The Three Kings: Strike
Disclaimer (1): Yu-gi-oh! Duel Monsters is owned by Kazuki Takahashi, Studio Gallop, Nihon Ad Studios, and TV Tokyo. Harry Potter is owned by J. K. Rowling, Bloomsbury Publishing, Arthur A. Levine Books, and Warner Bros. Please support the official releases.
Disclaimer (2): Golden Gate Park belongs to the City of San Francisco.
Prologue: The World As We Know It
The Statute of Secrecy: A Necessary Sacrifice or Massive International Conspiracy?
Author: William Arthur Weasley
Written in 2013
Table of Contents
1. Introduction
2. The International Confederation of Wizards
2.1 Questioning the Statute
2.2 Constructing the Lie
3. The Department of Mysteries
3.1 The Pen and The Sword
4. A History of Mage Craft
5. Conclusion
Introduction
In her book, A History of Magic, world-renowned magical historian, Bathilda Bagshot, credits the enactment of the International Statute of Wizarding Secrecy as the saving grace of wizarding society. She cites the muggle-instigated 'witch hunts' of the early fifteenth century and the reluctant truce that existed between muggles and wizard-kind in the seventeenth century as proof that, without it, a war between the two cultures would have been inevitable.
Each year, young witches and wizards are taught this simple, indisputable fact during their first magical history lessons. They are told that the Statute was created to protect them from muggles, who had always been particular afraid of magic. And while it is true that there were some wizards that fell victim to muggle execution, it is odd that they are mentioned in Bagshot's text as a mere afterthought. In fact, it is the case of Wendelin the Weird, an eccentric witch who enjoyed being burned so much that "she allowed herself to be caught no less than forty-seven times in various disguises", that is mentioned as the first and primary example, while the rather horrific stories of Lisette de Lapin, Ser Nicholas de Mimsy-Porpington, and others like them, are written of in the final few sentences of the chapter (A History of Magic, 1947, issue 1).
It was in my fifth year of Hogwarts when I first pondered the oddities of Bagshot's works, not knowing where this path of thought would eventually take me. After nearly three years of research, I believe that I have discovered what might possibly be the greatest cover-up in the history of the wizarding world.
In this essay, I will be outlining my findings and hypotheses surrounding the truth about the Statute of Secrecy, why it was truly created, and what are the secrets it might be protecting.
The International Confederation of Wizards
The International Confederation of Wizards is an organization that was created in 1683 to discuss the creation of a law known today as the Statute of Secrecy. However, the Confederation back then would not be considered 'international' by today's standards. At the time of the signing of the Statute, the Confederation had members from the United Kingdom, France, Spain, Portugal, Denmark, Norway, Italy, Russia, and other western European countries, but nowhere else (A History of Magic, 1947, issue 1). But what is even more interesting is the list containing the names of the original founding members of the Confederation.
Article 1 - Taken from Kings and Blacksmiths by Tiberius Crouch, Published 1701
The Coalition of Sacred Brothers
1682
Theodoric Abbott
Peniculus Black
Osmund Bulstrode
Aloc Flint
Ashton Greengrass
Enzo Lestrange
Malcolm Longbottom
Cyamus Malfoy
Solomon Ollivander
Darian Parkinson
Boline Prewett
Joreu Rowle
Calillo Selwyn
Olbie Slughorn
Francis Weasley
The Coalition of Sacred Brothers was made entirely of members of Cantankerus Nott's Sacred Twenty-Eight (a group of twenty-eight families able to trace their wizarding history back to the time of Merlin). The Coalition was known for the promotion of mage hunting, a now-dead practice that involved the murder of suspected mage children and their muggle families. But while the Coalition had been founded centuries ago (no specific date is known), it is this list that is of particular intrigue, for it is the Coalition's final list of members just before it was dissolved in the fall of 1682. To date, there is only a single copy of the book it was published in, Kings and Blacksmiths by Tiberius Crouch, that has survived to this day and can only be found in the Restricted Section of the Hogwarts Library.
