, will it all be over?
A: Possibly, but it doesn't have to be. If they're is interest for it we might play the following election, which will undoutebly be quite different from OTL as your decisions would have affected how the next four year unfolded in the US...
Q: During which party System shall we play?
( ) The Second Party System (1824-1854):
Lasting for thirdy year the Second Party System saw parties define themselves by their positions on Jacksonism. The Democrats, who had been founded to assemble the supporters of the 7th president under one banner, supported it and embraced its opposition to banking systems, its economic laissez-faire, its propensity to support presidential powers over congressional ones and its expansionism. Their National Republicans/Whigs sought to unite the, powerfull but disparate, political forces opposing Jacksonism around a program of high tarifs, internal improvements, general opposition to territorial expansion and a strong banking systems and support for congressional powers over presidential ones. While slavery and sectional tensions very much always remained important issues they most saw coalitions from both parties facing each other every time they where debated, as both the Democrats and the Whigs had a Southern and a Northern wings. Maintaining a degree of coordination between them is one of the key task of any campaign ran during that era.
Key Issues:
Tarifs
Slavery
Internal Improvements
Banking Systems
Expansion
Immigration
Congressional vs Presidential Powers
Spoil System
Usual Swing States:
Louisiana, Georgia, South Carolina, North Carolina, Indiana, Ohio, Pennsylvannia, New-York, Maine
Significant Third Parties:
Anti-Massonic Party, Free Soil Party.
( ) The Third Party System (1854-1896):
During its earlier year the Third Party System was dominated by the political issues related, in one way or another, to slavery throughout the years leading up to the American Civil War, the War itself and the Reconscruction. Following the Compromise of 1877 social issues, such as Prohibition, Immigration and Education in non-English langages, took, alongside the Tariffs, the center of the scene before the new issues arising in the 1890's lead to the birth of the Fourth Party system. Generally speaking, throughout the 32 years of the existence of the Third Party System the Republicans, founded to defend the interests, values and beliefs of the North, where trying to keep all the states of the North and, latter, the West in their columns while the Democracts tried to supplement their solid bloc in the South with a few northern states.
Key Issues:
Slavery
Bloody Kansas
The Civil War
Warpowers
Conscription
Transcontinental Railway
Treasury measures
Reconstruction and Civil Rights
Prohibition
Immigration
Education
Tarifs
Usual Swing States:
Indiana, Ohio, New York, Connecticut, Louisiana and Georgia (the latter two from the Civil War until 1876).
( ) The Fourth Party System Party System (1896-1932):
With the Fourth Party System we have, for the first time, political fights centered on a recognisable opposition with the Right-Conservative figures against more Left-Liberal ones. Debates about prohibition and women suffrage proved to be divise questions, as the american victorious participation to the Spanish-American and First World wars also led to vigorous debates among american place in the world. Economic issues, however, where at the center of the political life of the country, wheter through the ever present tarifs, the debate on Bimetallism or the efforts of the progressive to break trusts, ensure barganing rights and create work norms. Both parties had their liberal and conservative wings, with former ascendant among the democrats while the latter was gaining power inside the Republican Party, during this era and any campaign needed to ensure some cohesion between them.
( ) The Fifth Party System Party System (1932-1968)
With the fifth party system we can, for the first time, began to see a clear division between left and right along party lines. Much like opposition or support for Jacksonism had dominated the Second Party System the fifth more often then not revolved around the New Deal and its legacy. The Great Depression having lead the Republicans, who where in power in 1929 and where latter blamed for their subsequent relative innaction, to loose the dominance they had enjoyed since the Civil War and to spend much of the era trying to find a way to shake the grip the New Deal Coalition seemed to have on power, leading to fierce factional fights between moderates and conservatives. The Democrats, on their part, enjoyed renewed success as the aforementioned New Deal Coalition lead them to victory most often then not. Combining the domination over the South it inherited from the Fourth Party System with the high level of supports among minority and urban areas they still enjoin today with a high level of popularity among Blue Collar workers they dominated the Fifth Party System like none had been by one party since the First Party System and the Democratic-Republicans.
( ) The Sixth Party System Party System (1968-Present)
The party system who still endure to the present day, the Sixth Party System emerged as a result of the realignement who followed the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and 1965 and as a result of the Vietnam war. The South turned toward the Republicans, who also increased their degree of dominance over the Great Plains, while the Democrats growing margins among minorities and urban areas helped them establish their dominance over the Northeast and the Western Coast. By all accounts the longest of all party systems it shows more variation in term of important issues and swing states, to the point that many speculate that latter historians would describe the United States of 2019 as existing a Seventh Party System, with 2000 and 2008 as the two most likely dates for its begining. The Sixth Party System has also proved remarkable in its use of the primary system. While primaries where held in 1968 and before their small numbers and the process through which delegates latter chosen still allowed party elites to play a more important then them in choosing candidates. From 1972 onward such a state of affair will change and the opinion of its own party rank and file will became paramount in importance to any candidate to the presidency.
Key Issues:
Taxes
Health care
Social Security
Environment
The Cold War
War on Terror
Attitude to adopt toward China
Abortion
LGBT Rights
Education
Trade
Immigration
Financial Regulations
Usual Swing States:
Ohio, Florida, Iowa, New Hampshire, New Mexico (until 2004), Michigan, Pennsylvania, California (until 1988), Colorado, North Carolina (from 2008 onward), Virginia (from 2008 onward), West Virginia (during the 90's), Tennessee (during the 90's and in 2000), Texas (until 1976).
I don't know exactly how it came up but a while ago some friends and I randomly ended discussing the economy of the Wizarding World. I decided to consign some of my musing to paper and, little by little, they grew large enough for me to presume that somebody, somewhere, might find them a passably interesting read and organise them as a little analytic essay
Modernity and Archaism: Some Toughts on the Economy of the Wizarding World
Many have written at lenghts about the worldbuilding issues when it come to the economy of the Wizarding world, I don't deny them but neither do I plan to adress them in any extent.