Which makes you wonder: why would such a list be considered 'Restricted'?
The truth is surprisingly easy to figure out. As it turns out, Theodoric Abbott, Osmund Bulstrode, Aloc Flint, Enzo Lestrange, Cyamus Malfoy, Solomon Ollivander, and Boline Prewett made up seven of the thirteen members of the Confederation in December 1684, right before it was opened up to other members of the European wizarding community and gained its dubious 'international' status. It is also known that sometime between the spring of 1683 and the winter of 1684 that the first draft of the Statute of Secrecy was put to paper (The Confederation: An Overview of a Global Power, 1856, issue 3).
What that means is that since the members of the Coalition of Sacred Brothers formed the majority of the members of the early Confederation, they were able to control exactly what became the original regulations of the Statute of Secrecy. However, when the Hogwarts Library was contacted about the whereabouts of the original draft, all access to it was denied, regardless of permission that was given by the Headmaster. Upon further investigation it was discovered that the first draft of the Statute of Secrecy is now in the possession of the Department of Mysteries.
Questioning the Statute
Knowing that the Statute of Secrecy might have originally been created by a group of people known for their hatred of mages, the decision made by the early Confederation to separate wizarding society from that of the muggles is suddenly put into question. Was the Statute originally put into place to stop a war? Or was it something else?
According to our own history, the seventeenth century was a troubled time. Not only was it a difficult time period for muggle-wizard relations, it was also host to a particular brutal goblin rebellion in 1612. For a period of about five weeks, goblin hostiles occupied Hogsmeade's Three Broomsticks Inn and killed over a dozen people (Sites of Historical Sorcery, 2004).
Little is known about this particular goblin rebellion - the goblins' motives remain a mystery to even the great Bathilda Bagshot. "Most historians argue that it was the lack of goblin representation in the Wizengamot," Bagshot tells us, "though others have postulated that it was retaliation for a joke made by the Appleby Arrow's Keeper, Jape Phillips, about stripping them of magical rights" (A History of Magic, 1947, issue 1).
Or maybe it was something else? The goblins blamed for the attack supposedly caused an earthquake that leveled the inn (it was since been rebuilt), though goblins are not known for naturally possessing such powerful earth-based magic. And while the records about the incident remain spotty (in fact, there is no record of the event written prior to the year 1703), the ruins of the old inn have supposedly been excavated and fully explored by nameless historians and Curse-breakers who never came up with a solid answer (Sites of Historical Sorcery, 2004). So the question remains: how did the goblins do it ?
Could the answer be as simple as, they had an ally?
But who could it have been? Goblins and wizards were at each other's throats, as the goblins had recently been enraged to discover that the Sword of Gryffindor had resurfaced and not been returned to its rightful owners (those familiar with the lore of the Sword know that it was crafted by the goblin King, Ragnuk the First, for Godric Gryffindor, though according to goblin beliefs, it was stolen from them). There is no way that they would side with wizard-kind after that.
But what about mages?
Mage history is a controversial topic amongst many wizarding historians, with some refusing to even believe that it is a worthy field of study at all. And while it is true that there is very little about mages that has been published, most of those books are heavily biased and describe them as vicious, solo creatures with nothing but murder on their minds. In his book, The Mage Menace, author James Andrews puts forth the idea that mages are an offshoot of wizarding magic that went terribly wrong, possibly through experimentation with soul-based magic. There are a few who believe that mages have been wrongfully persecuted throughout history, though these people are usually told to keep their mouths shut or risk being whisked away in the middle of the night for being blood traitors. But regardless of the beliefs of wizarding kind, one thing about mages can be said for certain: mages existed in the early 1600s. And they hated us.
Could a goblin have gotten in contact with a mage capable of causing such a natural disaster? It's possible. Mage powers are as varied as there are colours in a rainbow, so there's no way of definitively disproving the impossibility of a mage sinking the original Three Broomsticks (The Mage Menace, 2007). But the real question is why.