What I do plan to do here is to create as clear, coherent and ''realistic'' a picture as I can based on previous discussions I had on the subject as well as what canon give us. To do so we will to start with the main ways in which magic and the Statute of Secrecy have affected the economic developments of the Wizarding World and lead it to diverge more and more from the Muggle World, for both the better and worst:
I) Magic as a substitute for Manual Labour and Cheap Products:
Probably the greatest advantage magic provide from an economic POV. More of the basic necessities of life can be provided for by magic. Simple houses can be built or renovated in an afternoon, with almost any kind of material as shown by the Burrow, while spells can ensure that basic architectural principles can be safely ignored and their is no reason to think that a similar situation isn't prevailing for other form of manual labours as well, who at most, would employ only a proportionally very small number of individuals or be outsourced to house-elves to some extent. In the same vein, basic life items can be easily duplicated and/or their creation ''automatised'' through magic. Even food, who has been stated to be neither duplicable nor conjurable as an exception to Gamp Law of Elemental Transfiguration, can be produced far more easily with magic, thanks to magic ability to bend the climate and play with time and space.
The overall result is that, while they're is certainly some wild income inequalities, we will speak about more latter, poverty as we understand it is simply not a widespread economic and social phenomenon. The Weasleys, deemed poor in-universe, would probably be lower middle-class at worst by first world standards, and while their socioeconomic status was a source of anguish for Ron from time to time they didn't seem to be in any way destitute, or even living in financial precarity. If one add the fact that, with Hogwarts and the absence of post-secondary education as well as Saint-Mungo playing the role of a fully fledged public healthcare system, we end up with a society who, considering all her flaws, is doing rather surprisingly well in providing for its members, its human members at the very least.
The only examples of true poverty we get to see are the Gaunts, who where simply probably too mentally ill to function in most employment, and Lupin, whose troubles had nothing to do with the absence of good jobs he was qualified to occupy and everything to do with anti-wereworlf sentiments.
II) Isolation and Early Globalisation:
Portkeys and apparitions allow individuals and merchandise to travel faster then any means of transportation we have at hand right now, let alone what the world had in the early 18th century. As a result, one can expect that economic and, more relevant to our purposes, economic ties with magical communities accross the world. We get some sign of that state of affairs in canon too, as potions using ingredients from all over the place are mentionned and some of the material Olivander is stated to use are definitely not indigenous to Britain or Ireland.
Of course, if distances don't restrain the economy of the Wizarding World the Statute of Secrecy does. While we never got any precise details and the sheer existence of Half-Blood and Muggleborns probably ensure that at least some ties with the muggleworld remain I do believe it is fair to assume that the Statute of Secrecy killed most commercial and financial exchanges between the two world.
The overall results of those twin, but opposed, trend is an economy that is both extremely diverse and parochial, including a large range of culture and products but also strongly limited in its number of actors as well as limiting them to those share the commonalities of wizarding culture.
This state of affairs also mean that the International Wizarding Confederacy can wield quite a big stick, as even a very partially successful boycott against a magical government having uncured its disfavour can cripple their economy.
III) The survival of the Artisans ways of Life
Magic is, in many ways, described as to be as much of an art then a science. Yes, you have a fairly well-garnished list of spells who can be, in principle at least, tought to anyone have the will and the talent to master them but, on the other hand, you also have have aknnowledgements of the importance of the importance of the ''personal touch'' in magic, with magical prodigies like Dumbledore and Riddle yes but also with more wizards of more common abilities, like the Weasley twins and their pranks. The latter is, obviously, far more relevant to the matter at hand.
The importance of this ''personal touch'' from an economic standpoint reside in the fact that it likely make it incredibly easy for magical artisans producing goods beyond your bare, cheap products to simply put them under some good anti-duplication charms, while copy would probably lose something of the original as well, and simply abstain from spreading the method of their creations overly widely. On other hand, it also mean that it might take quite some time for a magical artisan to come into its own, either through experimentation or training.
The overall result is that a magical expy of the Industrial revolution both happened early, for basic cheap items and subsistence goods, and didn't happen at all for anything else, allowing the master-apprentice systems of the old days to still be running strong, in the West at the very least. It also means that this system is probably at loot less exploitative then it was historically. After all, you simply don't have a steady flux of peasants, and to a lesser extent poor urban dwellers, willing to take their place for a shot at some social mobility and the unique aspect of artisanal magic my speculations rest on would mean that a disgruntled apprentice could definitely do serious damage to his master if he decide to spill the beans on some of its technique. As a result a master has to take care of his apprentices in a way many they didn't in real life and provide them with fairly good work conditions and compensations.
IV) The Importance of the Civil Service
In many ways the relative greater wealth per capita of the Wizarding World is happy state of affairs for its governments, not only in it of itself but also because it allowed them the economic margin of manoeuver needed to face the challenges coming with the Statute of Secrecy. Not only must a wizarding government cover everything a normal government of its time and place would presumably cover but also deal with all the myriad of matters they need to keep an eye on to preserve the statute.
While such a state of affairs obviously has massive political and social obligations it does have some serious economic implications as well. For a start, there is very strong ods that the pourcentage of wizards employed by the ministry dwarf anything civil services and governments in real life have reached. Moreover, its importance, alongside the absence of other avenues for ambitious individuals, either having never really existed in the wizarding world or having never existed there, essentially ensured that the ministry would, in spite of all his flaws, be considered the natural destination for most talented and/or upper class wizards, as the expectations Slughorn originally had for Riddle have shown in canon.
V) Gringots and Trimetalism
Ironically enough, considering the criticism often lobbied at J.K economic worldbuilding, the economic importance of gold, silver and bronze make far more sense in the Wizarding World then in ours. To the best of our knowledge, these precious metals ended up playing a key role in the economic history of the world despite the relative absence of practical use of the two formers more or less because some of our long lost ancestors decided they had value because of their shininess. By comparison the use of these three metals for coinage in the Wizarding World his rather logical, as they are one of the exceptions to Gamp Law of Elemental Transfiguration magic cannot be used to duplicate them and its uses are limited when trying to counterfeit them. Conversely, it also provides a rather good thematic explanation for the control the Goblins exert over the Wizarding World banking system. With the dwarves absent from the Potterverse the Goblins are left standing as the only beings traditionally associated with mining and crafting in folklore and they are a certain logic to the idea that they took upon themselves to handle the circulation of the precious metals they had extracted and turned into coinage.