And again, the answer is simple. One only has to look back at the membership list of the Coalition of Sacred Brothers. Ashton Greengrass's mother, a leading member of the previous Coalition, died in 1612 and to this day, her grave remains empty (Our Roots Touch All: A History of House Greengrass, 1957, issue 4). And considering that this occurred in the days before the separation of the muggle and wizarding worlds, it is not a stretch to say that the Goblin Rebellion of 1612 was organized with the help of a mage attempting to get revenge on a woman who may have been openly plotting to have him and his muggle family killed.
But why does this matter? It means that the Coalition had just realized that their actions against mages had deadly consequences, for even though they were a broken and beaten society, mages could still take the fight to them. In order for their war to continue, the Coalition had to ensure that they remained hidden in a place where mages could not find them. Hence, the founding of the Confederation and the enactment of the Statute of Secrecy.
But where's the proof? Strangely enough, when an application was filed to visit the ruins of the old Three Broomsticks, it was denied. Once again, the Department of Mysteries swooped in and refused to allow my research to proceed.
Constructing the Lie
In the years following the Coalition of Sacred Brothers' transformation into the International Confederation of Wizards, more and more supporters of the idea of separation from the muggle world flocked to their sides. Upon the signing of the final bill in 1689, nearly five hundred people had been part of the drafting process. And after its enactment three years prior, the Confederation created the world's first Ministries of Magic. The Statute of Secrecy is quite possibly the most important document in the history of the wizarding world (A History of Magic, 1947, issue 1).
And yet strangely, no one in living memory has ever seen the actual document. There have been copies that have been made: there's one in the office of every Minister of Magic across the globe, as well as in every wizarding library and bookstore. But the actual piece of paper, with the original signatures and ink that changed the world, is gone. In fact, aside from the copies that have been made, there's no documentation of the actual paper even existing. So as far as we know, the physical Statute might have never existed in the first place (12 Conspiracies That Will Change The Way You Look At The Ministry, The Quibbler, 2010).
But why lie? Perhaps, it's because the actual Statute (if it even exists) might contain something that the original Confederation never wanted the public to see. Perhaps, the Statute was not signed in ink, but in blood - which would make whatever was written on it become magically binding. One can do on for days, but assuming the Statute might actually exist, where is it hidden?
There are two possibilities. The first of which remains with the 1682 membership list of the Coalition of Sacred Brothers. While seven of the members went on to form the Confederation, the other eight eventually created the first Hogwarts Board of Governors. Perhaps, the Statute resides within the walls of Hogwarts Library's Restricted Section, alongside Kings and Blacksmiths. Or maybe, like the first draft of the Statute, it's in the hands of the Department of Mysteries.
But if the wizarding world's most famous document is a lie, what else could be? The answer is frightening: everything.
Something is very wrong with wizarding history. It is not something that one can spot easily and in fact takes several years of research to even notice the discrepancy. And when I found it, I nearly didn't want to believe it.
All of our recorded history was written after 1692.
There are no books, no ancient scrolls - nothing beyond the year of 1692. Even Bathilda Bagshot was surprisingly silent on this issue and refused to answer any of my questions concerning it. She clearly knows something, but is refusing to tell anyone.
But why would this be? There is only one explanation. Someone is trying to hide something by erasing all that came before.
The Department of Mysteries
The first place to start hunting for the secrets that the International Confederation of Mysteries could be hiding is obvious. One only has to look towards the sister organization, the intimidatingly titled Department of Mysteries: a secretive conglomeration of witches and wizards whose work is so classified that it is only through hints and rumours that the average citizen even knows that they do. The Confederation tells us that they primarily do indepth research into magic, studying its origins and capabilities far out of the reach of the wizarding public in order to keep forbidden dark arts from ever becoming common knowledge.
However, nearly thirty years ago, the Confederation gave the Department a public face with the introduction of the mage conversion program. This confirmed a long held suspicion amongst some wizarding historians that the mage threat had not been dealt with long ago, like the Confederation would like us to believe, but was alive and well in this day and age (Department of Mysteries Unveils Mage Conversion, The Daily Prophet, 1992).
Now, I could write an entire essay about the effects that the introduction of the mage conversion program has had on the wizarding population, but that is not the topic that I wish to discuss here. Rather, I would like to focus on the connection between the Department and mages, since that is what seems to be most relevant to my topic here.
Earlier on, I mentioned twice how the Department of Mysteries had denied me further research into topics that I wished to explore: once, when I wished to read the first draft of the Statute of Secrecy, which is now in their possession, and again when I wanted to excavate the old Three Broomsticks Inn. I also postulated that the Statute of Secrecy, should it exist, could possibly reside in the bowels of the Department itself. Adding onto the connection between the Department and mages and combining it with my theory that the Confederation was originally founded by the mage-hating Coalition of Sacred Brothers, a picture starts to develop.
If what I believe is true, that someone is trying to hide a terrible secret by whipping out all traces of wizarding history transcribed prior to 1692, then there is only one organization with the power to do that. One that has been conducting experiments on magic since its creation by the International Confederation of Wizards: The Department of Mysteries.
But again, the real question is why? What could this secret be that it was considered to be so heinous that the only way to hide it was to separate wizard-kind of the rest of the world and the rewrite our entire history?
The Pen and The Sword
To answer this question, one must question the very foundation of modern wizarding society. We have been told that the Statute of Secrecy was created to prevent a war between wizarding and muggle-kind, but all of the evidence presented proves that this might not have been the case. In fact, it may have simply been to hide certain members of the wizarding population away from the reaches of mages.
If mages are more of a problem than the Department and the Confederation wish to admit, then there must be more going on here. In fact, could the answer to the grand question revolve around their existence? Yes.
When trying to research mage history (which is a difficult and lengthy process in an of itself), one will undoubtedly stumble upon James Andrews' The Mage Menace, a compilation of ten years of research into mage culture and history. However, when exploring Andrews' personal history, one can discover his close ties to the Department itself. On top of not only having a mage son, Andrews works as a historical consultant for the Department in exchange for the ability to continue to publish his books on mage craft. This is the case with several other known mage historians, such as Natasha Whicker (author of Overthrowing of the Gods, 1850) and Trista Latner (author of Trees and Flies, 1863).
The publication and public knowledge of mage history appears to be controlled entirely by the Department of Mysteries, which answers only to the Confederation, meaning that all knowledge of mages comes from an organization created by those who wished to see them snuffed out. Based on this, we can confirm without a doubt that wizarding history was rewritten in order to cover up a secret involving mages.
So what's the secret? After a careful analysis of The Mage Menace, Overthrowing of the Gods, and Trees and Flies, there is one thing that all three books hold to be absolutely truth: that mages came after wizards. Except, this isn't true. In fact, it's the complete opposite.
A History of Mage Craft
According to A History of Magic, the earliest recording of wizarding existence dates back to ancient Egypt, where the legendary Three Kings created the first wands out of acacia trees and used them during their long reign over their country. Bagshot goes on to tell of the first magical duel that ever took place was between the three kings and a terrible sorcerer named Aknadin, though she admits that the grandeur of this battle has probably been exaggerated over the centuries and was, in all likelihood, nothing more than the two sides shooting red and green sparks at one another. Regardless, she takes the legend of the Kings to be evidence that wizard-kind has been here since the beginning (A History of Magic, 1847, issue 1).
I work for Gringotts Wizarding Bank as a Curse-Breaker. This means that my job is to excavate tombs from around the world and bring back the treasures that I find to be stored in their banks. I'm fluent in ancient curses and can translate nearly a dozen languages into English. And as a result, I can say one thing for certain: the earliest known evidence of wizarding magic dates back to 50 BC, just prior to the creation of the Roman Empire, which is thousand years after that which Bagshot and other magical historians claim wizard-kind had its beginnings.