Like most aspects of the Wizarding World, its banking and financial systems where likely upended by the advent of the Statute of Secrecy. In one stroke whatever ties with muggle financial institutions wizards and magical beings might have had where broken, just as business opportunities Gringots or other magical banks might have pursued in the muggle world. In this new financial world consolidation was the name of the game, both due to the small number of potential customers and to the desire of the magical governments and the IWC to streamline most magical activity in the wake of the Statute. At this game Gringotts proved more adept and absorbed whatever other magical banks existing across the globe, probably in a series of relatively loose mergers transforming them into Gringotts ''regional branches''. The Statute also made Gringotts something of a partner in the governance of the Wizarding World, its branches all over the world serving as both mints and national banks to the magical governments as well as generally managing their finances.
Moreover, we have ample evidence in canon that the share of the world supply of gold and silver possessed by the Wizarding World is dramatically disproportionately larger then its share of the world population, creating a canonical disproportion between the prices of precious metals in the muggle world and the exchange rates between galleons and muggles currency at Gringotts.
As one can assume, any kind of commercial transactions between the two worlds is strictly regulated it is most likely that Gringotts or, outside of Britain, its local offices possess a monopoly in money exchange, allowing them to use whatever business contacts inside the muggle world they must have to be able to do so to take advantage of that discrepancy, as well as any discrepancy between the compared values of gold, silver and bronze in the two worlds, to make easy and significant profits, with only the willingness of wizards and other magical beings to continue to accept exchange currency at rates advantageous to Gringotts and the necessity to not cause a breach of the statute to restrict their extent. While Gringotts as an institution would have undoubtedly made serious profits in the process some of it would have equally assuredly be redirected toward those who had sufficient reserves of Galleons and Sickles in their vaults to allow the goblins to invest much of it in their name. The possession of such wealth in turn allowed them to wield much influence on a ministry that is canonically stated to, at least partially, depend on donations from wealthy wizards to properly function.
VI) The (Temporary) Survival of the Old Aristocracy
We therefore arrive to the survival, in Britain at least, of the Wizarding equivalent of the old landed aristocracy for a far longer period then its muggle counterpart, made evident by the power and wealth wielded in canon by families such as the Blacks and the Malfoys, with clues that they were not alone in doing so. Part of such a state was affair was due to the absence of a wizarding equivalent of the Industrial Revolution, and therefore of the rise of industrial and financial businessmen's who came with it and who eventually replaced them as the wealthiest group among western societies. Their absence was not, however, the only cause of the survival of the old aristocracy. Like the Malfoy's, some of these wizards might have been part of the landed nobility before the Statute of Secrecy, others might have found wealth through other pursuits. At the end, however, it probably proved of little importance: the very existence of ''wizarding manors'', the ''Most Ancient and Noble House of Black'' and ''Lord Voldemort'' provide us ample evidences that the family possessing wealth and power tended, ironically enough considering the politics of most of them, to adapt the styles, attitudes and functioning of the muggle nobility.
Like many things in the Wizarding World, this state of affairs came into being at least partially because of the Statute of Secrecy. The state would increase the value of both lands and real estates, therefore reinforcing the ''old aristocracy'' ethos of those who could afford them. As the memories of the witch hunts of old continued, ideologies disparaging the muggles and their world began to take roots and the demands for discretion of the statute simply began to drastically affect the lives of wizards, one can assume that the desire to live close to fellow wizards and/or isolated from the muggles. Those with money and power could essentially create such places, securing the necessary permissions from the ministry to have all charms and spells desired casted and having the means to pay to properly dissimulate these places and keep the muggles away from the by magical means. Once those things where done these terrains and buildings could be sold or rented for good prices, becoming magical households, wizarding businesses, Quidditch fields or the like.
Conclusion: The Fall of the Old Order or Why Ideas Matter
From the factors mentioned above historiographical and political methods of analysis centered on economics would probably conclude that the society of Wizarding Britain was bound to remain relatively unperturbed for a long time. After all, poverty as we know it and economic precarity where almost inexistent and all where afforded the basic services and necessity of lives. Moreover, such a feat was achieved while also allowing those possessing the most to live in incredible luxury and still wield much influence in politics. For those not satisfied with their lot in life Wizarding Britain offered, through the Ministry or private business ventures real opportunities for upward economic and social mobility, despite the fact that some real obstacles remained in their path. To change this society and to create the political crisis narrated in canon forces outside the economic realm needed to play. Only by alienating large swathes of the population and/or by self-destructive behaviour could those at the top of Wizarding Britain society loose their positions and by their embrace of purism they did the former, while the repeated incestuous unions concluded in purism name eventuality brought the latter. Therefore, and paradoxicaly, if there is one lesson about real life to be taken from my fanboy musings here is that economics and materialism prisms aren't sufficient to analyse a society, ideas do matter at the end.
Magnifico aut prospera aut amarum lacrimae: The Greengrass Familly in the 20th Century
Two weeks Ms. Rose Weasley, perhaps the greatest novelist produced by Wizarding Britain in the 200 years, published Reckoning at Hogwarts, the last book in her world-acclaimed Magnum Opus series of books: The Twenty-Five of the Year of the Snake, a retelling of the history of Wizarding Britain during the 20th century through the eyes of the twenty five wizards and witches who served at Hogwarts' prefect in 1942-43, when the Chamber of Secrets was first openned, several of whom were to play critical roles in subsequent events. Through his immense readership the series of novels contributed to a rediscovery of several historical figures by new generations. Among these characters few proved able to make ink flow, both inside of Ms. Weasley's novel as well as elsewhere, then the Ravenclaw couple par excellence: Hercules and Astoria Greengrass. Pages after pages sees them depicted as attractive characters, both in the litteral and figurative sense, who, while truly flawed, were both sincere in their desire to build a better Wizarding Britain by peacefull means, in their dislike for Blood Supremacy and in their engagement against both Grindelwald and Riddle, eventually playing a significant role in the downfall of both dark wizards. The Sphinxes they lead were themselves portrayed as fundamentaly honest, principled and well intentioned, even if often not completely devoid of prejudices, and the failure of their political project as both unavoidable and truly tragic, in its consequences even if perhaps not in itself.
For all intent and purposes, Ms. Weasley's books have caused a renewed interest for these two influential, yet often ignored, figures of some of Wizarding Britain History's most dramatic events and, by doing so, has caused something of a debate among wizarding historians. Many have praised Weasley's depiction of the pair as both historically accurate and compeling. Others, however, have criticised it, while freely admiting the pair's historical importance and their role in defeating both Grindelwald and Riddle as well as their scholarly achievements, for alegedly playing up their dislike for Blood Supremacy, their role in bringing Ravenclaw to side with Huffelpuff and Gryffindor against Slytherin in the second part of the 20th century and various incidents putting them in a good light. By the same breath, they also accuse Ms. Weasley of downplaying, among other things, the importance of their elitism and of the ties they long retained with some Blood Supremacists, as well of those of the Sphinxes in general. It is not our purpose here to settle such a debate but to provide our readers with the means to make their own opinion, and to do so by putting the story of the famous Ravenclaw couple in its proper context: the history of the Greengrass clan, or the House of Greengrass as it was then know.
By the
(WIP, essentially I am using the quarantine to finally put some old ideas to paper, therefore giving myself some closure )
A History of House Caron Part I: The Tale of the Nightsinger
A History of House Caron
Part I: The Tale of the Nightsinger
The pages of the tales of the Seven Kingdoms are often filled by the deeds of House Caron. The Kings Over the Mountains and their lost kingdom, the Flowerbane, Lord Royce ''the Cautious'', his brother and Lord of Commander of the Kingsguard Ser Raynard, Lord Pearse ''the Iron Nightingdale'', Lord Rolland ''the Bloody Bird'' and, of course, Lord Rolland ''The Bastardborn son of the Warrior'', to speak only of the men, have all played their part in forging the course of Westerosi History. House Caron does not claim any of these figures as its founder, however, but instead, and like many of the most prestigious First Men's houses, claim for itself origins going back to the myst of the First Long Night and of the Age of Heroes. We must thus begin our study of the masters of Nightsong with the legend know as the Tale of the Nightsinger.
It begins on the Isles of Face, as Men and Children of the were negociating the Pact that would bring an end to this first of war. During a feast held between former the ennemies a young bard stepped forward and humbly asked the lords of both kindred to allow him to entertain them. So beautifull was his voice and so captivating his songs that the Children invited him to come sing the song of the earth at their side, in the deepest of the deep woods, and taught him the ways of their music and of its magic, a knowledge he passed to his own descendants. It was said that to hear one of the Singers of the Forest, as these supposed first ancestors of House Caron were then known, would fill one's hearth with courage, peace and kindness, while also allowing the listener to get a glimpse of the wonders who had accompagnied the very creation of the world.
Children of the Forest Meeting Men
The Nightsinger himself, greatest of these bards of the old tales, had barely been born when the First Long Night fell on humanity. So mighty the power of his notes proved to be that it transcended the realm of the mind and of the hearth to affect the physical world. No matter how strong was the magic of death and cold the Others spreaded, those who heard him felt warmth return to their tired bodies despite the absence of fire and the ever-enduring presence of the howling winds. Naturally, many warriors of renown sought his company as a result and, in exchange, for the shield his voice provided them, tought him all they knew of the art of war. Soon, the great bard became a demon with a sword and, even more importantly, an archer of legend as well. Thus, when the man known only as the Last Hero began to gather companions for his grand and perilous journey north, to find the children of the forest, Caron, as the Nightsinger was, of course, named, joined him. Long he walked at his side, standing shoulder to shoulder with the man who had become his friend as many fell or leaved the company. On one fatefull day, however, they were embushed by a mighty group of Others and, while they prevailed, the Nightsinger was wounded. In spite of the pain, as well as the quasi-certitude of death continuing northward would now bring for him, he pleaded to be allowed to continue to march but the Last Hero severely forbade it. To gain the support of the Children was only a beginning, after all, and Caron would be needed for the battles to come after.
With a heavy heart the Nightsinger therefore made his south as soon as his body allowed him, continuing to fight for the salvation of humanity and against the engulfing darkness, the power of his voice seemingly increasing as time went by. Fate dictated that it was he who found himself at the head of the last band of warriors standing between the Other's army having come further south then any others and the Sunset Sea. On a steep hill of what would latter become the Marches they made their stand and there the Nightsinger sang what was purported to be the most beautifull song ever uttered in this world. Not only did it fill his new companions with warmth, hope and purposes but it caused the Others to, almost at one, began to shriek in pain and fear. Moreover, and a mere few seconds after his voice had ceased to fill the hills and passes, the Nightsinger also graped his bow and, using what was purportedly a magic arrow given to his ancestor by the children, he slew the commander of the Other's army. By his deeds victory was made possible and, for the first time, the Others were decisively defeated. After having done many other great deeds, including fighting at the Last Hero's side during the Battle for the Dawn, the Nightsinger returned to the site of his greatest victory and there a build a stout keep. In his own honour his descendants named the keep Nightsong and, having chosen him as the founder of their house, named themselves after him. House Caron was born.