In fact, it is a well known yet highly unspoken fact amongst Curse-Breakers that unless you are excavating a Roman burial ground, you are never going to find a wand. And yet, there will continue to be tales of great magical feats painted on the walls of tombs and temples, often in conjunction with pictures of magical creatures and ancient gods (Yanni Kanas (Curse-Breaker) in discussion with the author, January 2011). According to Trista Latner's publication, mages "may have once been capable of a complete transformation into creatures such as dragons, acromantula, and sphinxes, all while commanding their own unique powers" (Trees and Flies, 1928, issue 1). This leads me to suspect that the magic that my fellow Curse-Breakers and I run across while on the job is not based in wizarding magic, but mage craft.
The knowledge that mage magic is in fact more ancient and established in world history than our own might not seem like much, but to those of pure wizarding descent, specifically those who belong to the Sacred Twenty-Eight (like those of the Coalition of Sacred Brothers), this knowledge would shatter the foundation of their surefooted belief in their own superiority. Considering the influence that blood purity still has on our society, affecting everything from job eligibility to marriage prospects, a secret like this would be enough to bring wizarding society down to its knees (Nature of Blood, 2002, issue 1).
Conclusion
A great and terrible conspiracy has unknowingly gripped the wizarding world since its very creation: the history that we have been taught since our first days of schooling has been false. The Coalition of Sacred Brothers, an organization dedicated to the destruction of mages and their kind, decided that the complete separation of wizarding and muggle kind was the only way to ensure that pureblood supremacy could continue to reign without the knowledge that their magic had not been the first.
Whether Bathilda Bagshot and other magical historians know the truth of the Statute is not something that is up for debate. They know, they just pretend that they don't. Bagshot's refusal to answer questions about the location of the original Statute of Secrecy shows that, without a doubt, she is either aware of the situation or actively involved in the conspiracy. My fellow Curse-Breakers are scared to reveal the truth of what we find, all but my brave friend Yanni refusing to go on record about the lack of wands in the magical tombs of the world. I take my courage from him. I am not afraid to tell the world what has been hidden from us.
The truth brings many questions to light, ones that we may never learn the answers to. Were the mythical Three Kings wizards, but powerful mages with gifts that the ancient world had never seen before? Were those in the legends that followed them, like Seth and Dragon Princess or Jono the Brave, mages as well? How much of our history has been changed to give us a false sense of superiority? How much to the mages of today know of the truth?
And finally, if the Statute of Secrecy, should the actual document exist somewhere, had been created by a group of people hell bent on erasing the existence of mages from the history of the wizarding world, then what could possibly be written on its pages that would be so secret that it could never be revealed to the public? We might never know. It might be so dangerous that we can never know. But I want to know. And one day, I will find the truth.
***Request for publication denied, on the basis that the author has ignored all historical fact collected and studied by his predecessors and is making wild leaps of faith to fill the gaps left in his cherry-picked research***
MISSING PERSON:
YANNI KANAS
Description:
155 cm
Short black hair
Brown eyes
80.6 kg
Last Seen: May 12th, 2013, wearing a white muggle shirt and jeans.
IF YOU HAVE INFORMATION, PLEASE CONTACT YOUR LOCAL AUROR OFFICE
ponymph
holy shit guys are you seeing what's going on in san fran right now? they're saying that there's been some kind of earthquake.