The Nightsinger
What shall we make of this tale? While the events of this Second Last Night prevent us from dismissing in its entirety like maesters of old might have done we still cannot accept in its entirety. It is, therefore, probable, that the truth and the imagined will remain ever entangled in the Tale of the Nightsinger. Nevertheless, one would be foolish to simply dismiss it altogether as it provide us with valuable insight regarding the way the Carons perceive themselve and have sought to prevent their house to the world. First, and most evidently, by tying the tale their founding hero to the Last Hero himself and to the Battle for the Dawn themselves the Carons have claimed for themselves a mythical pedigree on par with such ancient houses as the Starks and the Darklyns, a mythical pedigree truly second to none. Descendants of a man who played a significant in saving life itself the Carons can, and did, become vassals, or even the vassals of vassals, but their blood would remain as worthy as any. Furthermore, one must also note that the Carons founder was not a conqueror but a defender, a protector of his fellow in humanity rather then a slayer of those who dwelth before in his future home. His excellence with the bow, the weapon per excellence of the besieged is, in this instance, rather revealing. In many ways the Tale of the Nightsinger evoque the role the marcher lords are deemed to play, in theory if not necessarely in practice, as defenders of the Stormlands. That the Carons have come to ascribe great importance to such matters is rather unsurprising when one note that geography has often made them the shield of the Stormlands against not only Dorne but the Reach as well. More subtly, but perhaps even more importantly, the tale of the Nightsinger reaffirm the ideal of the cultured warrior House Caron has often strived to incarnate. Through the story of its founder its members are taught that it is not enough to fight against cold, winter, darkness and death but that one must also fought FOR warmth, beauty and life and strive to keep their light shining ever more brightly, especially in moments of great sorrow and fear.
Nightsong
From A History of House Caron by Maester Camren, 341 AL
Born on March 3, 1925 at his familly manor of Foxridge Hercules Greengrass began his life at the very top of Wizarding Britain's society. While the House of Greengrass, as the Greengrass familly was know in those days, had endured something of a small eclipse during the 19th century its prestige and wealth had remained great. Moreover, in 1925 Hercules's father, Achilles Greengrass had already begun to climb the ladder of the Ministry and build a power bloc that whent far beyond the usual familly clientele. Added to the acquisition of the well garnished Carrick familly vault (whether a politically advantageous union quickly developed into a love match or if a love match happened to be politically advantageous union is unclear when it came to Arbela Carrick and Achilles Greengrass) began the process that would lead the Greengrass familly to heights not seen since the days of Ulysses ''The Great'' in the 18th century. As a second son, after his twin brother Aneas, Herculess could expect to enjoy the familly's wealth, power and prestige without having to bear the responsabilities the customs of the time among powerfull famillies gave to their ''heads''.
That prospect never came to pass, however, as Aneas was a squib and Hercules became the Heir, with everything coming with it. By all accounts of the time he seemed to have stepped in his new shoes easily enough and to have taken exceptionaly quickly to his political tutoring. Below the surface, however, the lost of his brother and best friend, proved to be the great tragedy of his childhood and was made only worse by the fact that the social mores of the old pureblood families of the time forbade him to express his grief. Many of the traits that would characterise him latter in life with all their contradictions might have been formed during these difficult moments. A never broken adhesion for the the letter, if not the spirit, of the rules of his social class, at least in public and as long as they remained all powerfull combined with a complete willingness to drop them as soon as they started to loose their influence. A Wizard determinated to appear very much the perfect Wizarding Patrician that, in spite of of the importance held by Blood Purity for most in his class, was also a Blood traitor since childhood, altough he only admited to himself latter in life. A man extremely proud of his lignenage who was also a believer in meritocracy and who only loved a shoopkeers's daughter. A wizard loving the history of his society as much as any and holding tight to it and yet also a firm believer in the humanity of muggles who was famous for his hate for both Grindelwald and Riddle. A person often reluctant to share his true toughts in public and often guarded during his reactions with others but whose guard where completely dropped the second he was among a select few, his future wife Astoria Montague (1) and his cousin Tiberius McLaghen first among them. A proud member of the Greengrass familly who was yet eager to make a first name for himself. These traits would all play their parts in his latter actions, and therefore contribute to determine the course of the events in which he took part.
While his bloodline and social status would have been enough to ensure that many would have looked up to him regardless of his first actions at the school Hercules nonetheless rather quickly made himself well know as a force of his own. Hercules was shorted in Ravenclaw, to the surprise of many (his father included) who had rather seen in silver and green. By all accounts he embraced his house with gusto. A brilliant student, competing only with his future wife and his rival Sullivan Travers for the title of best student of a house known for its intelectual prowesses, he gained the respect of many of his housemates while his tendencies to use his familly's influence to shield Ravenclaw muggleborns and its galleons to ensure that the poorer member of his houses could enjoy Hogsmeade as much as any other, also didn't hurt in that regard. As a result, and due to his general charisma and evident pride in his house, Hercules soon find himself designated as a kind of unnoficial leader by the Ravenclaws of his age, a role he enjoyed alongside his then friend, Astoria Montague. Both convinced Sphinxes and fiercely anti-Grindelwaldites they used their influence over their housemates to see those the suspected of sympathy for the Dark Wizard ostracised by their fellow Ravenclaws. As the war was only gathering pace and they enjoyed the support of the teachers they succeeded in doing so. Beloved by the Head of Ravenclaw of the time, Herbert Berry, and surrounded by a group of housemates who had all shown themselves gifted in one way or another their influence among their house only grew. As Hercules and Astoria were finding their footing as newly made prefects Ravenclaw was already well on its way to become a bastion of moderate politics, and would remain so for several decades. Lord Ravenclaw, as he was already nicknamed by his fellow students, was an ubiquitous figure in the Hogwarts of his days. Many historians have attempted to entangle where Hercules political toughts and actions ended and where Astoria's began when the two where still alive, without much success.
Hercules years inside the venerable school also saw him crosspath with numerous other personalities who would have a profound impact on subsequent events in Wizarding Britain, three of them needing to be discussed further here: Sullivan Travers, Bathilda Bagshot and Albus Dumbledore. By all accounts the future theorician of much of the Death Eater's doctrine and the ennemy of both Grindelwald and Riddle took an immediate dislike to each other, when they meet during their childhoods. Their years at Hogwarts only saw their antipathy grow, first because of their academic rivalry but latter through an increasingly political tug of war. For Travers, archtraditionalist fearfull of the growing influence of muggle culture on its Wizarding counterpart Hercules was a reformist in moderate clothing, a Wizard who, in apperance might not fully embrace the changes Travers so feared but whose acceptance of them contributed to the very changes he so feared and a violent figure, willing to destroy by magical might all those who opposed him like he advocated Grindelwald and his supporters should be. For Greengrass, on the other hand, Travers was a Grindelwaldite sympathiser and an extremist at hearth. A Wizard who fully embraced Wizarding supremacy and whose pleas for peace among the magical kind and denial of any ill-will toward Muggleborns where, even if sincere which Hercules doubted, of no consequences as his writings were essentially tailor fitted to provide an ideological framework for a violent attempt to install a particularly extremist variant of Pureblood supremacy. While latter days historians generally believe that Travers was, indeed, sincere and his pacifism and, oddly enough, rather open minded by the standard of his time and class toward muggleborns latter events would prove Hercules tragically correct when he stated that ''Travers' words are gonna light a pire more terrible then a thousand of those the muggles had in store for us in the old days!''
Bathilda Bagshot had already enjoyed many years as Britain's most celebrated magical historian before she and Hercules crossed path. Always on the lockout for young historiographical talents she quickly became interested in the prospects of the young Greengrass heir, all the more so when, as a mere fifteen years old, some of his student's research allowed her to uncover the real identity of the wizard Ezkredis. For the rest of his life, with the exceptions of the years he spent in the turmoil of war, he regularly published articles on the history of his world and, while other events prevented him from spending most of his time on such intelectual pursuits before his last years he nevertheless never lost touch with them. Last but not least, the legendary headmaster played an important role in Hercules' life as, while not as close with Greengrass then with a Scamander or a Potter, the headmaster appeared to have held him in great esteem, approaching him as a future member of the ''Banes of Grindie'' as soon as his third year and teaching him martial spells more advanced then what the vast majority of the school would ever cast. Hercules' famous propheciency in manipuling air by magical means most likely began to be acquired under the Greatest Wizard since Merlin while, after Dumbledore's death, Elphias Doge stated that they're was no student in those years Albus Dumbledore desired more fervently to turn to reformist politics. This close relationship, further built upon during the last years of the Global Wizarding War only make the breach between the two Wizards that appeared in 1946 all the more puzzling. Whatever might have caused it proved to be durable as, in spite of Dumbledore's numerous attempts at reconciliations, they only made peace when the Gryffindor had mere weeks to live.
Of course, no discussion of Hercules' years in Hogwarts can be complete without mentionning the First Opening of the Chamber of Secrets. A member of the fabled Thirteens of the Year of the Snake, those prefects who all played some role in the latter events of which the opening of the Chamber was a portent, he played a key role in the events of the year. When, following the first petrifications, some students dared to publicly rejoice he and Astoria stamped all such talk inside Ravenclaw with all the influence they had and, in the word of one of their housemates, ''with all the fury of angry trolls!'' Following the end of the crisis he also distinguished himself as the only person in a position of influence in Hogwarts, asside from Dumbledore himself, to speak openly, in front of Ministry officials, against the official story, pointing out that Acromutenla had no preferences for muggleborns and that a dangerous criminal might still be at large. In spite of stellar grades in his NEWTS his last months at Hogwarts therefore proved rather frustrating and leaving might have even been a relief had he not been about to set up for Europe and war.
As all parties involved have sworn unbreakable vows and the relevant documents remain under the sceal of secrecy it is impossible to say what activities did his Hercules, his then newlywed wife and other Wizards and Witches of confidence he elected to bring with him to Greece perform during the second half of 1943 as part of Operation Persephone. There can be no doubt, however, that Minister Spencer-Moon was correct when he stated that ''The Wizarding World as a whole owe M. Greengrass, and those who helped him in that endavour, a great debt!'' Had it not been the case the role played by persons as young as Hercules and Astoria Greengrass in latter events would not have been possible. Whatever might have transpired during this most secret of mission it ended before the ''Christmas of Niké'' of 1943, when the whole of Wizarding Greece erupted in rebelion against Gellert Grindelwald and ejected its supporters from the country in one bloody night. Following their victory the no-longer exile Greek ministry and the and the local resistance forces quarelled as to how the Hellenic Magical Defense Council, a council of twelve Wizard and Witches, charged to lead the defense of Wizarding Greece for the imminent counterattack the dark wizard was sure to launch, was to be filled. Ten of the twelve planned seats were filled rather quickly but no other greek wizard or witches could gain general assents. It is was this deadlock that lead them to turn their gaze toward the British. The Greengrasses and their ''Hunters'', as those engaged in Persephone were know, had done much to help make the Christmas uprising a success and therefore Hercules and Astoria's appointments were accepted by all as a good solution to the gridlock.
A long and gruesome series of clases among the mountains of Thessaly would ensure that Hellas would remain free from Nurmengard's clutches, but at a terrrible cost for a country who had already suffered from the Global Wizarding War more then most. Thus, when appeals came from further north, when wizards, witches and other magical beings of the rest of the Balkans began to flood Greece with messages asking for help to free themselves just like they had done, most where reluctant to do much in response and prefered to adopt a defensive posture while they rebuilded their country. Nonetheless, even those inhabitants of Wizarding Greece who, in their hearts of hearts, would have rather stay put agreed that, for political reasons if nothing else, something did indeed need to be done. Thus, a decision was made to give the two youngsters, who had eagerly requested it, the mission to lead to lead their ''Hunters''and those more motived denizens of Wizarding Greece to give it a shot. When that decision was made by the more experienced members of the Hellenic Magical Defense Council, for completely understandable if not well-advised reasons, they fully expected to see them back in a few days, with perhaps a few refugees in tow. For as small an investment as possible as possible honor would be satisfied and solidarity demonstrated.