#pray for san francisco #talk to me guys? #the internet isn't saying anything
ponymph
guys i can't get a hold of my cousin i'm so scared
#pray for san francisco #tea where are you? #if anyone has any information please tell me
false-king-fisher said:
The entire eastern seaboard has lost power. the news is saying that the earthquake took it all out but my friend in oakland is saying that there is no earthquake at all. golden gate park is on fire and there's sounds of gunshots. people are massing on the beaches. theres some kind of freak thunder storm going on now and right before it, there was some kind of light show out of a sci fi movie, like a force field breaking down or something.
ponymph
what that fuck? seriously what the fuck is going on down there? i need to get to a computer or something right now. i'm blogging from my phone and crying in my boss's office and he doesn't know anything either. he's trying to call one of the firms down there. apparently someone he went to law school with lives in san fran and he can't get through either
#ask #false-king-fisher #pray for san francisco #if anyone has any information please tell me #i'm so scared #you have no idea
ponymph
oh thank god my cousin managed to get in contact with me. she and her girlfriend are alright but they're at the hospital and there are so many people who have been hurt. no news yet on my boss's friend. don't watch the news it won't tell you the truth. this is not over.
#pray for san francisco #power in unity #we know what happened #we remember
Vivian retrobot
#SFSurvivorCheckin I'm okay.
Vivian retrobot
#SFSurvivorCheckin If anyone has any information on #spiderweb, please let us know. He's currently MIA
Raf knightlife
retrobot Taken while defending his family. Regroup at #officialsetokaiba's place tonight 8.
Vivian retrobot
knightlife Christ. He's fourteen.
Alister scorpeon
retrobot knightlife This is not over #weremember #powerinunity
Leo bennubirb
rockturtle whatever you need, we can get you it within two days.
Tea rockturtle
bennubirb thanks. there's a meeting tonight 8. will let you know then.
Lord Jackal scorpionking
bennubirb rockturtle this is not over. the full force of the jackels is ready and waiting.
Lord Jackel scorpionking
rockturtle officialsetokaiba sending bluemist +20 others to help out on the ground. should be there by tomorrow
Cassie bluemist
rockturtle officialsetokaiba looking forward to meeting you
Leo bennubirb
bluemist wreck some unspeakables for me babe
Cassie bluemist
bennubirb (ง'̀-'́)ง
Leo bennubirb
bluemist god I love you (ღ˘⌣˘ღ)
tea (rock-turtle) wrote in power_in_unity
WE REMEMBER
We survived. They came for us, to destroy all that we have been trying build over the last five years, and they failed. San Francisco still stands strong.
But this is not over. Not by a long shot.
They've taken our friends. They've taken our families. The truth has been covered up and altered to fit their stories, but we remember. We always remember.
If you are living outside of San Francisco, please contact me to let me know that you're okay. My information is in the FAQs. Be smart. Stay safe. I'm going to keep you all as up-to-date as I can on what's going on. I'll be contacting those listed as next of kin in our records about the conditions of your friends and family.
For those living within San Francisco, if you are able to, please come to officialsetokaiba's condo tonight at 8pm. There's going to be a meeting regarding our next steps.
We are taking back what was stolen from us. They have been hunting us for centuries, but today we strike back.
EDIT: The Lady has risen. Two down, one to go. Creating a new tag for her, because something tells me that we're going to need it.
Tags: mod post, we remember, meeting time, person: seto Kaiba, person: bakura, person: atem
Welcome back!
I'd like to thank those who reviewed for the final chapter of Hunt: Tz342, green lilah, Rita Mu, Dana Sto Helit, CrimsonStrawberry17, anita15, and AngelofAngles, as well as the one anonymous reviewer. You guys are awesome!
Two things. One: I've accidentally started watching hockey, so this chapter was posted just after watching the Leafs and Canucks beat the crap out of each other on the ice. Seriously, they ejected both the goalies and a bunch of other players for fighting. It was amazing! And the Leafs won, so YEEAAAAHHH!
Two: For some reason, won't let me include 'at' signs, so the twitter section of this chapter is a bit lacking in that area. Hopefully, it allows me to keep Leo and Cassie's emojis because those two are adorable little bastards.
So, welcome to Strike, the sequel to Hunt. I've decided that all the prologues of this series are going to be huge information dumps. The first chapter will get right into the meat of the story, with an interesting interaction between mages and a certain witch.
Until then,
AlcatrazOutpatient