What followed instead was one of the most extraordinary campaign ever conducted in the name of the International Wizarding Confederacy, as Grindelwald's control of the Balkans quickly crumbled. Seemingly always four or five steps above their enemies the young couple also benefited from the rivalries and divisions of Grindewald's governors in the area, the inhability of the latter to act in concert accentued by a well orchestrated intoxication campaign playing on their fears of each other and of their plots. Moving north the once small army only grew, recruiting from the magical communities it freed. First they came to Macedonia, Albania and Serbia, then they moved to Serbia and Wallachia before reaching Transylvannia and Bosnia. Many, both at the time and since, noted the uncanny resemblance with Grindelwald's lightening victories in the early years of the war. As Herpo's heir's doom was approaching the table had, at last, being truly turned. Everywhere the Azure Foxes went they were accompagnied by their mighty war cry: ''FOR FREEDOM AND FOR OUR WORLD!'', who never failed to strike fear in the hearts of their ennemies. Such victories could not fail to bring fame to their authors, even they had not benefited from an eloquent plume to write their praise.
As luck would have it, however, they did benefit from the presence of such an individual: Barnabas Cuffe, future editor of the Daily Prophet and former Slytherin prefect who had served alongside Hercules and Astoria during the First Opening of the Chamber. Beginning his journalistic career as a war correspondant it was he who narated the exploits of the ''Azure Foxes'', named after the badges crafted after the Greengrass familly sigil and the color of Ravenclaw, made to allow them to recognise each other, to the Wizarding World. Under his plume Hercules and Astoria Greengrass became ''The Lord of Battles and his Lady of Victories'', war heroes who could, in every way, count among the greatests produced by Wizarding Britain. That the Sphinxes embraced them was natural and that more purist figure did as well was barely more surprising, for, alongside the Leaches, Scamanders and even Dumbledores they represented a far more reassuring type of war heroes, even if they did not embrace their hatred.
More curious at first glance was the embrace they received from many reformists, a very large portion of which being made of Wizards and Witches with significant ties to the Muggle World, especially considering other proeminent figures of the British war effort had far more similar backgrounds to theirs and politics more aligned to theirs. To a large extent such a state of affair can be explained by how the depiction of the couple by Cuffe borrowed much from muggle fairytales, of which he heard from some muggleborn fellow students. Under Cuffe's plume Hercules was attributed tropes often given to the archetypal noble prince of these stories: noble, heir to a celebrated lignenage and encouraged to find a partner of a similar rank but finding none who could gain his favour. Astoria, for her part, was given many attributes often given to the female lead of such stories: a young women of a lower status but who nonetheless was loved by the noble prince thanks to her inteligence, beauty and character and who eventually gained the acceptance of his family. That instead of immediately founding a familly they opted to wreak terror on Grindelwald's lackeys was often considered a rather appropriate adaption of these old muggle stories to the current circumstances.
The string of easy victories for the Azure Foxes was soon to end, however, as the von Krauz siblins where sent to the region by their master to stabilise the situation. Aemelia and Armenia von Krauz had carved for themselves reputations of utter infamy throughout the Wizarding World, becoming known respectively as the Cackling Grim and as the Cruel Reaper. Of the same generation then the Greengrasses, and in many regards the most terrible products of a Grindelwald-dominated Durmstrang, they engaged in battle seven times against the liberators of the Balkans. Three times the Azure Foxes had to retreat, as it proved the only way to avoid being incinerated by Fiendiefire, wripped appart by inferi or see their very skins rot quickly under their eyes. The von Krauzes and their forces also suffered the same three times, however, as they sought to avoid an air who had suddenly turned into blades wripping them appart, a rain of molten lava falling on them or, what had appeared to be normal trees but where in fact Whomping Willows. The outcome of this dreadfull and deadly game was decided by a seventh and last clash, near the magical settlement of Eztrevangar. Having heard that the Azure Foxes had found shelter there the von Krauzes attacked it hoping to surprise them. They found the town deserted, except for hordes of Quintaped! The dark wizards and witches who managed to escape proved to be relatively easy pickings when their ennemies fell upon them instants latter. After that victory many expected the Azure Foxes to finish clean up the Balkans from the last pockets of Grindelwadite resistance still standing in the region. Faith proved to have other plans, however.
Fed up by the ever increasing repression many Hungarian wizards and witches resolved to rise against Grindelwald and break their shackles. Betrayed by one of their own their plot to do so failed, but they nonetheless managed to find shelter in one of the local branches of Gringotts, deserted as the globlins working there had fled to avoid emprisonned but nonetheless strongly warded, and were besieged there by Grindelwald himself. As Leach and his Boggarts where among those traped there he ensured that a message was sent to his contacts asking for help. When he did so it was, by his own admission, with Newton and Porpentina Scamander in mind, in the hope they could make their way from the northern reaches of Italy to bring them help. In spite of their best efforts they did no manage to do so but all was not lost for the call was also heard by the Azure Foxes. By muggle means, to avoid detections, tough with their strenght enhanced by magic a large fraction managed to make their way to Hungary unnoticed. There they launched a devastating assault on the backs of the bessieger just as they attempted to pierce the defenses of Gringots' Hungarian headquarters. There Hercules crossed wands with Herpo's heir himself, surviving long enough to allow the numerical superiority of its friends, and of the formerly bessieged charging forth to help their rescuers, to force the dark wizard to withdraw. While he would latter freely admit that he had no hope of victory the sheer fact that he lasted as long as he did remain a testament to his abilities as a duelist. It was also on that day that the two most remarkable students Ravenclaw had during the 20th century met and exchanged pleasantry for the first time. Surrounded by ruins the muggleborn and the pureblood patrician shook hands, the beginning of a relationship who, in spite of everything that was to come, always remained marked by mutual respect and the scene of a painting which remain in proeminent place in the Ravenclaw common room. In the next weeks plans began to be made for an offensive which, with some luck, would only end in Nurmengard itself. Then, as it so often did in those years, tragedy immediately followed triumph.
On March 1, 1945 a series of powerfull explosions rocked several ministries and seats of magical government. Mere hours had to pass before Grindelwald and his ilk claimed credit for the deed. Increasingly desperate as the jaws of defeat where closing around them, the Army of Truth, as the supporters of the Dark Wizard called themselves, had resorted to tactics it had avoided embracing before. With the help of some local supporters it had infiltrated agents in seats of government and left powerfull explosive concoctions before leaving in a hurry. Electra Greengrass, second cousin of Hercules and object of his hate, had played a key part in the attack against the British Ministry. Providentially absent from his office on that day, Spencer-Moon survived but many of his colleagues did not have that chance. At the head of the list was Achilles Greengrass, Head of the Department of International Magical Cooperation, defacto number two of the current administration and Hercules' father. Most expected the newlymade ''Lord Greengrass'', as the social convention of the time named Hercules as head of such an influential familly, to erupt in anger and in sadness. To their surprise, however, he showed little emotion during those terrible days, simply plunging ever deeper in his responsabilities. Only several months latter, secure, victorious and surrounded by his loved ones in Foxridge did Hercules suddenly collapsed and sobbed, sobbed and sobbed. It was well that Lord Greengrass had shown himself capable of controling even extreme emotion, for it was to him and and Nobby Leach that was given the most dreadfull task of first discovering the most terrible crime commited by Grindelwald and his lackeys.
Ostrevenburg had been a mere muggle village until, in the 1930s, its inhabitants had been scared off or worse by the Army of Truth. There many non-human magical beings were emprisoned and worked to death or forced to be subjects of horrific and depraved magical experiments. By the admission of Grindelwald himself only wizards and witches were to enjoy the gift of magic and all other sentient beings posessing it where to suffer such a faith. As the tide of the war turned against Grindelwald and his ilk young children from his the families of their open joined them and where gruesomly punished when they manifested their magical abilities, in the hope of turning them into Obscurus that could be used for martial purposes. Ostrevenburg was not the first of such camps liberated but it was the first be liberated before, for one reasons or another, the torturers guarding them had the time to conceal their deeds. It was only with the most persistent of efforts and the most firm of attitudes that the some of the wizards and witches having accompagnied Leach and Hercules in that particular expedition where dissuaded to slaughter the butchers and torturers they had just made prisonners.
Albus Dumbledre had done much to defeat Grindelwald but, for reasons that are still disputed to this day, he had always refrained from confronting him head on. Upon hearing from Ostrevenburg he found he could no longer stand asside, however. A challenge was issued and seven witnesses, from all houses and blood status, invited. Hercules Greengrass and Nobby Leach therefore found themselves representing Ravenclaw to this most fabled of duel and Hercules witnessed the final downfall of the wizard who had so often haunted his nightmare. A few weeks latter the heroes of the war found themselves back Hogwarts' grounds where, in a most splendid ceremony, Spencer-Moon praised them and gave them the decorations their deeds had entitled them to. As he passed the Order of Merlin First Class around Hercules' neck the Minister for Magic was heard that Achiles Greengrass must have been a happy man indeed, for having such a son. Some months latter, exactly months after the night who followed the Duel of the Century, Astoria Greengrass gave birth to a daughter, Niké Greengrass, named after the Greek divine personification of victory.
Funny thing. I was just thinking about Lucretia these days. Great characters never cease captivating our imaginations. Might have to do with me having just finished reading Delenda Est though. Hopefully Fantastic Beasts: Rio Edition will breathe new life into the community.
Funny thing. I was just thinking about Lucretia these days. Great characters never cease captivating our imaginations. Might have to do with me having just finished reading Delenda Est though. Hopefully Fantastic Beasts: Rio Edition will breathe new life into the community.
And yes, I am unashamed to say Herc is my favourite character I ever created and that the Greengrasses did kinda become my HP Darklyns . I'd also definitely be interested in hearing more about Crecy should you ever feel like writing in that direction.
In the first version of the game, back on AH, Herc was a fairly surface character but I do like to think he got some serious dept added to him as I reached to different inspirations for his background and character. Fairly early in that process I also imagined a "canonical" future for him in my notes that would have play a significant, if offscreen, role in the events of Harry's days and from time to time he comes back to mind and I feel like I really should do something with those notes so the time spent on time wouldn't have gone to waste, to also essentially properly put in the place I add for him in regard to canon, so to speak. At last I decided to put fingers to the keyboard.
The idea is to create a in-universe small bio of the guy, encyclopedia stuff, so as to bridge the chronological gap between the events of A Spell in Parseltongue and the books. Currently its very much stiff a work in progress but I intend to repost it when its done, for anyone that might be interested.
Regarding Rio, I do share your feelings. Especially, I hope that some of Crimes of Grindelwald might be salvaged in retrospect, so to speak, with events latter on in Fantastic Beasts. If I advised the peoples on it my advise/request would be to make Brazil matter, to make it an integral part of the story. Crimes of Grindelwald had its faults, even if I feel that what seem to be the overall verdict is overly harsh, but I feel one of the worst was that France was kinda an aftertought. Yeah, we got to see some sites but the culture of Wizarding France didn't really matter and the french characters were not really explored. That was a shame considering part of the attraction of the Fantastic Beasts movies is to get outside Britain and see the wider Wizarding World. Compare it to the first movie for example: the culture of Wizarding America mattered, its political life mattered, its law mattered. Jacob, Tina, Queenie, even Seraphine Picquery, were all key characters who had been shaped by the US societies, both muggle and magical. THAT is what I want for Brazil in the next movie!
- are the big problem in a friendship and Berenice's suspicion, while warranted, is another issue. In fact, I'm planning on Evelyn being really conflicted on the matter: she loves Vinda (who loves her back, even if she's manipulating Evelyn somewhat) and she really doesn't want to turn her back on family, especially close family that has helped raise her. On the other hand, she doesn't care at all for the war. She intellectually appreciates Grindelwald's major selling point of not hiding anymore like scurrying rats, but not the idea of being the masters of anyone or killing muggles just because they don't have magic. In her mind, even if they are quite useless and dull, she doesn't really want them killed and The Greater Good sounds like a good deal of fanaticism that leaves her uncomfortable. 
